I manage the certification program for individuals and businesses and serve as the staff liaison for the Certification Council, Certification Administration & Budget Committee, and Certification Audit Committee. Additionally, I develop RMAI’s educational programming, which includes webinars, the Annual Conference, and the Executive Summit with the assistance of our Education & Conference Committees. Aside from these primary roles, I also run the day-to-day operations of the office, including HR, payroll, supervision, etc.

I submitted my resume for an ad for a Professional Development Manager position when we were DBA International back in 2014. I had come from an administrative background and felt this was a position that could take me to the next step in my career.

Considering I work with developing education, I learn a lot about the receivables management industry and what is trending through our Education Committee volunteers. While I come from the association side of things, there is much I still don’t know, but I can get a sense of what is important to our members. To no one’s surprise, AI is a huge issue. We have several committees that want to discuss AI, but in various ways. There are a lot of unknowns, and I know that the receivables industry likes to have clarity. I hope AI positively shapes the industry’s future once we have all the tools and guidance we need to implement it properly. It is very exciting, though, and I love to learn what the newest issues are from our members.

When I started back in 2014, the industry was having a hard time (or so I heard when I began working here). We could see that by the attendance at our Annual Conference. The industry was able to persevere, and now, 10 years later, we see the highest numbers of attendees at our Annual Conference and Executive Summit that we have ever had. It’s a great feeling, and I hope that we can continue this path and that RMAI can be a resource that this industry needs so that it can continue to be successful. 

I root for our members in the receivables industry and hope they can be perceived in the great light that I see them.

The biggest issue that I am hearing is the closure of the CFPB and potentially not having federal regulation. The industry, RMAI, and other associations have been working so hard for the past 10+ years to get the clarity we needed to help our members conduct their operations. With this closure, our members now have to think about increased state activity and what that looks like. I don’t have the answer for how it might be addressed, but I empathize with our members and hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel that doesn’t turn the clock back for them.

I love the collaboration of our staff. While we each have our own departments because we are a staff of nine, we also need each other to make our departments work. I always mentioned  to candidates, whenever we conducted interviews for an open position, that RMAI is a place where we want to hear your creative thoughts. I spent 10 years with Jan Stieger as the Executive Director, who encouraged ideas, and I really valued that approach and felt comfortable sharing thoughts on how we could do something better, whether it’s education, event planning, certification ideas, etc. While Jan has retired, our new Executive Director, Mike Becker, has continued this frame of thought and encourages us as well. Our current team is the best, and it’s a joy to come to work

Learn as much as you can. I’m still learning and still have a lot to learn. Since RMAI is an association and supports the industry, I am not as  immersed in it as our members are. However, I believe that if you have an interest in getting into the industry, you need to be ready to learn the nuances and regulations of the industry.

Don’t be reactive or negative to people, but try to understand them and be kind in the process. That helps to keep me grounded when things get stressful.

Don’t try to deny or cover up a mistake, no matter how big or small. It could be as simple as lying about completing a task so your boss won’t get mad. It will inevitably get found out. It’s better to own up to that mistake and move on. At the end of the day, it’s better to be honest, and chances are, it won’t be the end of the world. It gives me a clear conscience at work to know that I, too, am not perfect and that things happen.

I am proud that I have grown from not knowing anything about this industry, learning how to host a webinar, and trying to talk about certification, to now being in a leadership role and having a much broader wealth of knowledge where I can be a mentor to our staff and can be relied upon by our members.

I learn a lot from the RMAI team as well as our members. Being a liaison for several committees, including the Education Committee, I hear a lot of ideas and learn about current issues. While we are coordinating education sessions, I learn from our presenters who come from various areas of the industry. My colleague, David Reid, is also a wealth of knowledge and has his finger on the pulse. I love to ask questions when I don’t know something about the industry.

I wanted to be an FBI agent when I was a kid. Once I started college, I wanted to be an at-risk youth counselor.

I work from home one day a week, and the main thing I like about that is the view out of my window, lol. I am still working on a better setup at home, so for now I prefer working in the office as I like having access to everything. I also enjoy interacting with my colleagues in person rather than on Microsoft Teams.

I am a huge fan of Korean pop music, Korean dramas, and eating asian cuisine. If you have gotten to know me, you will know that it is my world. My husband, daughter, and I attend a lot of K-pop concerts throughout the year, and it’s great for family bonding. Outside of that, I am a big fan of audiobooks and spending evenings with my husband after he gets home from working in his family’s sushi restaurant. 

We have 2 aquatic turtles at this time. We had a dachshund, Stella, who was with me for 16 years until 2 years ago. Now I regularly dog sit for Jan Stieger’s dog, Hannah, throughout the year. That gives me the feeling of having a pet until we are ready to get another one full-time.

I used to ride motorcycles with my dad. I rode on the back of his Honda Gold Wing to Colorado when I was 14 and Canada when I was 16. We saw amazing sights and rode on many roads in every kind of weather condition you can think of. We had microphones in our helmets so we could communicate, and there was a tape deck so we would listen to all sorts of old music on mix tapes. It’s a special memory that I know a lot of kids at that age didn’t get to experience.

To travel to Japan and Korea. I am hoping it happens sooner or later! And maybe to have a mini donkey. :)