Jackie Studdert shares her transformative journey from Long Island to becoming a leader in the mortgage industry. With a background in data analytics and experience at Bank of America and PwC, Jackie now leads innovation at Polly, a company dedicated to improving the mortgage process. She discusses how technology is reshaping customer experience, the importance of mentorship, and the vital role of personal values in her work. From leveraging AI to balancing family life, Jackie reflects on the future of the industry and her vision for Polly’s continued success.
Click here to view the rest of the series: Mortgage Mavericks, The People of Polly.
Click here to view the rest of the series: Mortgage Mavericks, The People of Polly.
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00:00I love mentoring, I love guiding, and I love teaching.
00:04Having a team that I can mold and that can teach me as well,
00:08it's how you become better on a daily basis.
00:18I grew up on Long Island, so I'm a New York native
00:22and went to school in New York.
00:25I originally started out my college career at Siena,
00:29graduated with a degree in economics, and from there
00:33got into Bank of America's rotational program.
00:36I don't think anyone chooses to go into a mortgage
00:38when they exit college, you sort of just fall into it.
00:42I learned everything about capital markets and pricing
00:45within the mortgage space at Bank of America
00:48during that rotational program.
00:50After Bank of America, I moved over to PwC
00:53where I really got an expedited learning of
00:57everything mortgage operations.
00:59I was working with clients doing M&A within the mortgage space
01:05as well as helping them create more efficient processes
01:08within their mortgage operations and servicing operations.
01:12I was learning a lot of capital market stuff originally
01:16and then pivoted pretty quickly over to the actual ops place.
01:20That's really where I got insight into how archaic
01:23the mortgage industry is and how much green space
01:26there is for opportunity to really make it more efficient
01:30and transform it as these additional and new
01:35technology companies were coming out.
01:41I loved even in college working with data.
01:44I think there's a ton that you can make from
01:47just the raw data and making decisions off of it.
01:50So when I was working with all of that pricing data
01:54originally, that was what I started to love
01:56and how I can make inferences from that data
01:59and make decisions off of it and see the impact
02:02of those decisions through volume,
02:05especially when you're doing that from a pricing standpoint.
02:08And I carried that on when I went over to PwC.
02:12I really worked heavily within the data analytics side.
02:16So being able to pair that with the mortgage industry
02:19and that mortgage data, being able to look at performance data
02:23and default data and identify risks.
02:26I love that.
02:27And I don't think there really is a day,
02:30even in my current role where I don't look at the numbers
02:33and say, okay, how can we be making better decisions
02:36based off of what we're seeing?
02:38And it has created essentially a way where like,
02:42there's no day that's ever the same
02:44because these different decisions that we're making,
02:47they cause us to pivot.
02:50They have us have different priorities
02:52come throughout the day.
02:53And I love that I'm able to be kept on my toes.
02:56I was really looking for a place where I could use
03:00all of the data skillsets that I have
03:02and move towards the tech technology role
03:06where I can make an impact
03:07and sort of start bringing those changes
03:10of automation and efficiency to life.
03:13I've sort of worn almost every hat within Polly.
03:16When I joined Polly, we were maybe 20, 25 people.
03:20We were just starting out.
03:22We had our trading platform out
03:23and we were just kicking off the pricing engine.
03:26And I started out in customer support and implementations.
03:32We were a team of two.
03:33So we got to know the system inside and out.
03:36Today, as the EV industry,
03:38we got to know the system inside and out.
03:40Today, as the EVP of transformation,
03:43I'm overseeing our processes
03:46from a foundation level at Polly,
03:49but also all of our investor network,
03:52all of the different buyers
03:53that are on our system for our customers
03:55and identifying new outlets for our customers
03:58and working with them to create investor spotlights
04:01and really highlight what their offerings are
04:04so that our customers can have their best pricing out there
04:08and be able to hit all those different unique scenarios
04:11for their borrowers.
04:12So I'm really excited to build that network out
04:15and develop additional tools for our investors.
04:18I think it's an area that really isn't touched
04:20by any technology providers today
04:23because they're sort of the forgotten ones.
04:25They're not the direct customers,
04:26but there's so much value to them
04:28that they bring to our mutual customers as a baseline.
04:35It was really important for me
04:37in figuring out what I wanted to do in my career
04:39through volunteering and expanding my network
04:43so that I can experience and learn as much as I can
04:46from people that have gone through it before.
04:50And once I sort of started gaining traction in my career,
04:54I wanted to do the same with other individuals.
04:57So I volunteer with the Alzheimer's Association,
05:01but I also do a ton of mentoring internally
05:03with Polly and then externally with different networks
05:06throughout the MBA and other mortgage associations.
05:09And it's really great to see all the different individuals,
05:13especially women coming together to support each other.
05:17And especially now that I have my 10-month-old daughter,
05:20sort of having her be able to see how you can be successful
05:25in a male-dominated industry
05:28and really like with the right support system,
05:32anything is possible.
05:37We've really dedicated a ton of time
05:40to creating a seamless and more efficient user experience
05:44for our loan officers.
05:45So these new features have helped them make faster decisions
05:49in determining the best option for their customers,
05:52giving them an advantage when rate changes
05:54and identifying those faster,
05:56being able to lock loans mobily in a volatile market
05:59and winning out over competitive rates.
06:01I think from a capital market side,
06:04we were really determined
06:05to get our brand new renegotiation feature out.
06:08I think it is world-class
06:10and we've gotten fantastic feedback on it so far,
06:13not only on the LO experience that we've developed
06:15and that new UI that's coming out
06:17as well as this renegotiation tool.
06:23I think there's a lot coming out with AI
06:26and the different pieces of technology
06:30that everybody sort of has been talking about
06:33but no one's really crafted a product for.
06:35I'm incredibly excited to see what we can do
06:39to make the investors more unique
06:42and help them offer pricing that's incredibly competitive
06:46in different pockets that they're looking for.
06:48So creating an investor API,
06:50creating additional products for our investors,
06:53creating analytics that will help them make those decisions
06:57to change their pricing based off of different niches
07:00and based off of what's being sold.
07:02We have a ton of different products
07:04that have been focused in on your traditional lender
07:08and those offerings from a loan officer
07:10and a capital markets perspective.
07:12So being able to pivot that to a different type of customer,
07:15I think there's a lot of green space for us to tackle
07:18and it's not something that people
07:20have really been tackling and focused on.
07:23So we're really excited to look at that.
07:25I'm excited to take our investor team to the next level.
07:28I think there's a ton of opportunity for us to grow it
07:31and really make something fantastic out of it.