SitusAMC Power Pro: John Wadle

Name: John Wadle 
Title: Director of Servicing Quality Control 
Location: Remote  

Day-to-day: We have 25 unique clients to whom we are delivering quality control services, so that means I don’t have a typical day. First and foremost, I must ensure that my direct reports are all where they need to be and focused on the right priorities for that day and that week. I need to be on top of meeting our production and quality goals for our clients. I serve as the main point of contact for all our clients, and my day is spent providing the service that they expect.   

Inspiration: I really like the diversity of the types of clients we have, from small regional credit unions to large national hedge funds and banks. It’s exciting because it can feel like we’re working for all those different companies. It’s also exciting to see that we are an integral part of all these 25 different companies that we work with. Because I have been in this role for almost ten years, we have been able to really shape our team. We’ve created a great environment and I like working with the wonderful staff we have hired.  

Essential traits for the job: Patience is a critical trait. You must treat each client like they are your only client. We put customer service at the forefront of our service offering. Second, you need to have a willingness to dig in and get the work done. And that means all the work. My staff appreciates that I’m not going to ask someone to do something that I’m not willing to do myself. 

Mentor: I used to work directly for Mike Margolf at our former companies and later he became a peer. I still like to chat with him about the business line, and he understands our industry well. He has a great perspective, work ethic, and professionalism, and I’ve learned a lot from him in terms of how to run a successful business.  

First job: I worked as a bank teller out of college. Somebody told me at one point that if I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the banking industry, that was a good place to start. First jobs aren’t always glamorous, but you learn how to report to a boss and provide customer service to a diverse range of people. Being exposed to people’s work ethic and professionalism is a good experience. I knew that I didn’t want to be working as a bank teller for the long haul. Being a teller on your feet eight to 10 hours a day gets repetitive. Ultimately, I felt there was no room for growth.  

Hometown: I grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. I had a typical ‘80s and ‘90s suburban childhood, riding bikes around the neighborhood, playing baseball and soccer. It was a quintessential childhood experience. In retrospect, as a father of three kids now, I wish I could go back and raise my kids in a similar bubble.  

Current home base: I live in East Texas, about two hours from Dallas, close to the Louisiana border. The area is called the Piney Woods. It doesn’t look and feel like the rest of Texas. It’s hillier, with massive old growth trees, so it feels more like the deep south than how people typically envision Texas. We live in a small farming community called Union Grove, population 411, and we live on 8 acres with a big garden with pets and cows. It’s a totally different pace of life, there’s no stress of commuting to work, no hustle and bustle like I was used to in Denver.  

Wish I knew: I think it’s important to try to figure out what makes you happy and find a way to do that for a living earlier than later. Once you get going in a career it’s hard to walk away from that career. Find out what you are passionate about at an earlier age and create a career out of it. That might give you longer-term opportunities for personal growth.    

Downtime: I run five or six times a week, on my lunch break or in the early morning. It’s gives me quiet time to be in my own head space. I coach my 11-year-old son’s baseball team, and I feel like an Uber driver sometimes driving my two daughters to cheer and basketball. We have a big garden, so at the end of the day I get to tend a garden. Right now, squash and zucchini are coming in faster than we know what to do with!    

Advice to my younger self: There’s so much pressure on kids to graduate and get a job and succeed. I encourage kids to take a year to travel cheaply and see the world. Getting outside of the country is critical to understanding how cultures are all different and how there are different ways to live than what you see around you. I would have told myself to slow down and take advantage of being young and flexible, because it’s hard to recapture that once you have a career, marriage and children.    

Dream destination: I would go to Rome, Italy. I spent a semester of college on a campus outside of Rome and travelled Europe for six months when I was 19. Having the freedom to jump on a train whenever I wanted and see all these different ancient cultures was eye-opening. Seeing how some people in Europe lived with so much less than Americans are used to was a profound experience for me. I enjoyed seeing cultures with less reliance on cars and a materialist mind set.  

Most courageous act as an adult: The most courageous thing I’ve ever done was picking up our family and moving from Denver to East Texas during the pandemic. A lot of people talk about doing things like that. For better or for worse, when you make a big move like that, you learn a lot about yourself and your family. I feel like the move has given my kids different perspectives and different tools to create a life that makes them happy.