SitusAMC Power Pro: Lesllaney Vallejo

Name: Lesllaney Vallejo
Title: Quality Control Analyst, Specialist Level 2
Office: Remote

Day to Day: I spend my days looking for anomalies in loans. I work off reports and make corrections, like correcting a misspelling of a city which could throw off the compliance. I also work sometimes for the reverse mortgage department. I train and do quality control as well.

Highlights of the Job: I really like learning new things. Regulations change often, so I like a challenge from time to time. I am always open to learning new scopes of the company and putting my best foot forward. I really enjoy digging into the loan and troubleshooting. I get excited when I see something off, that probably shouldn’t be off, and I think, "oh I am going to figure this out!" This is what’s exciting about it for me. I like to go in and make things right!

How I Got the Job: When I was 23, I got a two-week temporary job with a respected due diligence company. They brought me in to do data entry and sort documents for ostensibly two weeks at the most. But I really wanted to make it a permanent position because I needed a job. So, I went in there determined to make everyone love me. I wanted to show everyone that I was a hard worker and could do the job. And I succeeded–they hired me! So, I was there until the firm was sold to SitusAMC, and SitusAMC kept me on board.

What it Takes to Get the Job Done: Patience and attention to detail are the pillars of what I do. You must have a quick eye to identify issues in the loan. Patience is essential. Sometimes when I am trying to explain why I made a certain change in a loan, I have to be able to explain it to someone who is new to the field. I’ve had to learn how to be patient with everyone’s different work and learning styles.

First Job: I was 17 years old and I became a nanny for a friend with a little girl who was six months old. I was a nanny to that little girl for seven years. It was a big undertaking, to be responsible for the life of a young child that wasn’t a sibling. I was very interested in the early learning stages of children, so it was very rewarding. Now this little girl is about to be 18 years old. She was even the flower girl in my wedding. Being a nanny taught me a lot about myself and how to manage a household.

Hometown: I’ve lived in Tampa since I was nine years old. My family moved from California to Florida to be closer to my grandparents. I’ve seen the city change a lot and grow. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of my own growing experiences here, like meeting my husband and many lifelong friends. It’s been beautiful to watch Tampa go from being a small, relatively unknown town to the thriving metropolis that it is now. Tampa and I grew up together.

What My Younger Self Would Think: The younger me wanted to be a marine biologist, so she would be shocked to see that I turned out to be someone who works in an office. She would also be impressed with my current math skills. I’ve come to learn how to love math. My old self would be so surprised because I always hated math!  But I’m actually pretty good at it now.

Greatest Strength: I like to think that one of my greatest strengths is loyalty. The SitusAMC security guard and I used to joke that the only way he could get me to leave would be to carry me out of the office, because I’m there so much. He called me SitusAMC’s “ride or die.”

Hobbies: I don’t have a hobby, I have an obsession: I knit all the time. I even made a sweater for a dog. My kids joke that when I finish work, they ask me, "Is it play time or knitting time?" And I always say knitting time! That’s when we realized I had a problem. I also love playing board games with my kids. We have two closets of board games. Right now, my favorite game is the Disney villains version of Clue. I play with my older son all the time. It’s fun to watch my kids go from not knowing how to play the board game to annihilating me at it.

Advice to my Younger Self: Be kind to yourself and have an open mind. Not everything is always perfect and that’s okay. Sometimes things aren’t going to go the way you want them to, and that’s fine! You just have to be open to the opportunity to learn.