Meet Megan McDonald

Megan McDonald has learned a great deal throughout her leadership journey in the mortgage industry. Having started at the bottom of the ladder as a “Fax Girl” with another organization out of college, she quickly worked her way up to the next rung, and then next. When she joined MCAP in 2005 as a Business Development Manager, she later ran part of the MCAP Servicing team, then MCAP’s B channel, Eclipse, before taking on the national sales team. A natural leader with a strong internal drive, Megan earned her first leadership role at age 28 and was promoted to Vice President before the age of 35.

“My leadership journey has taught me a lot about flexibility, adaptability and the ability to evolve with the times.”

Being able to build and nurture relationships is the cornerstone of an effective sales team, and Megan and her team at MCAP are always looking for new ways to connect and build relationships with partners. “My leadership journey has taught me a lot about flexibility, adaptability and the ability to evolve with the times,” says Megan. She explains that COVID-19 was a great example of throwing a new curveball into the way the team normally did things, which previously involved meeting people face-to-face, going to events and attending tradeshows. Then suddenly they were in lockdown and had to instantly adapt. “For Business Development Managers, their whole expectation of their role was to leave the house, go to events, go to broker offices… and suddenly they had to become experts on virtual meetings. Many had never been on camera and most didn’t have offices – our offices were in our cars with our computers sitting on the seat next to us.” Many people had to learn their job all over again. “For some people who had being doing it for 20 years, that became really uncomfortable.”

“We offered every salesperson at MCAP leadership’s time for coaching.”

Recognizing that her sales team had to completely change the way they worked, Megan drew upon the Blue Culture promise to offer support and assistance. “We offered every salesperson at MCAP leadership’s time for coaching,” she explains. Employees could bring their specific struggles, challenges and rewards to the table and have a discussion about how to be better in an ever-changing world.

“Communication and accountability are two words my team stand by.”

Megan also applies Blue Culture towards the enhancement of partner relationships, leaning in on two words: Communication and Accountability. “During COVID – or any troubled times, even right now, with interest rates rising rapidly – there is no such thing as over-communicating,” she says. “When it comes to accountability, it’s important to remember that while we are a process-driven company, we are also a human company, which means that human hands touch every file and request – and with that can be human error. Part of Blue Culture is the deep appreciation for accountability. You’re not in trouble for doing something wrong. Rather, you’ll be coached on how to avoid it going forward. It’s all about doing better than yesterday.” She adds that being accountable and taking ownership when things go wrong is something her team takes great pride in. “A lot of companies pride themselves on nothing ever going wrong. But things do go wrong – it’s unavoidable. And it strengthens your relationships with homeowners and brokers by the way you show up when they do.”

“Sometimes the ladder isn’t the clearest path. Sometimes you have to trade the ladder for the jungle gym – you’re still moving up, you’re just also moving over.”

As a young leader, Megan has quickly learned a great deal about moving through and up the corporate ladder and realizing her career aspirations. The biggest lesson she has learned throughout her career is patience – and she offers valuable advice to those starting out. “Being a young person that was driving toward climbing that ladder, I had to learn patience,” she says. “I also had to learn to strategize my career. Particularly for women, sometimes the ladder isn’t the clearest path. Sometimes you have to trade the ladder for the jungle gym – you’re still moving up, you’re just also moving over. There are different ways to visualize your career.”

With nearly 18 years behind her at MCAP, Megan continues to invest in herself and her team, aiming for consistent improvement through coaching, mentorship and always-on support. She is living Blue Culture by being a present and inspiring leader and giving others the tools they need to be their best, every day.