EPM’s new initiative invites profound speakers to townhall talks to empower employees.
Empowerment is at the heart of Equity Prime Mortgage’s mission—to provide Americans with access to the most diverse selection of home-lending products and demonstrate empathy in all client endeavors. To uphold its mission, EPM is now organizing weekly townhall talks to inspire its teams on how to build empathetic client relationships. EPM invites thought leaders to these talks, who inform and empower EPM’s teams with invaluable insights and tips.
One of EPM’s recent townhall talks featured navy veteran Danique Masingill, the president and co-founder of Leashes of Valor, a service dog organization created for veterans by veterans. As a Leashes of Valor partner, EPM donates a portion of every loan that it closes to support the organization’s client veterans. The mortgage lender will soon also be launching a Choose Kindness campaign with the national provider. Psychological wellness is key to EPM’s ethos, and the firm is keen to support charities that dissolve stigmas associated with mental health and provide vital solutions for psychological wellbeing.
The virtual townhall kicked off with an introduction from Faiz Aly, one of EPM’s Digital Marketing Specialists, who introduced the new EPM + initiative. President and CEO Eddie Perez followed up with an update on company direction and empathetic business approaches, which Danique used as a springboard to explain how Leashes of Valor empathetically provides veterans with custom-trained service dogs. Danique and her colleagues train and donate dogs to calm and distract veterans who are living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Equity Prime Mortgage Townhall: Leashes of Valor
Danique explained that Leashes of Valor trains dogs for up to 18 months before pairing them with veterans who are dealing with mental health illnesses. Once trained, the dogs average $25,000 in value, so contributions from firms such as Equity Prime Mortgage are essential for veterans to receive the support that they need. It takes approximately 16 days to train a dog for a specific veteran. The training shows the dogs how to alert to night terrors, self-destructive behaviors, and self-soothing behaviors in response to triggers so that they can protect veterans in times of crisis. The service dogs have even stopped veterans from committing suicide.
Danique told EPM: “You are literally changing the lives of veterans with what you are allowing us to do at our organization. The championship support we’ve had from the community, we’ve had from people who didn’t serve or weren’t even necessarily citizens, that’s what made America so great and made me really want to succeed. It’s so many tiny puzzle pieces that make this a big picture of our community, our country, and our veterans’ recovery.”
Danique Masingill’s Townhall Advice for Equity Prime Mortgage
Leashes of Valor supports a pivotal cause that resonates with Danique’s own experiences; she struggled with mental health issues after serving in military law enforcement. Working with service dogs helped her to overcome her psychological battle by enabling her to offer support for other veterans.
During the townhall, Danique highlighted the importance of valuing your career and working towards meaningful milestones that benefit both you and your employer’s company. She advised the Equity Prime Mortgage team to ask their peers how they got involved in interesting educational programs and initiatives, reminding them that employers can often facilitate educational development to benefit both employees and their business.
Danique also advocates addressing your fears and making yourself uncomfortable in order to grow emotionally and psychologically. For example, Danique didn’t enjoy public speaking but knew that as the founder of a company, she would need to speak to large groups of people. She took a storytelling class that she didn’t feel comfortable attending to push her boundaries and develop her skills. Danique advises learning to “fail forward” so that even when something goes wrong, you’re still contributing to your self-development.
“We’re all part of a bigger picture, and that’s for company culture and community culture. The enthusiasm within your company, the enthusiasm that you show for your challenge, that’s magic.”
EPM engaged in a thought-provoking Q&A to conclude the townhall, discussing the importance of prioritizing empathy in business situations and sharing their own canine stories with Danique.
About Equity Prime Mortgage
Headquartered in Atlanta, Equity Prime Mortgage LLC is a national mortgage lender with an unrivalled presence in 49 states, as well as Washington DC. EPM’s vast selection of lending resources offers solutions for all housing needs, including FHA, 203K, Conventional, VA, Reverse, and USDA loans. EPM is also a trusted Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae seller. With a management team that offers over 50 years of experience in the mortgage industry, an exceptional pricing model, and dedicated customer service teams, EPM is well-positioned to offer mortgage solutions to new and established homeowners across America.
Equity Prime Mortgage is now releasing EPM +, a digital initiative that offers new ways to experience wellbeing, confidence, and satisfaction and aligns with EPM’s dedication to empowering people every day. EPM launched the initiative at the beginning of 2020 to provide a resource and voice for financial empowerment. The initiative comprises four programs that cohesively nurture effective teams.
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EPM + Connect: a staff connecting experience that begins at EPM’s onboarding phase for recruits.
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EPM + Fit: an in-house fitness program featuring workouts with live trainers over Zoom calls, as well as an in-house coordinator who monitors both physical and psychological wellness.
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EPM + News: a monthly company-wide email that informs staff of updates and upcoming events.
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EPM + Originals: custom videos for EPM’s social media channels that showcase the company’s original content. EPM + Originals will soon also offer other fun activities and merchandise, including custom branded t-shirts.
As a lender that prides itself on giving back to the community, EPM is widely known for its charitable contributions. Aside from its partnership with Leashes of Valor, EPM donates to American Red Cross, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the American Diabetes Association, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and USO.
Learn more about Equity Prime Mortgage at www.epm.net.
