Embrace Employee Spotlight: Ashley Chasse and Alexandra Reincke

There’s a lot to love about Embrace Home Loans, but one of our strongest assets has always been our employees. We have teammates who have been with us for 10, 20, even 30+ years. And we’ve also been hiring new employees at a furious pace recently.

In this Employee Spotlight, we’ll be featuring two Embrace teammates — one new employee, and one employee who has already been with us for a while. Each will give different perspectives on the Embrace experience and a little more personal info so you’ll be able to get to know them better.

Want to nominate someone to feature in a future spotlight? Email Mary Mack at [email protected]

ALEXANDRA REINCKE, Closing Officer

What is your official title and what do you do at Embrace?

My official title is Closing Officer, which entails me reviewing loans to finalize them for closing. Right now I am working on the retail team, so I handle mostly refinances that come through Middletown and do everything to make sure the final closing package is clean and everything is correct so there are no issues with the borrower signing.

What made you want to work at Embrace?

I had previously been working in medical recruitment prior to the start of the pandemic and we were hit really hard when COVID started showing up in geriatric facilities, which were the main source of our business. I had moved to general recruitment with another company and they struggled also with staff volume, so I made the choice to look into a different industry that wasn’t being so incredibly impacted by the pandemic.

I was lucky enough to have a previous co-worker from the medical recruitment office who had started at Embrace in HR so we talked and with my previous sales and customer service experience the closing team looked like a great place for me to join the Embrace team. I am so happy I took that leap of faith and I have not regretted this move for a second!

How has it been starting a new job at Embrace during COVID?

I’ll admit it was scary, being in the Middletown office with only a handful of other people. I worried I would not feel connected with the team in this company since I was only getting to talk to other Embrace employees through email or phone calls. That was not how it ended up being at all — Embrace and the people who work here have done so much to make sure everyone here, new or not, feel included and excited to be here.

Through all the transitions I have had at Embrace — starting at Middletown, going fully remote, starting hybrid out of the East Providence office, and now being fully remote from North Carolina — people here still find ways to make me feel a part of this community and it’s put a spark in me to seek out ways for me to stay connected and be a part of this company more than just the role I have working here.

What did you do for a living before you came to Embrace?

Since entering the workforce full time I have not had the most straightforward of careers. I graduated from Johnson & Wales University in the fall of 2017 with a B.S. in restaurant, food, and beverage management. Clearly, I am not in the food service industry anymore. I have managed Five Guys Burgers and Fries, sold guided travel for destinations all over the world, staffed for medical facilities, and staffed for law offices and engineering firms around New England.

I am still working out exactly what the next 40 years are going to look like for my career … because the first five have been a tornado, but I have found that when I am doing a job where I get to help people and provide a service I am my happiest and feel the most fulfilled in my job. I wasn’t sure what being a Closing Officer would entail but I have found so much joy being able to help Loan Officers and their borrowers finalize their documents in order to purchase a new home or refi their current home. I love the team effort that goes into each file and the people I get to interact with and that has been just an added bonus to what I do here.

We’d love to get to know you a little better! Tell us about yourself.

After being in Providence, RI for the last five years, I recently moved to Durham, NC which is about 20 mins from my hometown. After all of the chaos that has gone on with the pandemic and my parents dealing with their own health issues in addition, I decided I needed to change gears and get back to North Carolina. I am so happy to be back in the south — people who know me hear about my love for Bojangles chicken and I have so missed the bbq here. I still hold a lot of love for food so I spend my free time cooking, baking, and eating at new restaurants most of the time.

I am near the downtown part of Durham and this city had changed so much since I was a kid so I have loved being able to walk around the streets and find fun new things to do. When I am not out and about, I spend my time with my cat Noda and watch a lot of British procedurals. I have such a special place in my heart for Rhode Island and New England as a whole, but I am so excited to be back in the Raleigh area with Carolina Hurricanes fans (currently 8-0 and the only undefeated NHL team this season, might I add.)

---

ASHLEY CHASSE, People & Benefits Administrator

What is your official title and what do you do at Embrace?

I am the People & Benefits Administrator for Embrace. In my role, I am responsible for assisting our teammates and recruits with their benefits questions, running our two Open Enrollment periods each year, managing our time off and timesheet systems, maintaining our HRIS (ADP) system when our teammates have updates to their employment or personal records, creating and managing our performance review program, implementing and maintaining our new Bucketlist rewards and recognitions program, working as a lab technician for our weekly voluntary COVID screenings, assisting our monthly celebration committee for our ceremonies and many other miscellaneous HR tasks.

How long have you worked for Embrace?

I will have my 9 year anniversary in March 2022.

What made you want to work at Embrace?

I really didn’t know much about Embrace prior to coming on board but I was looking to change gears in the HR world. Once I met with Denise Cunha and got to meet the Embrace team, I knew it was going to be the right fit! It’s been great to be a part of the HR team as it expands!

What’s one of your favorite Embrace memories?

Up until COVID, I had the opportunity to create and run our Bring Your Child to Work days. Our last year running it we set up a different type of program where the kids had to promote their products to a team of “Sharks” (ala Shark Tank). I loved seeing all these kids showing their entrepreneurial spirit and having so many Embrace teammates lending a hand to mentor the teams, act as our Sharks, and work the event. It’s a great way to spend time with teammates outside of the HR department in a fun and engaging event. I’m looking forward to hopefully running our next Bring Your Child to Work day next year.

How was it working from home for most of this year?

The Embrace HR Team has been back in the office for well over a year! I do still keep my Fridays working from home but other than that, I’m here at my desk! I think we all just work better being in the office together. The implementation of Microsoft Teams has definitely made the days from home much easier. We can still be connected even though we aren’t in the same physical space.

We’d love to get to know you a little better! Tell us about yourself.

I’m originally from Dartmouth, MA but now I reside in Somerset, MA with my husband Mike, daughter Isabelle (14), my mom, our dog Charger, and two cats Beasley and Kipling. I’m an avid movie watcher, enjoy baking bread (Cinnamon Raisin is my favorite), and love a good true crime podcast.