Embrace Employee Spotlight: Michelle Solomon and Christine Clifford

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 mMack@embracehomeloans.com

CHRISTINE CLIFFORD, Director of Program and Strategy

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

Director of Program and Strategy. I have been tracking the success of our new recruits and the growth of the retail channel and look forward to helping Steve Adamo further grow and improve the retail channel.

What made you want to work at Embrace? 

After working for a large, public bank, for seven years, I was ready for a change. I have always wanted to work for an independent mortgage bank. The ability mortgage banks have to move quickly and adapt has always impressed me. I was very impressed with Embrace’s ability to succeed through prior challenging periods in our industry. Steve Adamo’s enthusiasm was infectious. The opportunity to work with an enthusiastic group of experienced mortgage bankers was very exciting.

How has it been starting a new job during COVID? And just working for Embrace in general?

Embrace has made the transition pretty easy. Traveling to Rhode Island, meeting the team, and participating in the Orange Carpet really helped me to understand the company better and get to know the team. I have been working out of the Rockville, MD office and the team there has been very helpful.

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

I worked for Wells Fargo for the past seven years, supporting the mortgage strategy work and tracking the competitive environment. Prior to that, I was an industry consultant helping lenders with origination strategies, benchmarking, and risk management. 

I started my career as a college intern at Freddie Mac and have had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of mortgage lenders with numerous origination strategies and in various areas of the industry including sub-servicing, warehouse lending, outsourced operations, and home equity lending.

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

I grew up in Maryland, have a Master’s Degree in Business and Management from the University of Maryland, and raised my two sons in Maryland not far from where my husband and I grew up. I live with my husband in Olney, Maryland. I love to bike, do yoga, cook, garden, and watch my sons play rugby.  They both play for the same rugby club.

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MICHELLE SOLOMON, Branch Manager

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

My official title is Branch Manager. I manage the Plymouth, MA sales team as well as the retail team in Newport RI, and three satellite locations in MA. I see my job as mentor, coach, and manager. My team is my work family.

How long have you worked for Embrace?

I joined Embrace in January 2014. It has been a great eight years!

What made you want to work for Embrace?

It felt right! A company that cared about its employees, listened to its managers, and was always striving to be better was very different for me back then.

What’s one of your favorite Embrace memories?

One of my favorite Embrace memories has to do with Orange Week and working together to donate our time for a great cause. Always great laughs! Most recently we worked at Three Harts Farm, a veterans’ growing collaborative.

How has it been working from home? Has Embrace made it easier for you in any way? Are you in back in the office now?

Working from home was very challenging. Embrace did an amazing job of getting everyone set up remotely. I have been back in the office for quite some time.

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

Plymouth, MA has been my home since 1986, where I live with my husband, son, and our 3-year-old Mini Labradoodle, Coco. I was born in Fall River, MA and my parents lived in Westport, MA at the time. I went to the Dominican Academy from K-8 and then to Somerset High School and Bridgewater State College before it was a university. I have two stepdaughters, Michelle and Kristin, who were five and seven when I met their dad in 1981. My son, Carlos, is 29. All together we have six grandchildren. They are my joy! I love gardening, home projects, strength training, anything creative or artistic, music, reading, and coaching.