Embrace Employee Spotlight: Michelle Winiewicz and Tyler Rhea
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]
TYLER RHEA, VP of Market Growth
What is your official title and what do you do at Embrace?
I’m Vice President of Market Growth. My role is to lead the organization — specifically, the Northeast region — in the areas of recruiting, business development, and strategic relationships. I work to grow our incredible sales team by building relationships with passionate managers and originators that fit our culture, providing them a vision and opportunity to be the best version of themselves while reaching their fullest potential. I also partner with our current staff to create explosive growth opportunities in target markets with diverse referral partners leading to new business and relationships.
What made you want to work at Embrace?
My fulfillment, happiness, and growth are driven by my core values that include love, family, innovation, and teamwork. The synergies of values I share with the organization in combination with the leadership and vision of my role and the overall mission of the company led to a strong desire to serve and lead team members in this great company.
How has it been starting a new job at Embrace during COVID?
COVID has not been fun for anyone. But it has provided new opportunities and perspectives on how to connect and build relationships in a “remote world.” I thrive on face-to-face interaction and am happy to see things going back to somewhat normal. Working at Embrace has provided me an incredible sense of joy and being able to work hard towards our goals while building amazing friendships inside and outside the organization has been a blessing.
What did you do for a living before you came to Embrace?
Before Embrace and for the last 12 years I have been in the mortgage industry, specifically in retail mortgage lending in a variety of roles from originating, to recruiting, to management. Most recently I was the Regional Business Development Manager for Academy Mortgage building the sales team on the East Coast.
We’d love to get to know you a little better! Tell us about yourself.
I am blessed with a beautiful wife Criste who I have been married to for six years. We have two children, our son Callan, three years old, and daughter Sutton, five months old, and our rescue lab, Harmon. We have lived in Burlington, CT in the woods for the last five years; I am originally from CT. I earned my undergraduate degree at St. Michael’s in Vermont and received my MBA in graduate school at Suffolk University in Boston, MA.
For fun, I enjoy spending time with the family and exploring the outdoors. I also love golf and am an avid Boston sports fan.
MICHELLE WINIEWICZ, Sales Manager/Interim Branch Manager – Southington, CT branch
What is your official title and what do you do at Embrace?
My official title is Sales Manager/Interim Branch Manager for the Southington sales team! I work to help support our team, build our production pipeline, and add new talent.
How long have you worked for Embrace?
In March I will have been at Embrace for six years! I honestly can’t believe it has been six years!
What made you want to work at Embrace?
I decided to make the move when I was approached by a previous colleague who was managing a team here at Embrace! At the time, I was working for a local credit union and was content, but I was also looking for a new challenge and a more flexible schedule. It was a really scary jump at the time — I think it took me six months to actually apply with Embrace. However, it was the best decision I ever made for me and my family.
What’s one of your favorite Embrace memories?
One of my favorite memories at Embrace was my first Mini Catalyst event. It was one of the first times I had met a lot of fellow employees here at Embrace face-to-face. During that time I was able to get to know a lot of them on a more personal level.
How was it working from home for most of this year?
Working from home was seamless for me. I had always worked a few days from home so the transition was easy for me. The obstacle with working from home during COVID was my children also being remote 🙂 There is nothing easy about a Kindergartener being remote and working full-time — I learned patience I never knew I had. Embrace started a Community of Practice (CoP) to help parents cope with this new normal and it was gratifying to know I wasn’t alone. Happy to report everyone is back at school and yes, the office is open again 🙂
We’d love to get to know you a little better! Tell us about yourself.
I currently live in Wilbraham, MA with my husband Adam, our two boys Camden and Nolan, and our Boxer, Scout. I was born and raised in the Hill towns of Massachusetts, but my parents as well as my brother and his family all ended up in Wilbraham, which is awesome. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree from AIC in Springfield for Psychology. I had planned to become a school guidance counselor but definitely took a different path.
In my free time, I love just spending time with my family and traveling when we can. We are usually outside doing yard work, home improvements, entertaining, or just hanging out relaxing.