DALLAS – September 25, 2013 – The first CMBS borrower advocate, Ann Hambly, Founder and CEO of Dallas-based 1st Service Solutions, is one of 10 women profiled this month in Mortgage Banking magazine’s list of 20 leading industry women.
The recognition of women in leadership roles who have made a significant contribution to the real estate finance business coincides with the centennial celebration of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and comes on the heels of Hambly being named a Legend by Real Estate Forum in August for pioneering advances in the industry.
Hambly said she never thinks of herself as being in a different place than she was at the beginning of her career.
“In corporate America, particularly in running your own business, even CEOs have to do the mail, empty the trash, fix the computers and do anything that needs to be done,” said Hambly. “If you start thinking of yourself any differently, that’s when your bubble will get popped in a heartbeat.”
From the beginning, Hambly said she would question why something was done a certain way or she would try to find out who made the rules, especially when she identified inefficiencies in a process. She said these questions often led her to the MBA where she jumped onto task forces and committees to work on solutions.
“I attribute my participation in the MBA committees, task forces, and then the boards as one of the main reasons I have been so successful in my career,” she said.
Hambly says she has had many mentors over the years, including ‘reverse’ mentors who exemplified what she didn’t want to become. But she credits her mom, more than anyone, for the example she provided.
Hambly profiled in Mortgage Banking
“I firmly believe successful women are self-made, and it takes a strong role model like my mom to show you it’s OK to question how things are done and drive change,” said Hambly.
Hambly, who established 1st Service Solutions in 2005 before the collapse of the commercial real estate market, pioneered the first advocacy service for CMBS borrowers dealing with assumptions and loan restructurings.
In other firsts, the firm’s subsidiary, 1st Service Advisory Solutions became the first to be rated as a commercial mortgage trust advisor in 2012. And Hambly was named the first woman chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association Commercial Board in 2003.
In her role with 1st Service Solutions, Hambly leads a team of professionals who have resolved more than $8.5 billion in loan assumptions and restructurings since the firm opened eight years ago. Since the beginning of this year, she said the firm has been engaged in assumptions and restructurings totaling $4 billion.
Hambly previously was named one of Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence in 2013 and 2010, and National Real Estate Investor’s Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate in 2011.