We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morgan Shields a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

The most important lesson I have learned so far in my career- is to take the risk and leave a position or career that you have outgrown. I started my career in mortgage at 25 and after swiftly succeeding at the company, I felt I could not leave or I would not have success anywhere else due to my young age and short experience in the industry. I was unhappy and unsatisfied in a way, I had never experienced in life. I was dealing with toxic leadership, that did not support others who aimed to grow. After some introspection, therapy, and medical issues induced by stress – I took the biggest leap and left a company I had spent 10 years working for. This has been the best decision I have made for my career, it led me to a new company, with a promotion in hand, extreme differences in leadership support – and therefore a new happiness and challenge I would have never imagined if I stayed somewhere that was no longer serving or meeting my needs. I have learned so much in the last few years, after I took the leap, and I am a better person both in my career and personally. If you are not allowed to shine where you are, leave and radiate elsewhere!

Morgan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My journey is unique, but necessary when finding your way. After undergrad, I worked at a non-profit for four years. I was the office manager, events coordinator, IT, accountant, website designer – you name it, I did it. As this often comes with the territory of starting a grass roots non-profit, from the ground up. I felt satisfied in the good we were doing for others, but I came to a point where I was no longer challenged by the work. I applied for graduate school to study organizational psychology. During that period of GREs, letters of recommendation and applications – I was referred to an open site leader position at a mortgage company opening in my area.

This was “on paper”, wildly different, but in theory, closely related to my studies in psychology and specifically business and psychology dynamics. I took the interview, they offered me the position – and from there I started a journey into mortgage and finance, that I did not see coming. Less than a year later, I was trained to be an underwriter and shortly after that I accept a manager position. I did this for some time, learning various Agencies, products, and that nuances of this career. After working with the company for 10 years, I took the much needed leap to a new company in the same industry, accepting a promotion and a new list of investors to master.

During this time, I also joined forces with Abbey Bruggeworth from the All In Haus, becoming her Director of Operations. Present day, I utilize my time between Mortgage Operations and Marketing Operations. It allows me to use my problem solving along with my creative mind for both companies I work with. I wouldn’t recommend the balancing act to everyone, but if you need to use your mind and switch gears at the drop, this is the route for you. I feel more mentally satisfied with everyday challenges then ever before. Uniquely, I am your go to for both mortgage and underwriting, as well as branding and marketing connections with a creative mindset. Having both the business background and active creativity allows me to help you think outside the box, in a practical way.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I love sharing this story! I have been working out at a local pilates studio, Hilliard Studio Method.- for over 6 years. Their social media manager and senior trainer is Abbey Bruggeworth. I met her first through sharing content on Instagram as she manages their platforms, and later in person as she became a trainer. Our friendship grew from there, and has only continued to blossom, as I know work for her at The All In Haus as her Director of Business Operations. These organic connections, and like minded goals, created the perfect platform for both our personal and business relationships. She created the All In Haus 5 years ago, and centers focus on female-owned small business, creating a vision and branding accelerant for everyone she works with. I stepped in to create more business flow and allow her more space to do what she does best! Work directly with our clients to create traction and exposure in the growing markets of each industry.

Any advice for managing a team?

First and foremost, it starts with yourself. You must believe in what you are doing and know your “why”. You cannot take care of others to reach their goals, if you aren’t leading by example and truly believing in yourself. As cliche and cheesy as it sounds, it’s so true. This includes taking care of your mental and physical well-being too. What do you need to do, to ensure you show up each day the best version of you, to lead others? Everyone will need something different to reach that goal, but the ask is the same. Once you have found what works best, and that can be an ever expanding journey, do it and commit. Every. Dang. Day. This will set you up to maintain strength for your teams and your clients. Not everyday will be the best day, and during those adversities is where you step up the challenges. Maintaining high morale, requires acknowledging the good and the bad. Often we find business cultures focused on only the positives, but this is not realistic. Do not force toxic positivity onto yourself or others, be true the hardships, and be true to knowing – you will get through it, and there is not set course to reach the other side.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theallinhaus.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinhaus/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-s-03ab6432/

Image Credits

All photos by Drew Furr: https://clients.drewfurr.co/portfolio