The “Getting to Know” series is sponsored by Arbeit. Arbeit is a powerful, and easy to use communications platform that empowers businesses to reach more consumers. Innovative by nature, we are constantly listening to and understanding the businesses we partner with and developing long term industry relationships that allow us to be proactive in anticipating industry needs.
Competitors and friends. Rebecca Roberts-Stewart not only gets it, but she is able to easily articulate it. One of the best things about this industry is the way that people — usually from competing companies — are able to come together to lift each other up. And it is because of people like her. Read on to learn more about Rebecca and how close she came to working with felons instead of debtors.
Name: Rebecca Roberts-Stewart
Company: L J Ross Associates, Inc.
Job Title: Chief Operating Officer
Length of time at current position: 15 years
Length of time in industry: 15 years
How did you get your start in the industry?
I was in college and looking for a job to support myself while in school. As most of us in the industry, I wasn’t expecting to become a professional debt collector. I believe that I was very lucky to find this job and continue my career with the same organization for the next 15 years.
What is your career highlight so far?
I would have to say there are two of them so far. The first was being elected as President of the Michigan Association of Collection Agencies. The second is being named a member of the Collection Practices Board in Michigan. This Board oversees the licensure of all agencies within the state. I sit on this Board with many of my respected colleagues.
When or how are you most productive?
I am the most productive when I am working with my team. I feel like we all compliment each other very well. We each bring different ideas to the table and we have different thought processes that really challenge one another sometimes. I am extremely thankful for my team.
Which industry professional do you admire most?
Charity Olson. She has made a huge impact on me throughout my career. She has been an amazing resource and friend to me.
What is one thing you do better than everyone else?
I am really good with numbers. I have always been a numbers person, whether it is calculating numbers or remembering them. My co-workers always look to me when we are calculating revenue or expenses as I can usually calculate it faster in my head than they can with a calculator.
What do you like most about this industry?
Knowing that we are actually helping consumers every day. What we do helps the economy is so many ways.
What is one thing you wish you could change about this industry?
The negative stigma that people assume about the industry. The bad reputation that is put on the industry really irritates me at times.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing?
I would be working in the corrections field. My degree is in criminal justice and my intention was to be a parole officer.
Describe a typical work day.
I start each day with my list of items that I feel need to be accomplished before I leave the office. Though unforeseen circumstances always arise and I continue to add to this list throughout the day. I spend a lot of my time in meetings as I am responsible for both IT and Operations within my organization. I always end the week feeling as though my team has accomplished a lot of necessary items. I end each Friday making my to-do list for the following week.
What is your guilty pleasure?
MSU football, basketball, and Detroit Tigers baseball. I have spent the last 7 years traveling to the different baseball stadiums. I started these visits with my Dad. Now that he is older and doesn’t enjoy traveling as much, my husband and my two-year-old son have taken his place.
The Getting to Know Series is Sponsored By:
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
To not try to understand why people do the things that they do, just accept it. I cannot count the number of times that I have repeated this in my head as people make decisions that are beyond my cognitive understanding. I don’t need to understand, I just need to accept these decisions and move on.
What are you currently reading?
“Business Analysis and Leadership: Influencing Change” by Penny Pullan. We are really focusing on data analytics within my organization and I am focused on using data to lead people.
What is one fact you’d like everyone in the industry to know about you?
I am extremely passionate about what we do as an industry. I feel very lucky to be a part of an industry where we can not only be competitors, but we can be friends as well.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
Jennifer Dietrich with Universal Credit Services. She has been someone who has always been available and extremely helpful to me over my years in the industry.
The “Getting to Know” series is sponsored by Arbeit. Arbeit is a powerful, and easy to use communications platform that empowers businesses to reach more consumers. Innovative by nature, we are constantly listening to and understanding the businesses we partner with and developing long term industry relationships that allow us to be proactive in anticipating industry needs.
