65
"We're all being
pushed a little
bit past our
comfort zones.
Building a
company, you
do whatever
it takes to
get it up and
running."
—Roderick Hatfield,
Chief Information Officer, ServiceMac
first time," Perdue said. "We came at it with
the approach of, you have a blank sheet of
paper, and you can be smarter."
"I believe in transparency," said Eric
Sadow, ServiceMac's General Counsel
and Chief Risk Officer, responsible for
compliance. "I believe in connecting with
regulators—not being afraid of regulators,
but actually working with them to make sure
that we have what they need and that we're
meeting their expectations. It goes back to
the golden rule: treat people as you would
like to be treated."
WORKING OUTSIDE THE COMFORT
ZONE
Caruso founded ServiceMac alongside
fellow investors JC Faulkner and Bill Griffin,
the former of whom previously served as
President of HSBC Mortgage Services.
With the necessary funding in place,
Caruso set about assembling an A-team
of past associates to fill out ServiceMac's
C-suite. Roderick Hatfield, whom Caruso
has known for two decades and who
previously worked at ServiceLink Field
Services and Lender Processing Services
(LPS), came aboard as Chief Information
Officer. For CFO, Caruso chose Melissa
Perdue, a veteran of both Wells Fargo and
Bank of America, among other roles. And
with a focus on compliance and regulatory
issues, having the right General Counsel and
Chief Compliance Officer would be critical.
Caruso tapped Sadow, formerly the Chief
Compliance and Fair Lending Officer for
PHH Mortgage, for the role.
Although Caruso had worked in just
about every corner of the mortgage industry
over the past three decades, his ServiceMac
venture challenged him to step outside his
comfort zone: it's the first time he's served
as a company's CEO. Likewise, Caruso told
DS News that he intentionally placed his core
team in roles that demanded they stretch
beyond the familiar.
"We're all being pushed a little bit beyond
our comfort zones," Hatfield said. "Building
a company, you do whatever it takes to get it
DS News Managing Editor David
Wharton interviews Caruso in his office.
