Back in 2005, with only a few years of mortgage experience under her belt and two boys under the age of two, Ruby was determined to find a different way to do mortgages.
Ruby knew then that if she were to “do this mortgage thing” it would be in a way she liked. She would offer a friendlier, more personal approach to home lending, with emphasis to mortgage education, so her clients could make well informed decisions based on their home finance goals.
So, Ruby created Salmon Bay Community Lending – a bright, unconventional and community focused home lending business. And now, over 16 years later, her business continues to flourish because her customers know they’re never a number to Ruby and her team.
If you haven’t already had the pleasure of meeting her, here’s a little Q & A with branch manager & loan officer Ruby Grynberg.
What would you try if you had no fear?
I would pull my kids out of school and spend a year (or more?) with them traveling around the globe.
What is the best way to spend a rainy weekend? Playing music with friends and family, singing jazz standards having a very silly ‘good ol’ time’.
If money were no object where would you live? Assuming all the money in the world and still the responsibility of getting my kids to school, I would live close to where I do now in Broadview, but in one of the houses with an unobstructed view of the water and mountains. If I had no other responsibilities, I’d move to Italy or Spain!
In what activity or skill would you like a lesson from an expert?
Video production. There’s so much to learn and so little time to learn it. I would love for someone to jumpstart my platform for educational videos so I can reach more people and help build financial and mortgage literacy in my community.
Oh man, I’d also love to learn more about macroeconomics. I’d love to be able to track and articulate better to clients what’s happening in the market.
If you were a superhero, what power would you have and how would you use it? I would be able to speak all of the languages (with baseline understanding of cultural context) to be able to live in different parts of the world while connecting with the people around me on a much deeper level.
Being able to stop time sure would be great too. To be able to get 3 hours of work done before having to make dinner in 30 min would be amazing.
I have this very conversation with my 11yr old constantly and still can’t decide!
What is something you think everyone should experience? Living internationally. Not just spending a week or 2, but actually living in a culture for an extended period of time. Ideally in a country that doesn’t use the same alphabet as your own. It stretches opens your mind and heart in ways that nothing else can.
What is your favorite moment at/with Salmon Bay Community Lending? SO MANY!! I still remember sitting at the bench at Salmon Bay park, looking at the swings with gratitude for friends and neighbors, who trusted me with their financing after meeting me at the park.
I mentioned the idea of naming the company after the park community to my father, who quickly worked up a logo, and boom, SBCL was born.
Over the years our team has morphed and changed, but the love, support, work ethic and dedication to having fun has remained. One of my favorite moments was in 2007ish. I was trying to gather the crew for a marketing meeting and, since we were an all-girls band at the time, I jokingly yelled “Come on ladies, T&A, let’s go!” Filled with giggles everyone quickly came downstairs and for the first time the meeting started on time. To this day, we call our internal weekly meetings “T&A”.
Whether it’s helping you in-person or virtually, you can rest assured that Ruby and her team will be there to help you accomplish your home financing goals. Get started on a friendlier home lending experience here!