Meet Your Team
Meet the Team
Carena Constantaras
Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS# 1523910
Carena may be part-unicorn. Her mix of intelligence and care for people is rare, and why our clients love her. A South-African Greek immigrant, she has a unique perspective and desire to help people achieve their dreams in and out of the mortgage industry. Carena moved here from Atlanta in 2016 and (unfortunately) is a UGA grad. On weekends, you'll catch her cheering on the GA Bulldogs, showing off her corn hole skills, or enjoying fun in the sun with her husband and fur-pup, Stella.
Alexa Chavez
Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS# 1826254
Alexa has a perfect combo of memorably-friendly and super-intelligent. She plays a key role in helping our team deliver the “wow” we aim to provide to our mortgage clients and Realtor partners. She chose to work here because she "could tell this is an amazing team, who does business honestly...and seems to have a good vibe" (I told you, Alexa is smart). She loves spending time hanging out with her 2 kids, and enjoys going to the beach in her free time. Oh, and, you can skip the Amazon Alexa comments, she’s heard that about 4,387 times (this month).
Manny Gonzalez
Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS# 1165248
Manny has been called the “loan wizard” a time or 20, due to his innate ability to find ways to make loans work with guideline loopholes. Originally from Venezuela, he is fluent in Spanish (he’s always correcting Brian’s Spanglish). Away from slinging loans, Manny enjoys kayaking, BBQ’ing, hanging out at the beach with his 2 kids. He leads our team in kudos from self-employed borrowers he gets closed ahead-of-schedule (no really, it’s a thing).
Karen Brown
Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS# 1648127
Karen brings years of mortgage experience and sales successes to our team and is naturally wired to help people succeed. Clients and Realtor® partners recognize her drive to provide a top-notch customer experience, proactive communication and a positive attitude approach towards being a problem solver. Karen hustles hard to make sure your experience is nothing short of amazing, and that you feel well taken care of throughout the process. In her free time, Karen proudly wears the title of "Mortgage Mom" taking care of two school-aged children, cooking, traveling and enjoying time on the water with her husband, who is a full-time fisherman. She currently is trailing only Kristina in our “lunches-bought-from-clients” category of brilliance.
Amanda Paratore
Client Concierge
Amanda is our "client concierge" and assists with pretty much every loan. Her super-power is helping others grow and succeed, whether that be our clients, Realtor® partners, or our loan advisors. Born and raised in Florida, she enjoys going to the beach, boating, watching “The Office” (over and over and over…), and all things sports, especially cheering on her alma mater, Florida State (ugh).
Michelle Stapleton
Client Concierge
Michelle is another "client concierge" who also touches just about every transaction in our branch. She is likely to be one of the first people on our team to help you, and has a knack for expediting the approval process for our clients. Raised in Sarasota, she enjoys soaking up the sun at the beach, working out, reading, and spending time with her son. Michelle is a legit pastry chef…so our “much more than mortgages” mantra, yeah, it can include cakes if you play your cards right.
Kristina Olarte
Loan Processing Ninja
Kristina created the loan processing ninja position by being, well, a ninja mortgage processor. She is ridiculously-proactive and detail-oriented, which helps our team consistently get loans closed ahead-of-schedule. But she’s also one of the most kind and caring people on the phone, which helps our clients experience actual joy during their mortgage process…yes, clients actually say that about getting a mortgage with us. Kristina loves to be outdoors, kayaking or biking with her husband and spending time with their 2 daughters. They are literal dog-whisperers and animal lovers, including parrots and turtles. She currently leads the team in “lunches-bought-from-clients” (yeah we track all sorts of excellence benchmarks here).
Makayla Dumas
Loan Processing Kickboxer
Makayla is a protégé of Kristina, more kickboxing vs ninja. She’s an exceptional listener and executer of tasks, which makes her a natural talent to take our loans from submission to closing much faster than Ricky Bobby can say grace. She decided to come aboard our team based on the reputation of us helping people. Makayla is originally from Texas, and lived in S. Carolina for several years before moving here to the best state in the USA. In her time away from the office she enjoys adventuring around Jacksonville, playing basketball and has taken up learning to surf. So if she says “dude” or “rad” in your conversation, be supportive!
Stacy Heckman
Client Concierge
Stacy is another "client concierge" whose focus is on our client experience and what we call “care marketing”. She helps our team with logistics of post closing gifts, client appreciation events and communication, and community/charitable initiatives. Stacy was born and raised in Orlando, is a UF grad (Go Gators!) and enjoys cooking in her free time. She has a pretty incredible husband.