Jennifer Coram

Vice President of Operations, AmeriFactors Financial Group, LLC

Jennifer Coram is vice president of operations at AmeriFactors Financial Group, LLC. She joined the company in 2008 and has played a key role in helping the business grow exponentially through managing successful client funding. As the company has grown, Jennifer has been crucial in creating and maintaining integration between teams with extensive knowledge of all operational account-opening and funding phases.

Jennifer takes a holistic approach to addressing clients’ financial needs and, because of her diverse and long-term experience with the company, she can offer creative solutions to clients’ varied funding needs. 

As a highly accomplished senior leader at AmeriFactors, Jennifer has also led the company operations on adapting to the COVID environment by updating operations, processes and making sure the staff has the right tools to keep safety first working from home or at the office. She has the talent and skills to step into any role at the company and handle situations not only as a leader, but also in day-to-day operations. This has been extremely helpful in keeping operations moving during COVID. Throughout her years at AmeriFactors, Jennifer has been a major part of ensuring client satisfaction, creative funding solutions and company growth.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry? 

My advice would be to ask questions and learn from everyone that you can because no piece of information is too small. Always make yourself available for new roles and projects. Do not take criticism personally but, instead, learn from it. Be confident in yourself and don’t apologize for your successes. 

To build a successful career, you need to put in a lot of time, effort and make yourself invaluable to your team. Once you do that, you will earn respect, build relationships and grow professionally in a manner that you can be proud of. Women can go far in any industry; we just need to not be afraid of putting in the hard work to get there.

How do you balance work/personal time? 

Balance means something different to everyone.  I think that on some days I am still trying to learn what my version of balance is. I think this varies from person to person and how they can manage their day-to-day stress. I do believe that having a balanced life makes you not only healthier, but more productive and happy, both in and out of work. For me, my career is extremely important so I have learned to be flexible and make myself available if someone from my team needs me. Priorities change all the time and through my experience I have learned to adapt to what is important for me in that moment. It is also extremely important to have a team around you, both at home and in the office, which is able to support you when needed.  

How can commercial finance organizations attract and retain more women?

The commercial finance industry has already changed so much since I entered it several years ago. It is typically known as a male-driven industry and now each year more and more women are entering. It’s exciting to see and be a part of it.  I believe that the attraction to commercial finance has always been there for women, the pay and benefits have always been strong along with the chance to work for some amazing companies. Organizations just need to show women that we can grow within organizations and hold positions of “power” just like anyone else.  

What do you enjoy most about your role? Least?

I most enjoy being able to work on my different projects throughout each day. It’s nice to have diversity throughout each day and different challenges to work through all the time; no two days are the same. I also really like the team collaboration we have at my company. I find that it is always a positive experience to work with others and bounce strategies and ideas off each other. Least is hard to say because it’s also something that pushes me, but it would probably be the days in which no matter how much you do, you cannot seem to get ahead. I thrive off of having a lot of responsibilities, but there are days where that can catch up to you.