Erika Duran-Polite

Vice President, Merchant Financial Group

40 Under 40 Category: Portfolio/Risk Management

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Message from Erika Duran-Polite


Biography:

Erika Duran-Polite is a vice president at Merchant Financial Group. Erika is a key contributor to Merchant Financial’s success and is responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of high-profile accounts in the factoring group. Her expertise includes receivable, inventory, real estate and intellectual property lending. Erika began her career with Merchant Financial in 2005 and has held multiple positions of increasing responsibility, steadily rising within the company over the last 15 years. Erika makes it a priority to understand every client’s business and then structures the lending facility to best suit each client. Erika is a strong leader who takes pride in Merchant’s well-being.

Prior to joining Merchant, Erika worked at North Fork Bank in the retail division for four years. While at North Fork Bank, she was assigned to the mergers and acquisitions team with integration responsibilities. Erika graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business with a concentration in accounting. She resides in Harriman, NY with her husband, Jason, and eight-year-old daughter, Madison. In her free time, Erika enjoys kickboxing and rollerblading with her family.

What is your definition of success?

I define success in different ways. Success, for me, is achieving personal goals as well as those set for me by management, all while keeping true to my values. Success is always going above and beyond. I want to be recognized as someone who always perseveres and exceeds expectations in achieving her goals. Success is having my voice heard for change and playing a key role in incorporating new ideas and inspiring positive results, personally and professionally.

How do you define a good leader?

Leads by example! I believe a good leader takes initiative, possesses the ability to foster leadership qualities in others and encourages her peers to be the best versions of themselves; all this while maintaining integrity. A good leader recognizes areas that need improvement and takes the initiative to set forth change. I believe that an individual who possesses these qualities is able to empower her peers to grow, evolve and achieve success.

In my time at Merchant, I have had the privilege to work with a group of individuals whom I deeply admire. These individuals have become my mentors over the last 15 years. I have been taught how to always strive for the best without limit from our president Adam Winters. I have been fortunate to have strong leaders at Merchant who have taught me risk management and analytics by inclusion and collaboration. Great leaders share their knowledge and I hope to serve as a mentor in the future.

What effect has the COVID-19 crisis had on your professional life?

The COVID crisis has brought about a new perspective on life, both on a personal and professional level. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed working remotely, since I am able to spend more time with my family (and less time on public transportation), I truly miss the relationships shared in the workplace. The daily exchange with coworkers, who, over the years, have become family to me, was removed in a day’s notice. I miss face-to-face interactions with co-workers and the flexibility to pop into a co-worker’s office to problem solve or simply catch up on each other’s lives. This, for me, has been the greatest adjustment. However, this crisis has proved that our industry can be equally as effective whether in the office or working from home. If working remotely becomes the norm, I will find new ways to build on those close relationships with my fellow co-workers and management.

What advice would you give to forthcoming generations of talent aspiring to win this award?

Be bold! Take initiative! Go for It! I was 18-years-old when I started in retail banking, while also attending college. During the next four years I worked hard, and my commitment was recognized. It allowed me to move up within the retail branch and, by constantly taking the initiative along with my thirst to learn each position, I worked my way up into those positions.

I started at Merchant Financial at the age of 22. In the past 15 years I have learned the roles and responsibilities of every department within my company. My advice to the forthcoming generations is to be bold by giving your input no matter who’s in the meeting. Take initiative and be the person who listens and learns from others, that will give you the tools to present new ideas and procedures to help improve productivity of your company. Lastly, set your personal goals no matter how small and go for it.