Net Branch Exec Running for Office

Rishell has worked for five years as a project assistant to the chief financial officer of Carteret’, which on its Web site claims a nationwide presence in the mortgage lending industry and “over 2,000 loan officers generating billions in loans per year, and growing.”

“Carteret has graciously allowed me to take a leave of absence,” Rishell told MortgageDaily.com. “This is a full time campaign.”

Rishell said working the fast-paced environment of a mortgage company at a time when the industry was booming and in an area hot for residential growth was excellent training for politics.

“I learned the incredible value of efficiency and the speed at which business can move,” she said. “That’s a speed we should attempt to move … to get things done in government.

“People need to multi-task to really be effective, and you learn to do that in the mortgage industry,” Rishell said. “We were so busy and growing that you have to do a lot at once or you can’t get everything done.

“That’s a lot like a campaign,” she said. “We’re constantly on the go, meeting with voters and getting to events. So thanks to my job I can handle the pace.”

Rishell also helped handle hiring at Carteret, which she says has helped in dealing with people, another valuable asset on the campaign trail.

“I have a new appreciation of dealing with people in various walks of life,” she said. “And I have an appreciation and understanding that you must listen and really hear what people have to say.”

Rishell is running against Republican Jackson Miller in the November election. She is running on a platform of improving transportation and education in the state and improving infrastructure to handle northern Virginia’s population and business boom.

Rishell said she plans a crackdown on illegal boarding houses, which is an issue in her community.

“People operating unlawful boarding houses are not only taking advantage of the poorest among us, they are putting lives at risk,” she said on her campaign Web site.

“I’ll get legislation passed that criminalizes the operation of illegal boarding houses,” she said. “It’s time to hold landlords accountable.”

She plans on returning to Carteret after the election.

Rishell has been married for 36 years. She has two daughters and two granddaughters.

Patrick Crowley is a feature journalist and blogger for MortgageDaily.com. He is also a reporter, blogger and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer.
e-mail Patrick at: PatCrowley@MortgageDaily.com