Katalina Dawson (00:11)
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Career Path. I am your host, Katalina. Today we are covering the topic that It Is Never Too Late. And here to discuss this with me, I have the incredible Susan Namm. Susan is the Chief Compliance Officer at Velocity Portfolio Group, and it is such a pleasure to have you on. Thank you, Susan, for being here today.

Susan Namm (00:30)
Thanks, Katalina. It's good to see you again.

Katalina Dawson (00:33)
It is great to see you again. So for those of you who don't know how I know Susan, we originally got to know each other when you first became a client of ours, but that was all through email. It was like e-meeting. I didn't get to know you in person until the ACA Annual event in, my gosh, where was it? I want to say San Antonio. was in Louisville. Yes. San Antonio was the last event I went to. Louisville, Kentucky.

Susan Namm (00:51)
We were in love-o. We were in love-o.

Katalina Dawson (00:58)
And we had lunch together finally, which was very nice. But when you and I really got to connect was at the airport. When you love to get to the airport early, so you had some extra time. I don't love getting to the airport early, but I ended up getting delayed six hours. So we had plenty of time to chat. And during that time, I got to know the wonderful, incredible, inspirational

Susan Namm (01:14)
painful.

Katalina Dawson (01:23)
person that Susan is and I'm so excited to have her on today to be sharing her story because I hope you all come out of this as inspired by her as I felt in the airport during a six hour delay. So one of the things we did connect about during that and we wanted to incorporate into today's podcast is I found out that like myself, Susan loves her tea and she turned me on to this company called

Susan Namm (01:45)
I do.

Katalina Dawson (01:48)
Plum Deluxe that has these incredible unique teas. So Susan, would you like to share which tea you are drinking for our podcast?

Susan Namm (01:56)
I am drinking Creme Brulee Earl Grey. It's a little sweet. It's a nice afternoon pick-me-up. And I always pick something different every day. Start something different in the morning, then something different in the afternoon. And I keep my teapot on my desk.

Katalina Dawson (02:12)
love it so much. And can you show your teapot again? I love that it matches your cup. It's so cute.

Susan Namm (02:14)
It does, matches my cup. It was so pretty. And I got my cup at a little Asian grocery store and it was super cheap, but it matched and I just love it.

Katalina Dawson (02:27)
love that so much. And I am drinking the pretty similar flavor, which is funny enough, the toasted marshmallow black tea. And my gosh, it is so delicious. So now the other things we talked about other than tea during that conversation was a lot of incredible steps that Susan is taking in her own life and in her both personal life and career that are incredible. before we jump deep into that. Susan, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got to where you are today? And while you do that, I'm pour my tea.

Susan Namm (02:58)
Okay. I have been in the credit collection industry for 40 years. I hate to say that out loud. It seems really crazy, but I met my husband through this industry and we're getting ready to celebrate 38 years. So when I got into this industry, I didn't think it would last this length of time. It's been a wonderful opportunity. It's given me the chance to move all across the country, meet different people.

I've been on the creditor side of the business. I've been on the collection agency side of the business. Now I'm with a debt buyer and it's always changing. It's always changing. So I love it. I love it. It's a good career and it's very different today than it was 40 years ago. ⁓

Katalina Dawson (03:36)
love that. Fair, I've been hearing that a lot. Yeah, the travel and the different people you get to meet. And I've said this in plenty of podcasts and I'll say it again, this is an incredibly friendly industry. Like people are so kind and so down to earth and I love that so much about it.

Susan Namm (03:51)
Yes. I think that is one of the things that is just, it is very special about this industry. I mean, we all have the special things that we do that make our company special, but at the end of the day, we are willing to help each other and share information. We're all, we all want to do the right thing and we want to be efficient and we want to be compliant. And I love that people are willing to share and help each other.

Katalina Dawson (04:23)
Agreed, absolutely. And now let's dive into some of the incredible things that you have been up to, Starting with the fact that, my goodness, my cat just joined me if you saw that. Excuse me. He loves hopping up when he knows I'm on camera. this is Tigger, everyone. So Susan, you told me that last December in 2024,

Katalina Dawson (04:50)
You graduated with your bachelor's degree. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Susan Namm (04:53)
I did. When I got married, I was in the middle of going to school and so I dropped out to move cross country and get married and then we had children and I never got the opportunity to go back to school. So all of the kids have been gone for a while and it was on my bucket list. So I'm really proud that I'm a first generation college student, even at my age.

Katalina Dawson (05:15)
There it goes.

Susan Namm (05:21)
You know, I was really fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to do it. I love learning and now I'm back in school for my master's. So that is super exciting. Not everybody understands that, you know, how much I love it, but I'm in a master's in the study of law. So it's a focus on financial services regulatory compliance. So it's right up my alley.

And I think it'll be really beneficial. And I'm very thankful. I have some great mentors in the industry that have been very encouraging and Velocity has been very encouraging. You know, our outside council, you know, just people that I know have been really encouraging. So it makes it a little bit easier on the hard days.

Katalina Dawson (06:02)
Absolutely. And what an incredible accomplishment, not only to go back to school, because not everybody does that. No matter what their age is, to go back is a huge lift. But on top of that, to be the first in your family. That's so huge. That's incredible. Now, what inspired you to return to school at this particular stage?

Susan Namm (06:24)
I think it was several things. I had gotten to a point in my life where I had the time to do it, even though it's a full-time program. I did it at night, on the weekends. But I got inspiration. My dad was able to see me start school. He was so supportive. So I know he would be super, super proud. He was super proud that I was working towards it. And then my daughter, she was a hospice nurse for a while and the stories that she would tell and when my dad passed away, he was very content with his life. And he said, I've lived a good life. I'm, you know, 83 years old. I've lived a good life and I'm good. And I'm thinking, you're never too old you're just never, never too old to do things that are on your bucket list. And so I just kept at it and kept at it and slogged away and got my degree and just, I'm really, no, no, no. I spend a lot of time reading, going through highlighters, pens, notebooks, but I love it. I really do love it. And,

Katalina Dawson (07:22)
And you're not stopping, you're going for the next step.

Susan Namm (07:33)
One of the things we talked about, Katalina is when my dad passed away, my sister-in-law, you can't really see it, but behind me is a quilt that she made of my dad's shirts. And so for me, every day when I walk into my office and this is on the back of my chair, it's like a little hug from my dad and encouragement from him to just keep going and just keep living your life, keep moving forward. And so I have that little reminder every day and it...

Katalina Dawson (08:01)
Yeah, your dad literally has got your back.

Susan Namm (08:03)
He has my back, everyday. Yeah.

Katalina Dawson (08:05)
Beautiful. So would you say that that is the onset not only of the inspiration to go back to school, but just of this mindset in general is the combination of your father's support and your daughter's stories from being a hospice nurse?

Susan Namm (08:21)
Yeah, I think that was definitely it. I mean, I've always, been a planner and, tried to, be an achiever, but it was on my bucket list. And I'm like, I want to cross this off my bucket list. I want to be able to finish this. And it was hard trying to get back into the routine of studying and making time every night. thankfully I have a very supportive husband and family that,

I work all day and then I'm back in my office at night doing schoolwork. And they were really supportive of my dream and very proud. And it was for me, it was to fulfill a dream for me, not for my kids, but maybe in a way to set an example for them that, you know, it doesn't matter where you start. It's you keep going, you keep.

Susan Namm (09:08)
Every day is a new chance to do something new, do something different. It doesn't matter how old you are. I'm 62 years old. I mean, at this age, people are usually done with school. They're done with school. They're, looking towards retirement. And I feel like it keeps me young. I think it keeps me young. so yeah, I just, I think it is just something to help me move forward every day. Just.

Katalina Dawson (09:11)
Yes. Yeah. I love that. Yes.

Susan Namm (09:32)
Setting a new goal and doing something new every day, learning something new.

Katalina Dawson (09:37)
What you said really reminds me of the quote, and I'm gonna paraphrase it, because I can't remember it exactly, but it's something along the lines of, the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, but the next best time is right now. Yeah, today, right now, get it done. And I think about that quote semi-regularly, because there is a lot of times where I'm like, is it too late for this? Is it too late for that? And it's like, just do it now, just start.

Susan Namm (09:51)
today. Yeah. Yeah, I actually, I wrote down a quote and I've heard this a lot, but this is C.S. Lewis quote. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. And so no matter where you are, just, and it doesn't have to be a big change. I mean, it's just one thing. You can just change one thing, do something different.

Katalina Dawson (10:14)
Yes, absolutely.

Susan Namm (10:26)
every day. It keeps you growing.

Katalina Dawson (10:29)
Absolutely. Yes. And so another thing you reminded me about when you were talking, because you brought up your daughter being a hospice nurse, there is this hospice nurse that has both a social media following and she's written a book. I highly recommend the book if you're interested. I'll tell you the name of it. But her name is Hadley Vlahos I think I'm saying her last name correctly. But she'll talk about one of the biggest things with her patients is hearing regrets at the end. You don't always hear about the great things, but you'll hear like, man, I really wish I would have done this. And I was always afraid of what people would think of me or if I could do it or not. And I just, should have gone for it. so she talks about that. And I think about that all the time. You don't want to live your life full of those regrets. But she also wrote this beautiful book about how, you know, meeting people at this stage of their life changed her life and changed her perspective on things. So Susan, if you get a chance, the book's name is

Susan Namm (11:04)
with me. No. No.

Katalina Dawson (11:26)
The In-Between, again, it was by Hadley Vlahos Yes, so good. Anyone who's listening, highly recommend the book. It was a very, very changing book, but I will also warn you, you'll probably cry. I would read a chapter a night and my boyfriend was like, what is wrong with you? Cause I'm just in bed bawling before bed every night. I was like, this is such a touching, moving, incredible collection of stories.

Susan Namm (11:27)
OK. OK. I could not do it. I could not do it. But I've seen my daughter in practice with family members and it's amazing. It's amazing to be able to have that skill and that compassion. But I just, think my dad was such a good example for me that he was like, I'm good. I'm in a good spot. I've had a good life. And he had no regrets. I mean, he had regrets, but he dealt with them.

Katalina Dawson (12:07)
Yeah. Yeah.

Susan Namm (12:16)
And you can't stay in that, you just can't stay in that hole. You have to move forward. So we all make mistakes. We all have things we wish we could do different. You try to make amends and you just try to move forward.

Katalina Dawson (12:20)
Yeah, on that note, I would love to talk a little bit about how you move through like self-doubt and obstacles to move forward.

Susan Namm (12:35)
You know, I think as women, I think we all deal with imposter syndrome.

Katalina Dawson (12:39)
Yes, very much so. That's one of my most popular podcasts is literally talking all about that.

Susan Namm (12:42)
It is we really do struggle with that. ⁓ And I will tell you, there were classes that had me crying every night. Every night I would cry because I hated the class so bad and it was such a struggle. And here would come my youngest, my daughter, and she'd be like, you can figure this out. It's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like,

Susan Namm (13:07)
Okay, I don't get it. I don't get it. But each time that I made progress, it helped me build on where I was. But man, there were some days where I'm thinking, I don't know that I can do this. And there were a couple of times I'm like, I'm gonna quit. I'm gonna quit. And people are like, you're too far down the road now. You're almost there. You're almost there.

Katalina Dawson (13:23)
Yeah.

Susan Namm (13:31)
And, you know, say people around me that were supportive and that you have to surround yourself with people that will lift you up when you're in the hard place. surround yourself with people that will help you and make you better.

Katalina Dawson (13:43)
Yeah, so it sounds like it's a combination of that support group, as well as those small wins that you mentioned and paying attention to you're saying, I don't know if I can reach the summit of this mountain and your daughter's like, look at how high up the mountain you already are. You're almost to the top. You can't stop now. Paying attention to how far you've come. And I personally struggle with that so much feeling like, oh, I can't like, I can't reach it. And I ignore the fact that I've done.

Susan Namm (14:00)
Yeah.

Katalina Dawson (14:12)
so much already to get to where I am today. And I feel like a lot of people, especially with the imposter syndrome, do that. We undercut ourselves and don't pay attention to all of the wins and all of the triumphs that have gotten us where we are today.

Susan Namm (14:26)
Yeah, we're so focused on the minute and the immediacy of things that sometimes it just really helps. And I think one of the things that I do a lot is I write down what I did during the day. So it's not really a journal, but in my calendar, my planner, I kind of write down, here's the things that I focused on today. And it helps me when I'm like, well, what?

Katalina Dawson (14:30)
Thank you.

Susan Namm (14:50)
I don't know, it's Friday, what did I do today? I don't feel like I got anything accomplished. And then I can look back and like, well, I crossed this off, I crossed that off. And again, it's those small things that help you build. And sometimes we just need a reminder that we are enough and we are good. We know what we're doing, we're smart. And just remind ourselves that

Katalina Dawson (14:56)
Yeah.

Susan Namm (15:15)
You know, we can do hard things. And we've done them.

Katalina Dawson (15:17)
Yeah, no absolutely. Now as somebody with ADHD, and I know I am not alone in this industry, I've met several people in this industry with ADHD. Crossing something off a list feels so good. I adore it. So yeah, I'll do a similar thing where I don't do it at the end of the day, but during the day or at the beginning of the day, I'll write down, okay, these are all the things I need to do. And as you go through and you get the chance to check each of them off, feels

Katalina Dawson (15:45)
So fulfilling, it really does. And for work, I have the like work version of that. If anybody is familiar with Asana, I love checking off Asana. And then they have this little feature where like a unicorn will like shoot across the screen because you did three of them in a row. they're like, woo. Hey, that gamification, it doesn't matter how old you are. We all like literal rewards. Yeah.

Katalina Dawson (16:08)
Yes, and it's the celebrating the small things that we just talked about. It does it for me. It's like, you've checked off through your things today. You get like a unicorn leaping across your screen randomly. It makes me laugh. I love it.

Susan Namm (16:20)
It helps. I mean, it helps those little things. I kept a chart for school for all of the classes that I had. And so, you know, some people, I got it from somebody else in one of the cohorts that I was in, and she like put little stickers for each little class. like, I just, I have a chart with the classes and I just check them off. And I'm like, I can see why I've only got this many more. And this is what's coming up. ⁓ But it really, it helps to celebrate.

Katalina Dawson (16:37)
Yeah. Absolutely. So we've talked a little bit about you got your bachelor's degree, which congratulations, I wish I could have a unicorn shoot across the screen for you right now. That is so huge. Now you're back in school, you're doing the master's in law with a focus in, I wrote it down, financial services, regulatory compliance, concentration, which is incredible. You even told me you're loving the class that you're currently in. But what do you have on the horizon?

Susan Namm (17:06)
Yes. love it. I love it, love it.

Katalina Dawson (17:14)
Also, I'd love to hear a little bit about the class and then we can jump into like that next chapter.

Susan Namm (17:19)
So, really the program, it's a two-year program. The first year is really more like basic law school stuff and next year will be kind of the financial services part of it. I just wrapped up a class on, really it was called the Introduction to Law, but one of the chapters was Constitutional Law. It was fascinating. It was like all the history stuff that I learned like back in grade school and
school came back and we read the Constitution and all of this all of this stuff and just really to be able to go back and look at how that all came about in our compare it to our current environment. It sparked a lot of discussion in class. I'll just say that there was a lot there was a lot of discussion. ⁓

Katalina Dawson (18:00)
Yeah, that's interesting.

Susan Namm (18:05)
Yeah, and I loved it. I loved it. And I bought a lot of reading material for outside now that that class is done. So I'm really super geeky about that. But now we're in legal research and writing. So, which is super interesting for me because as a compliance officer, you know, we look at all the regulatory changes and the case law and things that are coming up and, you know, who's getting sued and why and what are the

Susan Namm (18:31)
What are the cases about and are there any, was there any merit? And so that will be very beneficial for me in my career. And there's a lot to it. but it's very interesting. And so learning how to, take a case and break it down and kind of dissect it and research, what we're doing now is looking at dog bite cases in Georgia. So now I know how to find dog bite cases in Georgia. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Katalina Dawson (18:53)
Interesting. There you go. Well, knowledge is always power. You can figure out ways to implement things that it's incredible. So now let's chat a little bit about like what's on the horizon, what's coming next for you in your next chapter.

Susan Namm (19:07)
Well, you know, for work, you know, in compliance, there's always something new on the horizon. ⁓ New technology, that's honestly the biggest thing for me is really looking at new technology and how do we use it to become more efficient. There's a lot of talk in the industry about AI and, I want to know how do we use it? How do you avoid...

Susan Namm (19:28)
just overly relying on, you can't just get a policy out of chat GPT and let it go. You have to apply it to your situation. you know, that is super interesting to me. mean, you know, when I started and I hate to say this, but we were collecting and seriously, we were collecting off of like five by seven index cards in like a box on our desk. And we were,

Katalina Dawson (19:51)
my.

Susan Namm (19:54)
manually pulling credit bureau reports and microfilm to look at applications. mean, it was very labor intensive. And now I look at all of the information and the data that we have, and it's just amazing to see the technology. So that really interests me a lot from not only just how do we do our job better and more efficiently, how do we do it with compliance guardrails in place?

Katalina Dawson (20:00)
Microfilm.

Susan Namm (20:18)
But now I'm getting, I'm kind of at the point where I am getting more involved, even though I've been involved in the industry forever, I'm serving on an education committee for RMAI, I'm involved in the ACA, I'm starting to speak at some of the industry conferences that I hadn't done in a while. And that's really. That is interesting and exciting. First, I've seen people across the country and partnering with people in the industry, but letting people know you can make this a career. You can make this a career and you can become very well-rounded. Rotate, you know, one of the things I told people, you know, rotate positions within the company. You become more well-rounded.

Susan Namm (21:03)
The more you understand the beginning of the process and the middle of the process and the end, it will help you spot things that maybe didn't go as planned. So I really want to figure out how I give back to the industry. It's been so good to me. And so I want others to have that opportunity and to be able to grow and develop and make it a career. Yeah.

Katalina Dawson (21:24)
Like mentorship.

Susan Namm (21:26)
And I don't even

Katalina Dawson (21:26)
That's so personal.

Susan Namm (21:27)
know if it's mentorship. Actually somebody said, it's not so much mentorship, but sponsorship.

Katalina Dawson (21:34)
Interesting.

Susan Namm (21:35)
And it was actually Stephanie Eidleman, her recent email. And I thought, I thought that's fantastic. That is fantastic. know, support people, speak up for people when they're not in the room, sponsor them, volunteer them to be on projects or committees or whatever. And that is, want to encourage people to do that.

Katalina Dawson (21:38)
That was her recent email, wasn't it? Yeah, I read that. Yes. It's so powerful. is somebody had did that for me and now I'm on a board and it was incredible. She was like, I know somebody who might be interested in this who's young and like she picked me and my life has definitely been changed since then. It's been an incredible and rewarding experience. I've learned so much and I have so much left to go. have a whole other year to serve. So yeah, that sponsorship is truly monumental.

Susan Namm (22:08)
Yeah, I thought that was just, that was a really powerful, powerful comment from her. And it's very true. The industry, you when I started, there were not very many women. you wouldn't even hardly go to conferences. I mean, they're just, there weren't that many opportunities for things like we have today. And so I encourage people, you know, sign up for the webinars, sign up for the industry newsletters, keep yourself informed, keep being engaged. The more you step out, the more you'll learn, the more you'll benefit personally, professionally. know, Jim Mastriani here at Velocity, he was the RMAI president. We've got Mike Cassidy who's on the board now. So they're super supportive of industry involvement, super supportive of women participating in industry events and things like that.

Katalina Dawson (23:03)
of Mike.

Susan Namm (23:12)
So I would encourage people just get involved, figure out what interests you and pick that. You don't have to be involved in everything all the time, but start small, start with something that really interests you, figure out how to get involved and start there. Network.

Katalina Dawson (23:28)
Yeah, I love that. Now, what message would you send to people that are trying to do this, but they're thinking it's too late?

Susan Namm (23:38)
it's never too late. It is absolutely never too late. You know, you can always make changes to live a life that you're proud of. You're proud, you know, to talk about proud, you know, you want your kids to follow, you want your employees to be motivated by what you're doing. You know, your life isn't over. Every day is a new chapter. So read that new chapter.

Katalina Dawson (23:58)
Yeah. I love that because you can answer it with just the title of this. It's never too late. But I love what you said. Every day is a new chapter. it also makes me think of, so quick side note. Did you know you don't need to be any specific age to join AARP as long as you're an adult? ⁓ Yeah, you actually don't. You can look into it. I am actually a member of AARP and I have been for a couple of years.

Susan Namm (24:15)
What? No, I thought you had to be at like 55. But there are some good benefits.

Katalina Dawson (24:25)
I use it mainly for like...

Susan Namm (24:26)
If you started eating dinner at four o'clock, Katalina, I'm going to worry about you. Okay.

Katalina Dawson (24:29)
I do not. It's hotel discounts, some things like that, but I do get the AARP magazine. I don't typically read it because it's not very targeted towards my age demographic. But there was one where Michelle Yeoh was on the cover and I adore her for anyone who doesn't know she is an actress. there she is. I love it. Yes.

Susan Namm (24:32)
Okay. No, no, that's what I'm thinking. No.

Katalina Dawson (24:53)
My copy with Michelle Yeoh is actually right on a bookshelf over here because I kept it. She's incredible. And I read her entire story in that book or in that magazine. And it was almost like exactly what we're talking about, too. It's never too late. She talked about her career trajectory and how she got to where she is today. she's something like 66, 67. And she said something like, quote,

Susan Namm (24:56)
She's so beautiful.

Katalina Dawson (25:21)
My life is just getting started. She just got married. She just won a huge acting award. I don't remember which one it was, because there's so many different ones. But she's like, my life's just getting started. I'm doing more films coming up. I'm starting new workout classes. It was such an inspirational article to read.

Susan Namm (25:29)
and be she is very, very inspiring. And I do think honestly, as you get older, you worry less about what other people think. You have different priorities. You value different things. When you're younger, it's building your career and building your family and all of those things. And once you kind of see them,

Katalina Dawson (25:52)
Yeah, true.

Susan Namm (26:04)
you know, get on their own and they're, you know, they're doing their thing. You almost have to kind of. Maybe not reinvent yourself, but become familiar with who you really are. You're not just a mom. You are a person in your own right and you have your own dreams and your own goals and things like that. So there's a beauty to age. There really is.

Katalina Dawson (26:22)
Yes, it's that quote that. Yes, absolutely. There's another quote and again, I'm going to paraphrase. It says something like, life is not about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself. There isn't anything to find. There's only room to create.

Susan Namm (26:41)
Yeah, think as you get older, know, for so long you were kind of, and I'm not going to say limited because, you know, being a mom was just great and being a wife is great, but you kind of put those things that your dreams may be. Sometimes you put them aside to focus on these other things that are more of a priority. And I think there is a liberty at getting older and getting to those stages in your life and figuring out what's important to you.

Katalina Dawson (27:09)
Absolutely. Now, as we are really close on time right now, you told me before you gave me one really good lasting piece of advice. And I'm wondering if you could share that same bit with the audience here.

Susan Namm (27:23)
Oh, well, that is my mantra. Never stop learning every day. Learn something new every day, whether it's in the industry, it's out in the world, figuring out where you want to travel and learning about a new place. It keeps you engaged. It keeps your mind young. just broadening your horizons.

Always read. My dad, until he was, you know, right before he died, he was a big reader, which he became a big reader later in life. you know, I spend a lot of time reading for work, but I also read for pleasure. So learn something new every day. Keeps you young.

Katalina Dawson (28:06)
I love that. Thank you so much, Susan. And thank you so much for coming on today and being such an incredible inspirational story to everyone. I appreciate you so much.

Susan Namm (28:08)
Thank you so much for inviting me.

Katalina Dawson (28:17)
My pleasure. To anyone who hasn't met her but wants to connect, check out Susan on LinkedIn. If you have any questions, comments, or an episode idea that you want to hear us try to cover, please leave it in the comments below. We will do our best to get to all of them. Otherwise, we will see you in our next episode, and I'm going to cheers you off with my tea today. Bye, everyone.

Susan Namm (28:37)
Bye.