Employee Spotlight: Settlement Processor Melina Carroll Is a Newlywed in a Lively Household, Working from Home in Picturesque Shenandoah Valley

As Melina Carroll looks out the window of her home office, observing the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she thinks about how fortunate she is to be able to work from home, share outdoor adventures with her husband (pictured above), and care for their six children and several pets. It has been an eventful journey to Melina’s path to paradise.

Born in Massachusetts, Melina and her two sisters moved with their mother to Northern Virginia after Melina’s parents divorced. When she landed a job as a receptionist at Segan Mason & Mason, she received promotions and valuable experience in the title insurance industry. This year, she celebrates 23 years of title insurance experience, and five years working for Federal Title & Escrow.

When you applied for a position as settlement processor at Federal Title & Escrow in 2016, what interested you in the company?

My dear, dear friend (Federal Title & Escrow’s Senior Title Underwriter and Settlement Agent) Saritta Veronesi. I have worked with her previously to working at Federal Title, and the lovely setup of being able to work from home was a huge draw for me. I had not been given the opportunity to work from home with any other title company and my commute was awfully long, then I moved, and it made the commute a whole lot longer.

So, when I interviewed with (Federal Title & Escrow’s Founder and CEO) Todd (Ewing), initially, working from home was very much thrown on the table. Todd asked me why I wanted to leave where I was currently working, and I said I wanted to work from home. That’s what I was shooting toward, and it took about 9 to 10 months before I was fully working from home.

What is your proudest moment at Federal Title & Escrow?

I received a really great review the other day. A lovely client mentioned my name and Federal Title as a whole, which is grand and certainly our goal, to make clients happy.

“…100% recommended. The entire team made this the easiest process ever…
Huge shout-out to Melina for her patience with us first-timers and her commitment
to making everything smooth.” -Google Review

Creating smooth transactions for clients is Melina’s daily goal. She believes in working hard and when she has time off, she loves a variety of outdoor activities.

Do you have a favorite getaway?

My husband and I regularly go on the Shenandoah River and there are quite a few public boat landings. We go out on our kayaks pretty frequently and take a few hours and kayak down the river. We also will jump in the canoe. I make my husband do all the work.

We love to hike on Skyline Drive. I live on Blue Mountain, and the Appalachian Trail crosses through the mountain; I can jump on the Appalachian Trail and hike that as much as I want, as well. It’s really nice; it’s a beautiful area. Especially this time of year, the leaves are gorgeous!

That sounds so relaxing.

It can be, but it has built up quite a bit. A lot of folks are moving out this way. It’s still a lot less hustle and bustle than in the Mixing Bowl area (interchange of Interstate Highways 95, 395, and 495 in Springfield, Virginia.)

What are three things that would surprise us about you?

1. I likes to go skydiving; I went a few times.

2. I got married in September to my middle school love. We were first loves and we are going to be each other’s last loves, but there were a few in between! That’s how life goes sometimes. We have known each other since I was 13 and he was 15.

3. I used to figure skate and square dance.

Anything else you would like to add?

I have six kids total, three biological and three bonus kids. We’re not really the Brady Bunch, but we have three boys and three girls, spanning from the ages of 18 to 5: 18, 14, 11, 10, 7, and 5.
I love reptiles. I have two ball pythons, a bearded dragon, and two leopard geckos, and three dogs.

As we wrapped up our interview, Melina was getting ready to greet her children at the bus stop, eager to hear about the stories of their school day. It is a struggle for most people to find a balance of work and home life, but Melina believes she has it (mostly) figured out.