Jessica Temes is the newly appointed vice president of Portfolio Risk Management at First Financial Equipment Leasing. This role was designed to bring more robust data analytics and risk monitoring to the portfolio and to help First Financial find new equipment niches for long-term expansion. Although the role is new, Temes has many years of experience with analytics, systems integrations and development of systems, processes and people.

Over the past 18 months, Temes has worked diligently to integrate a new CRM, lead a post-merger integration team to align the company with its new parent and continued to lead the new ERP committee. She has done this while placing First Financial in a position to succeed in the world of COVID-19, quickly facilitating the company move to remote work within a matter of weeks in March 2020.

“As a mother of two young boys, I have learned to remain agile and was able to ensure all First Financial employees had the right equipment to work remotely, shut down the office and build out the construction of the new headquarters during the biggest origination year in the history of the company,” Temes says. “To think of how far we have come and that just five short years ago I was working part-time remotely balancing a baby on my lap and managing a toddler asking for yet another snack.”

After 13 years with First Financial working in every role from contracts to credit to systems to portfolio while being mom, Temes has developed a philosophy that drives her and her team every day: Keep pushing forward because we are all more capable than we know and we can balance more than just a baby on our lap.