Finance Executive
To some, business is an enterprise. To Sarah Hikel, business is a passion. This passion began in 1987 when she began her career as a Senior Branch Manager for Commercial Credit Corporation in Southern California. By 1992, while working at the Riverside County Credit Union as the Vice President of Lending and Collections, she began studying Business Administration at the National University. By 1996, shortly after joining Bank One Financial Services as Vice President of Business Control in Indianapolis, she earned her Bachelor of Business degree, graduating summa cum laude. For the next two years she worked with DMR Financial Services, Inc. in Indianapolis, honing her organizational and web-based technical skills. She found her biggest challenge, and her passion, when she accepted a position at Mortgage Investment Lending Associates, Inc., in Mountlake Terrace, just north of Seattle as Chief Operations Officer. Suddenly she was responsible for operations of their national 29-state e-commerce wholesale operations. In the next seven years she grew MILA's operating budget from $10 million $100 million. She worked long hours designing and leading MILA's control process, combining two disparate groups into one proprietary web-based loan organization. Not only did she reduce MILA's costs by over $2 million per year, but Hikel also established prioritization policies for organizational initiatives, designing an automated monitoring and management system to oversee MILA's Just In Time workflow metrics. Her focus and passion for her job at MILA produced a 43% drop in operating costs without causing a loss in quality. The organization maintained excellence in regulatory compliance earning high marks from regulators. She was at least partly responsible for MILA gaining recognition by Deloitte & Touche, Inc. Magazine, and Washington CEO Magazine as one of the fastest growing private technology and mortgage companies in the US. Sarah is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Yes, Sarah loves to travel and bicycle, but she is just as passionate about the use of her spare time as she is about her profession. To begin with, Hikel not only works with the ASPCA, but with local Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project. Since they began over ten years ago, the veterinarians and volunteers and have spayed and neutered over 27,000 cats, stemming what could be an overwhelming population problem. Sarah is also an active member of the Inland Empire Chihuahua Lovers in Spokane, a dedicated group of people who raise and rescue Chihuahuas. She also supports Goodwill Industries, and is on the board of Spokane's Mid-City Concerns Meals on Wheels and Senior Center, an organization that brings meals homebound and disabled residents in her area; they also provide seniors with social activities and trips. To say the least, her passion for both her business and personal interests keep her busy.
sarahhikel.com
