Meet MDK's Managers: Karissa Mirtallo

Hello MDK team! For those I don’t already know, I’ll attempt to keep this brief as I try to condense 20+ years into a few paragraphs. After graduating from THE Ohio State University and later enrolling in the Paralegal program at Capital University, I wrapped up a long stint in the retail world and joined MDK just after September 11th. I think I was one of the first 10 employees - including Ted and Brian.  At that time we were located in an old casket factory on 5th Street with one person handling each part of the Foreclosure process. I actually started my MDK career preparing judgment entries. Thankfully for me, I decided not to make a U-turn out the door on my first day when I found my desk stacked full of 100+ judgment files.  

Over the next few years, we started to hire and train new folks for our teams and get an overall organizational structure in place. I managed the First Legal group (initiating the Foreclosure case) for many years, and at one point was the direct manager for all of the MDK teams from Intake through Service. I then took on a position of a Senior Operations Manager where, along with fellow Judgment Manager Alexis Urquhart, we managed the foreclosure line departments - me Intake through Service, her Judgment through Post Sale. So, the line departments existed as they do today, but we worked with the Managers on all types of Operational, HR and IT objectives. Alexis departed to attend grad school and I eventually transitioned into my current role as a Senior Project Manager. Very broadly, the goal of this position is to audit and analyze firm functions, looking for process and timeline improvements, training opportunities and reporting needs. I have also assisted with establishing new lines of business and pilot programs with our clients (Timeshare, for example).  

Aside from MDK, these days I am working to maintain and add to the perennial garden I inherited from my prior homeowners. When not contracting poison ivy there, I can often be found at my family’s cabin in Hocking Hills. These days especially, it has been a great escape to unwind and reconnect with the fam and friends. My current obsessions (aside from my kittens) are conquering Wordle, cursing the Peloton leaderboard, and adding to my Pinterest board of home reno ideas. So, if you’ve ever read my “Favorite Things” entry on Gatekeeper, well, it has all changed (almost). As I always tell MDK interviewees, the only thing constant around here is change!