His cultural background has given him deep insights
There are times when the full breadth of personal experience comes into play in one’s chosen career, each chapter of life effortlessly guiding one’s chosen path as if by osmosis. Such is the case of Adam Mercado (pictured) at ClearPath Lending.
As director of operations for the Irvine, Calif.-based mortgage lender founded in 2012, Mercado provides affordable home loans, comprehensive refinancing options, and an array of tools to help lower customers’ monthly mortgage payments. The lion’s share of his client base comprises military veterans like himself.
“It’s nice to have that background,” Mercado said of his military stint begun as a teenager that now informs his work. “The majority is vets,” he said of his client base. “It’s funny as we go through my background; it’s the best of both worlds.”
Mercado joined the US Marine Corps at 17 in what turned into a four-year stint ending in 2002. Before that, at the tender age of 13, he joined the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps, an experience he suggested was life-changing.
“It was like being in the military reserves,” he explained.
He described the experience as one that involved meeting with his unit and performing drills one weekend each month in what he described as a “hardcore” experience.
“Being around these guys was, like, ‘wow’,” the Santa Ana, Calif. native recalled. “These guys were really impressive.” Mercado said the upshot of the experience was that it yielded both structure and discipline, all but tailored for his first job in the mortgage industry at 17 years old. The work ethic derived from his military experience continues to define his role at ClearPath where he oversees some 150 workers.
Mercado’s personal narrative as a descendant of immigrants also informs his work. “My father’s father came over from Mexico,” he said. “He paid two cents to cross the border.”
His Santa Ana hometown is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with some 80% counting themselves as members of the demographic (predominantly of Mexican ancestry).
Revolution-fueled events in neighboring Mexico resulted in an exodus of immigrants into Orange County where both Irvine and Santa Ana are located, yielding a cheap labor source for many employers in the early part of the 20th century. Aside from manual labor, however, immigrants were subjected to rampant discrimination and often targeted for violent attacks. The unsavory practice of redlining reared its ugly head in the county as it did elsewhere in the US where immigrants flocked in pursuit of the American Dream.
While Mercado is too young to have experienced the overt bigotry to which his ancestors bore witness, he agreed his cultural background had yielded innate accessibility with much of his clientele. “Certainly it’s always there with you, and it is a source of pride,” he said of cultural ties that had proved advantageous amid a diverse population - particularly among clients with memories of the region’s dark past.
Yet Mercado described the heightened rewards of his work derived in serving all his clients - regardless of race or ethnicity - given historically low VA and government lending rates. For now, at least, such appealing rates are helping to offset an ever-rising Consumer Price Index amid added worries of potential inflation, Mercado noted.
“I feel when you talk about those experiences you have,” he said, “it’s a good time to be a decision-maker.”
