Kristin Langone may be Boston-born and raised, but she’s traveled pretty far in one city: From managing a real estate office to managing a political campaign; from city hall to the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. Now, she’s taking on leadership of the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association.

Kristin Langone

Title: Executive Director, Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association; Boston

Experience: Real estate: 15 years, City Hall, 5 years, GBREB 3 years

Age: 33

You’ve had a very varied career – you started off in real estate?

I got an administrative job when I was 14 in one of the real estate offices in the North End. And so from then on, all my summer jobs in high school and so forth were in a real estate office.…I got my license the summer after my senior year.

How did you transition from real estate to politics?

In 2002, [former Boston City Councilor] Jerry McDermott was still practicing real estate in Oak Square. Jerry McDermott called me, I thought he wanted me to flyer for him. And he asked me to run his campaign…. So I did it, and we won. And I think my background as a Realtor, [someone] whose paycheck depends on how hard you want to go to work that day, gave me a different methodology that’s 100 percent responsible for my being in this room. This is an honor, to have this chance. Someone gave me the keys to the castle, and I’m very excited to show them what I’ve got.

What are your goals for the MMBA, as you transition into your new role?

I think there’s so much substance here, that what we need to really do is start communicating it to the membership and also the commonwealth…There was some bad stuff that happened, but the regulations are so severe right now. These banks and lenders have really worked hard with the regulators, acquiesced [to] what was asked of them. But I don’t think the public knows that. We need to regroup and pull together as a community.

I grew up in the North End on Hanover Street. Very old-school community… It was very much a community sense, and so now as a management style I’m very much into the team. I know people say that, but I mean it. I was a Realtor back in 1999, it was my first shot as a manager of an office [which was a new offshoot of the parent company], and I got an office of eight adults to share their commission for one season to see what we could do. That’s your livelihood. And we made more money working as a team than our parent company had. There was a vibe in the office that you could feel. When someone’s working together and it’s a team, and it’s a good time, you feel ‘Maybe I’ll make out okay.’ That’s what the clients picked up on.

I really do believe we need to be looking at regrouping the membership and saying that there are good times ahead. There’s so much negativity, people are entrenched in it, they’re living in it. We need to awaken from that.

Are there projects in particular that you have your eye on?

They definitely have to do more in the way of social networking. I’m going to be taking great strides with that website… I know it sounds sort of boring. I just sort of feel, there’s so much wonderful substance here, but you’re not telling anyone. They’re using older methods of technology, and I’m not sure anyone’s there to listen. Some of the people I’ve talked to seem like they’re still questioning whether the internet is really a here-to-stay thing. It is! …My first challenge is going to be to educate the membership and to use those channels to communicate what’s going on right now. I take it back to leadership – it’s about learning how to build those bridges.

There’s been a lot of new regulations on the industry in the past few years. What are the challenges you see there?

In the past this group has not seen all their legislative needs met by the legislature. But I don’t think that’s any reason to shy away from them and not talk to them and just say “Hey, I’m Kristen Langone and I’m from the Mortgage Bankers and can I just sit and talk to you for a minute? Can we sit and have a cup of coffee? I just want to let you know about some issues that are happening.” Regardless of whether or not they do what we want them to do, we always want to still talk to them… I think that there is good dialogue right now, but I’ll be working to really enhance that going down the line.

Any other long-term goals?

My gut tells me there’s a wave of people [my] age out there in the industry – the whole real estate financing world – how do we capture them? How do we get them involved? I’m looking out at the boardrooms at Greater Boston Real Estate Board, at City Hall, at the MMBA and thinking “who’s your next generation?” …I think that is a constituency that needs to be cultivated.

And for the immediate future?

Coming out of the gate, I’m looking at doing more online education, different things with the website, a lot with social media right off the bat. I’m hoping as I’m doing all of this that there will be some regulatory issues that come up where there’s a need for me to have a battle….(she laughs). [People might have the impression that I’m some cupcake, and] I almost like it. Because it’s like a Trojan horse, and they’re so surprised when I kick ass.

Langone’s 5 Favorite Things About Boston, From A Boston Native: 

• Storms, which empty out the city. “I love it, especially at night.”
• Umberto’s in the North End. “I have to say it cause the pizza’s that good. Not Santarpios.”
• Maverick Sq. in East Boston. “No one knows about it, but it’s been cleaned up. It feels like the South End 10, 15 years ago.”
• The Summer St. Bakery. “There’s an old lady that does all the cookies herself, every Wednesday and Friday, and when they’re gone they’re gone.”
• The Greenway. “When I watch the play of the fountains over on Commerical Street, I think the city is beautiful.”