When Imelda (Chacon) Andrade was young, her father wanted to buy a house for the family. “Every year, he would go and apply for a mortgage loan to a local bank,” she said. “Unfortunately, at that time, there were not a lot of Spanish-speaking loan officers or bankers that would sit down with him and tell him what needed to happen so that he could own a home. They would just look over his papers and say, ‘Mr. Socorro, unfortunately, right now, you don’t qualify.’” When the family moved to Fort Worth after Andrade graduated, her father tried again. “We went to a bank, and we ran into a Spanishspeaking loan officer. And he actually sat down, took the time to tell my dad what he needed to do in order for him to be able to buy a house. When that happened, I kind of felt like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do. I want to be able to help the Hispanic community understand what they need to do in order for them to accomplish such a big step of owning a home.’” Now, Andrade has been doing just that for more than 20 years.
Andrade graduated from Dublin High School in 1998, and went to Tarleton State University. After a year there, she moved to Fort Worth and transferred to Tarrant County College, where she finished her associates degree.
After graduating, she got married and began working at Bank of America as an administrative assistant answering phones. Over 12 years there, she worked her way up to her dream job of loan officer.
Andrade has now worked in banking for 25 years. She stayed at Bank of America until 2008, when the financial crisis made large banks unstable. She found a job at Southside Bank in Fort Worth.
In 2017 she found a job at Prosperity Bank, also in Fort Worth.
At Prosperity, Andrade helps around 12-15 families buy a house each month. “I enjoy coming to work and getting a family into their home and making that dream a reality,” she said. “I don’t like to tell my customers that you don’t qualify. I’d rather say, ‘You don’t qualify right now. But this is what you need to do in order to get to where you’re going.’” She’s received recognition over the years for being an outstanding employee. “I was Rookie of the Year with Bank of America in 2002, and was in the President’s Club [throughout my time there],” she said. “And at one point I was in the top 5 percent of Bank of America loan officers in the whole United States.”
Just recently, she scored among the top 250 Latino mortgage loan officers in the country.
When she’s not working, Andrade enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband, Efrain Andrade, live in Decatur and have three grown children. Their oldest, Efrain Jr., 24, just finished a six-year contract with the Navy and is now pursuing an engineering degree. Adrian, 23, is in the National Guard and is stationed nearby. And Laura, 21, is currently working on her Bachelor’s degree at Texas Womens University and plans to be a nurse.
Adrian and his wife have a two-year-old daughter, and Andrade spends a lot of her time playing with her granddaughter.
Andrade’s husband also works in the real estate industry. “He remodels houses,” she said. “We pretty much buy at least a house or two a year, and try to flip it. That came in very handy, him being self employed, especially with trying to raise three kids.”
Throughout her life, Andrade has been motivated to prove herself capable of whatever she tried to do. “My inspiration is being able to beat the odds,” she said. “Because I’m a Hispanic woman, I want to prove to myself and others that I can do just as good of a job as anybody else.”
In the mortgage industry, top executives are almost always men. “Just being a minority and trying to stand out or make your own mark, that is the biggest challenge,” she said. “And then at the same time being a mother of three, and not letting that stop you from achieving your goals.”
Andrade’s advice to Dublin graduates is to prioritize their education. “Education is key,” she said. “And whatever you start, finish. Don’t give up. Just because you come from a small town, it doesn’t mean you can’t make your own place.”
She appreciates having grown up in Dublin. “It was a privilege to be able to grow up in a smaller town like Dublin,” she said. “All the teachers knew you by name. You were less likely to fall through the cracks. You built better relationships. I think that established a strong work ethic.”
Andrade is grateful to have found a job she genuinely loves. “I think that as individuals, we should find something that we love to do, and just grow in it and enjoy it,” she said. “That way it doesn’t feel like a job. That way you enjoy your life, and you make a difference in other people’s lives, too.”
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.