Below is an excerpt adapted from our Inspired By podcast conversation with Erica LaCentra, Chief Marketing Officer at RCN Capital and one of NMP’s Women of Inspiration Honorees. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

“I started at RCN as an entry-level marketing associate back in 2014, which is crazy to think about,” recalls Erica LaCentra, now chief marketing officer at RCN Capital. In a conversation for the Inspired By podcast’s focus on NMP’s Women of Inspiration, LaCentra traces her arc from Rehab Cash Now — RCN’s original brand — to stewarding a 15-person marketing machine in a sector famous for its booms, busts, and breakneck pivots.

What follows is a story of grit, guidance, and grace: how a self-taught marketer helped shape a fledgling lender and, in the process, a still-nascent industry. It’s also a candid look at mentorship, motherhood, and the ongoing fight to make real-estate finance a place where women’s voices are heard — especially when the room tilts 97 percent male.

Early Days, Big Learning Curve

When LaCentra walked into RCN’s 11-person office fresh out of college, the private-lending space was barely a toddler itself. “Back at that time, RCN Capital was Rehab Cash Now — which, from a marketer’s perspective, was somewhat of a nightmare,” she laughs. Branding quibbles aside, the company’s bread-and-butter was ultra-short-term bridge financing for real-estate investors still reeling from the housing crisis.

She devoured every article her business-development colleague slid onto her desk. By lunch, they’d be deep in discussion: “Hey, what do you think about this? Here are the opportunities.” Those kitchen-table tutorials became the foundation for a marketing strategy that would eventually push RCN from regional curiosity to national name.

From Rehab Cash To National Brand

Rebranding meant more than swapping a clunky moniker for sleek initials. It required LaCentra to build trust in a corner of lending few mainstream investors even knew existed. “Taking a lender from a small regional presence to nationwide recognition, especially with someone with very little experience, was quite the undertaking,” she admits.

Her approach was pragmatic: conferences, collateral, and relentless clarity around product. If the industry didn’t yet have a vocabulary, she would help write one — distinguishing fix-and-flip bridge loans from longer renovation facilities and, later, from the 30-year rental products that would explode after 2020.

“There’s never a dull moment,” she says. “That’s what I like most about my job.”

Riding The Roller Coaster

Success never flattened the learning curve. “The private-lending space was born out of crisis,” LaCentra notes, “so the expectation is constant change.” First came the evolution from pure bridge money to full fix-and-flip packages — purchase plus rehab under one roof. Then, post-COVID, investors demanded long-term, buy-and-hold financing.

“People were looking into more long-term assets and really tapping into that rental market,” she explains. Within months her team was naming and launching products RCN had never offered, armed with pitch decks updated almost weekly as rates, risk appetites, and capital partners shifted like beach sand.

Surviving The 2020 Shock

The pandemic’s opening weeks tested every improvisational muscle the team had built. “Our capital providers cut off funding,” LaCentra remembers. The marketing mandate shrank to a single verb: communicate. Daily email blasts and real-time webinars kept borrowers apprised of rate changes, closing delays, and, crucially, alternative lifelines.

“Being able to get through COVID mostly unscathed was probably one of the scariest points of my career to date,” she says.

Mentors Who Mattered

LaCentra is quick to credit two early guides. First is Jeffrey Tesch, RCN’s CEO, “always such a great supporter … someone who pushes me continuously, whether it’s out-there marketing ideas or simply the hands-on ability to try things and see if they work.”

The second was an industrious business-development rep who fed her those daily articles. “We’d talk about them afterwards — really do a deep dive. That helped me set the groundwork: if I have this understanding of the space, I can target the areas of opportunity.”

Their combined influence taught her to experiment fearlessly and to ground every campaign in the economic forces reshaping borrowers’ needs.

Building A 15-Person Force

By 2024 the marketing “team of one” had morphed into a 15-seat department. LaCentra insisted that rookies power through the same product boot camps as sales trainees. “We really make sure we’re taking people through the similar training our sales team goes through so they have an understanding of the industry, our products in and out … My team, first and foremost, is my focus — making sure they feel secure, mentored, and able to flourish.”

Erica LaCentra, far right, and part of her team, who picked up the baton and said “Get out of here. We have it. Enjoy your time off,” during her recent maternity leave.

Paying It Forward

Outside RCN, LaCentra writes a monthly column for National Mortgage Professional and participated in the Mortgage Women Leadership Council marketing series. She gravitates toward newcomers lingering at conference badge tables: “I’m constantly networking and seeking those individuals that are coming into the space a little fresher to say, ‘Hey, what do you need help with?’”

That generosity ripples. Many podcast honorees, host Andy Baker observes, cite a similar instinct to “give back because no one gets to where they get to alone.” LaCentra agrees: “We need more of that mentorship that really helps shape our industry.”

Women Breaking Through

Twelve years ago, female executives in private lending were few and far between. Today, the numbers still lag but the spotlight is brighter. “I love the fact that women are more recognized and highlighted,” she says.

Yet bias persists. “There are always people that are gonna discount your opinions because you are a woman, which is so frustrating.” She recounts booth moments where a male colleague six months into the job is peppered with questions while she stands ignored — until her title surfaces. Visibility programs matter, she argues, because they normalize seeing women at the mic, on stage, and signing term sheets. “Hopefully it inspires other females to come into this space because it’s becoming more welcoming.”

Advice To New Marketers

For anyone eyeing a mortgage-marketing career, her counsel is blunt and upbeat: “Let your work speak for itself.”

Produce campaigns that move the needle — recognition will follow. Build mentors, ask endless questions, and publish your insights. “There’s no stupid question, and people who fault you for asking aren’t the people you want around your career.”

Team Triumphs In Her Absence

In January 2025 LaCentra began maternity leave. Three months earlier she had quietly deputized tasks, rewriting checklists and delegating decision authority. The result? “I’ll check in periodically and they’re like, ‘Get out of here. We have it. Enjoy your time off.’”

That response told her she’d succeeded in the hardest managerial test: creating leaders who thrive without her. “It shows they respect me enough to say, ‘We’ve got this.’ I can’t thank them enough.”

Motherhood And Grace

Returning will mean recalibrating. “I already know it’s going to be extremely challenging to balance what my career was with now raising a son,” she admits. Travel schedules will shrink; late-night deck revisions may wait till morning. Her mantra — useful for every professional parent—is mercy: “Whatever you manage to do during that time, that’s good enough. Give yourself grace.”

She hopes her example nudges companies to treat parental leave not as a hiatus but as proof that robust teams outperform lone stars.

Always Another Pivot

Asked what 2025 holds, the veteran CMO shrugs with a grin: “It’s almost just like another day in the industry — you always have to be on your toes.” Whether rates spike, rental appetite cools, or a new asset class appears, she’ll be there with a war-room whiteboard and a stack of articles for the next hire.

To hear LaCentra’s full story and her thoughts on leadership, marketing, and empowering your team, listen to the full episode of Inspired By from National Mortgage Professional.