Christopher Shayan
A Passion for Personalized Production
Christopher Shayan was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. He grew up watching his father succeed in the finance industry, particularly in the banking sector, which inspired him to study finance at Cal State Northridge. Initially, Christopher wanted to pursue a career in accounting but quickly realized that working in this particular field would likely entail less interpersonal connection than he desired. Knowing that a client-facing, highly communicative role would energize and bring him joy, he began pursuing roles in banking.
At the beginning of Christopher’s career, he spent time working at Chase Bank, Bank of America and Comerica Bank until he eventually found his way to Freddie Mac Multifamily in 2022. Since starting here, Christopher has been on the Small Balance Loan (SBL) Production & Sales team. On a day-to-day basis, he is responsible for managing relationships with the team’s 12 Optigo® lenders by working with them directly to secure deals. He accomplishes this by communicating with lenders about their goals, navigating obstacles to potential deals, and mediating discussion between lenders and borrowers to ensure that all parties are informed and up to date.
As time has gone on, his enthusiasm for the secondary mortgage market and its value in providing liquidity, stability and affordability to multifamily housing has only grown. Let’s hear more from Chris as he reflects on his current career at Freddie Mac.
What makes you excited about coming to work every day?
A: The collaborative culture of the SBL team. Everyone wants to help others succeed and aims to create a unified team. No one is overly focused on roles and where others sit within the org chart. Also, since the SBL team is generally very small, colleagues tend to treat one another like family. All of this creates a work culture that’s centered on collaboration and care.
What do you like most about working at Freddie Mac?
A: In a similar vein, I appreciate the value that Freddie Mac has for the individual employee. Beyond simply being a great place to work, there are many resources available that can help you figure yourself out and develop your passions. If you invest in putting in time to learn and take opportunities for growth and connection, you can progress your career in so many ways. The fact that there are multiple teams and avenues you can pursue within the company, paired with many internal networking opportunities, shows how much Freddie Mac values and invests in its employees.
I also really appreciate the fact that Freddie Mac truly values and responds to feedback and suggestions from its’ employees. At times, upper management has proactively asked for ways to improve processes and sought ways to help our teams work more effectively. Lastly, individual requests are taken seriously, and managers always keep their doors open to questions, feedback and ideas.
What trait makes a great teammate or ally?
A: Coworkers who are invested in you and care about you at both a personal and work level. People who are interested in your career path and want to see you succeed are crucial for growing and maintaining a positive team culture. I have experienced this from many of my teammates and supervisors, and I try to pay that positive investment back to less experienced teammates. I have found that one key component to accomplishing this, and being a truly great teammate, is to be in constant communication with others. In my experience, this has allowed others to both feel important individually and help the team not miss a beat when teammates are out of the office or other unexpected circumstances arise.
Ten years from now, what would you like to say you accomplished here?
A: I would like to be known as a team player who has continued to make tangible positive impacts on the team by improving internal processes and streamlining and growing the efficiency of platforms that affect SBL. I want to be someone who continually prioritizes building relationships with both my immediate team and with the other Freddie Mac teams that we work alongside. I believe in allowing every team member to be involved in discussions regardless of job title and have a high value for teaching and giving others the opportunity to not just complete tasks, but to have genuine opportunities to learn and grow. Through this, I want to be able to say that I had a measurable impact on growing a positive, interconnected team culture by approaching each colleague personally, so that every individual feels valued and genuinely a part of the team.
Christopher speaking at a Freddie Mac event
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