As vice president of Assurance Title, we know Christine Tanglos as a knowledgeable veteran of the title industry and a dynamic leader who helps keep our team running smoothly.
What we didn’t know — until now — is that we may never have had the opportunity to work with Christine had she followed through and chased her roller derby dreams.
Fortunately for us, she had an aversion to elbows to the face. Get the rest of the story and learn a lot more about Christine in this awesome Q&A.
What was the first thing you saved for and bought with your own money?
A beeper. All my friends had one. My parents said I didn’t need one, but if I bought it with my own money, I could have it. … Then I had to stop at a payphone every five minutes to page my friends back.
What was your first job?
I worked at McDonald’s when I was in high school. Then when I got out of high school, I started in the title business at 17. My first job was typing abstract reports on a typewriter. I’m dating myself here.
They put me in this room. There were 11 applicants. Clearly, I was the youngest. These ladies were there with briefcases and everything. Here I was right out of high school.
They put us in this room and we had to type an abstract on a typewriter. I found out after I got the job that they were standing outside the door, and they heard me on the typewriter and they were like, “We’re hiring her.” Because I can type like 90 words per minute.
What’s the best advice you were ever given?
“Be stronger than the storm.” My mother told me that.
If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?
I would be a sports analyst. Baseball mostly, but really I’m fascinated by people who can rattle off stats. This person was drafted this year and they came from this college.
I’d be a sideline reporter like Suzy Kolber.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be the star of Roller Derby. When I passed the fourth or fifth grade, my parents bought me a bicycle. My mom took us over to the park. In my mind, she put me on Mount Everest and just let me go. The bike flew over my head. I busted my chin. My knees and elbows were busted. I never got on the bicycle ever again. To this day, I don’t know how to ride a bicycle.
But I wanted to play with the other kids and I couldn’t keep up with them by running, so I learned how to roller skate. And I’m still a good rollerskater. I still go rollerskating. I have my own skates with pompoms and everything.
Once I got really good, the other kids would let me hold on to the back of their bike and they’d take me down the hills. I never fell, which they thought was really cool. So I just thought I’ll make a career out of this, but then I realized you get elbowed in the face in roller derby, and I wasn’t really for that.
What’s your best productivity trick/hack?
I create my own calendars. The first thing I do every day is I review my calendar from the night before and add stuff to that day. I like lists. I’m a very visual person. I will write down the smallest things. I get inspired when I can mark them off. It keeps me motivated to keep going.
What energizes you at work?
Being able to help people, being able to answer questions. I like to work in groups and resolve things for people. What really energizes me is having people bounce ideas off me and vice versa, coming up with the best solution.
You get such a positive response from that.
What is a work-related accomplishment that you are really proud of?
When I started, I didn’t really know anything. I was right out of high school. But I worked really hard to get to where I am now. I think the biggest thing for me is I never intended for this to be a career. I thought it was just going to be a job. Thirty years later, it’s turned into a whole career for me and I’m very proud of that.