We’re Just Getting Started: Women in Title (WiT) Comes to Alabama
By: Crystal Chappell, WiT Alabama Chapter Chair
Last week, as I looked around a table filled with women from across Alabama’s title industry, many of whom I’ve known for more than 20 years, I somehow held it together, but seeing all these incredible women gathered around the same table made me want to cry.
THIS is what Women in Title is about. The connections, the conversations, the friendships, and the opportunity to learn from and lift one another up. That day, we officially launched the Women in Title (WiT) Alabama Chapter, and I am incredibly honored and excited to serve as Alabama Chapter Chair.
What is Women in Title?
Women in Title is a growing national network dedicated to supporting and elevating women throughout the title industry. With Alabama joining the organization, WiT now has 11 state chapters (Thank you, Alabama!), along with 37 local chapters, creating opportunities for personal and professional development, mentorship, community involvement, and shared resources and experiences.
But at its heart, I think the mission can be summed up simply as connection.
Our industry is filled with talented women in nearly every role from owners, attorneys, closers, processors, abstractors and searchers, underwriters, sales professionals, operations leaders, to so many more. We may work alongside one another, across the closing table from one another, or even for competing companies, yet we don’t always have the opportunity to really know one another. WiT gives us a reason to change that.
Community Over Competition
One of my hopes for WiT Alabama is that we embrace the idea of community over competition.
Yes, many of us work for different companies and sometimes compete for the same business. But we can still support one another, share experiences, celebrate successes, and help each other grow. There is room at the table for all of us.
Some of the most valuable lessons in my own career have come through relationships. From people willing to answer a question, share an experience, make an introduction, offer encouragement, or simply listen. I’ve always believed that “people do business with people”, but I also believe people grow through people. Relationships matter.
At our first gathering, I watched those relationships begin almost immediately. New introductions were made, experiences were shared, and women who had known each other’s names for years finally met face-to-face for the first time.
It wasn’t about titles, companies, or competitors. It was simply a group of women coming together and being willing to build something together.
We’re Better Together
As WiT Alabama grows, I hope we create opportunities for development, education, mentorship, community service, and meaningful conversations about the experiences women encounter throughout their careers. And, of course, we’ll always make room for some fun along the way! Because yes, girls really do just want to have fun!
Most importantly, I want WiT Alabama to be a place where women at every stage of their careers feel welcome, whether they’ve been in title for 30 years or 30 days. Those with years of experience have lessons worth sharing, while those newer to our industry bring fresh perspectives and ideas. We have so much to learn from one another.
I may have had the privilege of helping bring WiT to Alabama, but this chapter doesn’t belong to any one person. It belongs to all of us. The women who show up, get involved, share their experiences, encourage one another, and together help shape what this community becomes.
To every woman who joined us for that first meeting: thank you for helping turn a vision into reality. And to the women throughout Alabama’s title industry whom we haven’t met yet: there’s a seat at the table for you, too.
We’re better together.
And Alabama, we’re just getting started. 💜
Better Together,
Crystal Chappell
WiT Alabama Chapter Chair
crystal.chappell@stewart.com
Learn more about Women in Title, its mission, and how to get involved at WomenInTitle.net.
