Change is in the Air!

Well it has happened! After months of showing up, doing the work, telling the truth and not worrying about the outcome; I have accepted the position of Branch Manager for Cornerstone Mortgage, www.cornerstonestl.com. I have spent the past 10 months reflecting upon a life plan that went awry, what I liked about it and what I didn’t like about it. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I truly love coaching and mentoring loan officers and sales people. Unfortunately, in my previous position prior to First Integrity I had made some business decisions that went the wrong way and I stopped working for the right reasons and only for the wrong reasons, which was to chase the almighty dollar. Somewhere along the way I forgot the old adage, if you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.

I have spent many hours reflecting on what gives me joy and energy. I realized that I need to surround myself with other people who are goal orientated, are looking for opportunity at every turn and have a sincere desire to help people. When I do that, I flourish with ideas and tap into the wealth of knowledge of sales that I have acquired over the years. Ideas and concepts are refined, sales opportunities are faced with enthusiasm, and everyone achieves their dreams. This is what made me a successful salesperson and sales manager to begin with. I am going back to being the originator and manager that led previous companies to greatness.

I am humbled and honored to be chosen for this position with the many talented people that are looking for work in our industry at this time. I also want to thank the management at First Integrity. Joe Bayer, the president of the company for treating me with respect and allowing me to leave a positive imprint on his company. Paul Turin, for being the great friend that he is and providing me with a place to let me practice my trade while I took the time to lick my wounds and recharge my batteries. I would be remiss to not mention all the other staff at First Integrity who each and every day work to make “each closing a celebration.”

So as I make this change, be aware if you aren’t all ready that the mortgage industry is changing. But it is a change that is long overdue and those of us with the experience know how to handle this change and make it a great opportunity for all of our clients and referral partners. As I told someone earlier today, in your mind, roll the calendar back to 2000. The programs and underwriting guidelines that we had then are the same ones we will be embracing today. Yes, the crazy loans are disappearing, but if you have credit, income, assets and collateral, you will still be able to get a loan today and for many years to come.