I grew up in Atlanta, but spent about 12 years living in Michigan (Detroit and Grand Rapids!).  I still remember when we first moved there.  I was so cold! I didn’t understand why it was so cold in April.  And also in May! And even sometimes into June!?  People would…

I worked on a file the other day for a client to try and get them pre-approved for a loan so they could start looking for a home.  I was rushed that day since we were leaving shortly to take my daughter back to college for her 2nd semester of…

A New Year usually brings about discussion about resolutions and goals.  I don’t really set “resolutions” any more, but what I usually do instead is set goals, and write them down and try to accomplish them every year.  I take a review of how I did the last year, and…

With the holidays upon us it seems everyone is a little more on edge in my town.  People at work are chippy with each other (and even me!).  Folks at the grocery store are banging their buggies into me and others and not saying excuse me.  People at the mall…

My son just turned 21 (wow, I can’t believe it!), and one of the ways he wanted to celebrate was by going to the movies — and ordering food to eat while we watched.  We haven’t done either of those things with him in a long time so it was a…

There are times in my business when things get busier than others. I’m always working to level that out, but in the mortgage world—even for seasoned originators—that ebb and flow is real. And because my business is 100% commission based, those slow seasons can hit even harder. If I don’t close loans,…

I helped my brother-in-law buy a new car last weekend. He’s not a fan of dealing with salespeople or talking numbers, so he asked me to come along and handle the negotiation. Not a  problem — I’ve helped him with several deals and negotiations like this before so I was…

I deal with a lot of different people in my business—realtors, clients, coworkers etc. Most of them are kind, respectful, and easy to work with. But every now and then, I run into one that isn’t. For example, most of my clients handle the truth well when I tell them they…

In my business, I’ve got a couple of people who help me get loans across the finish line. I have a shared Loan Officer Assistant who handles the front-end setup — getting the file started and tracking down any initial documents that might be missing from the borrower. Then I’ve…

We had executives from our corporate leadership team in town last week for a meeting.  Now during my sales career while in the music industry I was one of the top 10 account reps in our company, so I frequently attended executive meetings and interacted with high level executives on…