From Football Fields to Legal Deals: A Former Player’s Journey into Real Estate Law

if you’re not moving forward you’re going backwards that’s two directions there’s no standing
still welcome back mortgage daddies thank you for having me thank you for coming you are officially our biggest
guest he got the biggest hands I’ve ever seen in my life absolute Ms I really hate shaking your hands that’s awesome
Andrew bman Mash real estate law yeah that’s right welcome my man daddies
appreciate it I have a feeling we should be calling him daddy D I don’t know I mean dude if you worked in the office every day with us I’ve never felt so
small me neither feel tiny I weigh like lb
I’m start the steroids right after this I would do the steroids but it would probably just go like to my arms
everybody would definitely know because just get those injections you know talk about the oil in I know you see like
those videos of the people ridiculously looking
just built like burns like a women a little woman I have
like my wrist and my my biceps are like the same size I look at it as a as a positive though I I try to stay as
positive I can but the way I look you look fine you look great yeah specimen yeah human specimen it’s like I go to
the gym every day work out that’s right this guy’s got dumbbells in his office he’s crushing it you got to use
them to use them for them to work all the gut show big deal there we go this what happens when I come on to the thing
with a bunch of people go to the gym work out before the meeting to kind of compete with this guy how often do you
go to the gym every day days times I do six days a week uh I make it part of my workday so like I’ll I’ll come home from
the office I have to go right downstairs we put a gym in our basement during Co because everything was kind of crazy um
and I have to hit it for at least an hour and uh saw at the end and then come up that’s awesome Yep does your wife
work out too yeah yeah yeah she helps keep me accountable to especially with
diet yeah working out is not a problem for me but I like to eat so she helps me eat cleaner than I would yeah we have
that problem right I mean I’m going to blame it on my wife sue if you’re watching this if you went to the gym a
little bit more often maybe I’d go with you die at peace probably not she won’t go to the gym with me anymore because I
tried working out with her and my motivation was not what she was looking
for only imagine so it was like the Catalyst to a lot of so I I said all right you get your own trainer and work
out with them and I’ll do my own thing I can only imagine the amount of grunting the sounds that come out but man your
size like I feel like I’d be sitting there what do you focus on when you work out is it like powerlifting stuff you
look like you’d be like a I do incorporate a lot of power lifting into it I’m limited though with my joints as
to what I can still do I used to do like the Olympic lifts I just can’t I can’t do those anymore so I’ll do like safe
squats as kind of kind of like a substitute um I don’t do cleans anymore
I’ll still do bench press I do a lot of free weights um and I try to incorporate in machines where I can’t do like the
ranges that I used to do I’m mid-s now so I’m getting older but I’m trying to keep it up top gravity’s trying to push
it down into the mid top bigger you grow the belly that’s just keep doing bench presses and just that’s it I officially
feel terrible about everything the way I look he’s having in my mid s yeah me too we look the same I’m gonna put on
some muscle mess I think that’s gonna be my next goal that’s it I think if anybody looks at you they would never expect that you were an attorney never
and your real estate attorney correct is what you focus on yes so when I got to law school the first job I took uh was a
district attorney I was an assistant district attorney in Worcester County I worked there for three years um worked
with a lot of Investigation units uh but then kind of realized that I didn’t
necessarily like it cuz they kept probably just making you go first even when they were getting raed right it’s
like when I was bouncing in college like he ever fight is like he has to answer that one always the bigy go let him
wrestle that drunk guy um but I didn’t like it and it was it doesn’t pay very
well and it was just the same thing over and over and the same person you give a break to they’re coming back and do the
same thing I just couldn’t deal with it real estate I was always interested in so my first job I went with a firm uh
based out of middle sex and I’m not going to advertise for him so I’m not going to say who it was but I I I um
worked there for a couple years kind of learn the ropes really liked it because you have a buyer who’s really excited
they’re getting their new home you get a seller who’s getting a bag of money so they’re happy and it’s just a happy
event I like doing it it’s very black and white um doing title abstracts which
I like that it’s either it’s right or it’s wrong and it’s easy for me to figure out and connect the dots so yeah it just fit what made you want to be an
attorney so that I never had a desire to be an attorney I never had a drive to be
like this is what I want to do I wanted to play football for the rest of my life you played in College correct yes I
played at Kansas State I started Syracuse two seasons there and then I transferred to Kansas State and then I
was in Camp with the Bengals but that was it just Camp yeah um but that was what I wanted to do with my life it was
it was simple it was a lot of fun great friends um chase the guy with the ball
put his head on the ground you’re awesome what position did you play defensive tackle defensive T same thing as my little brother my little my little
brother played BC um and he had a seven-year run in the NFL after that that’s awesome where you play in the NFL
Timmy was Cardinals for two seasons and then five with the Texans his last year the Pats picked him up um but they had
just renegotiated the whole CBA and the league minimum was too high and he was going for a backup roll and he was just
like it’s going to retire me and it did but he was smart with his money he just really saved everything invested in real
estate so he’s still doing good that’s awesome y That’s that’s a crazy background yeah college football player
assistant DA yep real estate attorne what did you go to college for originally so I start they kind of put
you in whatever they think is going to keep you eligible so originally I think it was sociology then it was psych and
then I ended up doing criminal justice which tied into the whole law school applications and it fitting um yeah so
it just kind of it worked itself out did you go right to law school after you done playing football no I worked for
two years for Jack Shields and he kind of helped me figure out what I wanted to do uh so Jack Shields owns Shields MRI
he used to he sold it out um but he went to law school as well he was a linebacker at Notre Dame so similar
background um he just said listen why don’t you go to law school and he kept
he’d say the world would be your oyster and I was like law school I can’t do that and he said yes you can you know if
you can dedicate yourself like you did with football and working out and just apply those principles to academics now
you’ll be fine and he he helped me get into law school I get into UMass law right here in Dartmouth um went through
passed the bar first time out so yeah and it was really true there’s a lot of carryover with Athletics I also see it
with people have military backgrounds when it comes to like a new Venture and having just the principles to apply to
it correctly to get success out of it I mean that’s that’s across the board I love hiring athletes I I love people
with military backgrounds cuz they just know how to fit into a system and and work and and move forward progressively
yeah cuz now you obviously with your company you’re hiring people you’re bringing people on you guys are growing how long have you had your company for
so we’ve been we’ve been around for years now I went on my own that’s
awesome good for you appreciate it and we went National two years ago um so we
were originally just Mass New Hampshire Rhode Island and then we ended up going through the process of getting licens in
all states and and now we’re doing that too that worked out yeah definitely a lot of scaling in the last two years
yes but luckily I had the covid money from all the refi to kind of fund that and make it work so well it’s good that
you reinvested in your business to you know down the road you’re going to make that other Brinks truck back up to the
office into the house and be all settled up that would be great little fun fact I
learned about you yes you’ve only I’ve only known Andy you know what is it six months at this point or so met through a
couple mutual friends a couple of your colleagues worked with couple Lo officers in my office started just
talking and uh you brought up the military yes and we talked about your wife working out with you in the
background I thought it was pretty cool so your wife like what’s her background look like and maybe share with uh the
audience if you don’t mind what you bought her for I think it was a birthday PR birthday so Christina Christina’s
awesome um and she’ll she’ll ‘ll be watching this too so I definitely want to preface it with
that when we when I was we’ll see if we get the same story I got a couple go I’m
just kidding so um when I was playing ball at Kansas State she was stationed at Fort Riley so she was Army for almost
years little under that um she was the sniper on the military SWAT team so
she was always into the long range shooting she’s very good with a long gun um I always mess up when I buy her gifts
so I asked her I said what do you what do you want for your th this was a few years back and she said I want a custom
Msniper rifle and I was like yes so that’s exactly what I got her and
it’s it’s a laua um really high powerered round and she’s been great on
it yeah she she actually got her first buck this past year so I think we should do this with our wives right start
buying them guns to shoot us when we don’t do what they want like yeah I don’t know about that one so we going
keep the guns away from our wives just keep buying Louis Vuitton bags a little safer he’s telling me this
I’m like so you’re as big as you are and then you see him on like you know you follow him on Instagram Facebook and you
just see him like going out just shooting stuff all the time always shooting got the gun range and I’m just
thinking that his wife with her background I now with this rifle I don’t
know enough about guns to know you know certain powerful but she could probably
how far away could she probably take oh that gun so you know Chris TI is right yeah that’s the Mwas was his gun
um so you can if you’re skilled you can get yards on that thing so don’t
see it coming so I’m assuming she’s a better shot than you she’s a really good shot she’s
watching I’ll give her I’ll give her that I’ll say I’ll say long range she’s got it um I’m I’m working to get to that
point I’ve been more proficient with you know pistols and carbin but the long range stuff that’s her forte yeah that’s
awesome yeah you’d never know a two to meet her very pretty just works out you
know you’d never expect like she’s got all these guns assass she’s ready to roll Silent Assassin can you imagine he
comes home one night late she so she’s into hunting too yes she I got her into
that so I was in hunting a lot before long time before she was but then um I always wanted her to kind of enjoy the
adrenaline rush you get when you do hunt and I said you should come with me and I took her to Florida this past year and
she got her first buck and it was great and she felt it too like when she get up there she’s like shaking a little bit
she like this is great um so she’s not a hunter but she’s done it yeah yeah you
love hunting I do I like the hunt I like all my meat to be clean yeah so there’s a purpose behind not I just I don’t want
to just kill things I mean I and if I do kill something I want it to be merciful and quick and and over um but all the
stuff I have in my freezer is is clean there’s no preservatives no steroids it’s just things that I’ve hunted yeah
yep that’s awesome what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever hunted the biggest is probably a bison
um the hardest was probably an axis Buck because they’re super fast they’re almost like an where you have to go for
that down in Florida Florida yeah yeah the Bison was down in Florida too oh okay um the hunt we didn’t the panhandle
of Texas was a lot of fun because we ended up getting uh it was just a fun story there’s a lot of mues that so mule
deer are different than white tail we see a lot of white tail up here Muer have these massive they call them racks
as the aners um but you can’t shoot them unless they’re they almost look like elk they have to be like granddaddies
so you see those all day and the white tail wait until the very end so you only can shoot minutes after Sunset so
they’ll wait until you have a window of like three minutes and then they break the woods so it’s tough but we ended up getting a couple so it was fun that’s
awesome yeah or did you just come back from hunting was it Tennessee I saw some oh Tennessee we were just atving out
there yeah that was a blast we went to the Smokies and we were just ripping around that was a lot of fun ATV is
awesome you can’t beat that that’s just pure fun it’s so much the whole hunting mentality I have just haven’t wrapped my
head around it I’m sure it is adrenaline yes I just don’t know if I could sit somewhere for hours tree stand so
it depends there’s different kind of hunts like you can you can do social hunts which is like bird hunting pheasants and you’re like talking and
like this you walk around the dogs will kick it up and you you know you shoot the bird when it pops up uh that’s a
different kind of hunt than something like a deer or like an elk you have to like a deer you can sit in a stand an
elk sometimes you have to stock and that’s difficult because it’s you have to get close enough and you know they’re
on edge they know they’re being hunted um a lot more skills involved in that
but there’s something that’s just in you that kind of wakes up when you’re hunting something it’s like a predator
thing I don’t know what it is really but your heart will just it’ll just go and
you’re just focused and it’s we should do a hunting trip you should try it it’s every day I am a natural hunter killer I
just hunt yes real estate mortgages it ties in with that and it’s I I I feel
like we would enjoy I feel like I would enjoy it I think it’s just in my head the time that it takes to go and pursue
y you’re eating the meat % right so I mean I’ve never understood the hunters who are hunting they don’t eat the meat
and like they’re they’re taking it back I iie right so that’s aggravating I I
don’t like that cuz it is a life you’re taking you’re taking its life you have to respect that and if you have a
purpose for it okay but don’t just kill it because you want its head or something like that that’s that ain’t
right like the trophy hunts that they do in Midwest that’s that’s not cool but then they’re all like combined in a
ranch or something right you’re going to eat that whole thing it’s going to take you five years
it’s crazy no my brother got into hunting he hunts now he’s been hunting for a few years he loves it it’s a it’s
a blast it really is he’s obsessed with it it would tie in with what you just said too that’s like what we do all day
is we’re pursuing we’re pursuing pursuing we capture it and we move on and we pursue something else so it’s you
ever a hog hunt I have some friends down like um they go down to Texas the
weekend after Thanksgiving yep they do the hog hunts and like there wild like the wild Boors and stuff like this
doesn’t seem like it’s like a really great time but they love it they they swear by it it’s fun that I think I
could do hot hunts and you’re actually helping because they’re I think the gestation period is like months and
they have a litter of like huge problem it they just keep multiplying and they eat everything yeah um so they
they do want them kind of cleared out as a pest I’ve gone hog hunting twice down
south once up here in Maine actually and um there’s the high fence Reserve I
forget what town it’s in but it’s like acres and what he did was he introduced Russian boar with just wild
pigs and they bred and they created like this hybrid weird looking Pig with tusks
out of its guy just created his own mon go hunt and they just multip they’re all
over the place up there so but the same thing like you you hunt it you kill it they butcher it for you and it’s all
packaged they send it back they fenced in the whole area so high fence is usually like it’s like acres and
it’s it’s fenced in on the outward part sometimes they’ll do quadrants high
fence hunts are for like beginner Hunters so if you want to get something you go to somewhere like that take me
there they package up the meat to the house they I’d do that let’s looking at
that that’s what we’re going to do our first mortgage status experience is we’re going to get all of our past
guests together we should come up with this and go and go for a borun let’s see how many show up probably only you three
I’ll be there yeah come back I don’t know how many other would be into that but yeah that
is pretty crazy it’s a crazy hobby yep so you like your hobbies yeah no it’s
it’s most of them are are like that like just Woods oriented sports or activities
um talked about ATV and like doing that like hunting do a lot of training um
yeah what was the best athlete that you ever played football with so my roommate at K State
was Darren sprouls he was the best the running back playing for the Chargers yep he was he was so you have usually
you have two types of players you have one that’s very talented and then you have the others like myself who was not very talented but would just work hard
um he was both so you had this unicorn where he was super talented but he had a
super hard work ethic and he just crushed it he was so difficult to tackle
and he was Tiny he was only foot and Ahe benched he squatted I
remember watching the numbers were Silly yeah he you think he had him and his lateral movement was as fast as it was
north north or south it was so hard to track him down when I’d see him in open field I would just break down and just
and just wait like this to see where’s he moving and I wouldn’t want to if I go one way I know he’s gone the other so I
would just wait for like my linebackers to come behind me flush him one way and then I could get him cuz you’d think you
have him and he’d just like a flea Just Bounce right out it’s crazy strong too super strong people would think because
he was little that they could bring the wood on him and they really couldn’t because he would they they’d bow up on
the goal line if he’s running in and he would just put his head down and go right through him he did kick returns too right he did yes yep he was the best
one I ever played with and we played with a bunch of great athletes of me in the NFL but he was phenomenal that’s
awesome yeah Jesus I think what you were saying though you know about working
hard and like where you went from Athletics working out to putting your time into um education and getting your
law degree yeah I think so many people fail because they do not do that they do
not put in enough hard work and dedicated and almost I I guess I would say like an
obsession like you almost have to become obsessed with what you’re trying to do and you will be successful in my opinion
I agree um and that was something that was difficult in the beginning to kind of
digest and and put into action but I I would always go back to what he was saying like just apply those principles
that use and football was a huge part of my life like I I had my scholarship Junior High School all throughout
College like was just football football football we’d have breakfast check-ins
go you have class chickens cuz they had to make sure we went to class and then we’d have film work out for hours then
a -Hour practice and then another film so it’s like the whole day was football and that was like years so when you
take that kind of like education and then roll it into something like law school where you have you’re never going
to have enough time to do everything but you got to be able to prioritize and and focus on what you need and and then pour
your time into that uh it was it was able to be successful uh but I agree a
lot of people have trouble either from doubt or they just don’t understand like
how much is required of them if you pour it in you’ll get it back yeah no I I definitely agree I mean I know like when
I came out of high school you I went on to the EMS side became a firefighter and I was just like all right you know those
are my goals that’s what I was going to do and then I’m sitting back and I’m like yeah I wanted to do something else or I’m like oh why didn’t I do this but
I never thought like I wasn’t much of a you know I didn’t love school I wasn’t crazy about that I didn’t think I was a
great test taker I just honestly think I never applied myself because I was just like either never got into it never got
obsessed with it never got you know never got to a point where I wanted it bad enough and then you know when I made
a switch to come into this business I did it was a different point in my life I was like I need to be obsessed with
this I need to figure this out I need to get good at this and I wanted to and it was just became an
obsession before I started working here I went to the gym six days a week yep I haven’t been to the gym unfortunately
one day since I started because I completely switched my me neither I’m blame it all on I used to go to the gym
I used to jacked I was ripped yes Craig started here I quit going to the gym cuz I saw him coming in he all jacked up
like all right oh my gosh not anymore but that’s so true though what you’re saying is so true and I never thought I
would be where I am today when I first started I was like hey you know maybe I can do this for something on the side be
a little fun whatever and then I get into it I’m like if I just work harder than everybody else yeah I’m going to be
better than everybody else and OB obession there’s everybody ask me all the time
and I don’t want to take away his Thunder or downplay it Y and they’re like well how’d Craig do what he did I’m
like and I explained to him like he was just obsessed y I would take a paper application hand it to him in my head I
already know what’s going on with this file right it’s going to FHA it’s conventional just move it on yep Craig
go figure this thing out he’d come back like two hours later two weeks later it would be minutes later nice and then
I knew that Craig had a whole another gear yeah y when he would come back and in my head I’m like this is going to be
a conventional loan he’d come back have it all changed up have a different scenario that was better than the one in
my head I’m like all right you know what this is next level he took the grind the
passion the obsession to a whole another level and I try to you know I have coaching you know in about minutes
with some some newer loan officers yep it’s it’s like they want to watch a video and they think that they’re going
to be Craig snow I’m like this guy yeah you know I talk to him listen to a
podcast about mortgages or Joe Rogan or self self-improvement it never stops
like I I feel like if you want to be the top % % in any any field that you do
yeah you have to be obsessed right and I think that’s where the athletic side of
things comes into play like I didn’t play I never went to college and I didn’t play anything in college but I would I love sports gr whether it was
baseball uh or golf or basketball whatever it was I was I go play
volleyball at my family’s thing I’m I’m probably going to hurt somebody because I can’t like pull it back and I get too
aggressive but that’s how I’ve always been and then when I got into this I was like I want to be the best at this I
want to be number one at this so how do you become number one you can’t just sit back and wait and hope that you know your phone rings or hope that you can
figure out things I was like I knew that if I messed up deals I was never going to be there so I wanted to get really
good at figuring out structuring deals figuring out what works what doesn’t work how you change something you know make making sure that the things that
might come up down the line that would kill a deal I’m trying to catch sooner so we don’t have deals that died that’s awesome because then I was able to just
continually like over a year year and a half that reputation started going up because now like one I was obsessed with
it so if you would text me or call me you’re getting a response back in like seconds otherwise I have this like anxiety level that I you know I’m not
getting back to you fast enough so you know didn’t matter if it was a Saturday night at I’m whipping out my laptop to try to give somebody an answer right
then and there which helps you know because people love in this business they’re super like everything needed it
yesterday and then with getting it to a point where you get comfortable and you have that like I’m not worried about
these deals not working and people start to understand that and realize that those two combinations I don’t know how
anybody couldn’t be successful in this because there’s so many people that don’t do that and it’s not hard it
really is not hard nope and that’s like that we were talking about those two types of athletes talented or
hardworking the fact that I was not talented and I learned how to work hard I could apply that just like you’re
doing and you’ll see you’ll realize success from it it’s going to happen just got to keep pouring it in and it’s
now like looking back at it like in doing this and having this success I’m like I honestly think like I could do
this in a different field if I need could like I would have never thought that % And I’m I was never this
person that would watch people and and listen to these motivational things and be like oh yeah all jacked up like that
never really did anything for me and I never you know really thought that I would would have been successful in trying something different but now that
I did it yeah I’m like I could easy if tomorrow mortgages closed and you’re like you got to go sell cars all right
scre it I’ll be the best car salesman in the world in six months or a year no matter what it is because you get that
and and people do talk and I’m not that motivational person where you sit back you listen to these people and they say
these things but it it honestly it is it’s crazy because it is true yeah when you believe in it and you put the work
into it it’s going to happens absolutely but people quit before they ever get to that point or they don’t put the work that’s what it is they get discouraged
and instead of responding to the discouragement or the negative circumstance whatever it is in the right
way they let it knock them out and that’s not what you’re supposed to do no and it’s it’s I mean you we talk about
this all the time like this business isn’t for everybody because you don’t have that right ability to handle an issue a problem something comes up that
breaks some people yes it does you know it just completely kills them where they’re like they’re too stressed out or
whatever it is it ruins them and now they’re they their confidence level goes down instead of figuring it out okay what’s
the issue what’s the solution let’s come up with a new plan and we’ll move forward exactly right yep and they get so like just beaten down or just so
afraid of failure that they never push it you know to that next level exactly but the athletic I mean you played
Sports you obviously played way more than we did but you know I think that that athletic piece of the comp if you
do not have a Competitive Edge yeah you’re never going to be good in sales I agree % one of the things I did after
after Athletics that did help with that mindset um was I started and I didn’t
think i’ I’d like it but I started getting into Brazilian jiu-jitsu and that is amazing because it’s you you’ll
go in and I’m you know you see me the pound guy you go on the mat the instructor was lbs tied me up in
pces and I’m like how is this how is this possible but it intrig me cuz I was like this is fantastic I I want more I
got to I got to know do this and it was cool because one it it does build
confidence in you that’s real it’s not fake confidence you feel comfortable um
but in in being in tight situations like this so you apply it to a real estate transaction where it’s it’s adversarial
and everything’s going chaotic you can still fight through that and just respond the right way they attack I
Counterattack like you just you have to find at times people go somebody comes
at you aggressive if you go back aggressive it’s never going to work okay the best way that we’re going to deliver
this message based off of how your personality is and how you’re coming at me is that’s a skill that I think I have
and I don’t I think because of what I did with dealing with that because if not you end up in a fight every single time agree % on the ambulance even as
a paramedic you would end up in a fight like there was times I got in fights when I worked as a paramedic with people
because I probably didn’t handle the situation great you know I was just fed up aggravated burnt out and you know
what you say this forget it yeah and then you’re like did I really you know there’s nothing worse and I hate it
because then it gives you that anxiety after we were talking about anxiety before you get that anxiety after when you snap at somebody and then you’re
like done did I really need to say that like that I went way too aggressive right away so it’s like over time you
start you know figuring that out and working that out and but I mean that that’s something that with the bad news
or or delivering a message to somebody a lot of people are afraid to do that yeah I agree so Nick has been actually a huge
help kind of how you will go one off other if you’re not having a great day Nick has been great for that too so Nick
came on with the firm two years ago he’s thirdy year law student um Fields a lot
of the stuff that I can’t feel if I’m in a closing or if I’m doing an abstract
and I just can’t stop because it’s very complicated Nick will be able to jump in and handle it like that Nick’s
background he a marine um very regimented very disciplined with his structure and it just it just works it
works cuz he applies it so yeah Nick’s a great guy yeah he is I think you know
just working with your office for you know the last couple months yep everybody said the communication coming
out of your back office from yourself Bar None I mean I was going through a transaction you getting text messages
emails awesome um I like to hear it that’s good you know if you’re looking to scale this thing out through the
states I mean do you have a plan for that yeah so the plan we put in place we
have so we have National pargal um and they’ll field out ofate deals but a lot of um I don’t want to call it
AI but a lot of the automated stuff CRM stuff um we put that to good use um it’s
not autonomous from our control like we’ll we’ll actually be clicking that threshold like all right you purchased
and sales sign this what we’re doing now we’ll send out the messages and you can do that on a grand scale and not take
too many man hours away if it’s already set up so we kind of frontload the work have it in the system when a file goes
in just have something like Nick or I I mean I think with where things are now if you’re not using technology you’re
falling way behind absolutely you know he’s the he’s always pushing you know what what can we do better like that’s
what’s great cuz I’m always in the weeds of dealing with the loans and dealing with everything I’m not necessarily like
looking forward like he is so he’s always like Hey we’re going to do you want to do this you want to come and I’m like jesz it’s it’s always something but
it’s always evolving to make us better which he’s focusing on doing those things while I’m focusing more on like
the day-to-day of the loan side of things and he’s focusing on okay hey we tried this when it’s not working we’re going to try this we’re going to move
we’re going to he at conferences figuring out different things because if you’re not evolving y you’re just going to you going back you’re going backwards
I had a coach used to say that he said if you’re not moving forward you’re going backwards that’s two directions there’s no standing still no um not in
this business not in this business not in anything I don’t think one two small things one small thing happens in the
market we’re super busy yep one small thing happened to the market we’re dead slow right which reminds me hopefully at
o’ we get we’re looking at but I remember Co coming out and I
honestly you know Co changed the world y but also at the time we’ been around for
just over a year year and a half in business covid came out I almost lost my damn mind uh you know we we wor I had a
warehouse line they weren’t buying loans off to Warehouse line so you start thinking and then I used to meet with
every client for about minutes non-stop I’d start at y my last appointment could be o’clock
everything’s in person now I have you know Craig’s a year year and a half two years in at this point we have online
applications I see him closing just as many loans as I am and he’s not meeting with all of his clients yeah but Co
really changed the game in the sense that I’d never seen that before right it went through the crash of go through
ups and down Cycles but what do you do when you get that one bad thing that the
morgage industry was shut down probably for toweeks I mean we had the the transaction the purchase transactions
that were already in the pipeline M refi everything kind of slowed down yep how do we avoid that right like if that
happens again are we built are we scaled like these older companies these retails
where there’s layers of management and they’re not using a lot of AI for underwriting and processing yep but
having somebody you know Craig if you look at the average agent in this company I mean I I can’t even imagine I
it’s probably years old years old it’s in that range I’m just going to surround myself with people a lot
smarter than me right full disclosure I tell everybody all the time like he’s a lot smarter than
me the people that we surround ourselves with is who we become right I I I firmly
believe that if I surround myself with the best people I believe in the industry friends outside of work y you
hang around with you know I’m having this conversation now my son who’s years old like listen you’re going to do
a lot of crazy stuff but you can’t hang around with all the troublemakers I’m not saying don’t hang around with the
Troublemaker every once in a while go nuts you’re going to have to but you can’t hang out with these guys every day yeah because you become like that and I
think you know one of the things about your firm and I’ve met them we’ve gone up to the office and you know everybody’s on the same page everybody
you know yep I I know it sounds crazy but just the way somebody dresses right we had a dress code thing going on at
the office I’ve dealt with dress codes my whole entire life right I’ve I’ve been in management from Banks uh
pharmacies mortgages mortgage offices the way somebody presents themselves
that’s your first and potentially the first impression you’re ever going to get you might not ever get another one
yep so you know are we a little LAX here as for a mortgage company we’re evolving
with the times you know we don’t have clients walking in every day but that doesn’t give us the reason you know an excuse to just not wear something oh my
goodness and listen I’ve been dealing with this my whole life y i remember walking into your office and we’re
probably the you know the only two guy people were even going to walk through that that door it’s the beginning of the month the end of the month you’re
probably really busy um everybody’s Dred yes to the nin I mean it’s incredible I
was joking with you this is the first time I’ve ever seen you in a pair of jeans first time I’ve ever seen out a
jacket yeah he’s always got a sports coat on sometimes got the vasta tie I mean today I mean I don’t know if the
camera can get these things but we got some about size these things what size C’s on four alligators think get
killed for cayman alligator I’m learning a lot today yep yep no that’s them that’s the
Kansas that’s the Kansas wore off on me yeah I lived there for almost years so yeah no that’s awesome well we
appreciate you coming on the podcast today uh looking forward to Growing our businesses together down the road thank
uh it’s been uh it’s been fun so far and uh anything we can do to help let us know man that sounds great thank you
again both he man thank you I really uh appreciate it and hearing your story and everything you’ve done since you came out I think you know this really hits
home to me and I think it’ll hit home to a lot of people that that’ll listen to this that you know just because that
wasn’t your initial plan you know don’t be afraid to jump into something else but no it’s going to take work and
you’re going to have to put effort into it if you want to succeed absolutely and whatever you’re coming out of it wasn’t for nothing you there’s principles in
there there’s things you learn no matter where you are no matter what job you have or what you did in your life you’re going to learn things that you can take
to be better at what you’re going to do next exactly at the end of the day it’s all about being appreciative just appreciate you know find yourself a
really good Mentor to that that’s good find yourself a good me if you want to get into sales you want to get into real estate you want to get into what
whatever it is you got to work underneath somebody that is a good Mentor otherwise you’re setting yourself
up for failure in my opinion I like it yep there’s no doubt in my mind every realtor that I know that is successful
started under somebody that was successful learned how to do it and then moved on to do it on their own yep you
know I would never be here if I didn’t start under him if I started at whatever bank or credit union where they just
threw you in and you don’t tght you anything or all the Avenues of the business I wouldn’t be sitting here yep
but we all have them yep awesome see you guys next time thanks guys