Are you ready to make the life-changing switch to a career as an independent mortgage broker or loan officer? Our team at BeAMortgageBroker.com is here to help you every step of the way.

GIVE UP OR PERSEVERE

Pursuing a job that you’re passionate about is rarely a linear path. There are twists and turns, ups and downs and obstacles to overcome. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to decide whether to keep going or be beaten by adversity. These are the lessons Alysha learned on her journey to becoming an independent mortgage loan officer. She always knew the wholesale mortgage industry was the best place for her to be, and with persistence, that’s where she ended up.

PAIRING HER PASSIONS

Alysha and her husband have always been entrepreneurial. They had a background in home building and were looking to do more.

“I had a lot of people tell me over the years that I should be a real estate agent. And for some reason, I was just never drawn to being a real estate agent,” said Alysha.

At the suggestion of her cousin, Alysha decided to become a mortgage loan officer. “I had to Google what an MLO was,” she joked. After passing the NMLS exam, Alysha had her license but there was one problem – she couldn’t find a job.

“I would do online searches and try to figure out how to apply for this job that I now had a license for. And really, most of the time it was, you need to have a year’s experience, you need to have 2 years’ experience,” said Alysha. “That was the reality of my situation. I wanted to do this job so badly; I was so excited about it, and we’re a year down the road and I’m literally doing nothing with no opportunity in sight. It was beyond disappointing.”

CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY

Alysha’s persistence eventually paid off when she was hired by a former business associate who had become an independent mortgage broker. From there, Alysha moved to a retail bank, and then on to a hybrid model. Through those different experiences, it became very clear to Alysha what she wanted to prioritize for her business.   

“For me, what was really important was my client experience. And being retail, that was something that was taught to me as a big deal. You can’t sell rate because we know our rates are higher. You’ve got to make sure you sell service, you sell experience,” said Alysha.

In the back of her mind, Alysha knew that the right thing to do was to return to the wholesale mortgage industry. However, she was hesitant to make another move because she didn’t want to inconvenience her clients. Then came March of 2020, and everything Alysha had done to build her business came crashing down with the pandemic.  

“I spent that entire year just trying to keep my head above water,” said Alysha. “I lost most of my referral partners. I was putting out fires constantly. I was trying to figure out why things weren’t closing on time, weren’t moving through operations. Really, everything was on fire, all the time.”

BACK TO THE BROKER CHANNEL

With her business in tatters, Alysha was determined to return to the broker channel. She networked with other independent mortgage brokers as well as a women’s mortgage group. Finally, she landed a job with a mortgage broker who gave her the opportunity she’d been dreaming of since she first got into the industry.

“It’s the ability to create the client experience that I want – the ability to be more efficient than ever, to be able to offer a ‘yes’ at almost every turn when somebody has a need or a request, and to do that with the support that people think doesn’t exist in the broker world,” said Alysha. “Not only do we have fabulous organizations like AIME and the Women’s Mortgage Network, but brokers are a community of support, not just one single company.”

Although she admits it shouldn’t have taken this long for her to return to the broker side, Alysha is glad she’s back where she belongs – serving her clients how she wants and doing what she loves.

“In this last year, I feel like I’ve made up for 2 years’ worth of loss,” said Alysha. “I’m looking at the next 12 months as another 2-or-3 year leap ahead because it’s everything that I was looking for.”