Kristin Hanson is an accomplished Sales Manager with loanDepot. Top 1% Originator and the BEST Hanson. Kristin’s unique approach to her business is built on relationships. We’re going to talk more about this on the Modern Lending Podcast.

In this snippet of the Modern Lending Podcast…

• Mentorship and coaching is key to having a successful mortgage career.
• Everyone has their struggles, but you have to keep going.
• You need to surround yourself with people that can fill in the gaps.
• You’re not going to know everything and that’s okay.

Episode Transcribe

[Alec] Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of The Modern Lending Podcast, Live with your host, Alec Hanson. I’m Alec Hanson. Today, I don’t know where this is going to go. It’s going to go somewhere. Get ready for a ride. I decided to bring on a top producer. When you bring on top producers, you never know what kind of fire they’re going to bring to the meeting or the podcast, whatever this is, except it’s not just any normal top producer. I grew up with this person. This person is my sister. Kristin Hanson is joining the Modern Lender podcast and you’re going to get some real, real life stories here with the best originator and the best Hanson in the industry. Let’s bring on Kristen Hanson. In the flesh.- Hey[Alec] In the flesh. We get to do that because we’re family don’t judge us, we’re on a pod. Leave me alone. But this is cool.- This is cool.[Alec] For me.- Yeah, no. I’m very excited.[Alec] Actually, I have, I have a confession to make.- Okay.[Alec] So I had, I wanted you on my podcast for awhile, we’ve been talking. And so that’s true. So you can’t deny that.- Right, but last time I was here you were too busy so…[Alec] No.- I couldn’t come on.[Alec] But, then since some other jerk that I work with, tried to schedule you before me. And I was like, no, I’m moving her up.- Mhm. I shouldn’t have told you.[Alec] Nobody interviews my sister before me. You hear that? It’s big brother. Anyway, hi Kristen.- Hi![Alec] So you look lovely. Good to see you.- I did dress up today.[Alec] Really?- Yeah, I haven’t been dressing up for a long time. with COVID, but…[Alec] Hey, if you’re joining us live across the platforms, we’re on Facebook, Instagram… Not Instagram, I know, I never… We’ll get on Instagram at some point. YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter. Hit me up with a #Bypassed If you’re watching this in the future, then I get a notification and I love it. And if you’re watching live right now, just hit me up and let me know where you’re watching this from, because I get, that makes me happy. It’s in the comments. So Kristen, we’re going to talk lot about stuff, mentorship.- Yep.[Alec] You know, you’re a top producer in three different parts of the country, which is wild and that whole journey was cool. You’ve been on the stage of Tom Duncan. You’ve done so many cool things in our industry.- Yes.[Alec] What do you like most about me as your brother?- So that’s, the list is small. So really just the fact that, you know, we have similar genes.[Alec] No.- That’s about it.[Alec] Okay. So let’s go back. I got sucked into this industry. Everyone knows my story because I was dumb and I asked my dad for a job. Why did you come into this crazy world? Like, what’s your origin story? How did you get into mortgages? What the heck happened?- I tried really hard to stay out of the family business. And if you remember, I was in grad school getting my masters to become a therapist and then…[Alec] Which is similar to being a loan consultant?- A hundred percent, like the background is perfect for this job. It’s great. But what happened was, my husband decided that he wanted to start his job in sports broadcasting.[Alec] Yeah.- And in order to get into that, you end up having to have to go to a very small market. And you kind of bounce around. So I moved to Abilene, Texas, and then we were there for a year.[Alec] What about Bakersfield?- Right. So if I could just… Here we are.[Alec] I’ll be back.- Yeah, we don’t even need you here. I got this. So then, after a year there we moved to Bakersfield and I was like, what am I… Like I don’t have anything to do. I didn’t finish my master’s because it was state specific and I knew we were going to be moving around the country. So I thought that was not a good idea. And so I called my dad and I was like…[Alec] You did what I did.- What am I supposed to do? I need to have a job. And I don’t like interviewing, that’s scary. And so he was like, why don’t you just go get a… There’s a branch in Bakersfield. Why don’t you go get a job? And so I did. That was it. I was like, I just am too afraid to interview anywhere. So if somebody, if my dad could just get me a job, just that’s fine.[Alec] And then what’d you, what was your first job then? What was your role?- Set up. I was in set up. We set up our own loans in the branch.[Alec] Yeah.- And so I did that and… And that was good, it was a good starting point. I learned how to set up alone. I don’t, I do it terribly now ’cause I’m a loan officer. But, I did…[Alec] So you were good at it- I was good.[Alec] You became a loan officer, now you can’t…- Can’t do it, 10 a full 10 over. No.[Alec] Well that’s, you’re not a top producer if you can do a full ten-oh-three- Right.[Alec] But you obviously have way too much time on your hands.- Yeah.[Alec] If you’re getting employment phone numbers and addresses and any of that stuff.- You just go, you just submit that.[Alec] Yeah. It’s not good.- So. Okay. So what’d you produce that first year you were originating after you got off set up and got into the loan officer ship.[Alec] So after I got up into set up, I was a production assistant and I was like, you know, my pay was dependent on whether or not my loan officer worked and would get bonuses and she didn’t seem to always want to get bonuses.- Weird.[Alec] So weird.- So, I…[Alec] Did you say a loan officer wasn’t working hard?- I don’t know that she wasn’t working hard, I just, maybe it was a tough time. I don’t know. I, I… No comment.[Alec] Welcome to real talk.- So I decided I got licensed, you know, after like six months. But that was also a requirement from that loan officer that I be licensed. So I did that. And then I realized that, you know, if I just did one loan a month I would be okay.[Alec] Make more than you’re making…- As an assistant and I wouldn’t have to rely on anyone. And so I just hit the ground running. And I think my first year as a loan officer, I can’t remember the loan amount, but I know I made over six figures and that was like crazy because I was working at Zales in the Mall of Abilene, In Abilene.[Alec] That’s right, you worked at Zales in the mall in Abilene.- Abilene.[Alec] Who cares?- Yeah, you didn’t visit.[Alec] So, it’s not a place.- No. Yes it is. It’s a great place.[Alec] So, you broke through, you became a loan officer. Made six figures in your first year.- Yeah.[Alec] This is, I’m going to do this now.- Actually, to be honest, I did go to… I went to Sales Mastery and I was like, I’m in, I could do it. And then when you go to those, you get so pumped up and you think, I can be a loan officer. I can totally. And then you go and you’re… you’re totally delusional and hyped up from that that you just go out and start hitting up realtors and you have so much confidence and, and then, you know, you try to back that up with…[Alec] So I see, I see we have a quote from Dan Hanson, which is great. So my goodness, your parents must be super attractive. So that’s… I was looking for proud, proud on that one next time.- My mom is gorgeous, but yes.[Alec] Okay, so then you had to move to a new place in a new state, right?- Right. So that’s hard, loan originators build all their influence in one market and then to uproot that and go to with licensing and everything else like that’s, uproot.[Alec] Uproot? That’s hard. So how did you do that?- I don’t recommend it. It’s not, it wasn’t my idea. But I did marry that man and so part of a marriage is to live in the same state, so…[Alec] Well, I mean…- Right, I mean I think. So that was another reason for the move. And this time we went back to Texas, bigger city, San Antonio. And I got lucky because I worked for a company that does a lot of builder business and there was a JV account, or sort of JV account and, you know, similar to Bakersfield, there was a woman, Ashton Velate, who’s a manager of that account in the area I was in. And she just took me under her wing and like, didn’t let me fall. And taught me builder business and taught me manual underwrites for first time home buyers. Like all the stuff when I first, you know, started would have been like, I don’t know how to handle this. And taught me how to check my pipeline, do all the… I mean, she babysat me. She was very good at that. And I can call her anytime. And same thing in Bakersfield. I had somebody that just, Christie White. She would go, here’s the deal. You’ll get 50 basis points, just go to the deal. And I’ll be like, okay. And I take a deal and I go to my office and I’d look at it, and I’d be like okay and I’d go back to her office and I’d be like, what do I do? And so she was so nice that she took time to not only like help me pay my rent because she was giving me part of her production, but also teach me what to do, because you can get licensed to be a loan officer, but you have no idea like what anything is.[Alec] Well, and one of the topics I really want to go into is mentorship with you, because we are an apprenticeship business. Like, there is no school for mortgage banking. There is no book.- No, I tried. I tried to find, you know, read what I could. But there’s nothing, aside from like the FHA handbook, which is very boring.[Alec] And my book wasn’t published yet.- Oh.[Alec] Ahh! Okay. So let’s, before we go back to mentorship, then you moved again?- Right? So then, then I was in Texas for a year, and then I had a pause, I took some disability time off for treatment.[Alec] Yeah that’s a whole other podcast.- That’s a whole other, yeah. And then, for treatment for a… Well I, whatever. I went to treatment for everything. But the next one was Florida, South Florida.[Alec] Great, very similar market.- So similar.[Alec] Very similar. Lot’s of first time home buyers, manual underwrites. Also lots of New Yorkers buying their second home, and we’re talking jumbo loans, which I didn’t know was a thing.- And their personalities are different, their needs are different, their expectations are different From a first time home buyer to…[Alec] Well!- It was just such an aggressive transfer. I was not ready for that.[Alec] Oh my gosh, by the way if you got into this business because of your parents, please put in a comment like Stacy just dropped it. Like, yes, it’s, we blamed them for sure. And I’m sending them my therapy bills every month. It’s their fault. But okay, so then you came to another market and you killed it, but again, you had great mentorship too.- Yeah. So my, my branch manager is Stephen Sirop and he’s been a top producing loan officer…[Alec] He’s okay, I mean he’s fine.- He’s he’s not the smartest guy. If you talk to him, you can tell.[Alec] He’s gonna listen to this.- No, he is, he is amazing. He’s a hundred percent the most brilliant loan officer, branch manager, whatever. He took so much time to teach me all things jumbo, foreign national, all things, all things, all the things. Dealing with the different type of buyer, clientele that from, from the Texas to Florida. Just incredible. I mean, he would send emails out being like, I’ll be here on Saturday if anybody wants to make realtor calls or learn how to like, you know, set up a good ten-oh-three or label document. You know, like… And I would show up, I would show up on Saturday. And he’d be like, you already know, we already went over this. I’d be like, I know, but I might learn something else. You know?[Alec] So, we’re going to talk about mentorship because you’ve had some incredible mentors and they’ve changed how you did business. But one thing that they cannot teach and cannot give somebody, is drive hard work and motivation.- Mhm.[Alec] You just made a really fun comment how he would like, he would do free trainings, right?- Yeah. Just come to my training.[Alec] Right and how many people would come?- Me. Me.[Alec] Yeah I mean but so, no matter, there are great mentors in our industry. There’s incredible people, but also…- Devin that’s a great hashtag.[Alec] No, Devin come on. I can’t even… Oh, the best Hansen. Okay. I mean, that’s fair. I have a story before we talk about the mentorship and all that stuff for originators. A lot of people know that I love dorky comic book stuff, but they don’t know why. And there’s a reason.- No friends for it. [Alec] That’s the first time I’m going to share this on live… No friends? I have some friends. So first time I’ve ever shared this, and people don’t know this, the reason I became such a big comic book dork was because my dad, our dad collected comic books for so long, but that’s not actually the reason. There was a trunk of comic books in our house, but I ended up taking it, putting it in my room because I used to get grounded a lot. I had timeouts room, in my room all the time.- For hitting me.[Alec] Can I tell the story?- Yes.[Alec] Can I tell one story?- Yeah. Truthfully[Alec] So when I, see what people don’t know is that my sister is massively smarter than me, like massively. Like I, and I’m, that’s saying something. Cause if I’m really honest, like I’m, even Devin, you can’t even, I’m kind of okay. I’m like, I’m here. So when we get in sibling… we’re strong willed people. So when we would get into arguments, discussions, as adults call them, at some point she would outwit me or say something that I had no comeback to. And so I just resorted to physical violence and I’d just push her down or hit her or whatever I did. And then I’d be grounded with no TV, no Nintendo, no nothing, no screens, except a trunk of comic books. And so I read them all. I had lots of time to read them all.- Right.[Alec] And that’s why I…- Love them.[Alec] Am messed up.- That’s too bad.[Alec] So no, no, you’re actually the reason that I’m a comic book dork, because you’re the one that got me in trouble all the time.- Oh, okay. So my years of therapy would tell me that that was your doing. You were responsible for your own actions.[Alec] You know, quid pro quo.- Okay.[Alec] So let’s talk about mentorship because I had good mentorship too. That changed my entire career.- Right.[Alec] And so when, and in mortgage, I think that there, there there’s a lack of mentorship to some degree. You found some in Sales Mastery with Duncan in high trust coaching. And I want you to share for a minute, what those mentors taught you at specific points in your life? Like what were the key moments that something happened, where you were like, wow, that’s going to change how I operate. That moved me from here to here. So let’s go through, let’s go through each of them. Like, you already started telling some stories but…- Okay.[Alec] Let’s start with an easy one. You had an aha moment at Duncan’s event. And then you started getting coaching through Duncan’s…- Yes.[Alec] Program. What was that moment like? And what’s the mentorship been like for that coaching?- So the, I mean I’ve had several aha moments with Sales Mastery. But so I had… like how long is this podcast?[Alec] We got another easy 30 to 45 minutes.- Okay. So right before, or right after I became a licensed loan officer, I had gotten diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. So I was obviously very upset because that wasn’t in the plans that I created for my life. And I was dealing with the grief of, you know, that diagnosis. And I was in a new city, new job, new career, you know, so much stress and I…[Alec] Holy crap.- I was at Sales Mastery and I was listening to all these people talk about how great they were. And I was like, okay, but you don’t have M.S. You know, you don’t have what I have. So I’m sure I could be up there doing all the things and talking about how great everything is. If I, you know, didn’t have M.S. And then how Elrod was one of the last speakers and thank God for him because he changed my life. He talked about his story. And I could say with, you know, a hundred percent conviction that if I had been in his shoes and had what happened to him, happen to me at that young age I would not have been as strong as he was to pull himself out of that and turn his life around. I don’t have COVID I got tested negative.[Alec] I’m very glad to hear that. Because I’m sitting right here.- And so I just thought, okay, so I have M.S. It’s what it is. Not, I can’t go back and like erase it, but I can be successful with it and I can figure this out and I don’t have to… I don’t have to be different. I could be one of those people on stage. And so that, and all the tools that you get at those kinds of events, you know, really brought me back and I was pumped up and I started doing Miracle Morning and it changed my life because it forced me to have gratitude and positivity in the forefront of my mind. At a time where I was, I had nothing. I had no, you know, my health was crap. I wasn’t, I was new at a job, new in a city, you know, about to get married. And a lot of things were uncertain, but being, doing that Miracle Morning, you know, caused me to not be able to sort of fail, I guess, I feel like.[Alec] Yeah.- And I had Christie there, you know, for me to just go in every day, and be like thank God we’ve got like a little bit of humor because that’s all I could bring to the table was I could maybe make a joke or two, and then they’d be like, all right, let me look at your, let’s read your D.U. ’cause you don’t know how to read that. You know? And I was taken care of.[Alec] Yeah.- You know? And that was how I started my little journey. And so that was a huge aha moment for me at Sales Mastery. And then that’s…[Alec] Then you had Christie.- Then I had Christie.[Alec] Backing you up, teaching you their game.- Just so patient.[Alec] Yeah, so, yeah.- She just never was like, I don’t have time for you. And I don’t know why. I mean I remember thinking like, why are you even still helping me? Like you, I don’t, you own me anything, you know? I’ve given you nothing. Except for like a couple laughs, right? And I just remember thinking like, okay, if, if I ever get… if I ever know what I’m doing in this business, which I still feel like isn’t a thing, you know I will help people. I will teach people. I will take the time. Because I cannot believe that this woman took this time for me. I mean, I was nobody. She didn’t owe me anything. And she just, she just did that.[Alec] So by the way, my friends who are hanging out with us, if you have any questions you want to have Kristin and I discuss… We’re talking about mentorship, we’re talking about family dynamics, all being in the mortgage business and all the craziness fired in there. We got a lot of you guys watching from all over the place, so I love it. Thanks for spending a few minutes of your day with us. So what was your next big mentorship aha moment experience? Who is your next big mentor in the business?- Well, so when I moved to San Antonio, before I got the, the builder account with the company, you know, Ray Selganya was my manager. And same thing like, and she always likes to joke would joke about this, but I would just show up at work and I would sit in her office. And I would sit across from her and she’d be like, do you need anything? And I was like, not at the moment, but I’m probably going to have questions. So I’ll just work right here. And then just like fire it back at you Like when something comes up. And then I’ll, you know, I’m doing stuff and I’ll be like, what’s the tax rate? What do you do for… What’s the insurance rate here in Texas? What are these lawyers? What’s? How do you do? And she just would be like, she would just sit there and answer my questions and let me spend the day in her office. And she was a producing manager too. So she, you know, she had her own deals. But she just, she never made me feel like I couldn’t, I couldn’t come into her office and sit. Or like that I needed to go to my own office. It was her office.[Alec] And you would sit in her office?- I would sit in her office. Cause that’s what they did with Christie. Right? I would leave Christie’s office and realize I shouldn’t have ever left. And then we’d go back in. And so I just, that’s what I do. I just go and I hang out. And I sit across from my boss’s desks and I ask questions and I joke, and that’s what I do.[Alec] Yeah. So there’s a lesson here for people that are not paying attention. It’s called learning by osmosis. And it’s a thing. It’s a thing because I used to do the exact same thing, It’s so funny. I didn’t realize you did the same thing I did. I sat in Kevin Buddy’s office, at a little side desk and listened to him, talk to customers.- Right.[Alec] Cause he would do that all day. Listen to it. And you just, you pick up the basics, you pick up the skills.- Totally. And then when they’re off the phone, I’ll be like so what did that…[Alec] What did that mean?- Yeah. [Alec] What is that?- And then, and so and she just never, she was, she’s like a mama bear, so right? So she just, you know, just unconditional love there with her, which was awesome. Because I had, you know, moved away from my family. So I didn’t know any, again, don’t know anybody, nothing to do except work. And you know. And then when I… They were like, hey we have this builder account here and you don’t have any business and you don’t have any projected business. So, why don’t you take this? Because you’re not doing anything. And I was like, sure. But I was very hesitant. And I talked to Ashton before, you know, I was like, I don’t want to screw this up for the company. I don’t know if you know this, but my dad, and my brother, and my cousin all work for the company and I don’t want anything getting back to them being like, oh, we have this huge account, and Kristin screwed it up. And I was very fearful because this is a big account that we have in Texas. And it means a lot to a lot of people and a lot of people’s livelihood. And I felt immense pressure. And I was like, I’ve only been a loan officer for a year. Like, are you sure this is what you want? You know, I’ll work hard, but I just don’t… I don’t want to screw it up.[Alec] By the way the key part of any of that is that you’re willing to work hard.- Right? Right. I’ll put in the time, I’ll do extra hours. I’ll learn. I’ll do the… I’ll be teachable. But if I screw up, it’s going to be your fault.[Alec] The other thing, Kristin, that makes you a dynamic, competent top producer is that you take extreme ownership of your results and your experiences. Like when you got that account, you went in there to work as hard as you humanly could and own everything. If someone wasn’t having a good experience, it was your fault. You kind of fixed it, you owned it. You took it on emotionally. Now, I mean there’s some things you shouldn’t be taking on emotionally. But like, there are… This is something that you live it, you live for our customers. You’re in the fight. Which is also why it can be hard with the customers that aren’t super kind. And you’re like, why? I’m doing my best for you, please.- I have to have a bank statement. It’s the law. It’s not my…[Alec] I have to have a bank statement.- I don’t care about your Nordstrom charge.[Alec] Well, I mean, we’re looking.- Right, obviously.[Alec] I’m gonna be judging. Alright. So then you moved again, mentorship. Last mentor, next mentor.- Then I moved to Florida, South Florida. And it was funny because I had met Stephen Sirop randomly, through dad. He had put us in contact before Florida was ever even, I mean, it was never on the radar. And I just read a comment by dad so I lost my…[Alec] No, isn’t it great? They’re right there. So like, Hey, we learned more just by doing them. – Yes we do.[Alec] Thanks, dad!- So anyways, so I had taught, I had Stephen and I had had a relationship, a personal relationship, not anything to do with work prior to me moving there. And then we met at Chairman’s Elite one year.[Alec] Yeah by the way, how many years have you gone to Chairman’s Elite?- Well, one… Two…[Alec] Qualified.- Three, four.[Alec] And how many years have you been originating?- Five. Cause I had a year off for disability.[Alec] Yeah, so four of the five years and one year when you’re dealing with some health stuff.- Right.[Alec] You went to Chairman’s Elite.- Right.[Alec] Okay, so…- I didn’t make it my first year. Like my brother, who was rookie of the year and like biggest producer in the world. And my excuse for that, just so everyone knows, is that was when there were like stated income loans. So that was like easy-peasy for him to just, you know, but I’m sure he did a bunch of those. That’s why I didn’t make it my first year.[Alec] Okay.- Alright.[Alec] I didn’t, I didn’t bring that up.- I know. That’s constantly playing in my head.[Alec] Oh, good!- Hey look what Alec did. Hey look what Alec did.[Alec] Let’s go back to Stephen Sirop.- Stephen Sirop. So, we met at Chairman’s Elite and we sat at the same table together and I met his wife, Robin, who is amazing. And we got to actually meet each other face to face, And he was like, you should come work for me in Florida. And I was like, ha ha never gonna happen.[Alec] Hey!- And then my husband got a job offer in Florida and I was like, let me look up the branch. And I pulled it up and I saw that Stephen was the manager and I was like, oh you’re going to get the job. Because God did this thing with this thing, and now you’re going to get the job because what are the odds that I would end up at Stephen’s branch?[Alec] Yep.- And he got the job and we packed it up, and moved to Florida. And I did the same thing. I went and sat at Stephen’s desk with my little laptop up. And I was like, what’s a jumbo loan? Why can’t I go over 43 D.T.I on all these options? What’s happening?[Alec] Why can’t I manually underwrite these deals?- Why is it saying ineligible all the time?[Alec] All the time. That’s nothing.- And Stephen just, you know, same thing just so much compassion, so much… just patience. Lots of patience, man. And I just sat there and tried to absorb everything I could and learn. And I know the first time I had to come in crying because somebody, a doctor, was buying her second home and it was for $500,000, which was the biggest loan I’d ever done at this point. And she was pissed because I wanted to see where the money was coming from. I ran into Stephen and was like, I don’t, I’m so sorry. Like, I hope she doesn’t leave a bad review or this realtor partner like bash us, I don’t know what to do. But like I just asked her for the bank statement to see where the source of funds are coming from and she doesn’t wanna give it to me. And I don’t know how to handle this. Yeah. And he was like, you’re giving her the money. And I was like I know, but she’s the doctor she’s probably a lot smarter than me, I don’t know. Like, she doesn’t to give me the banking. So like how do we not get the banking, but like do the loan. And he’s like, no, no, no, no. And then he calls her and says whatever magic he says and then the bank statements there.[Alec] So good.- You know? Yeah. And so, and then, like you said, when you were sitting with Kevin, I’ll listen to him talking to clients and people.[Alec] Yep.- And I’ll see points where I would have like wanted to hang up or maybe say a bad word. And he’s, you know, relaxed and smiling, and listening to his clients, you know? Just listening. And, and so I will never be able to, you know, pay back all these people who have taken their time with me. And Stephen still takes this time. I was on the phone with him for half hour this morning, complaining about my life.[Alec] I’ll take life. So, what do you recommend for somebody who is hearing this and realizing, holy crap, what a power of mentorship that you’ve experienced through your career. You know, how do I get some of that? How do I find these mentors? How do I get connected? What should I look for in a mentor? What would you give advice on?- I always say that I just got really lucky. I mean, I don’t know what to say because it is one of those things where you don’t, you don’t get training, you know? It’s like, okay, your licensed? We’re going to throw you in a fire, see what happens, you know? So I did, I got very lucky. But I also believe that the company that I choose to work for provides me with the resources that I need to learn. And the people that I can contact to ask questions, you know, if there’s ever a question Stephen doesn’t know, which it hasn’t happened yet. But if so, there are people that I know that I can reach out to. And that’s crucial. I need to know that I can get something done when I don’t have the answers. I can find them.[Alec] Yeah. – So I don’t know, luck? And then just, you know, make sure that your company has the resources to help you.[Alec] What are the qualities that make somebody, or what you would contribute to your own success, in being a top producer?- Competition.[Alec] Okay, meaning you like it?- I mean, I have been in competition with Alec since I was born. He’s not playing by the way. He’s never played, he’s not competing against me, but I have been competing against him forever.[Alec] Winning.- No, I’m so… I have yet to write a book, he’s on number two,[Alec] No, I’m not writing number two.- You’ve written two books.[Alec] We don’t talk about the first one.- Okay, well I’m just saying. It’s out there you guys. So there’s that, I have a very competitive spirit and I do want, I do, you know, my personality thrives on recognition and, you know, applause. Right? So I love when my dad will send me something being like, hey look, you’re number… you know, 75 out of 76. Like, great job. You know. Like that, that motivates me. I also have the personality of wanting to please the people that I work for. So, you know, Stephen is somebody that works harder and longer than me. And it’s important to me that I make him proud and I do the best that I can for him as my boss. That’s part of who I am. I don’t want to disappoint anybody, which is, you know, probably…[Alec] Another issue.- But yeah, I want to be, I want to be good. I want to do a good job. And I want people to say, you know, like what they say about dad. And you! And people are, people have said things about you now. Because you just keep getting bigger and better. But you know, like with dad, it’s like, you could ask people who worked with him 40 years ago, and they’re gonna say he was a good man. He was an honest man. He was a good leader. He had compassion, you know, like, I’ve never heard anybody say a bad thing about dad, except for my mom. But, you know, I mean, I respect that so much and I don’t want to, and you fall in those footsteps and I don’t want to be the one to, you know, I only want that last name to, to bring the same thing to everybody that, you know, comes across a Hanson.[Alec] Oh, you definitely carry the mantle well Kristin, you do a great job. If someone’s new to the business, what advice do you give them?- Go away. Just kidding. No, it’s a great time to start the business. A lot of times people ask me if they should join, you know, where they should start. And I would say, start as an assistant, you know? And learn. Because it’s really painful if you don’t have mentors and people that are willing to teach you, because there’s just so much out there. In addition, I do want to talk about my coach, Hope, too. That’s another mentor.[Alec] Yeah lets do it.- So I did invest in Sales Mastery, and hiring a mortgage coach because there’s something about having confidence as an originator, that when you go and you pitch why people should use you, or you have these conversations. When you’re confident, not cocky, but just confident that like, you’re going to take care of them and you can handle whatever comes up. I think that makes a big difference in, you know, in your conversion rate, when you talk to people. And so when I first moved to Florida, I was calling Hope being like, I don’t know how to talk to these people. Because they’re very aggressive, they’re very short, They don’t like me it it seems like, and I’m super uncomfortable. And then she would just be like, no you know, sometimes people kind of like you to give back what they’re taking. And other times she would call me, or I would call her and be like, what do I say? This guy is going to get his lawyer involved. Apparently, I didn’t know this, but in Florida, everybody has lawyer. So now I know it. But at first I was like, oh my God, a lawyer? Like, I don’t want to talk to a lawyer. And now, you know, all day. Just kidding I don’t. I still don’t want to talk to lawyers. But I would ask Hope, like, what do I do? And she’s like, sometimes people just want you to listen. Like, it can be a frustrating process. And I’m like, yeah, I know I’m frustrated. And she’s like no, no, they’re frustrated.[Alec] Them.- You know? And I was like, you know, like have some compassion, listen, let him say what he has to say. And, and so I just, again my biggest thing I think for me was just having the resources and the people, like I padded my sort of squad.[Alec] Yes.- With just as many people as I could, for as many instances. I still will reach out to my old processor and be like, hey, who do we use for translation stuff? Like Ashton, I reached out to her when I’ve had a manual underwrite. Christie White, I would all the time be like, hey, is this like a rule? Or is there… I still have so many resources that in my little database that I can connect to. So that when I take a customer and they tell me like, this is my situation. If I don’t know it, which surprisingly, everybody still has a very original scenario every time I get them I’m like, how have I not seen this yet? But I know that I can, you know, I’ve got five people in a second that I can just call or email and be like, what do I do? And then I can get back to that client confidently and say, listen, Stephen Sirop said this was okay. So, hundred percent. We’re good.[Alec] So how has coaching impacted your career?- I would think a lot.[Alec] Well, some people I know are very, like there’s always a lot of stigma against coaching. That’s the wrong word. But there’s an insecurity about having a coach. Cause when you have a coach now, now someone’s gonna like call you out in your crap and they hold you accountable. And I know a lot of sales people don’t like that, even though they might say they do, they really don’t.- Oh, see, I really do. But I also have that thing where I don’t like to disappoint people. So, you know, I like to be the straight-A student and get everything right. And I get the pat on the back or Hope will be like, you did all your, and I’m like yeah! You know? So, that really works for me and my personality. I am good with direction and instruction and I will follow it and I will get an A+. and then we will celebrate my doing so.[Alec] With a victory.- With a yay! Yeah.[Alec] All right, so… And Mikey, I think lost audio going in my ear but can you still hear me?- Yeah.[Alec] So would you go back and change anything about your origination career?- No. No. I honestly think everything happened for a reason. And like one of the things about me, is I also like to now move up in knowledge as fast as possible, right? I want to take the least amount of time to get the most amount done. And that builder account that I got in Texas was like a speed learning…[Alec] For sure.- …for the business. So I was thrown in there, but I had no friends, no family, nothing. All I had to do was work. So I got to learn so much in that year that probably would have taken me several years to have the confidence and the understanding of. And I got like a speed course, crash course in that. And that was awesome.[Alec] I have a, I have a question about adversity.- Okay.[Alec] So you mentioned some things in your life that have been major adversity. And then you mentioned this moment at Sales Mastery. When was it? What year was that? When the guy on the stage was like…- Oh, that had to have been end of ’13 or ’14 because I had just been diagnosed with M.S.[Alec] It was like the beginning of your origination career, right?- Yeah.[Alec] So there’s a lot of people out there and great loan professionals out there right now who are having adversity.- Oh, look at Michael. That’s a very nice thing to say.[Alec] Yes. Michael’s the man.- Did you see what he said?[Alec] I didn’t want to show it cause there’s lots of those.- Okay, sorry. Go ahead. So for a loan officer who’s experiencing adversity as they understand it or as they are experiencing it, what advice would you give to them? As someone who’s had her fair share.[Alec] It’s like everything’s skipped Alec and just got dumped on me.- It’s like the movie, Twins.[Alec] Well…I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger.- So I would say I’m sorry, because life’s not fair. And some people get dished a lot more than others and it’s, I don’t know why. But that’s OK. You can get through it. And since I’ve been open about my M.S., there are plenty of other people with other issues that are worse than that. And I see them get up and go to work and kill it. And they don’t even tell people about it because they don’t want people to think any differently of them. I do. I want you to feel sorry for me. And be nice to me because, you know, I’ve had struggles. Be as nice to me as you can. But I’m also, you know, I’ve learned along the way to share about M.S. so that if somebody has M.S., I can tell them my journey, you know? Just be…[Alec] Make connection.- Yeah, but everybody’s got their stuff, you know? Everybody’s got something. I just happen to have more than Alec, always. But maybe I’m Alec’s thing. You know? That’s too bad.[Alec] Yay.- But just find people that can support you. Find an atmosphere that can support you. Take care of yourself. And I would read Miracle Morning. I still think that is amazing. I don’t do it, because it helped me. So why would I keep doing it?[Alec] Hmm.- I don’t.[Alec] Sips coffee. Alright. So, final topic and then we can wrap down. If you guys have questions, fire them in there. Even if you want to ask about growing up with Kristen, I’m happy to answer all those truthfully. But you’ve, in my opinion, I’ve seen you kind of have what I would call a breakthrough or a mini breakthrough in your business, where you decided to take more control over it. Of what you allow into your life through it. And that’s a very, very mature thing. A lot of originators don’t have that skill or never develop it. Where they just basically go to the all you can eat buffet, and they just shove food in their mouth until they get sick and puke. Without carving up like really good boundaries. So for example, you know, firing that one realtor that you know you should fire. That you shouldn’t work with anymore because they consume all your time, and all your energy, and all your life. And they hate you at the end anyway. Or the customer, that is just a disaster and your like but . Like yep, get on board. Let’s do this loan. And that you know that you’re getting into like a deathbed. And they’re probably gonna quit anyway and go to somewhere else. And you’re gonna spend 60 days with them yelling at you and then they’re gonna fund somewhere else. So you’ve made some conscious decisions to start to like, nope, this is how I’m gonna run my life. Share with everybody that process, what you set up for yourself, how you’re trying to define it. And just even where you’re at with it. ‘Cause I know it’s still kind of a work in progress and it’s a journey. But share that cause there’s there’s L.O.’s right now, and this is why frame this up, There’s L.O.’s right now who are literally taking in any application that get their hands on and in doing so, they’re creating a huge problem for themselves. Because they’re overloading themselves and they’re taking on customers that are not ideal customer match. And then they’re probably not to be able to give that person great service or experience the way that customer was demanding and they’re setting themselves up for failure.- Yeah. So, a couple of things on that. First, having a coach really helps because she would be like, Hey, what are your days off this week? And I be like none.[Alec] What is that?- Yeah, like I don’t have any. And she’d be like, I’m like well I’ll figure it out as we go, and she’d be like nope. You need to pick two days and those are going to be the two days, you know? Because otherwise I’ll be like, I’ll have my days off be Wednesday, Friday. And then like Wednesday I’m going like, well I’ll just be looking at emails. So having a coach definitely helped with that. And to be honest, like I was that loan officer and a little bit to this day, I’ll still do it. But now that business is up and running and I have sort of a solid pipeline and business coming in, I don’t have to, you know, in order to pay my mortgage, I don’t have to take every deal, but there’s nothing wrong with that. If that’s what you’re doing.[Alec] Yeah.- Eventually you won’t have to do that. And you know, is my thinking there. And what happened was, well, COVID also had a lot to do with it because…[Alec] Really?- …because, you know, when I can’t see my family because, you know, I can’t just take a plane or we can’t meet and we can’t do stuff. You know, I was like, you know what? This is the only thing that matters to me right now is family. So like, I’m going to take time off to see family, do family, whatever. You know, my mental health, obviously, when you’re quarantining with your partner for months on end and you aren’t doing anything. It’s like, you have to take a look at your mental health.[Alec] Erica and I are going great, we love it.- Yeah, she told me.[Alec] Homeschooling, we’re killing it.- So good. But I had to, you know, working from home was, I was back to working every day. Because like, I was so bored. I was like, I might as well just do something. And then I was, you know, my mental health was suffering.[Alec] Yeah. I mean, I’m sure – My husband could tell you better how that looked. But I just, you know, I had to go back to setting the boundaries of like, no, I’m sorry. I take two days off a week at work. If you call me after six o’clock, I’m not going to answer and I’ll return your call the next day. And you know, if that doesn’t work for you and you’re going to go elsewhere, then I understand. And, and good luck. You know? No hard feelings. But I’m, you know. If you’re going to expect me to call you at nine o’clock every night, I just want to let you know from day one, that’s never gonna happen. So, that’s… My thought on that.[Alec] I like it. It’s a journey, it’s a career journey as you, as you move through it. It’s funny. I had the same thing when I was hiring loan officers. At some point I was like, why am I hiring? I’ll be like, this loan officer? I should not hire this person. This person is going to be toxic to my culture.- Right.[Alec] But they do a ton of production, so I was like, get in the boat! And then I realized later, like I wasn’t an immature manager and leader because I just brought him in- Right.[Alec] And they caused havoc and then left anyway.- Right, right. And then blow everything up.[Alec] So Leslie has a really cool question. Kristen, how long would you suggest an individual stays as an assistant in a role before moving on to an L.O.?- I would say at least a year, but it depends. The loan officer that I worked for when I started only would let me have like, would teach me the like one third of the loan process. So I didn’t really know what to, to the second and third part of it were, I had to, you know, just take that leap and hope that somebody would save me. And fortunately Christie White did. But if you have a good loan officer as your teacher, they should want you to grow. They should support that. I have a loan processing, or a loan assistant now. And I told her when I hired her, like, if you decide that you can do this, you want to do sales on your own, and you want to go get business like your licensed. I’m not going to tell you, like you can’t do what’s best for you and your family. You know, I’ll teach you everything I know, which is, you know, but Stephen’s there if you need other help. And then, you know, you can just do what you gotta do. It’s your life, it’s your livelihood, you know? But I would definitely say, make sure… I didn’t know I was going to have the resources I had when took that leap. It was just so toxic between me and that loan officer that I was like, I’m either going to quit or I’m going to do this on my own because it’s not worth it. And, and so that’s kind of why I jumped out. But if you feel like you’ve got some good support and somebody that can help walk you through stuff, when you start getting your deals, then, great. Then get out there, go give it a shot.[Alec] I’d like to compliment what Kristin said here, ’cause I think she’s dead on. Also, I never… just realize that everything in the world is made up. So like the processes, the system flows, how they do their business. Like that’s just an amalgamation of like things they were taught and like they’re doing it ’cause they were told to do it that way. As an assistant though, you get to really have the opportunity to sit back and go, is there a better way to do this? How would I do this differently if I was there? And then what can I contribute to my loan officer or my senior to like help push the process, change the process, maybe track things different. What if we did this differently? Why do we do it this way? I’m coming with that open-mindedness. Because when you’re new to the industry, and that’s a great perspective, you’re like, why are we doing it this way? And he’s like, well, we’ve always done it this way.- Right.[Alec] Well then stop doing it that way. Let’s do it a better way. So that’s a really cool question, Leslie Thank you, and Kristin good advice.- One other thing, you can also, I would think go to your loan officer and be like, Hey, if I bring a deal in on my own, if I start bringing business in, you know, can I take, maybe get a bigger cut of the pie? And as long as I’m doing all the work, or some of the work and that way you can maybe still teach me and you know, still get paid…[Alec] Yeah good call.- …and you can try to figure that out.[Alec] Yup. All right. So Lan put a really cool comment up there. This is great, since I’m a new L.O. and I love it. And I always end, even though we talked about this to a small degree, I always like to end the podcast on a conversation around, you have a brand new L.O. to the industry in front of you. After you tell them to run away, and they don’t and they stay. What, what advice do you give them if they’re like, Kristin, you’ve been a Chairman’s Elite top producer, What are you gonna fund this year? Huh?- Uh… [Alec] What have you funded year to date?- Uh… [Alec] If you can just ballpark it. Some number. What are you gonna fund? What’d you fund last month?- I don’t, huh! I don’t know.[Alec] Stop it.- I don’t, I’m really not, I don’t like to look at that. Because the problem when you start looking at that is you’ll be like, oh look at all these applications I put in. And then like they don’t close. Or like, whatever. And so you’re like, meh. We want to, so I now…[Alec] Have you qualified for Chairman’s Elite already?- Yes, yes, yes.[Alec] Okay, so if you already qualified that says enough.- Yeah.[Alec] So, you’re a badass. Like you are. Own it. That’s the deal. You’ve proven it year after year. Every single year, you’ve been one of the best of the best. Top one percent of the industry. So you’ve got a brand newbie sitting right here, right? It’s like, hello. And let’s say, it’s a younger you. Let’s say it’s just this person who’s like, I don’t know what I’m doing. Like what advice do you give them if they’re like, I want to make this a career. I want to produce like you produce. You know, I want to follow in your footsteps. What advice do you give them?- You’re going to have to invest in yourself. So for me, when I first started, I was like, okay, I want to do this. And it’s going to cost $200 to put this event together or whatever. And I didn’t have any pull in the company, so I just paid for it myself. I wanted coaching. So I got coaching. I wanted to go to Sales Mastery, so I went to Sales Mastery. I never asked for my company to give me money until I felt like I was contributing enough to the company to say, is this something you guys could look at? You know? But I, for the most part, like even now, if there’s going to be an event, you know, at the builder that I work with. I usually will just get the stuff together myself and go, you know? And so I don’t know where they say, like, you have to spend money to make money. I mean, not, don’t be ridiculous. But like take it on yourself. You’re your own investment.[Alec] I love investing in yourself, I agree. I think it’s the best thing they can do is get the focus off of what the, you know, if this matters to you, like coaching matters to you, just go execute and get coaching.- Right.[Alec] Don’t wait around and have an excuse why you can’t have it because the company won’t pay for it.- Right, right. You can have it. And then coaching will. I mean, hopefully, if you have a good coach and you do well, it’s going to pay for itself anyway. So what is, what? What is it? It doesn’t matter.[Alec] Okay. So invest in yourself. Anything else you’d say that this person?- Find a good mentor.[Alec] Yes. Awesome.- Because that’s the only reason I’m even still standing.[Alec] And I’ll compliment that because from my own experience, just ask. Ask people that you respect in the industry to help you. Ask them to give you advice, ask them for Zoom coffee or whatever you’re doing these days. Like ask them to, to… Like, when I started originating the way I got to chairman’s the lead in my first year was simply because I called all of the top originators at the company I was at and said, all over the place like San Diego. I was in Orange County. So San Diego, I went up to Santa Barbara and I was like, how do you dominate? Like, how do you get this kind of velocity on your business? What do you do? And they, can I buy you coffee? And all of them said, yes or Dan will fire me. So I blackmailed them into it. But they’ll say yes! Like my point is, they didn’t say that. But maybe they thought it. But they said yes. And they brought me in. Hi, Jill also stoked you’re hanging out with us. Love you guys. They all said yes. And even throughout all my career, like met executives and mentors and owners, and I was like, can you help me here? And they said, yes. So I love that Kristen, like, just ask. Find the mentor.- 100 percent.[Alec] You’re not alone. And the other thing Kristen said that I hope you all heard was that over her course of her career, she’s built this Rolodex of resources of people who have helped her, want to help her, willing to help her. And it spans geography. It spans, you know? Companies?- Is he not watching?[Alec] No, he’s not. That’s my boss calling me. That’s awkward. All right. So final questions, since we’re at the very, very end and I never asked these, cause I never had my sister on. What do you remember most about dad in his career, growing up as a kid?- Well, I remember his… his mustache.[Alec] So good.- So good.[Alec] So good. If we ran a professional studio, Mikey, I could have like my dad’s mustache on the screen right now. So, that’s future goals.- Really just the.. Everybody, kind of what I already said, like everybody’s response of my dad is like, that’s a good man. That’s an honest man. That’s a man of integrity. Terribly, politically incorrect humor. But, and I apologize, you know. For the past and the future, it’s not ever going to stop. But I really, there was just never a bad thing said, and it was, I could tell that he made a difference in people’s lives, in their careers, in their family’s, you know, financial livelihood. And he was, they call him the legend, you know, and he is. And at the same time, you know, was a good dad, the same time that he was being a good boss for all of the country, you know? He was also an amazing dad. And to be able to, that is one of the best parts of, you know, finally coming to work in this business that I tried to stay away from is getting to see that my dad at home is the same guy at work. And he, he’s just a really good man. Y’all should just send him some love.[Alec] Send him some love.- ‘Cause he’s getting pretty bored at home.[Alec] He’s losing it.- Totally.[Alec] Alright. Friends, professionals, thanks for hanging out today on live Modern Lending podcast. Kristin, I’m so excited I got to be the first one.- Oh, god. Sorry Chris.[Alec] Eat it, that’s right. And I love you. I’m proud of you.- I love you too.[Alec] Mikey, take us out.