Scaling Production and Growth with Laura Witte

Rick's Other Picks-Stop Chasing, Start Selling with Rick McKinley CMB

Skip interviews Rick McKinley, a Plaza Home Mortgage account executive and CMB (certified in 2018) with 30 years in lending, about strengthening the account executive–loan officer relationship through fundamentals. Rick argues top AEs should lead with knowledge, clear expectations, and process transparency—not swag—while adapting to increased complexity from compliance, technology, and product options. They discuss the two-stage sales process (signing accounts, then earning loan flow), the importance of follow-through to help loans reach the finish line, and how speed and ease of execution can beat pricing. Rick shares a responsiveness standard of returning messages within two hours when possible, while maintaining boundaries. He recommends asking AEs to explain the end-to-end process, identify what they truly do well, and support business growth via training, marketing ideas, and VA loan referral tactics through VA liaison offices.  Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome Back Rick 00:38 Rick’s Mortgage Journey 01:12 CMB Credential Shoutout 01:30 AE Fundamentals Shift 02:55 Be the Information AE 05:06 From Schmoozing to Complexity 07:24 Two Stage Sales Reality 09:12 Sell the Easy Button 11:05 Responsiveness Matters 13:01 Phone as the Office 14:36 Know Your System Cold 15:38 Response Time Standards 16:15 Blocking Time Boundaries 17:16 Two Hour Reply Rule 18:10 Questions For New AEs 19:13 Deal Process Walkthrough 20:24 Products You Can Close 22:29 Helping Grow Business 23:12 VA Loan Marketing Play 25:31 Musician Side Hustle 26:15 Where To Find Rick  #MortgagePodcast #MortgageIndustry #AccountExecutive #LoanOfficer #WholesaleMortgage #CorrespondentLending #TPO #BrokerOwner #MortgageSales #MortgageMarketing #MortgageTech #MortgageCompliance #RelationshipManagement #ClientExperience #LoanProcess #MortgageOperations #RateSheets #LoanLock #MortgageTraining #BusinessGrowth #VALoans #VAMortgage #VeteranHomeLoans #MortgageTips #PlazaHomeMortgage

Who's Responsible for This Decision?! Leadership Thinking with Melissa Peregord

Today on Ain’t My First Mortgage podcast, Skip interviews Melissa Peregord, principal of Secord Consulting, about her mortgage and growth background and how she helps small to mid-size companies solve stagnating revenue and go-to-market challenges. Melissa shares her 12-year Rocket Loans experience spanning origination, capital markets, secondary marketing, and director of bank relations managing top investor and money-center bank relationships.  She explains her move from C-suite roles to consulting after seeing how boards and CEOs can block strategy execution. She and Skip discuss leadership decision-making, balancing short-term vs. long-term thinking, and avoiding comfort-based delays by assessing reversibility, whether problems are metastasizing, who is impacted, and what information is actually needed. Melissa emphasizes diagnosing core problems versus symptoms, aligning incentives across sales, ops, and client success, and planning changes with a six-month gauge plus 30/60/90 milestones.  Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:17 Meet Melissa Peregord 01:12 Rocket to Consulting Journey 02:27 Why She Went Solo 04:21 Short vs Long Term Decisions 06:19 A Practical Decision Framework 10:02 Growth Consulting and Root Causes 15:18 Systems Over Blame 16:34 Incentives and Team Alignment 18:44 Common Client Challenges 23:36 Six Month Results Timeline 25:31 Contact Info and Wrap Up  #MortgagePodcast #MortgageIndustry #MortgageLeadership #GrowthStrategy #BusinessDevelopment #DecisionMaking #ExecutiveLeadership #CLevel #Consulting #RevenueGrowth #GoToMarket #SalesStrategy #Operations #ClientSuccess #KPIs #OKRs #IncentiveAlignment #MortgageLending #RocketMortgage #QuickenLoans #CapitalMarkets #SecondaryMarketing #NonQM #Servicing #PrivateEquity

Ask the Underwriter: Dionne Bass on Pre-Qualifying Loans, Self-Employed Income, and Smarter Mortgage Training

Today on Ain’t My First Mortgage Podcast, Skip talks with Dionne Bass (“Ask the Underwriter”), a former underwriter who now trains mortgage professionals and real estate agents to better understand the mortgage process. Bass specializes in proper loan pre-qualification, spotting issues that can slow approvals, and improving personal SOPs so LOs don’t rely too heavily on AI tools without understanding the inputs.  She offers targeted trainings including FHA, USDA, and a popular self-employed borrower class that breaks down tax returns, income analysis, and the “why” behind underwriting decisions so originators can ask better questions. She highlights common pre-approval breakdowns tied to incomplete application and credit report review across FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional guidelines, and notes many struggle when switching between government and conventional self-employed reviews. She recommends bite-sized virtual training with case studies.  #mortgagepodcast #mortgageindustry #loanofficer #mortgagebroker #underwriting #asktheunderwriter #preapproval #prequalification #creditreport #loanprocessing #mortgagetraining #realestateagents #selfemployedborrower #selfemployedmortgage #incomeanalysis #taxreturns #conventionalloans #fhaloans #usdaloans #valoans #manualunderwriting #loanorigination #mortgagelending #referralpartners #mortgageeducation Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome Dionne Bass 00:16 Meet Ask the Underwriter 01:55 Prequalify Beyond AI 05:25 SOPs and Front End Work 07:15 Credit Report Pitfalls 10:15 Deep Dive Self Employed 12:22 Agency Guideline Differences 13:27 Training Format Case Studies 15:03 Connect and Closing Thanks

Turning Mortgage Data into Actionable Leads with Kortney Lane-Schafers

On today’s episode of Ain’t My First Mortgage podcast, Skip interviews Kortney Lane-Schafers, VP of Growth and Client Advocacy at MMI, about using mortgage data to drive production and reduce the LO rollercoaster. Kortney says the best part of the industry is relationships, while the biggest challenge is shifting market cycles. She explains MMI’s evolution into “MMI 1,” combining the MMI Data Center, a communication platform, and MonitorBase monitoring so loan officers can find opportunities, communicate, and track their database in one place.  Key updates include the MMI 1 mobile app with integrated Chat MMI voice-driven AI for fast reports and a real-time leaderboard. They discuss retention challenges and how monitoring alerts, opportunity surfacing, and consumer tools like Pathways Home and a branded private home search help deliver value, confidence, and proactive outreach. Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:30 Meet Kortney Schafers 01:59 People and Market Challenges 03:44 Data to Beat Volatility 04:36 Napa Wine Interruption 07:01 MMI One Platform Overview 08:52 Pathways Home and Search 10:13 Mobile App Launch 11:00 Chat MMI AI Search 12:37 Export and CRM Integration 13:27 Conference Takeaways 14:02 Talk To Search 14:25 Real Time Leaderboard 16:35 Why Data Wins 17:22 Bring Value To Meetings 19:33 Retention And Monitoring 24:19 Predictive Opportunity Alerts 26:01 Remove Friction Take Action 27:36 Adoption Make It Easy 28:09 Connect With Kortney 28:44 Closing Thanks

More Than the Loan: Why Getting Involved Changes Everything

Today Skip welcomes Karley Bond, a First Horizon market manager for West Tennessee and North Mississippi with 20 years in mortgage lending and active involvement in the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and Tennessee MBA. Bond explains the value of industry association participation—education, advocacy, leadership development, and especially networking, mentorship, and relationships. She shares time management strategies like prioritization and time blocking while balancing work, volunteer leadership, and family.  They discuss avoiding burnout by focusing on relationship-based mortgage banking and impact-driven service. Bond highlights the industry’s aging workforce and the need for recruiting through MBA’s Mortgage Banking Bound 100-hour certificate program and state Future Leaders programs. She also discusses pursuing the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation and advises new loan officers to build systems, seek coaching, and commit to lifelong learning. Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome and Intro 00:56 Why Industry Involvement Matters 03:46 Mentors and Saying Yes 05:52 Time Blocking and Priorities 08:34 Avoiding Burnout Through Service 12:09 Aging Industry and New Talent 14:01 Mortgage Banking Bound Explained 16:45 CMB Designation Journey 20:03 Career Advice and Systems 22:10 Connect and Closing