[New] SOLUTIONS

Melissa Walker traces her mortgage career to her senior year of high school.

She recalled, “I was an intern at a real estate company when I was a senior. After graduation, I obtained my real estate license, but the market just didn’t ‘move’ fast enough for me. An owner of one of the mortgage broker companies that came in a few times a week to drop off rate sheets (yes, drop off rate sheets) asked if I had ever thought about looking at the mortgage industry. I had always loved working with numbers, and, well, the rest is history. I worked for that company for four-and-a-half years before the owners moved out of state. I purchased the assets of that company and went on my own at 24.”

Walker likes to emphasize how important the work of the mortgage industry is. “Always remember that the housing market is one of (if not THE) most important factors to our economy. With that said, it is very cyclical ... what goes up will eventually come down but also vice versa. Stay true to YOUR personal values, and treat and talk to your customers as if you are working with your very best friend.”

Thomas Yoon President & CEO

Excelerate Capital

From a stumble came great success for Thomas Yoon. As he recalled, “I stumbled into the industry through a high school friend that introduced me to the mortgage business. I thought it would be a summer job that led to a career.”

Yoon said downsizing within the industry has been a systemic and painful reality. “I always believe in times of crisis, your values surface. Our core values are leading with empathy and valuing relationships. The leadership needs to protect, provide and lead if we are a people group in a company.

“That starts with me. I took a significant salary cut to help out with us having to right size too steeply. All senior management followed suit and decided on their own accord to reduce their income to help the people under their control. We need to practice what we preach and if your people know it’s genuine. They will go above and beyond for one another because they know they belong.”

Ask Yoon if the industry has a supervillain, and his response is: “I will steal a villain from a series I love, ‘Stranger Things.’ The Mind Flayer. Inflecting ‘fear’ to the industry is the biggest issue.”

Mohammad Yousaf

Executive Vice President, Information Technology & Operations NATIONAL MORTGAGE INSURANCE

At a time in this industry where technology and operations roles were distinct functions, Mohammad Yousaf found a comfortable leadership spot on the cusp of where these functions intersect. With his diverse yet deep expertise in fulfillment operations and, recently in technology, he has been a trailblazer in seeking transformative efforts that yield efficiencies and redefine what the industry aspires in terms of digitization.

Mortgage technology is a niche space that has specialized and successful players and historically did not usually attract the attention of many larger technologies outside of this industry. There had not been a big influx of external capital or interest from the bigger technology firms two decades ago when this industry had the highest appetite seeking for transformative change.

Yousaf recognized this very early in his career and to seek efficiencies, he thought of technology as a strength and not a vulnerability. The situation today is much different with technology becoming industry agnostic and accessible to every player within the mortgage ecosystem

Throughout his career that Mohammad had so far, he has contributed significantly to the transformation of IT organizations with measurable efficiency impacts. Pairing operations gains with technology enhancement while attaining maximum flexibility in scale.

Monica Zhang CEO

CENTRAL GROUP MORTGAGE

Phone skills helped dial Monica Zhang into a mortgage career. She said, “It was completely unplanned. It just happened. I was working as a relationship banker. One day, an old colleague returned to the branch I was working in. We chatted briefly, and she told me that she is now in the mortgage industry, and she found it to be interesting. She said, ‘You like calling people on the phone. You’d be great at this.’ She referred me to her company for an interview.

“I remembered asking a lot of questions about how to start generating my own leads and developing my own business during the interview. My gut told me to go for it and the rest is history.”

To find success, Zhang advocates looking beyond compensation.

“The value of a career should not be defined by money and salary. Every loan officer should think like an entrepreneur. People should invest in their future and growth, upskilling, and maintaining consistency.

Even in the toughest times, (if) they have a great foundation of intangible skills and the hunger and passion to grow for their future success, this will help them through the tough times and capitalize on the good times.

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