After graduating from Florida State University in 1989, I began a short and trying career in restaurant management. Although I liked the business, the upside potential was weak. In 1991, after a failed business attempt in multi-level marketing, I found myself $50,000 in debt and had my car repossessed and my home foreclosed on. It got so bad; I actually had to sleep on my best friend’s couch in his dinky 800 sq. foot apartment. That was only until I could afford to pay rent to a complete stranger and live in his garage. Humility was starting to take on a whole new meaning to me. I felt like I was failing at life and I was beginning to search for answers.
Why was this happening to me? Where did I go wrong? I had drive, a good work ethic, people skills, but nothing seemed to work. By accident, I came across the mortgage business in 1992 and my life has been forever changed. Starting with a nationwide lender, I became the top producer within 3 months.
One year later, I was promoted to manager and given the challenge of training others. Being humbled by my past, I set out to learn from others with the goal of creating the best training plan possible. This was the key that unlocked my potential. During a 15-month period I went to every major seminar I could to learn from the giants like Greg Frost, Brian Tracy and Joe Stumpf, to name a few. Additionally, I studied the systems from some of the biggest producers in the history of the mortgage industry.
After several months of study, reflection and testing these ideas on my own, I began writing the training plan. I knew the key for me would be to model after the most successful marketing systems and closing techniques and to weave them into one simple method that I could teach.
To make a long story short, my training plan and systems took our office from dead last to #1 in the company within 3 months. I helped brokers that were writing 1-2 loans a month get to 3-5 a month. Many writing 3 to 5, moved up to 6-10 a month. It was incredible!
My confidence soared, and in 1994, I left the company to focus on writing loans myself. In my first year back, my systems helped me eclipse the 20 loans a month barrier. I ultimately reached 40 loans a month before I decided to start my own company, which I later named Nexus Financial Group®. In the spring of 1996, FNMA invited me to speak at their annual meeting where I met with President George Bush, Sr. and Nexus became one of the first companies to do one-hour online approvals for FNMA.
In hindsight, my early bouts with adversity were not all bad. They lit a fire in my belly and gave me a teachable spirit. In just 5 years, I went from massive debt and a personal foreclosure to meeting with the president and speaking on behalf of FNMA. Only in America my friends, only in America! I thank God for second chances and the opportunity I now have to work with the fine people at Nexus and to continue to show others how to attain their goals and dreams.
