Archives: Weekly Blogs

My first open house was a total train wreck.

I didn’t have a single pre-qual lined up.
No flyers. No strategy.
Just a folding table, some stale cookies, and the hope that someone — anyone — would ask me for a loan.

And guess what?

Nobody did.

The listing agent was polite… but clearly underwhelmed.
Visitors walked in, grabbed a cookie, avoided eye contact, and walked right back out.

At the end of the day, I packed up my little table, tossed the uneaten cookies, and sat in my car thinking:

“What the heck am I doing wrong?”

That drive home was quiet.
But in that silence, a thought hit me like a brick:

“I came to get, not to give.”

I showed up to the open house hoping for leads…
But I didn’t bring any value.
No help. No strategy. No reason for them to want me there.

That’s when everything shifted.

From that day forward, I decided:

Every time I show up — anywhere — I bring value first.

Not just rate sheets…
But real help.

The one that really moved the needle was the Follow Up Refer Back program.

It’s a game plan that helps the agent win more deals, and me too 🙂 

And when I started doing that?

Agents turned into partners.
And referrals started coming in like clockwork.

So if you’re showing up and not seeing results?

You might be missing what I missed that day:

It’s not about being present.
It’s about being helpful.

It wasn’t supposed to rain that day — but there I was…
Soaked. Broke.
And trying to figure out how the heck to close my first loan.

I’d just stepped into the mortgage world.
No fancy CRM. No team. No clue.

Just a cheap umbrella that flipped inside out if the wind so much as sneezed.

I remember standing outside a real estate office, waiting for a meeting that never happened.

They forgot.
I didn’t.

I stood there dripping in the Florida rain, feeling like a failure with a wet folder full of ways I could help them close more deals.

And I thought to myself:

“Did I make a mistake getting into this business?”

But right there in that moment, something shifted.

I realized… the successful folks didn’t get there by avoiding days like this.
They got there by walking through them.

That was the day I decided:
If it’s gonna be hard… let it be worth it.

So I wiped the rain off my glasses, rescheduled the meeting,
And the next day, I showed up again.

Because the difference between the ones who make it and the ones who don’t?

Isn’t talent. It’s tolerance.

Tolerance for the rejection.
Tolerance for the setbacks.
Tolerance for the rain.

Fast forward to today…
I’ve helped thousands of loan officers build wildly successful businesses —
But every single one of them had a “soaked and broke” moment too.

So if you’re standing in the rain right now…

You’re not off track.
You’re just in the part where the story gets good.

Don’t give up.  I got your back!

I learned more about grit riding my bike to Zephyrhills Elementary than I ever did in school.

It was first grade.
I was six years old.
And I rode that old banana seat bike down Geiger Road every morning.

No helmet. No phone. No GPS.
Just me, two wheels, and a lunchbox swinging from the handlebars.

There were no sidewalks. Just sand, dirt, and the occasional rattlesnake.
And let me tell you — Florida sand is no joke when you’re pedaling through it.

Some mornings it was cold.
Some mornings it rained.
Some mornings I just didn’t feel like going.

But I got on the bike anyway.

Why?

Because there was no backup plan.
Nobody was coming to give me a ride.
If I didn’t pedal, I didn’t get there.

That lesson stayed with me.

Years later, I got into the mortgage business…
And at first, it felt like that same sandy road all over again.

Calls that went nowhere.
Realtors who ghosted.
Deals that fell apart the day before closing.

And just like that little boy in first grade…

I got on the bike anyway.

Because I’d learned something valuable early on:

The people who keep pedaling — even when it’s hard, even when it’s uphill 

—

They’re the ones who make it.

So if you’re in a rough stretch right now…

Keep going.

You’re not doing it wrong — you’re just in the sand.

It was 6 AM, and I was standing on a prison yard in a uniform that didn’t quite fit.

I was 19 years old.

Fresh out of getting fired from my job at the egg company (that was embarrassing)…

And somehow, I landed a gig as a prison guard at the Florida State Prison.

Yeah… that Florida State Prison.

The one with the electric chair.

I still remember the sound of the gates closing behind me that first morning — loud, final, metallic.

I thought:
“What in the world have I gotten myself into?”

Every morning, I stood there on the yard as inmates filtered out,
Some were older than my dad, some barely older than me.

Some had a spark in their eye.
Some looked like the light had gone out long ago.

It was one of the first times I realized this:

There are only two kinds of people in the world.
Those who accept their situation…
And those who find a way out.

I watched guys behind bars become barbers, artists, ministers.
Not many, but some.

And that stuck with me.

Years later, when I entered the mortgage world…

It hit me again.

A lot of LOs are trapped in their own version of a prison:
Too many hours.
Not enough closings.
Trapped in paperwork.
Trapped in fear.
Trapped in “I’ll get to it tomorrow…”

But here’s what I saw back then — and still believe now:

The key is always in your hands.

You just have to pick it up.

You don’t need to wait for someone to save you.
You just need a simple plan, a bit of courage, and some folks who’ve walked the path before you.

If you’re feeling stuck — like you’re standing on the yard wondering what comes next —
I’d be honored to help.

Because I’ve been there.
I just didn’t stay there.

A few years back, I found myself in my Ford F-150 pickup truck, sitting in the parking lot with my head in my hands thinking that this loan officer work was just too darn hard…

Leads were a little hard to come by, appraisals were slow, and I was having to make some difficult “your deal is going sideways” phone calls…

As I was having my own little pity party, I heard an inner voice tell me to look up.

When I did, I had a life-changing moment.  Let me explain further.

When I looked up, on top of the building next to me, there were 3 men and 1 lady on top of the roof.  And this roof wasn’t like most roofs, it was a flat roof.

Well, from time to time with a flat roof, you have to “Tar Mop” it.

That’s where you get buckets of super hot tar (so it’s spreadable) and literally get kitchen mops, and spread the hot tar on the roof. 

I did that one summer when I was in high school and I can tell you it was the hardest job I’ve ever done.  The tar was super hot, it splattered on my arms causing instant burn blisters, the fumes from the hot tar were almost as bad as the mosquito bites and the sunburn from the hot Florida sun. 

As I looked up from my air conditioned seat in my truck that day and saw those 4 people working very, very hard in the most miserable conditions, I heard “that voice” again…

“Carl, you want to know what hard work is, those 4 workers on that roof are experiencing hard work.”  It’s hot, spreading the tar is like spreading molasses, just backbreaking work…

… oh, and by the way, it pays around $14 an hour at best.

I then heard that voice one more time…

“Carl, I’m asking you to do 3 simple things to make more money than you could have ever dreamed of…”

“I’m asking you to Talk, Type, and Think… Which you can do while sitting in an air-conditioned room, in a very comfortable chair… no fumes, no mosquitos, no sunburn… all while making more in 1 month than the roofers will make in an entire year.”

Talk, Type on a computer, and Think.   Resulting in helping a lot of people, making lots and lots of money, and no tar fumes.

… and here’s the other thing, we don’t even have to think too much because we can just copy the already super successful, well, as long as that’s who we’re hanging with instead of the doomsayers. 

Once that was crystal clear in my head, I felt a wave of relief and gratitude wash over me like a warm blanket on a cold night.

So here’s the thing, we are not in “hard times” right now, we simply have to talk (saying the right things to the right people), type (communicate and follow up with those people), and think (again, this is minimized by hanging out with the winners).

Now, those that don’t do those things, those that try to do business the same way they did it last year, well, it could be a very very hard season for them coming up.  Don’t be one of them. 

We have to be adaptable and work the “Epic Success Plan” while talking, typing, and thinking.  It’s really just that simple and doesn’t involve buying a bunch of widgets. 

The Epic Success Plan is exactly what we are mapping out on our coaching calls with our high-level and high production (while low-stress) loan officers.  It’s absolutely amazing what can be covered, and the results some of the LOs get on even just 1 of these 1 on 1 calls.

If you want a free sample of what even just 1 of those calls can do for you, I’ll give you one.  <no credit card, no “trail”, and no strings attached>  We’ll help you with what to say, who to say it to, how to communicate with them, and what the top producers are thinking… you know, their Epic Success Plan.

Free Sample 1 on 1 Coaching Call

Just go here and we’ll help you with the right activities, the right conversations, and with the right people… right now .   Why, because that’s the way we roll around here.

Looking forward to talking soon.

Carl “this is really easy” White