Welcome to The Millionaire Loan Officer podcast with your host, Scott Hudspeth sharing tools, tips and strategies so that you can go from a mortgage loan officer to a millionaire loan officer. It's your host, Scott Hudspeth.
Scotty: Hey everybody, this is Scott Hudspeth with Millionaire Loan Officer powered by Mortgage Marketing Animals and The Loan Officer Breakfast Club. I have my dear friend, an amazing story Loni Gerardi, how you doing my friend?
Loni: I’m good, how are you?
Scotty: Good. So, Lonnie has a really cool story that I don't know, it's I think it's book worthy and it's mindset worthy. There's just so many things that come into mind when I'm thinking about the day we met and your dreams that you told me about and how they've come to fruition. So that's where I kind of want to go with this and where you've come. I like, so do you remember when we actually met, it was five years ago, you said.
Loni: Yeah. Yeah, we met at a Mortgage Marketing Animals.
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: Event and it was back like in the war room days like we're still in the old.
Scotty: Oh, the good old days.
Loni: Yeah, so it was my first ever Mortgage Marketing Animals even and Richard Smith sent me, cause I had just come on his team and that was just life changing for me. [01:26.2]
Scotty: Wow. And if I remember right, you were in a bank atmosphere, bank setting, like you hadn't zero self gen.
Loni: Correct.
Scotty: Yeah. Tell me a little bit about that.
Loni: I did the mortgage banking channel for almost two years. I started for a year at one bank, got the opportunity to be kind of like a junior LO and go over with a salary, which was super cool, cause like who really gets to do that these days. Learn the ropes from some really, really great LOs and had my daughter, stayed out for a year with her. So, I basically any like realtors I had kind of made like, you know, they follow the wayside, if you lose touch for a year. And then I went back to a different bank, and you know, you get leads from branches and it just like, it just, it wasn't, it never felt right to me. So, I just knew I needed to do something different. [02:17.2]
Scotty: Gotcha. For anybody listening, she went from zero to let's just fast forward and then we'll go backwards. So fast forward to today, this is 2021 or September 14th for everybody listening. So where are you going to close out the year with about?
Loni: I want to say 23 million, cause I'm at like almost 21 right now, maybe more.
Scotty: You know, that's my favorite number, so.
Loni: I know.
Scotty: You have to hit 23 million, you have to.
Loni: I do, I know.
Scotty: Yes.
Loni: I have set it; I have to get it right. Like its right there.
Scotty: It’s not an option, not an option. And it's a hundred percent self gen too.
Loni: Yes.
Scotty: All right.
Loni: Yeah. A 100% self gen, if you want to go backwards, just a tad to that when that first Mortgage Marketing Animals event that I went to, I met you. I sat with Carl White and had a one-on-one conversation with him, and I was just clueless. I was like, I don't know what to do. I don't know, like there's no, I have no plan. You know, I have no clue. And he was like, what you need to do your biggest, like thing is going to be going, sitting face-to-face for coffee appointments. And then like, I don't know why he said this, but doing like an about me video. So yeah. So, I kind of like just took that and ran with it, you know? [03:32.3]
Scotty: Very cool. And so, it was kind of cool. We first met and you're like, Hey, there's this, I want you to tell a story. I don't want to tell a story but tell me about that dream you have that's coming to fruition with that place.
Loni: The place, yeah.
Scotty: The place.
Loni: So, my husband and I had been looking for just a piece of land, just a lot to maybe build on it was not ever like, you know, we had a house for forever and we drove through this neighborhood one day and beautiful equestrian, get a neighborhood, you know, like I'm in Ocala, everything's horse country here, everything's very equestrian. Everything's not everything, but there's a lot of places with anchorage. And we drove through this neighborhood, and I was like, wow, you know how you get like kind of like the chills at the back of your neck. Like you just let him, like, this is my land, this is my land. And we laughed and we went to the playground with my daughter, and I was just like, I can't like, this is, we have to try to get this piece of land. I don't even know; you know like I have to have his land. [04:34.1]
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: So, fast-forward sitting with you one day at an event. Like I got the email that was like, your financing's approved for the land and I was like, Oh, my God it’s it's happening. We're getting this land. And then, you know, things happen in life, and we tried to sell it and it went under contract.
Scotty: Wow.
Loni: Got extended twice, whatever happened, the people ended up having medical issues and pulled out of the contract. So, it never went through. And we were like, there's design, you know, like, hello, here's your time. So, we knew, I mean, I just knew at that point it was we're, we're keeping it. It's it's our dream to build. This has been so weird universally orchestrated, whatever you want to say. The chain of events that have kind of taken place since then on how houses come into fruition and everything else so, but you know, you always have that vision in your mind and having a vision and actually manifesting a vision I feel like are two such totally different things. And then the last couple of years I've really like come to that mindset of manifesting a vision. [05:40.1]
Scotty: I think, and you were so focused on it and I remember you calling me and saying, Hey, we're going to sell a lot. I'm like, no, no, just figure it out. Just come on, man. It's, listen whatever's going on, we'll pass this. You know, and the universe has mysterious ways of making things happen. So, so share the great news. Then I got some business questions for you. So, share the great news.
Loni: Okay. So, I am about four to five weeks out from having my finished dream home. It’s one of those things where you're like, you've poured your heart and soul into this place. And it's so exciting to just see the it's coming to the end result. And I just can't wait to get my family out there and make memories and play in the yard. And you know, just so exciting.
Scotty: Yeah, I can't wait to see pics of that and videos of that, that'd be so fun so. I just imagined videos of you and your front yard with your house behind you doing like rockstar Vic. Cause now like this all came true. So now you, the cool part about you is you have the last five years have had helped other people's dreams come true. And a lot of them tell us, what would you do knowing what you know now five years ago to today, what would you tell somebody that's starting out at zero or two to three loans a month? What would you tell them the first thing to do would be? [06:50.5]
Loni: The first thing to do, I would say is just what I did like start calling, just start calling people for coffee appointments and start building relationships. Like go sit down with people face to face and just talk, like, talk about them, talk about their business. Talk about, I mean, it seems so simple, and it is so simple. Like just go sit down with people and have a conversation. It's I mean, if you have reluctance of like sitting with someone face to face, you're like, I don't know what to say, just talk about them and who like, who doesn't love to talk about themselves, so.
Scotty: Right, right on, right on.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: And so, I know that you and I had several conversations when you were doing it and you're like, man, this is like harder than I thought. How did you overcome? Like, how'd you overcome that fear? The just go do it. Cause I know you've had a transformation in the last 12 to 24, like 18 months, maybe like last year was an amazing year. This year is even better.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: Cause you kicked it around and kicked it around, like you did it, you did it, you did a little bit and then all of a sudden...BOOM... it was just like overdrive fifth year.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: What happened? [07:54.0]
Loni: I would have to say in this is going to sound so cliche, but it was my mindset, a thousand percent it was going from like, how am I worthy of so much success? And I mean, like, that's a weird thing to say, but I feel like I got in my own way for a long time. For whatever reason, like self-conscious issues or just like issues from, you know, growing up and childhood. Like I grew up in a little tiny, small town across some Amish people, like nobody was wealthy. Nobody, you know, it's one of those things where it's like, well, do I really like, am I really do I need that? Do I deserve it? Am I worthy of it? So, kind of getting past that and honestly I've had so many people like you and Carl and Tammy and Doug, my coach that have helped build my confidence and just helped me believe that I really can do this.
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: Like I can do it like you are worthy. Like if you don't feel like you're so worthy of all the success in the world.
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: Like anything you deserve you're worthy of. And it was just a complete mindset shift of seeing what I like, like I said, like having a vision is totally different than manifesting it. So, like seeing in your brain, the end result and feeling it, smelling it, knowing it, like just seeing what the end result is. And I feel like a lot of us, myself included when you have a plan, you're like, this is my plan. Like I'm, got my blinders on, this is how it's supposed to go. This is my idea in my mind of how it's supposed to be. And sometimes our plan isn't the best plan. So just seeing the end result and kind of like just letting things like guide you, like when a door opens, don't ignore it. When something like when a roadblock happens, there's a reason for that. So that’s kind of off on a tangent, but I'm so big on this mindset thing right now. [09:47.3]
Scotty: Love it. Dude, I could talk to you about this all day. Cause it's, it's everything for everybody.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: Like I don't care who you are, what level you're at, it's a mindset a 100% So, when you're sitting there 18 months ago, you're like, man, like, so the mindset shift, did you start having more appointments? Like what was it or what was the activity that you said, all right, this all right. I'm all right. I'm okay. I'm worthy, let’s go. What was that activity that you just did? Like, was it just more of this or more of that? Or was it a bunch of things or what was it that catapulted you from? Cause I remember it, you were like 8 to 10, 10 to 12. I don't remember exactly, two years ago, three years ago.
Loni: I was like five to seven loans a month.
Scotty: Five to seven.
Loni: And you know, we had that conversation a lot getting from the hunt from five to seven to like 10.
Scotty: Yeah, yeah.
Loni: It was a little bit of a struggle, and you know, like building a team, that's the right team to help you to get to that point. But number one, I started building the right team because that was so, so important. Like I knew I had it in me to do more business, but I didn't have the wheelhouse or the team behind me to know that I could support that business. And I didn't want to, everybody's like just put your foot on the gas and then just slam the brakes and it's fine. And I'm like, I'm just not that type of person, you know, great if you are fantastic, but I can't let the wheels fall off. I have to have a little bit, so.
Scotty: Yeah, yeah.
Loni: It was building the team that could support the production. And then just going crazy after that with appointments, past client calls, doing believe it or not video. I know you're so huge on video and I really, really, really do believe that getting your presence out there with your personality and not just posting words on social media, but getting people to know you and not just the professional you, but even like the personal you, I think is so important in this business. [11:30.2]
Scotty: A 100% So knowing what you know now, like everything was taken away from me back at zero, who would be your first hire?
Loni: Probably a loan partner.
Scotty: Loan partner. Okay. So, when you say the right team, was it a little bit of trust and a little bit of being able to let go and trust somebody to do the things you know, you're excellent at. No, cause we all have a sense that we hit.
Loni: Yes.
Scotty: You know, I can do these many loans by myself, I’m good.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: People always come to me like I want to close the least amount of loans and make the most amount of money, cause I don't want to work that much. And I know.
Loni: It is so easy to do that, right? That’s so easy.
Scotty: You’re right. Right. But like you're limited, you might as well go get a W2 job. Cause it's now you're working, you know, you can only do so much.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: I think you realize that more loans, you finally, I think you got it like more loans isn't more work. [12:13.1]
Loni: No, I mean you do, you hit that wall and you're like, I can't do this anymore. Like not only like, can I physically not do it, but I, I can't do it for my family. Like I have no work-life balance. This is not this isn't what I came to do this for. I came to yes, make a good living, but there's so many pieces of that, that who cares if you're making a lot of money who like, nobody cares if you have no balance, you have no family life. You have no, I have a little one. Like I like you get to the point where you're not even seeing them. And I, before we go to battle, what are we doing here? So, it was really just, yes letting go of a little bit of control. I mean, I had to feel consistent enough of myself to feel like I could support somebody else. Cause I wasn't going to bring on a team and feel like I couldn't, they have feelings do like, I want to make sure that I can keep them in a position. So, I think it was all of that mindset, just betting on myself and knowing that I could do it and that I could be consistent and that we could be rockstar, but then it's getting the right person in the seat because you have somebody in the, and you know, they'd be like, well, I don't really feel like calling the spar order. It's like, well I don't need to call them all the time you need, you know? So, it was getting like some people out of the seat, put new cheats in the seat for people that were like, what are your rock stars? And like, it's, it's really hard to find that right energy and rhythm for like what you're looking to do with your business. [13:36.7]
Scotty: Yeah. Oh, an amazing story. I've never got so many chills in my life. I think I'm at five or six. I got all these chilling chill moments. So, I think a lot of people can relate with you, you know, on all different levels, whether you didn't come from a bank or did come from a bank, it doesn't matter. But so, what was the one thing that you feel that you let go to your loan partner? Or is there a couple of things that you let go that really changed the dynamic of your business to where you could comfortably, cause I think it's a comfortable, I got to be comfortable knowing that I can bring in more business knowing that I can exceed their expectations.
Loni: Right.
Scotty: Or that a couple of things that you were able to let go that you think were big for you.
Loni: I think it was sorry, hiring someone that had, if you already say this, like someone that has kind of like a similar personality to you so that you feel comfortable letting your clients have that relationship with them too. And I was going to say like, you're not, I'm not closing myself, but at least somebody that's got the same energy. You can sit beside them and they kind of learn like your lingo and how you work with your customers. And you know, just someone that has the same energy and wants the same rock star vibe. And, and then I feel like I can let go of control. Like I, I feel comfortable letting them call my clients and home I realtors and, and you know, I know it's like they’re not gonna call them and piss them off. You know, like they're going to call and just have the right.
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: You know, the right feel for them. [14:55.5]
Scotty: That's awesome. It just amazes me that you're in a small town, you know, where you're at 5 to 7 million, you're going to, I know you're going to hit 23 this year. Did you get a bigger cup? Is it the same area? Like what was it? I mean, was it a bigger area? Same area.
Loni: Firstly down.
Scotty: Yeah. You actually went smaller.
Loni: I started out, you know, just kinda like doing Ocala and the surrounding counties, you know, just trying to like get whatever I could get at that point. Cause you know, you're trying to like build yourself. And there's a lot of travel time here. Cause Ocala is, it's a small town, but it's large in area. So, if you're traveling to other counties, it's an hour drive. So, for me it was like, okay, I'm having there's days where I'm having to pick my child or from school here, I am spending hours of windshield time, like trying to go meet with. So, I actually paired it down and I kind of changed my focus on what realtors, of course, as you get more confidence in yourself now you feel like you can start going out and hitting these bigger fish realtors. And good for you. If you like, can do that from the start, then you've put yourself way ahead of where I was. But you know, I kind of pared it down and I started tracking my business to have, you know, what realtors were time suckers, like what realtors were sending leads that were just never working out, ninja tracking leads, ninja tracking the conversion ratios, like who was sending one what's converting and kinda like getting rid of some of the relationships that were not working very well. And, and even having a conversation with them, like where are you getting your leads from? How can I help you with this, et cetera. And you know, the ones that just didn't want to hear it, it was kind of like, all right, well I'm just going to kind of peace out like that relationship and you know, just picking out people that I felt had the same, the same care model and, you know, create a referral relationship, experience, the same realtors that I felt like one of the same thing for their customers. And then, you know, they were ended up being like more heavy hitters and sending more quality leads. [16:59.1]
Scotty: Wow. So, I know the big question to anybody, listen to this podcast and down the road, they're going to say, okay, how'd you get rid of the time suckers, the time vampires, like, how do you do that?
Loni: How do you get rid of them?
Scotty: Yeah.
Loni: Well, some of them, I just had to go sit and have a conversation and like, where are you getting your leads from? Somehow, I was paying for Zillow leads for, and I was like.
Scotty: Wow.
Loni: This is just not working out. Like I've tracked so many leads. And the conversion ratio is crap compared to, you know, the other leads that I'm getting from other people, but this is how it's going to continue. Like I can't do this. This is not a smart business move for me and it's not for you either. And you know, when those people don't want to change your mind mindset, it's just like, okay, well I'm not paying for leads or like, I'm just not gonna call on you to choose you. Anymore.
Scotty: Amazing. So, I know people can relate to this. So that's hard getting to that point where you can say, Hey, like you don't have to take everybody in every lead. Was it just the confidence of having more relationships or was it, I mean, it was probably a bunch of things, but it was the remove the mindset I am worthy, you know, I've, you know, say I am worthy and then going out and going, all right, I'm just going to go until I find people that I know I can trust and they know they can trust me. Is that kind of what happened there is just because you're doing the activities consistently persistently and I, I heard you say tracking a bunch.
Loni: Yeah. [18:13.9]
Scotty: Tracking, like I, I think that that's lacking in our industry. Like, so what kind of, where you just looking at every single referral, every realtor you're talking to and every lead that came in and then said, all right. Yes, no, yes, no and then after a while said I'm done.
Loni: Yeah. I mean, I have a tracking sheet that Doug, that Doug Carry and my coach, like, he was like, you have to start when I, when he first started coaching me and I started tracking and we like looked at my conversion ratio of like lead to free approval to loan, it was like 21%. And he was like this terrible. We're very brutally honest with each other. And he's like, this is terrible. Like, what are you going to figure out? Like what's going on here? So, as we started tracking, like who was sending me what and so forth, that came became very apparent of who was sending all these leads that were junk, that weren't working out. And it was just like kind of a natural attrition of, okay, I'm going to weed these people out. And I'm going to go out, call on, I have this person as a list agent, and I thought they were phenomenal. You know, like their communication was awesome or whatever. So, you know, to go after that person and go meet with them and you know, like the little yellow sticky note conversation, like I, I worked with you. I thought you were fantastic. I mean, I never talked to you in my life, but I just thought you're so cool and loved doing the transaction with you and love, would love to meet with you and that worked out well. It was weeding out and like, now that we've tracked so hardcore, like I have a tracking sheet back to 2018. [19:38.6]
Scotty: Wow.
Loni: Every lead that has every month back 2018 who referred them to me, etc, etc.
Scotty: Wow.
Loni: So consistently for the last two years, it's gone up to about a 42% conversion ratio. That’s great.
Scotty: Wow. Good for you. Good for you.
Loni: So.
Scotty: Were you shocked? Were you shocked at like, holy crap I thought that was an amazing, that was my best agent. And you're like, what?
Loni: Yes.
Scotty: But man, they kept sending me leads, right. Is that did that happen?
Loni: Yeah, that didn't happen. In fact, Amber and I had a partnership, my business partner and I had a partnership with one team that was like, we were like, oh my God, there are like ride or die. You know, like and they are awesome, but the business that we were doing with them was not awesome. And after several meetings and conversations of trying to steer in a different direction, it just was never going in a different direction.
Scotty: Hmm.
Loni: And you know, I love them to death, love them, but we just don't partner with them anymore. And it's a hard, it's a hard thing to swallow because people become, your friends, people become, you know, people you see in social circles and, but on the flip side, you know, you make some really great friendships out of, of new people too, so. [20:48.7]
Scotty: Absolutely. You know, what's cool about what this whole interview is, you're truly building a company, your own company. I mean, you're building a business instead of working in the business, you're working on the business, which is really, really cool. So, what's next for you my friend? You gonna put some numbers out there for 2022?
Loni: 2022? Oh god. I would love to do 40 million in 2022.
Scotty: Done. Say, I will do 40 million.
Loni: I will do 40, right. Helloooo…
Scotty: Mindset, mindset.
Loni: Yeah. Better wrap my brain around that one and then that’s it.
Scotty: All right cool. And what do you have to do to do 40 million? What's one thing you have to do that you can do now, but you can't do at 40 million. What would you say is the one thing you gotta let go of? Is there one more thing?
Loni: Being so involved in I'm still pretty involved in files at this point. I hate to say it I'm involved in the file like more than I should be pulling myself out of that. And then just focusing on, like I told you, I'm like, I haven't done. I haven't called my past time. Like I'm missing out on so much low hanging fruit in my business because I've been concentrating on building a team and all of that. Like now that I have this there's other pieces of like that daily success plan that I need to give back to doing, because we know that's that we know that's, what's making money. It's not, you know, I got to get out of the files.
Scotty: Awesome.
Loni: I'm like 60% there. [22:07.4]
Scotty: All right. So, when you going to be out a hundred percent? I'm just going to.
Loni: By the end of the year.
Scotty: All right.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: I love it. All right, cool.
Loni: Yeah.
Scotty: 40 million.
Loni: 40 million.
Scotty: 40 million. And you are worthy by the way.
Loni: Thank you. So are you.
Scotty: Thank you. Thank you.
Loni: You’re worthy.
Scotty: You know, you've been a great friend. So, I've enjoyed our friendship. I've enjoyed your journey. I love stories. I love people that actually have a dream and you know; the dream becomes a reality. It's just, it gives me chills talking about it. It's been so fun to, to watch that. I remember looking at that picture and the sunset, on your property, and now you're going to be able to see that every single day, which is just so cool.
Loni: Sunrise and Sunset. I’m so excited.
Scotty: Sunrise and sunset. Yeah. Yeah. So, any final words as we finish up here for the listeners on this call. [22:48.4]
Loni: I just want to say, thank you for having me on. I'm super honored here, what you do every day is changing lives. And I just think it's just like, I appreciate you trusting to have me on cause like that's amazing. And I just, I want to end with this. I read this actually last night, as far as like mindset and positivity and negativity, I was like, wow, this is true. So, if you plant a seed, right, let's think the seeds like positive thoughts, you ended up the morning, you plant seed positive thoughts. You're going to go dig it up by the middle of the afternoon and all this like negative thinking and your mind goes rampant, like real fast. And if you're not turning that around like positives and what you're grateful, and you're thankful for like, you basically planted the seed and dug it up by the end of the day.
Scotty: Hmm.
Loni: So, you have to like plant the seed and enrich it and let it grow and root. So, it’s just, for me, it's like, if I start going off on a negative, you have to turn that around. Like immediately you have to be so cognizant of your thoughts all day long. It's really hard when you start doing that, but it becomes easier and easier as you do it. But like let the seed grow. Don't dig it up by the afternoon.
Scotty: Awesome.
Loni: Like that was kind of one of my things, really cool. [23:55.9]
Scotty: You brought another question to mind. So how do you do that? Cause there's so much negative. How do you turn that around and keep nursing that, you know, watering and nursing that seed? What does a couple of things you do?
Loni: For me, it's being very cognizant in my thoughts. Cause I'm so big on that now. Like I'll start to go down a rabbit hole real fast. And it's like, whoa, like stop like just stop, like, okay. Like I do this to my daughter too, cause she likes, starts to get like all like negative. I'm like, tell me three things you're grateful for right now. I want to know three things are like thankful for, so I kind of do to myself to like, okay, there's so much to me that work, yes, this might be going wrong, but this is so first world problems. Like we woke up, we have running water and a roof over her head with food on the table, like this first world problem. Like I want her to, like, I try to tell myself like, okay, just what's three things you're thankful for right now. Like just come on and try to like turn this around. And you'll be amazed at just something as simple as that will get you out of that rabbit hole. Cause you can't like, if you let yourself stay in the rabbit hole, like you're like Alice in Wonderland, like you're going off to like crazy town. [24:56.6]
Scotty: So awesome. So awesome. Loni Gerardi unbelievable journey. Unbelievable Five years. I can't even, five years from now, it's just going to be unbelievable epic. So, congratulations on your success and.
Loni: Thank you.
Scotty: Much continued success in the future. Sincerely appreciate you.
Loni: I appreciate that. Appreciate you.
Scotty: All right guys. Thanks for listening to Millionaire Loan Officer powered by Mortgage Marketing Animals and The Loan Officer Breakfast Club. We'll see you same time, same place another day on a Millionaire Loan Officer. Take care everybody. [25:22.6]
I'm a Millionaire Loan Officer.
Thank you for tuning into the Millionaire Loan Officer podcast with your host Scott Hudspeth, don't forget to visit MLOlive.com to have your questions answered. See you next time. [25:42.5]
