I'm not going to apologize any more...

... for what I do for a living.

I am a mortgage lender.

Yes, one of those. Better (or worse) yet, for the past eight years I've worked for (dare I say it out loud?) Countrywide Home Loans. Yes! I admit it! I was with the demons of the industry! The company that single-handedly brought down the housing industry! Yes, I know... it's ridiculous, but over the past two years, that's the impression people had based on what the media spouted. We now (hopefully) know that there was a cataclysmic perfect storm of events, fueled by greed, that brought about the current housing situation. Investors got greedy and created bizarre loan programs so that anyone with a pulse could by a house, the lenders adopted them and often provided incentives to loan officers to sell them, and (horror of horrors) homebuyers often learned how to manipulate their way into some pretty big houses as well. No one, from consumer to market backer is innocent in this debacle.

But I'm getting off track here...

"My name is Kim and I'm a mortgage lender." (chorus of "Hi, Kim!" inserted here)

and I'm very proud of it!!!

For the past six years, I have helped hundreds of people buy their first home, buy their vacation or move up home, or leverage the equity (yeah, there used to be such a thing) in their home to better their lives. I've helped a couple structure a new loan so that the wife could handle it alone after her terminally ill husband passed away, I've helped my physically disabled friend support his grandson and be there for his dying sister, I've helped many of my friends' children buy their very first home... I made a difference.

Many of us made a very real difference in people's lives. I'm not so naive that I think every person in this industry is pure as the driven snow - I've known some whose tactics have made me physically ill, but the vast, vast majority of people are in this industry for the joy of bettering others' lives. I admit, when you have a strong business, you make a great living, but you get a strong business by doing the right thing - all the time. When you compromise your morals and let the dollar rule over the conscience, eventually it will bite you in the butt.

Over the past nearly two years, when people would ask me what I do for a living, I would brace myself for the inevitable... "Oh my God! I bet it's really hard on you!" or the 167 statements about everything that went wrong in the economy and why it's all the lenders fault.. And then... "You work where???" "My brother's sister's cousin's aunt twice removed has a Countrywide loan and they're screwing him/her!" At first I tried to defuse the situation with facts about the industry and suggestions as to who to talk to, what a sub-prime loan is, and why they are the way they are while imparting a bit of sympathy. After a while, I got tired of people not listening, so I just nodded sympathetically and murmured platitudes such as, "I'm so sorry, that must be so difficult".

It wore me out... It made me doubt my choice of career... My business fell off in large part due to the economy, but also because I, like many of my lending brothers and sisters, had become so discouraged at the constant barrage of negativity that I couldn't muster up the energy to go out and try to get business. I started to quit caring if I made a difference... I only wanted to go home and escape. The career that I'd been so proud of suddenly became the albatross around my neck. I thought about getting out... but for what? To make a salary doing a job I really didn't like and losing all control over my destiny?

Fortunately my coach understood my struggles... he reminded me of why I do what I do. He encouraged me, pushed me and gave me tools to re-ignite the fire. I won't say it was easy, some of the tasks he gave me to complete I completed half-heartedly. But he never gave up on me... he knew I could get the fire back if we just worked it hard enough. He encouraged me when I made the ultimate decisions: first to step out of management and a guaranteed income, even though I was terrified of not having money to pay my bills, and later, to leave the comfort of the company I'd worked at for eight years and follow my heart and my friends to a new company.

My clients never gave up on me. When I would go through changes, they would call or email to encourage me. I would get random calls from clients I'd done loans for several years ago, just to see how I was doing. When I left Countrywide to come here, to Guild Mortgage, I had literally dozens of emails and phone calls encouraging me, promising referrals, and asking for mortgage reviews! They reminded me that yes, I had made a difference in their lives.

Thanks to the support and encouragement of my clients, and my business/life coach Bill, I'm not going to apologize any more for what I do for a living!

I love my job! I love the marketing, I love the challenge, I love the families I help!

I chose this, of all times, to reinvent my "brand". I'm starting anew... new picture, cool new cards, letterhead, envelopes, logo, etc... I'm investing in my business like I haven't for a very long time.

Yesterday when I was out hiking and thinking, I reminded myself:

I love what I do, and I'm damn good at doing it!

Next time someone asks me what I do for a living I'm going to say with a light in my eye and a smile on my face,

"I'm a mortgage loan officer!" and I'm going to ask if they know anyone looking for a mortgage. I'm not going to meekly proclaim, "I'm in the mortgage industry"

I'm going to remember that every day I have the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. Every day I have the opportunity to make a new friend! Every day I have control of my future.

Cuz:

"There is one quality that one must possess to win,
and that is definiteness of purpose,
the knowledge of what one wants,
and a burning desire to possess it."
- Napoleon Hill

It's about time I got that burning desire back! And it feels sooooooo good!

To everyone reading this blog, I encourage you to do what you love, and love what you do... do it all with purpose and goodness... do it for the right reasons... do it with the right attitude...

“There is very little difference in people,
but that little difference makes a big difference.
The little difference is attitude.
The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
- W. Clement Stone

And enjoy your life... every day... work or play...