What Makes A Master

“We have invested heavily into team members that specialize in creating content, producing content, and assisting in the strategy of the deployment of it,” says Blackmer. To that end, West Capital Lending prioritizes the use of new technologies in its communications with clients and referral partners, from podcasts to social media. 

“We've got some amazing team members at West Cap that support us from social media and a digital, online experience,” Blackmer says. “They’ve really kind of shown their chops at creating an amazing following because they provide such valuable content and insight. They just continually drive great audiences and great engagement.”

Some of these star-powered mortgage influencers who are part of the West Cap family include Al Bennett, and Sosimo “Sosi” Avila, Jr.

Bennett, who was a photographer and videographer before joining West Cap, wanted to combine his creativity with the mortgage industry, using social media to showcase real life rather than relying on scripted content. His approach has paid off: he now leads a team of 47 agents which funded over $312 million in 2024. He credits his success to how West Cap operates. “But what really sets West Cap apart? Freedom. I get to run my business my way, make decisions that actually move the needle, and work in a culture where ideas aren’t just heard — they’re backed. There’s no red tape, no micromanagement — just pure execution.”

That freedom, Bennett explains, comes straight from the top: “Daniel Iskander and Eric Hines aren’t just running a business; they’re playing the long game. They’re not in it to take the biggest cut—they make sure the loan officers win first. And that changes everything.” As a result, Bennett can shape a strategy, including the use of social media, that feels right to him. “Every VP has the freedom to build, innovate, and execute in a way that makes sense for their team. There’s no cookie-cutter system — just a collaborative, high-performance environment that lets you win on your terms.”

Given his team’s success and how well they work together, Bennett can’t resist comparing his agents to comic book superheroes. “I honestly feel like we are Marvel characters. Different people have different strengths.” And to be at the head of a team like that, Bennett knows he has to lead by example. “You want respect? Earn it. Master what you’re asking others to do. Be in the trenches. Grind right alongside your team. That’s how you build a real culture that lasts.”

Avila, a former pastor who is based in California but licensed to originate around the U.S., reported $45.47 million in volume totaling 63 units over the past year, according to Nov. 2024 Modex data. He is active on Instagram (@mortgageswithsosi), reaching borrowers with insights and tips. 

This pastor found an unlikely calling into the mortgage space seven years ago, after his family lost their ancestral home. “My mom got really bad mortgage advice from an individual at our church. He was a fantastic soul,” Avila explains. “He loved our family dearly – a really close family friend. But unfortunately, what I learned from him was that just because you have good intentions doesn't mean you've been equipped with good mortgage advice.”

From that moment on, he vowed to help families like his secure and remain in their homes by going on to start his mortgage practice. 

Within his first three years, Avila says, he was originating among the nation’s top 1% of producing MLOs. “We've had a lot of success in this industry, which I'm really blessed and grateful for.”

He came across the concept of the ‘family office’ during his financial literacy studies, and that’s what continues to drive him to this day. “It’s effectively a group of consultants and advisors that manage the family's money, help them make more money, and stay protected, taking advantage of the right type of opportunities and so on and so forth,” Avila says. “What I realized was that not only should the ultra wealthy have consultants, resources, and support to make their money, but the common person doesn't and they should. And when I have a mortgage practice that's producing debt that someone has to be obligated to for a 30-year commitment, my service to them should not just be the 30 days that it takes to close a loan. It should be the 30 years that they've now committed to that debt.”

‘Cultural Competence’

For hiring teams and C-suites, recruiting a diverse workforce has become both a priority and a necessity. J. Tony Thompson Jr. has personally recruited over 500 loan originators, sales managers, and professionals during his tenure as a mortgage executive. He most recently served as VP, Growth & Strategy at Silverton Mortgage Specialists, Inc. Prior to that he was a regional manager at Guaranteed Rate and PNC Mortgage. 

“It's given me an opportunity to truly understand how to recruit, who to recruit, and really how to build a talent pool that ultimately can withstand ups and downs in any type of environment,” said Thompson, founder & CEO of the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA). “What most companies don't realize is that money is number four on the list of reasons why people move or why they join an organization.”

Thompson referenced a recent study indicating the number one reason people depart a place of employment is culture. Two is leadership; three, the tools and resources provided to generate business, and four, the compensation.

“A lot of times companies think that compensation is the primary driver when really they need to focus on building a great culture, where everyone feels welcome and involved and that they can be themselves.”

Thompson encourages leaders to strive for cultural competence from a hiring standpoint. “To have culturally competent leaders who can actually attract, retain, coach, and develop people who may or may not look like them and come from various different parts of the communities in which they live and serve,” he says. “To value and understand each one of those employees' unique needs and help them achieve their best.”

Several years ago, lenders began prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, recalls Thompson, who believes social impact should be a longstanding commitment of all companies. “If I'm an employee looking in this marketplace, the first thing I want to do is really ask a company, tell me your commitment to serving the communities that I live in. What are you going to do? What are you doing? And how are you going to help me serve more people? Because if I can put more people in homes, then I am going to, by default, obviously make more money as a loan originator. And I think that's the first question I would be asking.”

He always advises LOs not to be blinded by an attractive signing bonus or comp plan. “If you don't have the right culture, the right manager, platform, and products, you're not going to get the results that you would want at the end of the day.”

NAMMBA issues lenders the Accredited Social Impact Lender (ASIL) Certification, considered to be the Gold standard of social impact. Its purpose is to help mortgage professionals connect with employers who are doing right by those they serve, according to Thompson.

“We have over 75 companies that are committed to hiring more females, more people of color, more LGBQT, more people with disabilities, because they see the opportunity as a business, but they also see the opportunity from a talent perspective, to get the right people on their team that can help them get the right results.”

Every year NAMMBA checks in on its ASIL companies to track progress made in hiring females, millennials, and minorities, along with the number of loans being originated in multicultural markets. 

“Show me the diversity of your leadership,” Thompson says. “Show me your promotion over the last 12 to 24 months for your females. Show me the impact that you're making in your communities, around the branches that you serve.”

Just The Right Fit

Ramping up production with more bodies is quite different from finding the ideal candidates to drive company success. While mega brokerages may prioritize growth in terms of dollar amounts and staff directories, smaller, mom-and–pop shops are taking their time to ramp up their own right way. 

Primis Mortgage, a subsidiary of Primis Bank in Wilmington, N.C., has embraced a strategic approach to finding new talent to join the company. Understanding that personality and performance are inextricably intertwined, Primis leadership recently identified its need for a Talent Acquisition Specialist, transitioning Lindsey Reid over from its onboarding team.

“My job is to go out and try to find some top producers that have a proven track record of productivity, but also not always trying to go for the big unicorns, right? We want to make sure that they fit with our company's culture as well,” Reid says.

Chris Blevins, the lender’s national sales director, trusts that Primis will prioritize hiring people who mesh with the company culture.

“The biggest challenge I think, for any company, is do they tell the right story? Do they know the vision?” Blevins says. “Our goal is actually to have a little bit of fun growing a company. It doesn't matter what your position is – operations or sales, from the support person to the CEO. We're all kind of pulling the rope in the same direction because we're transparent, and there's a lot of loan officers that don't fit that mold. I've heard loan officers say, I'm not in this to make friends…Well, that's fine. But we're looking for someone who's like, ‘Hey, let's help everybody grow. Let's help build.’”

The first trait that comes to Reid’s mind for the ideal Primis MLO? Passion. “We talk a lot about integrity, adaptability…ebb and flow when things go up and down,” she says, “and then I think maybe the ability to kind of inspire the people around them too. It’s not always about going after the biggest people. It's just making sure that they align with what we represent and what we stand for.”

Marketing coordinator Erin Pike keeps her fingertips on the pulse of their MLOs’ needs to ensure they’re getting the right support. “If we're better at equipping our own people, we're going to attract other people as a result,” she points out. “We’re really fortunate and in such a great position as a company to be growing when that's just not a reality [in the industry]. I've observed leadership's capacity to see beyond the reality in some ways, to look for the potential and opportunities.”

CEO John Owens is a former banker who sold his company before joining Primis Mortgage.

“We're not one of those lenders bringing on a thousand MLOs weekly,” Owens says. “We don't have to bang our chest as if we're the fastest growing or the largest in the country, because honestly, we’ve already been there and done that. Now it's one good teammate, one good market at a time.”

Loyalty and Retention

Blackmer says West Cap retains its top producers by sharing their successes, internally and on social media. “We’re very straightforward with not only our processes and ideas but also the numbers. You can promise a million different opportunities but at the end of the day, the veterans and the true industry titans just want to see the true factual data. We try to be really transparent in what we're representing – we share our margins, the revenue we’re generating – it’s all straightforward and very transparent for any of our team members, which I think is going to be very different from some of our competitors.”

Bringing in pro MLOs like Avila, who are also influencers, is intentional. “We've got some really powerful household names in the mortgage industry underneath our umbrella. And we love working with them,” Blackmer says. “But one of the reasons why we've attracted that kind of talent is because we first and foremost lean into collaboration and the sharing of diverse strategies.” 

MLOs should strive to have humility in every aspect of their jobs, he adds, especially when working with partners, clients, and colleagues.

“At the forefront of this current market change is being able to sit back and say, maybe I'm not doing the best I can possibly do. How can I get better? And finding the people that will help you get there. I guess I think being able to be humble and excited about the future of the mortgage business and being open-minded for change and opportunity are really what's going to help you find the best version of yourself.”

Digging For Gold

Avila is proud to have been coached by one of the mortgage greats – founder of The Loan Atlas, Tim Braheem. “This guy was just a rock star. He did something like 700 loans a year.”

Endurance coupled with strong coaching can work wonders. Avila thinks of the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill —popular amongst entrepreneurs. As the story goes, a family came to California and found a little bit of gold, so they bought the property. After digging for years, never finding any more, they gave up and sold the land to the janitor, who struck rich digging three feet further from their hole.

“But here's the thing that gets missed,” Avila says, adding that the new owner, “spoke to a land surveyor and people who actually understand geography and he got guidance on where to dig.”

Using this as an analogy for how MLOs should position themselves for markets that lie ahead, Avila recognizes that having strong guidance can make or break you; to become a master of tomorrow, one can benefit greatly from the guidance of a master of today: “More than endurance, there's the right coaching that's needed to show you what to do with your systems, with your lead sources, what to do on social media so that you don’t just endure until the gold, but also not miss the gold. I can say with a lot of confidence, there’s a really great market coming, and those who have the skill and the determination are going to be able to enjoy all of the fruits.”