Below is an excerpt adapted from our podcast conversation with 40 Under 40 honoree Tyler Slesk of Gold Star Financial. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Competitive And Curious

Tyler Slesk jokes that he spent his childhood “either running through a wall or figuring out how to go around it.” Growing up in a tight‑knit, sports-obsessed family in Utah, he learned early that persistence is non‑negotiable. “We loved athletics,” he recalls, “and we were always pushed to give everything — no excuses.” That mindset carried him through college baseball, which taught him to treat failure as data, not defeat. “Baseball is a sport of failure. You swing at curveballs in the dirt 95 percent of the time,” he laughs, “and eventually you realize, ‘Maybe I should try something else.’ ”

Yet the relationships forged on those teams became the foundation for his next act. Coaching stints in career counseling at the university kept him around athletes, but an old teammate’s father — industry veteran Ben Zitting — kept nudging him toward mortgages. Slesk resisted. “I didn’t want to go into sales,” he admits. Then a friend dropped a line that reframed everything: “Everything is sales. Parent, teacher, history professor — doesn’t matter. You’re selling ideas.”

Mirroring His Mentor

That epiphany sent him to the phone. Ben answered on the first ring: “Are you ready to work?” Slesk said yes and promptly plunged into eight‑ to ten‑hour call days, knowing “it’s not the most glamorous position, but everything starts there.” He made peace with hearing no — again and again — and treated each rejection like a batting‑cage rep. “If you can get comfortable on the phone, you build the work ethic the business demands.”

Ben’s mentorship went beyond mechanics. Slesk listened so intently that some clients thought they were still talking to the seasoned pro. “I’d pick up and they’d say, ‘Ben?’ I’d laugh and say, ‘Close enough.’ Hearing him hundreds of times gift‑wrapped the material I needed to teach others.”

The Service Of Sales

Even after retirement, Ben remains a weekly sounding board. Their enduring partnership anchors Slesk’s conviction that mortgage origination is an act of stewardship. “Ben showed me you can create 30‑year relationships, not just 30‑year loans. Serving is the point.” That outlook now guides Slesk’s own team at Gold Star Financial, where nearly every decision funnels through one question: How does this help the client long‑term?

Pivoting Without Panic

The last two years forced that question into overdrive. “This market’s different. The business is out there, but you get it differently,” he says. Marketing budgets were the first pivot. “We slashed ad spend and chased partnerships that deliver return without ‘ungodly money.’ When it worked and volume actually grew, our confidence skyrocketed.”

Product mix followed. Slesk moved from mostly conventional loans into Non‑QM territory — bank‑statement and DSCR products that help self‑employed borrowers and investors. “At first you’re staring at disclosures like they’re hieroglyphics,” he laughs. “But you dive in, figure it out, and suddenly you’re the guide to a whole new clientele.”

He also re‑engineered how — and whom — he calls. “It’s easy to drown in ‘stimulating activities’ that give quick hits. We pulled back and decided to love on our past‑client database: newsletters, market updates, even small gifts. That sowing season is already paying harvest.”

Teaching As A Tool

Ask Slesk what differentiates top producers and he won’t cite lead funnels or CRMs. He’ll talk about teaching. “Most buyers aren’t purchasing homes every day — just like I can’t sit at a piano and play a single note,” he says. So he turns every touchpoint into a mini‑classroom, whether explaining down‑payment assistance to a first‑time buyer or equity strategy to a repeat investor.

One example still makes him grin: a business owner with a messy first‑time‑buyer file who’s since bought several homes and refinanced strategically. “It caught fire with him,” Slesk says. “Now we bounce ideas like friends. Education earns that level of trust.”

Faith, Family, And Focus

Faith undergirds Slesk’s schedule — and his boundaries. A two‑year church mission taught him to communicate across cultures and to “lead with service, not agenda.” Today, Sundays are sacrosanct family days with his wife and three kids, even if Monday deals pile up. “Your kids won’t remember an extra file you funded,” he says. “They’ll remember if you coached their game.”

He’s equally protective of mental bandwidth. “Adults drift with the waves,” he observes. “We scatter our energy across 30 things and wonder why nothing has depth.” His antidote: deliberate minimalism. “If my family needs me, that’s the focus. If the business needs me, that’s it. I refuse to chase shiny objects that don’t fit my values.”

Staying Uncomfortable

Slesk keeps a quote taped above his desk: “There’s no comfort in the growth zone, and no growth in the comfort zone.” Whenever life feels easy, he looks for friction. It might be new product lines, public‑speaking gigs, or a 5 a.m. workout. “If I feel too comfortable, I challenge myself. Growth demands discomfort.”

That philosophy shapes his forecast, too. As a newly minted member of NMP’s 40 Under 40, he doesn’t rattle off production numbers when asked what’s next. Instead, he talks about sharpening culture, expanding mentorship, and deepening client education. “Everyone has a capacity,” he says. “Mine might be smaller than others’, but if I pour it into the right places and keep pushing the edges, the ripple effect will be huge.”

Before signing off, he issues a gentle dare — to himself, to colleagues, to any listener scanning interest rates from the sidelines: “Stay out of your comfort zone and build depth where it matters. That’s where the fun — and the impact — really begins.” 

To hear Slesk’s full story and his thoughts on pivoting in a changing market, educating borrowers for long‑term success, and building relationships that last beyond the loan, listen to the full episode of Inspired By from National Mortgage Professional.