Living & Lending, By The Numbers

Many people in his life took it as a sign that he should take a step back from his career and rest, but that’s not what DeLory does. After going through chemotherapy, he said what friends, family, and colleagues struggled to understand is that work is his energy source.

“This is what heals me, being around these people, being in the trenches, all day,” DeLory said.

For some reason, despite how many beatings he takes, DeLory keeps getting back on his feet. Like Rocky Balboa in the ring, DeLory says “I didn’t hear no bell. One more round!”

His intentions were made clear the day his wife took him to a nearby hospital for an emergency operation.

“My wife was upset and she was crying,” DeLory said. “So, I asked her for one favor. I said, ‘I need you to be strong in this because your strength is gonna help me. Because if I see you upset, then I’m gonna get upset. And we can’t afford to be upset right now. We need to win.’ ”

More Than A Numbers Game

“I didn’t ask to be a leader,” said DeLory, while reminiscing the days he was the number one salesperson at his first company. “I used to say, ‘I can make more money by hitting 40 home runs and stealing 40 bases than I could by coaching a team.’ ”

In the first few years of DeLory’s career, he came out swinging with all the exuberance and determination of a young man looking to carve out his place in the industry.

Starting out as an area sales manager for New Century Mortgage in 2001, he was the top producing account executive every month he was employed, with the exception of one, and added $50 million in production to the branch. In 2005, he continued his hot streak at Equifirst, owned by Barclay, where he was named “Account Executive of the Month” for 30 consecutive months and “Account Executive of the Region” in 2006 and 2007.

In those days numbers were all that mattered; volume numbers, unit numbers, phone numbers, loan numbers swirled around in his head. Because that’s what being a loan originator is all about, DeLory said. Some love the recognition, “like receiving those glass awards with the words ‘top producer’ or “President’s Club” engraved on the plaque,” he said.

But DeLory’s satisfaction didn’t come from awards, necessarily, because he had longed to be number one at something ever since his childhood. 

DeLory was the youngest of four boys, raised on welfare by a single mother who “wasn’t the most caring person in the world,” he said, but his brothers were there for him. “They always took care of me,” DeLory said. “They taught me how to fight, and drove me to want to be number one. Because that was our only way out, you know, was to fight.”

But, in 2007, the new life DeLory was building for himself started to crumble faster than he could pick up the pieces. Another value was entered into the numbers game: the number of people left in his support system. The mortgage crisis began to gather steam in mid-2007, causing Equifirst to cut more than 400 jobs. So many had left, DeLory recalled, including friends who went to join the insurance or title side of business. That caused other important numbers to drop like loan volume and phone rings per day.

“You have to have a really strong stomach to stick it out,” DeLory said.

But, that’s not all who left. Around that same time, two of DeLory’s older brothers died tragically from separate incidents. When DeLory lifted his head from the cloud of grief he’d been under, he counted a final tally of five.

Five brokers, who had become some of his closest friends over the years, were standing in his office one day in 2008. He had seen them at dinner parties, family outings, and his own wedding, but never had he seen them this distraught. Just as the industry began to collapse with lenders shutting down left and right, his friends looked to him and asked, “What do we do now?”

At first, DeLory was confused why they were asking him that question, as if account executives have a handbook on what to do when the entire housing market crashes. “And that’s when it occurred to me,” DeLory said. “Oh my God, they see me as a leader.”

It was at that moment DeLory’s entire career had shifted. His money was gone; his brothers were gone; and the numbers that constantly ran through his mind were replaced by the faces staring back at him in his office.

“Then I realized I can be a much better leader than I am a salesperson,” DeLory said. “I can help these brokers that are dying on the vine because they thought subprime was the only product to offer. I can go out there and educate them about FHA ,VA, and USDA to keep their doors open.”

By the second half of 2008, one of the largest subprime lenders, Equifirst, converted to making loans conforming to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) standards, closing more than 1,700 loans during the period. DeLory built his team up from two to eight account executives, and said they became the top producing team in the company every month until the company eventually closed in 2009.

Chief Wrestler of Egos

“In sales, everyone wants to be number one,” DeLory said, acknowledging how that can drive success for many leaders. But there are times when personal ego can hold leaders back from recognizing new opportunities and making necessary changes.

In September 2023, EPM’s Chief Retail Officer Stephen Carpitella came to CEO Eddy Perez and told him he wanted to leave to start his own brokerage. A more egotistical CEO might have kicked the executive out of his office, Perez said, or out of the building with security escorting him to the door, making it an entire spectacle out of spite or amusement. But Perez makes an effort not to be that kind of boss. Instead, he recognized the opportunity to support a growing segment of the industry and decided to support Carpitella’s new venture by shedding its retail division and going all-in on wholesale.

“Most of the time, the hard thing to do is the right thing to do,” Perez said. “Sure, other CEOs with bigger egos would have yelled or maybe even sued, which is something I’ve seen happen, but he [Carpitella] was with me for 13 years and I wasn’t going to do that. Wholesale is doing much better for us and he recognized that.”

EPM’s commitment to all-in on wholesale was a major risk, DeLory said, and many people questioned their timing since retention was already low and the market was less than fruitful. But DeLory said the goal is to show brokers that EPM is not out to compete with them, but provide them with the resources they need to win.

 “He [Perez] sat here and said, ‘Hey, I say brokers are best … but I can’t have a retail division. I gotta put my ego aside.’ That wasn’t an easy decision,” DeLory said.

Perez said his title is not only CEO, but “Chief Wrestler of Egos” and it would therefore be contradictory to let his ego get in the way of any decision that’s “better for the greater good; EPM.”

When it comes to taming executives and other staff in the company, Perez has the ultimate ego-killing exercise in which he tells everyone to literally pick up their hands and hang up their ego like they’re hanging up a jacket.

“My ability as a leader is dependent on how my people learn and grow and if that’s into their own entrepreneurial spirit then I must support them,” Perez added. ‘“I know it’s easier said than done, but you have to take the emotions out of it, and each person needs to focus on how they are going to be 1% better every day.”

After adding industry veterans to the sales team and announcing that EPM would be exclusively wholesale, DeLory said that the broker community welcomed them with open arms and expects EPM to emerge as one of the top five wholesalers within the next year. According to Modex, EPM has been able to complete 72 transactions and $22.52 million in volume since the start of 2024.

DeLory’s and Perez’s leadership philosophies are very much aligned, Perez said, adding that “It’s hard to put into words how remarkable he [DeLory] has been.” Not only was Perez amazed by DeLory’s positive attitude after initially being diagnosed with cancer, but he was even more impressed seeing DeLory’s still upbeat attitude after the second diagnosis when tests revealed the cancer was not gone. “That blew me away,” Perez said. “He’s truly remarkable.”

DeLory shares the same appreciation for his partners, saying Perez and Kenny “Phil” Phillips, Senior Vice President of Wholesale Lending, EPM, are like brothers to him. He recalled sitting in the hospital for his first operation, unsettled by the fact he would be having it so far from his family and friends at home.

“I didn’t wanna have the operation, you know, away from my wife and daughter,” DeLory said. “Eddie and Phil, my two partners who I consider like brothers, sent a plane and got me back home. So my wife picked me up and took me right to the hospital here.”

As much as company leaders and entrepreneurs love to take pride in their own grit and determination, DeLory reminds us that leaders need friends, and ego can stand in the way of that support.

Showing Vulnerability

“You wanna talk about vulnerability?” DeLory said. “Like showing up to an executive call hooked up to an IV as you’re getting chemo … and you pride yourself on this beautiful hair you used to have, but now you’re totally bald and your head looks like Charlie Brown because you’re on so many steroids.”

Sometimes, showing vulnerability isn’t a choice, as DeLory knows; sometimes, it’s an inevitability.

Even before his diagnosis, DeLory was open to showing his flaws or mistakes to his team members because he believes it’s a learning tool for them. DeLory has the smallest office at EPM and more often sits in a cubicle alongside his team of account executives, taking phone calls on the main floor and allowing them to witness every achievement and mistake he makes.

“Kevin leads from the front,” said EPM Senior Vice President of Lending Kenny Phillips. “He is never afraid to jump in the trenches with us and never makes us feel like he is not going through what we are going through together. It’s always a get-it-done attitude with full knowing that he will be there with us every step of the way to guide.”

A lot of people think a leader has to be shiny, like a knight in shining armor with an impenetrable shield against failure, but that’s not the truth, DeLory insisted. Because that intimidation gives rise to suspicion, he said, and soon they’ll begin asking themselves “What’s he hiding?”

Some leaders may equate vulnerability with weakness, but his colleagues say that if anyone can demonstrate how one can be vulnerable and strong at the same time, it’s DeLory.

“Kevin is steadfast in how he gets his work done,” said EPM East Coast Regional Sales Manager, Keith Russel. “When he went through his recent journey, he only wondered the next day if he would be in the office, and that was always his first priority. It’s admirable.”

Though many of DeLory’s colleagues admire his work ethic, they also show genuine concern — as friends sometimes do — and make sure he’s not overworking himself when his health is the main priority.

“I’m sure there’ll be a fight when I get outta the hospital on Saturday [after the operation] since I want to come back to the office on Monday,” DeLory said. “A couple people have yelled at me that maybe you should work a couple days from home, but this is my healthy space. This is what makes me happy.”

He acknowledges that it’s hard for others to understand why he continues grinding away at work. Some may think he plugs into work to avoid thinking about his cancer, but DeLory said work gets him thinking positively and improves his health.

At first, DeLory admits he was reluctant to do research on his particular cancer after initially getting diagnosed. Luckily, he had the help of his coach, Jenna Silverman, COO of Culture Matters, a coaching and training company that works with companies on establishing core values.

“I didn’t want to do any research … but Jenna did everything for me and gave me the courage I needed to face this,” DeLory said. “I needed all these people. They think I’m the leader? They were leading me. I needed their support. I needed my friends.”

Cooperation & Compromise

Despite how well DeLory’s leadership style has worked, he acknowledges that it’s not often reflected in the broker community. Compromise and cooperation are not words that many in the broker community like to use. They prefer words like “competition,” “choice,” “options,” “freedom,” and above all, “independence,” said Joey Harrington, CTO and partner at one of the top brokerages in Arizona, Agave Home Loans.

“They can spend a lot of their energy on who’s right, who’s the best partner, and some of the drama that comes with that,” Harrington said. “Competition drives a lot of growth and can get people out of their comfort zone, but taken to the extreme can definitely produce negative outcomes and environments.”

The amount of internal fighting in the broker community is no secret to the rest of the industry either. Even those who work in separate channels can see the drama that transpires within the broker community, like New American Funding co-founder and CEO Patty Arvielo, who said in a separate interview, “I think that it really goes on in the broker channel … they talk negatively about each other. The negative rhetoric around, you know, the UWM and the Rocket thing — I was just so glad to not be a part of that.”

DeLory, after decades of working in the wholesale channel, loves that the broker community is fiercely independent and competitive, but is also concerned how that can stunt progress during times the community must band together. Inflated egos not only denigrate company leadership, but also stand in the way of the channel’s progress, DeLory said.

Since DeLory worked in the mortgage industry at the time of the 2007 housing crash, he was a first-hand witness to brokers’ tragic downfall. The evidence is well documented by housing economists at that time, like Archana Pradhan, principal economist at CoreLogic, who reported the drop in loan-quality reputation among brokers as foreclosure rates jumped, leading lenders to stop offering credit through brokers. Then, of course, the resulting decline in broker market share after 2008.

DeLory believes the reason brokers received much of the blame and endured a severe compliance crackdown was because they did not unite in defending themselves.

“After 2007, the Realtors’ commissions didn’t get cut. Whose commission got cut? The brokers,” DeLory said. “Why? Because there are all these different factions [in the broker community] rather than being unified. The Realtors have one body representing them on Capitol Hill and fighting for them.”

But, now, he sees broker market share has rebounded to 24.3%, the highest it’s been since 2009, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. New broker advocacy groups are forming, and trade associations including NAMB, the MBA, AIME, and its partnering advocacy group the Broker Action Coalition (BAC), have established mortgage brokers’ presence on Capitol Hill, increasing the community’s opportunity to advance reform efforts on trigger leads, compensation rules, and credit report fees. It’s the dawn of a new era, potentially.

“We can all have what we want,” DeLory said. “But I just think if it can’t be about what’s best for you, it’s gotta be what’s best for the community. We can’t be so competitive … I think even some of these organizations selfishly want to put the organization ahead of the community, the people they represent, and I think that’s the big fail.”

In the words of DeLory, ego is a crazy thing. When it’s healthy, it can effectively boost one’s self-esteem, but too much of it can blind people to the point where they can’t recognize an opportunity that’s right in front of them.

“If we spend more time talking about how we can make brokers great versus bickering, brokers would be unstoppable,” he said.