Below is an excerpt adapted from our podcast conversation with 40 Under 40 honoree Michael Smith of Ocmulgee Mortgage Company. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

In the competitive world of mortgage lending, success often looks like polished suits, skyscraper boardrooms, and national branding. But Michael Smith, the founder of Ocmulgee Mortgage Company in Macon, Georgia, flips that image on its head. His story, shared on NMP’s Inspired By podcast, is about reinvention, local pride, and the relentless pursuit of customer impact. From professional motorcycle racer to weapons transporter for the U.S. government to top-producing mortgage broker, Smith’s path has been anything but linear.

This isn’t just a tale of resilience — it’s a masterclass in how experience, empathy, and adaptability can redefine an industry. Smith, one of our 40 Under 40 honorees, opens up about every twist and turn in his career with candid detail, raw energy, and undeniable heart.

The Power Of Being Local

From the very name of his company, Ocmulgee Mortgage, Michael Smith made it clear: he was building something rooted in community.

“There’s a river that runs through the center of Georgia called the Ocmulgee River,” Smith explains. “If you live around here and that word is in your business name, it’s obvious you’re local.”

Founded in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, the company’s branding was intentional. Smith saw an increasing desire to support hometown businesses and knew that if he wanted to gain traction in the broker channel, he had to lead with authenticity.

“People like doing business with people who are like them. People they can trust,” he says.

Local Trust Beats Big Names

For Smith, being local isn’t just a marketing hook — it’s a strategic advantage.

He illustrates with a simple but powerful example: “Say a client is putting in an offer on a home. The listing agent will look at the pre-approval letters. If one of them is from my company, and I’m known in the area as someone who closes loans cleanly, that makes a difference.”

That familiarity and trust often give his clients an edge, even if their offer isn’t the highest. “Agents have literally called me and said, ‘Can you pre-approve this guy? He’s using some online lender and his offer’s not even getting looked at.’ I’ve done it, even if it’s not the best business strategy, because that’s how powerful a local name can be.”

A Crash Course In The Mortgage Industry

Smith’s journey into the industry began during the 2008 financial crisis. Fresh out of college with a finance degree, he took a stable job as a branch manager at Bank of America. But he quickly realized that the structured environment wasn’t for him.

“My uncle was in the mortgage business, and he was doing VA streamlines before most people even knew what that was,” Smith says. “So I moved to Atlanta, learned everything, and got hooked.”

But as the industry evolved and competition intensified, Smith stayed agile. He took a job at a struggling community bank in Georgia — Atlantic Southern Bank — where he was eventually handed the reins of the mortgage division at just 24 years old.

“They were going to shut it down,” he recalls. “But my boss said, ‘Let Michael have a shot.’ And I crushed it.”

Smith dug through the bank’s records, identified past clients eligible for streamline refis, and restructured the entire operation. “I built calculators, sent out mail merges, and just started calling people. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.”

From Banker To Weapons Transporter

Just as Smith was gaining momentum, the bank was absorbed into the now-infamous Certus Bank. What followed was a textbook case of corporate dysfunction. His team was gutted, his compensation slashed, and new leadership was installed without warning.

“I had a guy banging on my office door telling me he was my new boss. I had never even seen him before,” Smith says. “They took away my salary, my overrides, everything.”

It was a conversation with a no-nonsense closing attorney that gave him the final push. “She said, ‘You need to quit. Today.’ And I did.”

What came next was unexpected: Smith and a friend taught themselves to drive trucks via YouTube and began transporting weapons and high-value cargo across the country for government contractors.

“I was driving 17,000 miles a month,” Smith says. “But I didn’t waste that time — I listened to 5,000 to 6,000 hours of podcasts. I basically gave myself a new education on the road.”

A Crash, A Bed, And An Epiphany

In May 2020, Smith crashed his motorcycle at 130 mph. The injuries weren’t fatal, but they were serious enough to keep him bedridden for months. And it was during that downtime that everything came into focus.

“I got an email that my mortgage license was about to expire,” he remembers. “And I just thought — man, that was a lot of work to lose.”

He called his uncle, now running his own brokerage, and started piecing together a plan. “The tech had gotten so much better — web-based LOS, automated underwriting, point-of-sale platforms. I realized I could start a company for like $5,000.”

Within weeks, Ocmulgee Mortgage was born.

Changing The Game For Good

The business took off almost immediately. Smith closed his first loan — fittingly, a VA streamline — in just 12 days and made $7,000.

“I was hooked,” he says.

But more than making money, Smith saw an opportunity to reshape the industry. He co-founded Mortgage Systems USA, a consulting firm that helps professionals from adjacent industries — insurance agents, CPAs, real estate brokers — become mortgage originators.

“If you’ve got 3,000 clients as an insurance agent and you do 10 loans a year, that’s $60,000 in profit with minimal effort,” Smith explains. “We make it turnkey — they get licensed, and we build out the tech stack, the investor connections, everything.”

The Servant’s Heart

Despite the entrepreneurial drive, what shines brightest in Smith’s story is his relentless focus on impact.

“I helped three families last year get out of poverty-level apartments and into homes,” he says. “That’s what drives me. Not the money.”

He credits this mindset to his family. His father, a business owner, would stop what he was doing to help a customer late at night. His grandfather, once one of the top Exxon gas dealers in the country, pioneered customer-centric service long before it was standard.

“The only way to get is to give,” Smith says. “That’s not just a mantra. That’s how you build something that lasts.”