High rates, high prices, inadequate inventory, tight credit conditions. In a challenging mortgage environment, sometimes a little perspective can be helpful to hit the reset button mentally.
On stage at the New England Mortgage Expo, which wrapped up last Friday, Rocket Pro Executive Vice President Mike Fawaz talked about his humble roots, and how he experienced a very different reality than attendees were likely used to.
“I grew up in Africa. I didn't have much, and I say this every single time I'm on stage: people like me do not belong on stages with people like you. It's just not the way it works,” Fawaz contended.
Fawaz referenced the rebranding last week from Rocket Pro TPO to simply Rocket Pro as part of a broader effort to streamline Rocket's offerings and strengthen its relationship with mortgage brokers.
Speaking of Rocket’s commitment to mortgage brokers, Fawaz said, “I promise you that we have made a choice to continue to invest in a broker community. We're here to help you. We're here to succeed with you.”
Reality Check
Fawaz recalled coming to America in the late 1990s. “On March 3, 1998, I moved from Africa. On March 3, 1998, at 2:13 p.m., my plane landed in Detroit. I looked outside and I saw snow for the very first time my life,” he noted. “I was in shock. I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’”
He told the audience about other “shocking” changes in his life. “I took a hot shower for the first time in my life on March 3, 1998. I used a proper toilet for the first time in my life,” he said.
“I've been laughed at a lot in meetings, I've heard people before say things behind my back,” Fawaz said of being — and coming from — somewhere different. “'Oh, my God, he has an accent. I can't believe he just said that.’ I've seen it all in my life.”
No, they’re not selling mortgages. People like Fawaz, he commented, are in Africa, walking around in the market selling biscuits for pennies. He did that for 12 years of his life, he added, “trying to figure out how to buy a cup of rice so my mom could cook and feed the family.”
The power of choice, Fawaz explained, is at the center of everything we do, and at the center of everything he does to succeed.
“It's about all the choices that I have to make in my life to get to where I'm at today. So if you're feeling down, if you're thinking, ‘Hey, the market isn't helping,’ I promise you, it's all about making a choice, taking control of what you can control, and figuring out how you can take a negative thing and turn it into a positive thing,” Fawaz said.
Instead of sitting back and blaming life for what he didn’t have, Fawaz chose not to do that, “because I knew that would not result in anything good,” he added.
Life is simple, Fawaz said: “You make a choice, you get up, you run, you fight hard and you win.”
