"When I Grow Up, I Want To Be A Mortgage Broker” — Said No One

Taylor Behm didn’t grow up thinking about mortgage guidelines or structuring deals. Like most kids, he was focused on sports and the idea of building a career around something he enjoyed. As he got closer to that path, the reality began to set in. Outside of being a professional athlete, the business side of sports can be demanding, time-consuming, and often doesn’t provide the level of control or financial upside many expect. Long hours, limited flexibility, and a ceiling that was difficult to break through forced him to reassess what he actually wanted from a career.

That reassessment led him in a different direction. Behm credits James Dauglash with introducing him to the mortgage industry. The two met while working at a company that wholesaled real estate deals for investors. Dauglash had already been in the mortgage business for some time and is now at West Capital Lending.

“James left the wholesale company before I did, but we stayed in touch. After I lost my job there, he reached out while we were already working on a financing deal together,” Behm said. “He explained the opportunity, the ability to build a personal brand and a real book of business beyond what I had in wholesale. Hearing about others making six figures a year — and even monthly — convinced me it was worth a shot. The rest is history.”

Starting At The Top Of The Funnel

Before he ever became licensed, Behm was already working inside West Cap, operating at the very top of the funnel. His job was to make initial contact with leads and determine who was actually serious about moving forward. That meant working through a high volume of calls, many of which went nowhere. Some borrowers were just exploring options, others were shopping rates, and many simply didn’t answer. Others made it clear they weren’t interested.

He learned quickly that not every lead is an opportunity.

Rather than trying to pitch or force a conversation, Behm focused on asking direct questions. What are you trying to accomplish? Why now? What has prevented you from moving forward so far? His approach was laid back, but intentional. If a borrower demonstrated real intent, he would get them to agree to spend five minutes reviewing their options with a licensed MLO and then pass the opportunity along. At that stage, he wasn’t responsible for structuring the loan. He was responsible for identifying who was worth the time.

That role, while often overlooked, gave him a clear advantage. He wasn’t just learning products. He was learning people.

From Filtering To Producing

That experience became his foundation once he got licensed. When Behm transitioned into a full production role, he was no longer starting from zero. He already understood how leads behaved, how to recognize serious borrowers, and how to move a conversation forward efficiently. At the same time, junior team members stepped into the role he had previously held, making those same initial calls and filtering through leads for him.

He went from sorting through noise to working almost exclusively with signal.

The results were immediate. Within his first month as a licensed originator, Behm closed 13 loans. He had not yet received his first commission check, but the pipeline he had built translated directly into funded volume. When I first met him at a West Capital after-party following the Texas Mortgage Roundup in Dallas, he was still in that first month and already producing at a level most originators take years to reach.

Keeping The Model Simple

As his business grew, Behm made a conscious decision to keep his process simple. Working within a brokerage environment that offers access to well over 100 lenders, he was given straightforward advice early on: focus on a small number of lenders with enough products on their shelves to solve the majority of borrower scenarios.

He followed that.

Today, most of his production runs through a core group of lenders and programs that cover roughly 90% of the deals he sees.

Instead of trying to master everything, he focused on mastering what shows up most often. The remaining scenarios require additional effort, but they represent a much smaller portion of his business.

Finding A Niche In Business Owners

A significant portion of Behm’s business has developed around self-employed borrowers and business owners. These are borrowers who often run into issues with traditional underwriting, not because they lack income, but because their tax returns don’t reflect it clearly. Many show minimal or even negative adjusted gross income after deductions, which creates challenges under guidelines shaped in part by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Behm leaned into that gap.

Using Non-QM products such as bank statement and P&L-based loans, he is able to help borrowers who have strong cash flow but don’t fit conventional guidelines. Rather than forcing deals into traditional boxes, he focuses on matching borrowers with programs designed for their situation. Over time, this has become a consistent and growing segment of his production.

Conversations, Not Scripts

Despite the volume, Behm’s approach to the borrower interaction remains straightforward. The majority of his business still begins on the phone. His opening is simple and direct, often referencing the initial conversation the borrower had with a junior team member before asking what they are trying to accomplish.

From there, it’s questions.

His natural curiosity drives the conversation, allowing him to uncover details that lead to better solutions. He is not focused on delivering a perfect pitch. He is focused on understanding the borrower well enough to identify the right path forward.

One tactic that stands out is his willingness to disarm the borrower early. In some cases, he will tell them upfront that it is not a good market. It immediately shifts the tone and builds credibility, especially with borrowers already fielding calls from multiple originators. Most of whom are just trying to move the process forward, not learning what motivated the borrower to make their inquiry in the first place.

Work Ethic And Opportunity

Behm does not attribute his early success to anything unique. He points to the opportunity he was given and the responsibility to make the most of it.

“I can’t grasp not working hard.”

That shows up in his schedule. He is typically first in the office and last to leave, putting in 70 to 80 hours a week in the office, with additional time spent following up with clients outside of it. He describes himself as always available, constantly responding to messages, and moving deals forward.

Before entering the mortgage industry, he made approximately $7,000 over eight months in a previous sales role. Today, his income has changed dramatically, and he is now in the process of purchasing his first home.

Building What’s Next

While his current business is largely driven by company-provided leads, Behm is already thinking about what comes next. He has expressed interest in building a personal brand and developing a more direct-to-consumer pipeline over time. For now, the focus remains on continuing to produce, refining his process, and building on the systems that have contributed to his early success.

His trajectory highlights something simple but important. The originators who succeed early are not the ones who know everything at the start. They are the ones who learn quickly, ask better questions, and put themselves in enough real conversations for that knowledge to compound.