The Real Deal Podcast
Unlock the door to success in the dynamic world of real estate with your hosts, William Gomez & Alfredo Madrid. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journeys of loan officers and real estate agents, sharing their triumphs, challenges, and invaluable insights. Your key to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of real estate starts here.
The Real Deal Podcast
From Ivy League Running Back To Top Mortgage Producer
Jonathan Esposito reveals how Division I football shaped the mental toughness, structure, and obsession with fundamentals that later fueled his rise to the top 1% in mortgages. When rates spiked and refis died, he didn’t complain—he rebuilt his playbook. From precise call cadences to clean scripting to 24/7 availability, Jonathan shows exactly how to turn cold markets into opportunity. A must-listen for anyone serious about growth.
I think about the end result, right? And so, like, okay, once again, whatever I do, I'm competitive to a sick degree. Like, absolute, like, I'm I'm too competitive. But once again, so I know, okay, I want to be the absolute best. That's my goal. Working backwards, how do I get there? And I know it's not gonna come easy. You don't just wake up out of bed and say, great, I want to be a football player today, a great football player today, or I want to score a touchdown today, or I wanna, you know, literally shaking of like this is a huge decision, but I trust myself. I know I'm gonna work as hard as I possibly can. I'm gonna control the controllables, and if it doesn't work out, great. There's all a Welcome to the Real Deal Podcast.
SPEAKER_00:Join me, Alfredo Madrid. Alongside my co-host, William Gomez. As we dive into real stories from real estate pros and loan officers, wins, struggles, and everything in between to help you level up in any market. Thanks for tuning in to the real deal podcast.
SPEAKER_02:All right. Jonathan Esposito, welcome to the podcast, man. How are you doing? Great. Thanks for having me. Of course, man. I know that your time is valuable. And for anybody that hasn't heard of Jonathan, Jonathan has been in the business for four very short years. And um last year he did 240-something units for it almost a hundred million dollars. And um he doesn't think that that's that's that's enough. So we're gonna pick his brain today, get to his story, which his story is pretty amazing. Alfreda, you got to hear it last time a little bit, uh, but I want to dive into it a little bit more. And um, and then also pick your brain a little bit more on how you're going to get to to the ultimate goal, which the ultimate goal is to do a thousand loans in one year. Is that is that all right? All righty, Alfredo, let's get this going.
SPEAKER_03:Man, I kind of wish we would have recorded our call the other day, you know, because it was all super that's why we got real excited about this podcast, because we got to talking last time and uh obviously awesome story, but but kind of the story you have built for yourself along the way. Uh you you haven't left a lot to chance, right? Because you went in there and you grinded hard. Uh you come from a background of that. Uh you told us your story about, you know, you've set a bunch of high school records and as a running back that we were picking your brain on, and how you got to that, and what your work ethic was like then, and how it's even paying dividends now. Well, I was just telling them before you walked in. Um, I was telling my own kids the story of when he got first in the mortgage business, he started calling his circle of influence, and all of them remembered him back from his high school playing days because of the work ethic he had then, because of the character he had even that early in that young, and how that's still helping you out now.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, that's right. It's uh very thankful. Obviously, my parents taught me at a very young age, right? And I was telling you, one of my favorite you know, quotes or lines of all time is from my dad who told me at a young age, just control the controllables, right? So uh there are a lot of things that are out of our control, but the things that are in your control, like being a good person, working hard, helping others, being genuine, all that stuff, it ri it's really important, right? And so as you mentioned, those are things that I want to carry down to my kids and teach them at a young age so that they're always being the best that they possibly can because it matters, people remember, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, sir. So let's go back to um to the very beginning. So, you know, you were kind of good at playing football in high school, right? Who's these? Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Uh good enough to go and play and also smart enough too. We we kind of forget about that. You you went to play at an Ivy League school. So let's go back there and then take us to what brought you to mortgages in 20 uh is it 2021? Is that when you're you got licensed in 2020, started in 2021? So it's so so take us through that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so born and raised in uh West Hartford, Connecticut, uh where I'm here now, and um went to public school throughout. All my immediate family all went to Yukon, so I always thought that I was gonna be going to Yukon as well. Um played football, basketball, baseball growing up, and you know, was was very big into sports, and as we spoke about, you know, in our last call, that that's what drove a lot of the work ethic, right? A lot branched off from that, and you learn a lot and taking care of your teammates and being part of a team. And um, you know, I thought once again I was my my goal was to play at UConn. And uh then when the opportunity came up to play at Princeton, um my parents were like, this is an opportunity that you have to jump on. I know I had UConn set in my head and they're like, No, no, no, no, no, like you're going to Princeton. So I didn't really have much of a choice. Um, but went, you know, we worked my tail off. It was a huge adjustment, right? I always explain Princeton as like working two full-time jobs. Right? Football, they expected the highest of the highest, you know, Division I football, all of our coaches were top elite, um, you know, high-level Division I schools, Oregon, Texas AM, like the highest of the highest level, um, or the NFL, right? So like we got no breaks at all. Um the same very high-demanding, you know, work ethic and uh hours and everything, strength training, running, practice, film, the whole nine. There were no shortcuts, you know, when it came to that. It was Division I and they they treated it that way. Uh and then same thing with school, right? And for somebody who grew up just in private schools, going from a private school to, you know, the Ivy League, it was a break it was a big transition. And you know, it took a lot of hard work and a lot of hours to you know be able to make it through and studying and working with teammates and classmates and professors and all that stuff. So honestly, it felt like nothing going into the working world, which I I'll get into next, but nothing felt as hard as that. Like for four years straight. I wish I had the whoop band back then, because for four years straight, I went to bed like every day between like midnight and 2 a.m. and was up by like 4 30 the next morning, you know, just to like get work done and get everything going. So it was like four years of you know, three to four hours of sleep. And so it there it was not a lot at all. Um but after graduating, went and uh, you know, I interned in finance, I was had interviews and job offers in the finance realm, management consulting, so a lot of what my peers went into uh and what people would expect coming out of an Ivy League school. Uh, but I met actually another Ivy League um football player, he actually went to Harvard, and he was the CEO of a tech startup. And so he was like, come in, you know, meet the company, see the culture, and walked in and right away, knew that's where I wanted to be. It was like the typical sales floor. You had 80 people on the sales floor, hammering the phones, working hard, throwing deals up on the board. So it was just such high energy and a lot of collaboration. And so I immediately fell it, fell in love, and uh, you know, made a 180-degree pivot on where I thought I was going and entered the tech startup space, worked my tail off there, literally slept in the office. Um, you know, we it was uh a tech platform that could be sold to anyone. It was, you know, learning and development space. Um, and so early mornings was calling Asia, same thing, late nights was calling the West Coast, and you know, so literally sleeping in the office, waking up super early. They had a gym and a and a shower uh in the office. So it was hitting a quick workout, showering, then hitting the phones. And so it was like rinse, wash, repeat every single day, hitting the phones until midnight, 1 a.m., and then sleeping in the supply closet. And then uh after two years there, went started at another tech startup. I was the first hire on the sales development side, working with you know the two founders uh directly on helping build that out in a small tight-knit company. And uh both of those founders are literally on like the Forbes billionaire list right now. So seeing how they got to where they are through systems, through process has really been instrumental in my development. Um and the way that I got transitioned from two tech companies to mortgages is I started investing in real estate right out of school. And uh two of the people that I worked with at the second, you know, tech company, they left and went and worked on the operation side at a mortgage company. And they called me and they were like, listen, based on your skill set, based on your interest in real estate, which we know you have, you know, from working with you for two years, two plus years, um, I think mortgages would be a really good space for you. And at first I was like, what? Mortgages like, no, I'm working in tech, and you know, I see so much potential on the tech side, and uh and they're like, listen, you gotta have the conversation. If it works out, great. Uh, if it doesn't, we'll take care of you for your mortgages. So that's what encouraged me to have the call. And you know, once hearing about what the day the day entails, and you're helping people accomplish the American dream, and there's just so much potential on this side that it ended up being, you know, blessing disguise that I had the call, and here we are.
SPEAKER_03:So that's one of the things I I got a couple questions on what you talked about, but just so that we're right on that final point that you made there. I feel especially going to Ivy League school, parents, friends, family, yourself, you probably had these expectations of probably not doing mortgages, right? Something different. Like if somebody was like, hey, you're gonna go to Princeton and then you're gonna end up doing mortgages, something that you know someone can do with with even without a high school degree, um, you probably would have been like, well, that no, that's not gonna happen, right? Like, how did you co we talked about this a little bit last time we were on the phone? Is like, did you ever feel a little bit like that when you especially you're calling your COI, they know you went, everybody knows you went to Princeton, everybody, and now you're you know, you're you're slanging mortgages. Like, how did you how did you process that? And then how has have you even turned that completely around to where now you're like, man, look at the business I've built? And heck, from a from a business income uh standpoint, you're probably way ahead of a bunch of your Princeton buddies at this point.
SPEAKER_01:And so how did how did that process go you know mentally and emotionally as far as being in this tougher transition coming out of school because I interned at you know Morgan Stanley, obviously a top financial firm, um, was speaking to a lot of top consulting firms, was deciding between great opportunities that were all down that traditional path. And when I met the you know, the the CEO of the tech company that I ultimate ultimately decided to move forward with, that was a tougher transition. And I remember talking to my parents about that of like, oh, well, like I'm going into sales now, like literally sitting on a sales floor and expectations of everybody, you know, where I thought I would go back home. And so that was the initial hurt, you know, that was a tougher hurdle than being in sales and going into mortgages. But I think, you know, ultimately, and what we spoke about you could be it doesn't ultimately you got to do what's best for you. And you you can't worry about what other people think and the expectations that other people have. Because, like you said, you know, the manufacturer of this pen is a multi-billionaire, right? And so, like if it comes down to taking care of your family, doing what you love, enjoying what you do, money will come. If you're top one percent in anything that you do, the money will follow, right? And so that's why I think that's something that I I spoke out with my parents and my family of just you know doing what you love, following your heart, because at the end of the day, you're gonna be spending a lot of time doing it. And so as long as you're okay with that and you're gonna put in the effort that's required to be the best, if that's the ultimate goal, then you know, so be it. Doesn't matter what it's in, just follow your heart. And because once again, you're gonna be dedicating a lot of time, energy, effort, making a ton of sacrifices in in order to be the best. And so you got to make sure that you're enjoying what you do, and everything else, like you said, oh, the initial thought might have been, oh my God, you're going into sales, or oh my god, you're going into mortgages. But that the the dialogue and the rhetoric around what you're doing quickly switches when you're top 1%, when you're the best at what you're doing. And so that's the ultimate goal. It's like, great, let me let me work as hard as I can to get up as high as I could, you know, so that way nobody's questioning what I'm doing. Um once again, it's not about them. It's and it's probably a pretty good chip on your phone there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So yeah, and it this is a great lesson. It's not about what you do, but what you do with the opportunities that are given to you, right? So that's the difference between you and that next guy that hasn't accomplished the things you is that you're somebody that can take any seed and turn it into something big, and that that that's what you've proven. So that that's good.
SPEAKER_02:One of the things that I feel that helped me a lot to have early success is that I feel that I came into the business thinking, hey, this year, my first year, I might make zero dollars. This is a full commission job. Um, and um, and I'm gonna give it my all for 12 months, right? Um, you had not just early success, but you had, you know, like what like you probably went straight to the top 1% within the first year, definitely the first 24 months. Um so talk to me about your mindset of like how did you really overcome just any negative thoughts? And then maybe what were those negative thoughts? Like what Alfredo's talking about is like, did that even play a role in like you maybe calling people and then just kind of maybe feeling a little bit ashamed? Or like what what were some of the negative thoughts that tried to get into your head? And then how did you overcome to be able to do what you did your first year or two?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so when I was ready to make the transition from tech to mortgages, right? I was the director of sales at a really successful tech company, had a very comfortable base, a very generous bonus package, and like you said, you're stripping that all back to go to zero, right? And so, yes, you want to be calculated in your decision and you want to run the scenarios, and you know, but that at that time that I made the jump, no family or you know, no, I didn't have a wife. I was dating the the girl that I'm ultimately, you know, that I got married to, and she was fully supportive. We had no kids at that time, right? So the although it was a massive jump at the end of the day, it was always something that I could have gone back into. And so, but I remember sitting there and before making the decision, like sitting at dinner with my wife, you know, girlfriend at the time, you know, literally shaking of like, this is a huge decision, but I trust myself. I know I'm gonna work as hard as I possibly can. I'm gonna control the controllables. And if it doesn't work out, great. There's always you could always go back to you know what you were doing before. And that's why, you know, you never want to burn bridges or do anything like that, right? Because you could always tap back into those connections and and um you know, could always go back into the tech startup space, right? Which I had a lot of opportunities in. And so, you know, I I made the decision, but I mapped out the plan, right? Like I'm a planner and I like to make sure that I'm very organized in my approach. And so that's why, you know, prior to making the decision when I was having conversations, I was constantly Googling and having, you know, conversations with people in the industry. I remember I called some of my friends' parents who are, you know, closing attorneys and um appraisers and this, like I was speaking to everybody on it helped me mitigate risk because I knew, okay, I believe in myself, you know, what is it, what is the a player persona and bio look like? And you know, could I get there? And then what are the tasks that have to be taken in order to get there, right? The circle of influence, the calling, the just like relentless work ethic, hours, all that stuff. And I said, okay, I check a lot of these boxes and I know that if I execute the way that I know I can, and I had a ton of support, like the first company that I went into, I had so much support. And so I leveraged that to its fullest. And so that's what helped me mitigate the risk and ultimately, you know, make the jump. And then from there, it just comes down to doing, right? There's no shortcuts to success, especially in this industry. You don't just say, Oh, I'm now a mortgage broker, you know, or I'm in the I'm in the mortgage industry. If you're looking to buy or refinance, give me a call. Like we all know that doesn't work. You have to you have to be on offense and you have to be out there and hustling and hustling. And once again, that's all stuff that I trusted myself and knew that I could get the job done once I was in it. But uh, but yeah, once again, I mitigated risk by having those early conversations prior to making the move, mapping out what a successful start looks like, and then just executing.
SPEAKER_02:Let's get I was just gonna touch on that. It's really interesting that his I feel that why most people succeed at a high level is because they don't have uh an option, like a second option, a B option. And you it was very at the very front of your mind that if this doesn't work out, I know that I'm going back to tech. Um I don't think you had that. I mean I I I could have said I could have gone back to being a consumer loan officer, but like I personally didn't want to because I felt like it it was going to it was gonna be a sign of me failing, right? And then I don't think you had that second. Um, so that's really interesting to me that that he went into it with that mindset. But what were you gonna say?
SPEAKER_03:I want to go back to kind of the grind and what it takes to be successful in this industry, and for the for that matter, any industry really where you're starting brand new, especially a sales or commission-only job, but uh go back to kind of the sports comparison. My boys uh play football. All my kids are in sports, but my boys just love, love, love football. One of them in particular loves the game part of it. He likes showing up, getting handed the ball, and taking off as a running back like you were as well, too. And just, man, it's just I love watching him, he loves doing it. It's it's a great, great marriage there. But one of the things he doesn't love is he doesn't love the grind. If I'm like, man, get up early and run, get up early and do these things so that you can be better because he has he is pretty good already without those things, but he wants to play at the next level, and I know that at the next level, just like you were describing, it's a job. I mean, it is not no longer fun in games, and you do have to start loving that part of it, right? And people always talk about loving the grind and loving the grind of like, do you ever did you ever truly love the grind number one? Or is that something is that an acquired taste? Okay, like talk to me about how acquired taste it is and what it really takes and then how that applies to what we do, right? Because I nobody can raise their hand and say, I love making these cold calls, and I love calling agents that don't want to talk to me and setting appointments with them, I love getting rejected on the phone, I love somebody else using another lender instead of me when I've been working with them for so long. And those are things that happen to everyone along the way. How how how do you apply that love, acquired taste, that acquired love of the grind to what you did in sports? Talk about it then, because I want to share with my kids what you tell me. But also talk to us about how that applied in this work.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so uh I I think what's really important and I I hear where they're coming from, football is a grind, right? It's not like basketball or baseball where you have two, three games a week, right? So you you're mainly playing in games and a couple practices here or there. You got five or six days of practice and end the game, and it's rinse, wash, repeat for you know, ten weeks of games, and obviously, but you start two months before any game. So yeah, it is a grind. But I think what and my dad helped me with this because he played in college as well, so he played at the next level. And so when he would talk about his experience, uh it it really helped with mine. And so I would always think about, and even now in in business, I think about the end result, right? And so, like, okay, once again, whatever I do, I'm competitive to a sick degree. Like, absolute like I'm I'm too competitive. But once again, so I know okay, I want to be the absolute best, that's my goal. Working backwards, how do I get there? And I know it's not gonna come easy, you don't just wake up out of bed and say, Great, I want to be a football player today, or a great football player today, or I'm gonna score a touchdown today, or I wanna so and we spoke about this last time as it relates to football. I remember when I was young and seeing some early success, uh, my dad would say, Hey, like, you gotta work hard. I'm like, Yeah, but like I'm still scoring. You know, same conversations that I'm sure you're having with your son now, you know, oh well, like I'm still scoring, dad, I'm still doing really well, and this and how he said, Hey, I'll never forget, never forget. Uh I was in the car driving with my mom, I was talking to my dad on my phone, I'll never forget it. And I was probably seven or eight years old at the time. And my dad framed me, was like, Oh, there's a Jonathan in every town, right? There's like a a top athlete, you know, who's doing really well at a young age. Every town has one. And so I remember it hit me and I I got like scared, right? And I was like, okay, well, if if I keep working or if I work as hard as you're telling me to, and I stay ahead of everybody, like, could I still be number one? Can I still be the best? And that's Ray was like, yes, but you gotta grind because you gotta think the Jonathan in every town is grinding and going above and beyond because they want to be the best. And so, like, my intrinsically, I said, Okay, my goal to be the best means that I have to outwork all of the other st you know, top athletes in every town. It's I'm up against everybody. And so that's why like that was the the mindset and approach I had at a very, very, very young age of great, if you just you go in and in that conversation he talked about, great, well, like everybody goes to practice. Everybody should be working very hard at practice, but what are you doing outside of practice? Right? Like, are you recovering the right way? Are you stretching? Are you doing extra conditioning? Are you doing your push-ups? Are you doing your pull-ups? Or you know, the whole nine yards of it like every facet of life comes into that, right? Recovery is like, are you eating the right way? Are you sleeping the right way? Right. And so um all every aspect of life you have to level up. And then once again, even in individual sports, it's not in football is the furthest thing from that, but you can't do it alone. And that's why, like, in order to stay motivated, my buddy, my buddies and I, my teammates and I would be out there all day, all night, under, you know, my mom would call me even when we were in high school, and she'd be like, Where are you? I'd be like, We're outside like playing. She'd be like, No way, it's pitch black outside. We'd be post- you know, if it was baseball season, we were practicing pitching or whatever, we'd be under a street lamp, you know, it's pitch black outside. But I was like, no, we're not ending until we get this throw done perfectly ten times or whatever it was. But it took a whole team effort, not only on the field, but also preparing as well and staying motivated. And um so same thing on uh on the business side, right? Like I wake up, I'm like, okay, we want to be the absolute best of the best. It takes the cold calls, it takes the meetings, it takes the denials, it's all just part of it, right? And uh and it takes an awesome team, and that's why like my team is everything. We're all in this together, right? Any of my success is their success, and vice versa. And so, like, but we have that, we all understand that, and that's what keeps you motivated day in and day out, of like just knowing, especially you know, for your kids at a very young age. Uh what's your son's name or your son's?
SPEAKER_03:Uh the one I was talking is Zach, but Max, Zach, and Mason, yep.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. So like Zach, you know, there's a Zach in every town. That's a good one. So like and there's a Zach that's working very hard. So right now, you guys are top producers, but if he is putting in the extra effort and isn't saying, Oh dad, but like practices aren't fun, they find practices as fun. So how are you gonna how are you gonna compete against them? Right? And so that's like a message as a competitive kid, that's all I needed. Yeah. To like get the earners going. Because I'm like, no, no, no, I have to be the best. I can't, you know. Like, yeah, especially when you start traveling and playing other teams and other towns. Like, there's people that are just as talented as you and but love the grind, love the practice. They're working at overtime. So I'm like, oh my god, boop. So that the the switch got flipped for me very early.
SPEAKER_03:Not only that, then there's the effect that they find out you're working hard, now they're working harder, and you just raised everybody's game, which is something that can be applied to our industry, right? Like I've seen that over, I've been in this market for a lot of years, and I've seen that. You know, everybody uh for a while was, you know, if you did a certain amount of volume, everybody's like, okay, that guy's pretty good, but then one guy breaks through and does 20, 30, 40, 50 percent more. Now everybody's like, wait, that's possible. Now two or three guys are getting in the mix, and then before you know it, you have all these big players, and so it's just it's that never ending. So you do have to find some um some consistency in that grind, or else like you can never take your foot off the gas. I mean, or else you fall behind.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's um I believe I was told that there's this part in your brain that has to see something before you can actually do it, right? Like uh a great example that this person shared with me was um people thought that running a mile of five minutes was like impossible, like it was humanly impossible. And then after the first person, you know, uh to pass that record, then a bunch of other people did afterwards because they just saw somebody do it, right? So let's go back to you talking to us about how all that hard work that you just described that you put in to be you know the BD Jonathan of all of the towns. Like how how did that you c you come into the business and really I mean, for for people listening, um you know, uh you came in and you and you kind of uh started with refinances, and that's that's where you got a lot of your experience of how to do the loan part of it. But then rates go up and you're like, I have to go out there and get purchases. So let's fast forward to whenever you started doing purchases, which was uh just a a short year after you started. Uh what were some of the things that you were doing that uh translate to like uh you know loving the practice and the stuff that you were doing whenever you were a college athlete and were you tracking it? Like were you doing like what exactly were you doing as a brand pretty much a brand new loan officer uh that got you the success that you that you had early on?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I think there's no secret to you know what it takes to to be a good loan of uh loan officer, especially on the purchase side, right? Um you know, and I remember having the conversation with you know people that I was working with when I first got into the business. Obviously refines were were flowing in 2020, uh, you know, 2021, then 2022, that's when things started to shoot up. So I remember it was like in Q2 of 2022 where I'm like, what do we do now that like rates have doubled almost overnight, you know, and from mid-2s to like five, five and a half now. Uh what do we do now? Like it purchased your refinances have have completely dried up. And they're like, Well, now's like the hardest part of the business. And once again, like even in their tone, and you know, some of the people I was talking to, like, yeah, well, like now's the hardest part of the business. It's like getting the purchase business and working with, you know, realtors to like know and trust you and then get their borrowers. Like it's really, really tough. And so then I started doing research, talking to more people. That's something I always enjoy doing. Like, that's why I even originally reached out to you, William, because I saw everything that you're doing. Like, I just want to continue to learn and be around like top producers. And you know, even people who may not be doing as much volume as me, I could still learn so much from them, right? Like we're all in different markets, we all have different backgrounds, we all have different opportunities, you know, but I want to surround myself with top producers and and people who really care and are dedicated. And so I just remember throughout those calls, same thing, right? Like I would pick up a few key things here or there. Um, but at the end of the day, like it was very obvious that you had to reach out, make the cold calls, make the cold emails, you know, do the face-to-faces, break breads, all that stuff. And it just came down to doing them. Where a lot of people like, oh, it's the hardest part, and you know, on one side, once again, control the controllables. Okay, I pulled a list of, you know, the roster in my town, and you know, and in the different brokerages in my town. And you know, oh, I went to school with her son, oh I played football with his son, or oh, you know, I was in this class with his daughter, and that's how I I got some familiarity, you know, with them. So it was a warm call instead of a cold call. You know, but still the same thing. A lot of people are like, I could have very easily been like, oh, this is a lot of work, this is too much, the juice ain't worth the squeeze, or oh, like all these realtors that I know, they've been in the industry for you know X amount of years, they definitely have their own people. Like you could just make up all those excuses, or you could be confident enough in yourself to be like, I'm gonna reach out if I get denied, that's part of it, right? I'm not gonna take it personal, but I'm gonna reach out and you know I'm gonna I'm gonna put My best foot forward. I'm going to do everything I can to try and earn an opportunity. And then when the opportunity comes, I'm going to work my tail off. My team and I are going to work our tails off in order to prove that we are the best option. Right. Like we're going to be available 24-7. We're going to educate buyers. We're not just going to go, you know, through the process and take anything for granted. We're going to constantly be updating them. All the things that you're supposed to do, that every every loan officer knows that they're supposed to be doing. It just comes down to executing, right? And so that's why I took all of that, you know, the noise away of like, oh, this is so hard. Oh, I'm going to get hung up on, or oh, you know, they're working with somebody else. I just eliminated that from my mind because at that point, to your point before, William, there was a little bit of, you know, a uh uh a cop to like talk myself into it. Like when you were saying, oh, when I entered the industry, I didn't have, you know, the I didn't give myself a plan B. I don't, I didn't either. But it's like a little bit of bias of like, you know, just to make myself comfortable, oh, like worst case scenario, I could always go back to, you know, to tech. It just made me feel comfortable with the transition, but I knew if I'm gonna commit myself to something, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do everything I can to succeed, right? There's no there's no copping out. Um and so in that same vein, I just remember just being absolutely relentless in what you're doing and being comfortable hanging up, but then you gotta put in you gotta put in the reps, and it's all a part of it. And you know, especially at that point, where you know, I I started really getting into it in 2021. In 2022, at that point, I wasn't going back to tech, right? I was a year and a half into it. There was no there was no plan B then. And so that's why I said, okay, refin markets are gone. What does it take to win in the purchase industry? And okay, here are all the steps I gotta do to get there. Like there was no plan B. There was no alternative alternative way of getting there. It was pounding the phones, having the scripts, doing the reach out, all that stuff that every loan officer knows. It just came down to actually executing, right? Um, and I'm the one who control, okay,$100 a day, 50, whatever it is, 50 messages a day, the emails, texts, follow, whatever it is, control the controllables, you do it the right way, you do it in a genuine way, it'll pay off, and you'll be able to get there.
SPEAKER_02:How much rejection do you think that you you received at the beginning? Because I think that just like exactly what you're saying, there's people that are listening right now that are like, well, yeah, of course he's a top producer. Like if I was the Princeton college football player and I was, you know, everybody knew me in their town, it would be the easiest call ever, right? How much rejection did you face at the beginning?
SPEAKER_03:A lot.
SPEAKER_02:Like, what would you say? You call you call 50 agents, how many of them were saying, Yes, I'll go to lunch with you, I'll go to breakfast with you?
SPEAKER_01:Probably half.
SPEAKER_02:Half of them, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, maybe half. So I was getting declined by half, but also I had very strong, and that's the thing, like, and this is where my tech background really helped, right, in some ways, is where I was where, you know, we're making as a company, we're making a thousand cold calls a day, right? So I got a lot of reps then, and I think that's what really helped me become comfortable with the with the cold outreach or the war, even a warm outreach isn't easy, right? So any type of outreach, uh, I think I really learned a lot of the fundamentals and it from you know my tech sales experience. But still, you're getting declined by you know half the people, and they're not hard nosed, right? Like I there weren't people hanging up, and but you do that through preparation as well, right? Like, okay, and you always see the end goal and reverse engineer. What is a successful call look like? Great. Them wanting to to go and work. Okay, why would they want to work with you? Oh, well, like you have uh some success stories, you have different programs, products, there's something about you that stands out, your work ethic, whatever it may be. And so it is, you know, a few of them, a few of the people who I thought and who are now some of my you know top referral partners, top referral partners who I reached out to early, they said no at first as well. Same thing, same reasons that you know, we thought, oh, they've been in the industry for a while, they've been working with people. But then if you're reaching out in a genuine way, it's not always about the sale. And I remember my one, this this actually really helped me take off in 2022, right? That first year I was into it, making tons and tons and tons and tons of outreaches. What really instead of getting deflated, and I would always just come back and sprinkle in of hey, if I can help you here or there, just let me know. And coming from a place of like help versus need uh was really big. But I remember it was actually that like this upcoming week where Thanksgiving, or no, sorry, it it I think it was Christmas week, where there's Christmas and then with New Year's, there was just a lot going on where people were on vacation out, and I remember that week was an instrumental. I of course I was working, but I remember reaching out to like everybody, including the ones who said no uh at the time, uh, and just saying, you know, happy holidays, hope you're enjoying with the family, all that stuff. Just so you know, I know now's like a big time off, a big travel time. I'll be working all week. I'm in the office all week. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out. And so that during that down period of me actually practicing what I've been preaching, right? Oh, because if people would say, I've been working with a loan officer for a while, I've been in this year, I'd say, no problem at all. Like, think of me if they're ever traveling or you know, they don't have a program as a broker. I may have more programs. So if they ever can't work with a specific type of buyer, just let me know. You know, I'll be here to help. And so actually then putting that into practice and reaching out during a dead period. I had so many people respond that week. Literally, dozens of people from my no list say thank you so much, and maybe a half a dozen reach out and give me an opportunity. And so then it spread from there. But like, once again, just putting in the discipline, which that's not a new novel idea, right? People know that. They know they're supposed to be reaching out, they know they're supposed to be wishing people happy holidays, they know they're supposed, you know, but actually executing and not getting discouraged by, oh, well, they told me no, they're not gonna work wanna work with me now. Just checking in and being a normal person, right? It goes a really long way, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, just after talking to you a couple times, I know in that you're the kind of guy that uh the way I like to put it is kind of have a selective memory as far as like we like to remember the good, right? Like we like I I I downplay the bad. I don't want to I don't want to give it weight. I don't want to speak, you know, I don't want to give it any kind of uh power against me, right? So we tend to remember when we look back upon times, we tend to remember like, but yeah, but this is what I did. And this, you know, and so we we but but I have noticed we all go through playing like I know Will really good, and if you hear Will talk a lot of times, you know, he ran a marathon last week, and then he ran 100 miles this week, and then he, you know, biked 100 miles this week, all this stuff, and and I people have a hard time associating with like, man, all that guy does is win. Like he just man, it seems like things are easy for him, but the truth is it's not, right? The truth is there was those difficult times. I happen to know Will good enough now, after many years of knowing him and being great friends, is that I know some of the difficult things he's been through in life, right? Things he doesn't speak speak out on, things he doesn't like speak up when you ask him how your day or week or life has been, right? We we tend to remember like the wins we have and that's what we're gonna play up, but that's not the case. It's not just only wins. Was there a season in your life that was like a tough season that forged who you are today? Um I find that a lot of people have gone through seasons, maybe part even in this industry where you go, man, like like I don't know if this is for me. Like, um, is there a season of your life where you're just like, man, things got hard for me, but it taught me this?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think um in in first when when I got into school, when I got into Princeton, um, you know, and and I showed up there, and I just I I remember um whether it was like through injury or just being the young guy and not playing up, you know, initially playing, and then school was hard. And I think that that taught me so much in oh my god, my my parents were full-time therapists, right? Like talking to them every day, if not multiple times a day, of like the ups and downs and everything in between, right? But it's funny, you know, they always say uh that when you're in the middle of it, it might not be tough to see, but like once you get through it, um, you know, that looking back, you're gonna learn so much and you're gonna be so much of a better person once you get through it all. And I and I just remember those like very tough times, like feeling like academically I didn't fit in, or you know, once again on injuries and I'm sidelined and now like I feel like oh football's been my purpose, or even you know, after the season ended, like, oh my god, I felt like football was like who I am and and a purpose for so long now like is over, you know, and and a drop of a dime, it's now over. There's no more football. And uh, and so I think like being around those types of of people, and that's why I've only known you know William for uh two weeks now, maybe, and we've chatted almost every day since then, whether it's a quick text or a Zoom call or a phone call, like being around those type of people helps you get through it and helps you like stay focused. And they say like you are like who the five people that you hang around are, right? And so that's why, like, yes, of course, my dad and my and my mom and my parents are always there, and my wife and my sister and all that stuff, but then having like a very close-knit circle of like people that like when you're down and out, or when you need to pick me up, or when you need some words of encouragement, you know, are there for you. And and that's if it weren't for those people and you know, my team and oh my god, there's so many times you're like, wow, I'm pounding my head against the wall. Like, what am I doing here? Like, what did I get myself into? Yeah, like what what what's going on here, right? But like when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, once you like finally start to get through and it starts to clear up a little bit, it's like, oh, well, like that's just another battle wound that you know made me that much stronger, right? And all these experiences, and it's important, like you said, to have a short memory, you know, on on some things, but then also like learn from your experiences and learn from your past to go and be like, all right, well, next time I get into this situation, I'm gonna work through it that much better, right? And that's why it's like so important. As I mentioned, when I first got into the industry and first hit the purchase market, I remember one of the lenders that we work with, you could go into their system and look at ranks. You could you could see the rankings like top in the state, top in the nation. And I remember like constantly going in there and filtering by top of the nation and then reaching out to my rep at that lender. Hey, do you know any of these top 10 people? Like, I want to meet them, I want to chat with them. If they did, they made a connection, awesome. If they didn't, I was reaching out on my own. Right. And so I just wanted to like learn from the best, be around the best, and you know, it helps you focus on the positives. And, you know, it's you know, you you don't want you don't need to remember the hangups or the losses or whatever it may be. Even now, even still now, some of the the realtors who I am so close with, work so closely with, I see like uh under contract or just closed. I'm like, wait, that wasn't with me. And it like it would affect me a little bit. You'd be like, oh man, wait, you might do something wrong, and like you're only as good as your last deal, so like it might not, you know, but just staying afloat, and who knows? They might have came to the table with the with that you know, the other lender or whatever it is. But you know, just being open and communicative and staying positive, it's so important, or else like you'll just you'll drive yourself nuts, especially in this situation.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I just I just heard this uh thing actually this morning, um, and it talked about how people that overthink uh the reason why it kind of messes with your head so much is because um you're constantly replaying the mess ups that you've had in in in the past. Um but she was talking about how we can do the same thing with the wins that we've had in our past. Like I've been here before, I've I've met with agents before, and I've I've been able to win their business, I've been able to do all of these things, but the wins are just so quickly forgotten, and the losses is what really sticks with us. So um, Jonathan, I I've said this a couple times before, uh, but I truly, truly uh have uh uh I I have proof that I 100% mean it when I say that I could sit here and talk to you all day. We've been talking every day since since we met, seems like including weekend. So um, but of course, um got to wrap this up and just wanted to say thank you so much again for coming, man. I really, really appreciate you. Um I do have just three just quick quick questions for you that so that way maybe that the the uh people that have you know listened to the end maybe get a little bit more nuggets. And my first question is what's your biggest fear? My second question is who who's your who's your number one mentor? And and what's the best advice that you've ever received, whether it's from that mentor or somebody else, that maybe a a new loan officer or a realtor that's listening to this uh could take and and and be able to have the best year they've ever had in 2026.
SPEAKER_01:Man, well I hope uh I I don't uh fail to deliver like some exciting news because it's gonna be, you know, some some repeated stuff. But um fear is death. And I think like um it helps also kind of keep me grounded and like keep me in the moment. And you know, I I just I get into a weird position when I think about like death and and not being here, and that's why like while I'm here I wanna live every moment to its fullest. I wanna have a blast, I wanna like love more than anyone, be happy, and just I I really wanna love life. Um mentor, I'd say is my dad. You know, it's it's both my parents, but especially like through some very difficult like athletic times or business times. Um, you know, my dad is like the one sounding board that I could call and always, no matter how what situation I'm in, he could always, you know, keeps me grounded, whether it's really good or really bad, he'll keep me grounded. Um and then advice uh once again, sorry to repeat, but control the controllables.
SPEAKER_02:I was gonna say, I think that that's the title for this for this uh this one.
SPEAKER_01:It is in every sense of the meaning, like uh focus on what you can control, make the best of it, be as positive as you can, and like you will be really, really, really surprised with like how good the outcome could be.
SPEAKER_03:I love it, man.
SPEAKER_01:Alfredo, what do you got?
SPEAKER_03:Man, just thank you. Uh talking to you is motivating. I appreciate I appreciate it. You got a lot of uh heart. Uh you're all in and what you do, and it just makes you motivated to go out there and and do what it takes to to achieve goals, man. So that's all I got. This is Jonathan as Bosito, and he's the real deal.
SPEAKER_01:Appreciate it. Alfredo, William, thank you both so much for having me. You guys are great, inspiring people as well. So I'm looking forward to uh connecting and and growing together.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely do it. Uh see you, man.