October 27, 2025 • 46 mins
What if lending felt personal, clear, and even a little fun? We sit down with Michael Fithian, founder and CEO of Lone Inc., and Connor Durant to unpack how an AI-powered, direct-to-consumer lender wins the old-fashioned way: by building real relationships, mastering the phone, and obsessing over client experience. No fluff—just systems, habits, and mindset from people who’ve seen 2005’s boom, survived 2008’s crash, and are thriving in a tougher cycle.
Michael shares the origin of Lone Inc. and why he traded product-chasing for operational excellence and transparency. Connor brings the perspective of entering the industry during a slow market and explains why that’s a gift: it forces better prospecting, deeper follow-up, and a relentless focus on value. Together we dig into practical tactics—daily call blocks, clear asks, warm introductions, and events that attract the right partners. We explore how AI streamlines speed and clarity without replacing the human craft of teaching, tailoring, and taking control so clients learn something new, not just confirm what they already think.
Mindset and culture run through everything: “consistency over perfection,” “one more” reps, turning rejection into a game, and removing emotion before responding. We talk about finding your tribe through shared interests—golf, tennis, clean food, coaching youth sports—and how those genuine connections spill into business. The goal isn’t to be everything to everyone; it’s to be indispensable to the right people by delivering a memorable, low-stress mortgage experience that stands out long after closing.
If you’re in lending, real estate, or any sales role, you’ll walk away with playbook-level ideas you can use today. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a quick review telling us the tactic you’ll try this week.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Timeless Movement.
I'm your host, Alexander Laszlo,and I'm here joined by Connor
and Michael.
Tell us about tell us a bitabout yourself.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Hello, my name is Michael Fithian.
I'm the founder and CEO of LoneInc.
We are an AI-powereddirect-to-consumer lender.
SPEAKER_03 (00:17):
Awesome.
Connor Durant here with LoneInc.
as well, an account executivehelping build the business of
our fine business partners overhere at Lone Inc.
So yeah, thanks, thanks forhaving us, Andrew.
SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
So you started Loan Inc.
Walk us through what that waslike.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
Yeah.
So, and again, thank you forallowing us the opportunity to
be on your growing podcast hereat Exam.
Yeah.
So 19 years in lending, and inthe year 2013, I was watching
things like Uber and Airbnbbecome available to consumers,
right?
Rideshare, sleep in somebody'shouse.
And I said, well, there's got tobe a better way to get a loan.
(00:59):
And so we set out with the ideaof making it easier, faster,
more transparent, and simple forthe borrower base, looking to
buy homes in states across thecountry.
SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
Nice.
So what made you want to startyour own company?
SPEAKER_02 (01:14):
I think, you know, you either have an
entrepreneurial bug or or youdon't.
Nothing against either or, butI've always had that
entrepreneurial bug.
So from a young age, I waspicking corn in Maryland where I
grew up and selling it aroundthe street in the neighborhood
for$2 a dozen.
That might date me here.
I went on to uh landscape withsome buddies.
(01:35):
Uh we would cut grass and buildretaining malls and swimming
pool ponds.
And then eventually I foundmyself in the late 90s, early
2000s in the cell phone businessback when wireless retail stores
were prevalent and getting cellphones activated.
So I've always been anentrepreneur at my core, and it
just was natural for me to makethe move into growing the
(01:57):
business of loaning.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Nice.
So we'll go, you then, Connor.
How'd you guys get into lending?
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
So there's a gentleman, Nick, who was a
recruiter, and I'll forever begrateful to him.
Called me up in 2005.
I was sitting in uh in a kitchentiling a floor and he said, Hey,
uh, I've got a mortgage jobavailable for you.
Would you like to come in?
And I said, Well, I don't knowanything about lending or
mortgage.
He says, No problem.
(02:24):
We'll teach you.
You know, three weeks on thephones, dialing 375 people a day
and transferring those folks toloan officers.
Uh, that was my start.
And, you know, it hasdramatically changed not only my
life, but the lives of thosethat I've helped.
So I'm forever grateful to toNick, leave his last name out of
this, but he was the recruiteruh that brought me in.
unknown (02:46):
Thanks.
Thanks.
SPEAKER_03 (02:47):
Awesome.
Yeah.
So for myself, I was before thisspace, I was a personal trainer
at a lifetime gym in Broomfield.
One day I'm working the desk,waiting, greeting people coming
in, seeing what's happening.
And uh one day this guy, youknow, he walks in, comes to the
front desk looking for sometraining.
Right away, we just get to talkin, we do a training session
just to show them whateverything's about.
(03:08):
You can see I didn't make itvery far with the training, but
yeah, no, he was looking, yeah,looking to get you know a little
more in shape and everything.
So yeah, took him through a fewsessions, eventually he booked
some with me.
So I was training Michael for acouple of months, and then
actually went to the recruiterone day after our session, he
kind of was like, Hey, Connor, Iwant to talk to you about some
things.
And I was like, Okay, justpiqued my interest.
(03:29):
I'm gonna I would always have agreat time training with him.
So he just said, Hey, let'slet's grab a coffee, let's talk
uh some more about the lendingspace, the software space.
And I said, Okay, yeah, let's doit.
So I spoke with him, I mean oneof our guys, Zach, and after the
hour meeting, them just lettingknow, you know, what it's like
to be in the business,everything like that, kind of
right after there, offered me ajob, and it was one of those
(03:50):
things there was no hesitation.
I just said, Yes, let's do it,let's jump into it.
I was looking to get out ofpersonal training.
And then when I knew I'd begoing to work for someone like
Michael and for that company, itwas it was just an easy yes.
And about a year and a halflater, here we are.
And I would say it's one of thebest decisions I've ever made.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:07):
Thanks.
Yeah, you gotta take thatopportunity when it comes to it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
Oh, yeah, no, 100%.
I always think it's one of thosethings where whenever something
feels scary to jump into,everything like that, that's
that's the time to do it.
It's the hardest to make thatdecision.
But if you do, give it sometime, be patient with it.
What can come about it is it'sit's a beautiful thing.
So yeah, we're still stillgetting after it each day.
So yep.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Yeah, you can only grow in uncomfortable.
Yep.
Can't grow in comfort.
100%.
So you said you were in lending19 years?
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
What were your first couple of years like?
SPEAKER_02 (04:42):
Challenging.
And so I mentioned uh 2005 asthe entry point for those that
were around and remember thatperiod, it was go, go, go.
Lending and loan products uhwere prevalent.
And it was easy to make a sale.
I say easy in the sense that wehad a lot of different products
(05:03):
to offer, some of them uh notgood, some of them good.
And so the emphasis was aroundmaking money for the industry.
And that ultimately led to thecollapse that we saw happen in
2008.
And the years that followed wereso many homeowners were upside
down underwater.
(05:23):
They were owing more than whatthe value of their home was.
Working through that in some ofthe governmental programs, HAMP
and HARP that were availableduring that time, uh, there was
a lot of pain.
And so when I say difficult, notonly for me, but for the entire
country.
And whether you owned a home ornot, uh, capital markets froze
(05:44):
during those years.
And so if you were a smallbusiness owner or you worked for
a company, it was really hot, itwas really tough, excuse me, to
get paid.
So those were sort of some ofthe beginning years.
I'm I'm grateful for them.
They taught me a lot, but butthey they were tough.
And what did you do to findbusiness in those first couple
of years?
(06:04):
So I worked for a company thatwas providing leads.
And so we did uh two approachestowards generating leads.
We did uh phone calls, as Imentioned.
I sat on the sales floor forthree weeks where I made
outbound phone calls and youknow, spoke with people about
their needs and then determinedif they would be a good fit to a
loan officer.
This is before I had a license,and quite frankly, before the
(06:27):
states and the feds came in tosay you needed a license to do
the work that we do today.
So that was one way in which wegenerated leads.
I worked for a company thattheir sole focus was direct
mail.
So imagine receiving somethingin the mailbox that says, here's
a loan offering, call thisnumber, and those folks would
call.
(06:47):
Again, I'll date myself.
You could also fax in theapplication.
And interestingly enough, thefaxed applications were usually
converting at a higherpercentage than the phone call
conversations were.
So those were sort of early daysof lead generation.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
Nice.
And Connor, how long have youbeen in this business?
SPEAKER_03 (07:05):
Coming up on a year and a half.
SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Nice.
Yeah.
So what was how's your firstyear and a half been?
SPEAKER_03 (07:11):
It's same similar to when Michael started.
It's it's been a tough timegetting started, a slow time.
But for me, and I I say it allthe time, I find it a blessing
in disguise getting into thisspace at the time it is.
I always thought if if I were toget in this in the beginning of
COVID, uh when all these ratesare super low and everyone's
buying a house and it's easy, Iwould say, oh, this is it's the
(07:32):
easiest job in the world.
You know, it's it's easy to findbusiness, everything like that.
Um, and then, you know, it wouldcome to fruition when things
changed and I wouldn't be asequipped to handle what's going
on.
So it's been it's been a lot oflearning, a lot of prospecting,
just staying true to theactivity, staying true to the
vision that we have for not onlythis industry, but the company.
I mean, it's just having thatfaith that as long as we keep
(07:54):
the activity going, I mean it'llcome to light one day, once you
know the market and industry canget better.
And I would say it's neverexcuses, they just they just
don't help anything.
You know, if I make excuses forthings, it's not gonna make
things better.
So it's can you adapt, you know,as many times as possible.
That life is every day you'rejust adapting.
And that's just kind of what itis.
It's easier said than done tomake it happen, but the more you
(08:16):
do it, the more you practice atit, the more you kind of accept
it and learn learn to love that,then it becomes a little bit
easier.
So yeah, to stand true to theactivity, uh been a year and a
half, so and just keep plantingthose seeds um everywhere you go
and just kind of hope for thebest.
SPEAKER_02 (08:34):
Exactly.
Real quickly, we have a lot ofsayings at Lone Inc., and and
one of them is we're not chasingperfection, we're chasing
continuous improvement.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
You make excuses or you can make results.
Yep.
That's that's a great one.
We are gonna add that one.
Yeah.
Yeah, and then uh I was readinga book called Million Dollar
Weekend.
Okay.
I don't know if either of youhave read it.
I don't do something.
But yeah, in one of thechapters, he goes, Now, not how.
(09:04):
So, you know, when you're tryingto, at least for me, I'll be
like, well, I'm doing thistoday, I'll do that tomorrow.
Okay.
But I'll have time in the day todo that.
So I'm trying to condition mymind to being, oh, well, I can
do that today.
I'll just get that done today.
Yeah.
And so what have you done tofind business in the last couple
(09:26):
of years?
SPEAKER_03 (09:26):
In the beginning, a lot of it was just letting
everyone I know in my space,whether it be family, friends,
just people that I know, whatI'm doing, what industry I'm in,
and then from there, a lot ofthem say, Oh, I know this real
estate agent, I know thisfinancial advisor.
And then I would give them acall, start a little bit cold
just because they didn't knowwho I was.
But once I let them know how Igot their number and how I know
(09:49):
them, then they would open up alittle bit, turn into a coffee
meeting just to learn aboutthem, learn about their
business, let them know whatwe're doing over here at Lone
Inc.
And then from there, justfollowing up with calls, asking
for the business.
A lot of, I'm sure as you know,a lot of networking events, just
getting in front of people.
I love the organic and naturalway of building relationships
(10:09):
with people, but then alwaysstaying true and always
following up with them.
So that's some of the biggestways now to lie, yeah, just
being on the phones as much aspossible.
I know in 2025 doesn't seem youknow as prevalent and stuff, but
in in this industry, in thisbusiness, a lot of a lot of
stuff gets done on the phone.
Um so it's just staying true tothat and trying to find some
sort of value each time forthem, whether it be in business,
(10:33):
whether it be for in theirpersonal life, just just being
there for um our businesspartners.
Because I want it to be a truerelationship and not
transactional.
You know, you hear that all thetime because that that stuff
will come.
That'll be that's part of it.
But if we're gonna be in thisfor the long run, you know, we
want to build that truerelationship with one another.
Um so that it can stand um thetest of time with that thing.
(10:55):
So yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
And that's core to our business too, right?
We are a relationship-basedbusiness and nothing against
other lead sources.
There are a lot of them that youcan pick and choose.
Our primary focus is thetelephone, making phone calls,
calling people, havingconversations with them,
honoring them and the work thatthey do, learning from them,
(11:18):
elevating them, supporting themin their business.
That's the approach that wetake.
And so it's done well for usover over the last nine years.
SPEAKER_00 (11:28):
Yeah, when you guys, when Connor first reached out to
me, I was like, you know, loneink.
What's going on with lone inkthere?
You know, just in my mind, I wasI was a little questionable
about the name.
And then, you know, you guysconnected with me, and I was
like, man, these guys are reallycool.
Oh, dude.
Yeah, I like this.
unknown (11:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:48):
Yeah, no thanks.
Yeah, there was yeah, it wastrue to a little bit of the
business I talked about issocial media, it's here and
there.
I'm mainly just finding you werepeople like yourself.
Like I saw you, I love theconsistency of you posting every
single day.
Is it today 120 today?
Yeah.
So yeah, day 120 of everything.
And once I caught that, I waslike, that's that's what's
(12:08):
lacking a lot.
It's just consistency, just ingeneral.
So it's just staying true to itand being consistent.
I was like, oh, get this guy acall.
This would be this would be funto a fun guy to work with.
Because that's the thing too.
You know, you want to work withpeople that you like that you
would enjoy working, you know,with God on the c on the golf
course uh a few times, you know,stuff like that.
So and then just seeing you, youknow, coming right out of high
school, boom, coming an agent.
(12:30):
Um, that's like you don't seethat that often with our younger
generation.
So it's just like, you know,it's just something you want to
be a part of.
So yeah, super cool.
SPEAKER_02 (12:38):
And to that point about working with people that
are uh of the same mindset asyou are, you know, I I I I
didn't recognize this earlyenough on, right?
Because I think as humans, wealways want to please everybody,
right?
And we want everybody to likeus.
But what I've come to realize isI don't have to be, nor does
Connor, nor does our company,have to be everything to
(13:01):
everyone.
But we can be a lot to a selectgroup of people.
And, you know, I'll give anotherexample of that.
I I could stand on the streetand and and throw out a hundred
gold coins, 25% of the peoplewould probably be angry at me
for throwing out those goldcoins, uh, inconveniencing them.
So I think that that's that's animportant realization that uh
(13:24):
that I've finally come to.
SPEAKER_00 (13:26):
Yeah.
And I think it's importantbecause like I I found, you
know, myself connecting with acouple of people, and sometimes
I'm like, well, I don't reallyknow how well we would click,
and I don't know if it'd be, youknow, a good relationship there.
And I think that's importantbecause, you know, at least for
me, I'm not in really the housebusiness, I'm in the
relationship business.
(13:46):
Absolutely.
And building those relationshipsis what gets you business.
SPEAKER_02 (13:49):
Yep.
You you will lose folks thatwant to buy homes, right?
Because there isn't arelationship, and and that's
okay.
Another realization for us isthat, you know, you'll call a
hundred people and 20, 20 ofthem will take the opportunity
to talk with you.
I'm talking if we're if we'relooking at cold prospecting,
(14:10):
right?
That means that 80 of thosepeople are saying no or aren't
answering.
And that's part of thedifficulty in a sales job, no
matter what you're selling,right?
Finding that 20% that is therelationship that you can build
upon, that likes the same thingsas you, that values the same
things as you, that prioritizesthe same things as you.
(14:31):
And nothing against the folksthat don't, just a different way
of thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:37):
Yeah.
Um, we were talking about eventsthe other day in the office, and
they're like, Yeah, find eventsor create events that you would
attend because that's whatattracts the like-minded people,
and that's what gets youbusiness in the door.
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
True.
Yeah, and it's just yeah, it'sjust an easy kind of icebreaker.
You know, you're there likingthe same thing.
So yeah, it just makes it alittle bit easier.
Like we kind of talked abouteven with golf and everything.
You know, we're all we're outthere doing the same thing and
we enjoy it.
No one's like, ah, gotta get outand golf today.
Like, uh boo-hoo.
No, they're we're all theredoing the same thing.
It's easy to talk.
So, yeah, those like-mindedthings just make it a little bit
(15:14):
easier.
And you're already connectedright there.
SPEAKER_02 (15:17):
So we we put on a lot of events.
They're educational based at ouroffice in downtown Denver.
It's a classroom that holdsabout 40 people, and the room is
packed because there are folksthat are there that want to
learn and improve.
And whether it be about loanproducts or whether it be about
sales techniques, these events,to your point, Alexandra, they
attract people to your tribe, ifyou will.
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
And the room's called the monkey barrel room,
which is kind of fun.
It's kind of interesting.
We didn't name it.
The building named it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
Do you guys have any idea why it's called the monkey
barrel?
SPEAKER_03 (15:49):
I yeah, I have no idea.
We've had we've asked a lot ofpeople and they're just like, I
don't know.
Maybe they just yeah, picked arandom name and maybe gets more
people in the door, a littlemore curious.
Like, what is it?
Yeah, we got some barrels inthere, what's going on?
So, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:02):
Yeah, and I like when we were first started
golfing, you were like, yeah,everyone's gonna, you know,
everyone's having a good time,no one's angry.
Yeah.
You know, I think that's prettyimportant when you're inviting
people to events, is they'rethere to have a good time,
they're not there becausethey're forced to.
SPEAKER_02 (16:16):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And you know, that ties tomindset, right?
Uh the the way in which youapproach things is is so
important.
And we have a culture of, youknow, we're thumb pointers,
we're not finger pointers,right?
So we look internally on how wecan solve, how we can do better,
rather than try to pass the buckand point at somebody else.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
Yep.
And then how do you guyscontinue to build your business
to ensure success?
SPEAKER_02 (16:44):
Ooh, I I think that Connor hit upon that, and I'll
take this one.
But you know, he touched uponit.
It's it's about consistency,it's about knowing what your
model is.
And there's lots of models,right?
Whether you're in lending orwhether you're in real estate or
uh auto sales, there's a model.
And if you stay true to yourmodel, and and for me as the
leader, you focus on operationalexcellence.
(17:07):
You keep perfecting that model.
We're not everything toeveryone.
There are products and programsthat we don't offer, but when we
do offer a product and program,we're very good at at making
sure that we deliver on what itis that we're offering.
So I think, you know, if youthink about having blinders on
the side so your peripheralvision doesn't get you
(17:28):
distracted, you stay focused onwhat your task is, what your
model is, and you keeppracticing it, right?
I'm not a huge sports person, soI will fumble on most likely the
analogy here.
SPEAKER_03 (17:39):
But God, you got that one though.
That was the start of it.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
Yeah.
But you know, I mean, TigerWoods, you were talking about
golf, right?
He had to swing a club at onepoint in time.
And he practiced his swing,right?
Whether you like him or dislikehim, right?
Uh, you know, the point that I'mmaking is he consistently
practiced what his craft was.
And that's how we are growingour business is we're perfecting
our craft.
(18:03):
We're constantly looking toimprove and we're focused on one
particular segment of themarket.
SPEAKER_00 (18:09):
Yeah, and I like what you said with the blinders,
because you know, I say it withshiny objects, because people
jump to the next shiny object.
And I've definitely fell victimto that, but I think it's
important to realize when you'vejumped to the shiny object and
when you need to get back to thebasics.
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
We're all guilty of that.
Life is full of distractionsthese days with the technology
with the technology, excuse me,that we have at our fingertips.
It's it's hard not to bedistracted.
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
Yeah, and with your point of consistency, it
compounds every day.
And what I found is I started toengage more on like Instagram,
threads, Facebook.
Okay.
And, you know, commenting,engaging on people.
And you know, with even thefirst week that I've done it,
I've, you know, seen moreengagement on my videos.
I've seen more people open up tome.
Yep.
(18:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:58):
I I'll let Connor speak on this, but another thing
that we do is we ask.
We're not afraid to ask.
We have a handful of lines thatwe use to ask for the business.
SPEAKER_03 (19:08):
Yeah.
No, yeah, I think I think that'san important thing too.
I want you to build thatrelationship.
Yeah, to asking for it.
You never know what you're goingto get in life unless you know
you ask for it.
You might you might as well try.
Right.
You don't want to live with thatregret of, ah, what could have
been, could have this.
So yeah, just try and ask.
Um, I think that's one of thebiggest things holding a lot of
people back is that regret partbecause maybe they're afraid to
(19:30):
fail, maybe they're afraid ofthe no, which is what it could
be.
And would I I completely agreewith that?
That's not an easy thing to getbehind.
But say you do ask and they dosay yes, or and we do find that
a lot of people are prettyappreciative of us calling um
and asking and staying, stayingtrue to it and consistent.
My favorite story on theconsistency side, I'm a big, big
(19:51):
Kobe Bryant guy.
His mommy mentality iseverything, but helped me get
through college, college sports,pro sports, this job here.
He talked about how he learnedwhen he started waking up every
day at 4 a.m.
in training instead of 6 a.m.
He said he would get another oneor two extra sessions in each
day.
And just like you said, thatadds up and compounds every day.
(20:11):
So after a year, two years, fiveyears, he says, look at how much
more I've done to my competitionjust by starting that early.
So maybe every day in this spacewe can do one or two extra
little things every day thathelps compound each time, and
then you just set yourself apartfrom your competition.
So and then just stay staydisciplined to it.
Lazan there with him, quote Ijust put out a couple weeks ago
(20:35):
was being delusional to the factthat it's gonna happen, which
you have to sometimes you haveto be delusional to when you
have these ideas, you have tobe.
But then you have to also bestaying disciplined to actually
make it happen.
So yeah, I just yeah, hold trueto that.
So RP Kobe.
SPEAKER_00 (20:50):
Yeah.
And uh kind of back to yourpoint of asking, the same book,
it talks about your ask muscleand how you develop that.
And one of its challenges wasmake a game out of getting the
no's.
Say today I want to get 10 no's.
Okay.
And you know, go for therejection, don't go for the
(21:10):
approval.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:12):
That's an approach I haven't heard.
And, you know, I'll just saythat part of being in sales, and
I consider us in sales to arelationship, is getting the no.
That is part of the job.
You are not going to win 100% ofthe time.
Back to the sports analogy.
The basketball player, thegolfer does not win 100% of the
(21:34):
time, but they keep focused,right?
And my father, who's been a biginspiration in my life and a
mentor to me, right?
He always says, one more.
Do one more.
Do one more than the next guy,right?
And so that is that has been afocus for for me and for our
team as we continue to grow it,is how can we wake up two hours
(21:55):
earlier and do one more loanconsultation?
How can we do one moreappointment?
How can we make one more phonecall to use some of our specific
loan ink and industry things?
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
How do you guys like overcome obstacles and ceilings
uh arise?
SPEAKER_02 (22:19):
Uh well, I'll just I'll just say that the the first
thing is for me, and I workedhard at this, I try to take a
step back and remove any emotionfrom what's going on.
And that's not to say that I'memotionless and I'm perfect, but
I try to take and look at itfrom a objective place rather
(22:41):
than from an emotionalstandpoint.
And then I think about well,what are the possible outcomes
that would be good for the team,for the referral partner, for
the business partner, for theborrower in our our case?
So so that's that's how Iapproach obstacles is I take a
step back and you know, I Ithink about when somebody will
(23:04):
email you something, and ifyou're right online and you and
you read it, like what's thefirst thing that you want to do?
You want to you want to fireback right away.
Well, if you write that emailand you walk away and come back
to it an hour, three, five hourslater, is that same message the
one that you want to send?
And what I've found is most ofthe time it's not.
SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
Yeah, sometimes I'm like, why did I say that?
I should have waited and and andthought about it.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Sure.
You know, and and this ties toour business.
We we've been building loan ink.
March of next year will mark 10years for the company being in
existence and lending peoplemoney in a handful of states,
helping thousands of borrowersto achieve generational wealth
through real estate.
And so, you know, uh I I just II'm tickled pink about the
(23:56):
opportunity that's ahead of us,and uh we will continuously
innovate and improve and andwork to get better.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
I'll kind of open this button up to you guys
because I feel like I've beenasking all the questions.
Um you guys have any questionsfor me?
All right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
Yeah, I would say I mean, I guess, yeah, with what
have been has there been anychallenges for you being, you
know, starting new off in thecareer?
It's always challenging, whetherit be lending, real estate,
first couple of months ofeverything like that.
Has there been any challengeswith you being as young as you
are?
Do you find, you know, somepeople might be like, oh, this
guy is so young.
(24:32):
How, you know, stuff like that.
Have you had any of thoseobstacles and and what have you
done to kind of overcome those?
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
I haven't found you know, too many people saying,
Oh, well, you're too young, youcan't really do anything.
That's because our boys like sixfoot six.
SPEAKER_03 (24:49):
Yeah, that was what the young walk in that first
open house.
I was like, oh damn.
unknown (24:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:53):
I was like, we're gonna pick a role here.
Like I could build you a lob ifwe need to.
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:58):
Yeah.
I think with people I'veconnected with, they're like,
How old are you?
And I say, I'm 18, and you know,usually their response is, Wow,
congratulations.
I can't believe you're out ofhigh school doing this.
I'd say the biggest problem isyou know, finding people that
(25:18):
will work with me, that willtrust me.
And you know, why me?
What do I bring them?
So it's kind of I've kind of hadto shift my mindset a little bit
to more of a I I'm gonna bringyou value and you're gonna bring
me value.
Okay.
So I've just found trying to beas knowledgeable as I can is my
(25:38):
big biggest piece of valuebecause I may not have all the
experience, but I've all thistime to give you and to learn.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:46):
This this came from a book that that I read, The
Challenger Sale.
And, you know, it talks aboutthree key things.
It says teach, tailor, and takecontrol.
And I think regardless of yourage, Alexander, if you can teach
somebody something that theydidn't know, if you can tailor
it to their needs, and you cantake control of the situation,
(26:08):
you will be wildly successful inreal estate beyond your peers
and beyond the folks that areolder than you.
SPEAKER_00 (26:16):
I also found um confidence really helps you.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
Yep.
And how you show up, right?
Nice pressed shirt, you know,nothing against how folks choose
to dress, but you look very wellput together.
Thank you.
You did the first appointmentthat we came to meet with you,
and I I think that that speaksvolumes too.
So is it my turn now to ask youa question?
Go ahead.
Wonderful.
So your why.
(26:41):
What's your why for doing all ofthis?
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
Yeah, my why is financial freedom and time
freedom.
I want to enjoy life however Iwant and not have to worry about
money.
If I wanted to pack my bags andhead to Hawaii for a year and
not work and just enjoy theisland.
Or if you know I wanted to takemy kids to where, I don't know,
(27:05):
Disneyland or something for aweek and just not have to worry
about the money and not have toworry about, oh, I've work on
Monday.
That's that's what I want.
SPEAKER_02 (27:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:15):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's the I think that'sthe biggest thing, yeah, is the
the time part.
Um if if stores sold time,everyone would be there lining
up to buy.
I mean, I think that's one ofthe most important parts.
Because a lot of you know,people they have to, they're
tied down to certain work hours,stuff like that.
They'll miss their kids, yeah,games, events, stuff like that.
(27:36):
So you're having the freedom tobe flexible and everything like
that is you know, goes beyondany dollar amount.
But then being able to have thatfinancial freedom on the
backside to allow you to dothat, um, I think is everything.
I think that's why a lot ofpeople love, you know, being in
this industry and why you alwaystell people like just keep
going, keep going.
Um it'll it'll it'll be worthit.
Um yeah, there's much time asyou can get back.
(27:57):
I mean, that's everything.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:59):
Yeah.
I was talking about this withNoah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, um, and he was asking memy why.
And originally my why wasfinancial freedom, but it's kind
of shifted into the time parttoo, because as I said, if you
have all this money, but youhave no time to spend the money,
(28:22):
why do you have the money?
SPEAKER_02 (28:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
Yeah.
That's a great point.
SPEAKER_02 (28:27):
Yeah, money is not the yardstick to measure someone
by, at least not in my book.
And that's that's hard to, youknow, hard hard to see in an
American culture that is aboutgrid, drive, hustle, you know,
beating the next person.
And don't get me wrong, we'rewe're very competitive.
We rank everyone in our team uhagainst one another for
production numbers frominquiries to loan fundings, you
(28:48):
know, the activity on the callblocks.
Like we're looking at thatstuff, we're tracking that stuff
because we know that that helpswith improvement and
performance.
But, you know, your why can bedifferent than mine and
different than his.
And yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Well, as you bring that up, what's your guys' why?
SPEAKER_02 (29:08):
So yeah, I look mine is I get every day to wake up
and have conversations withpeople.
I get the opportunity to talk tofolks such as yourself, and I
get to work with great folkslike Connor and the rest of our
team.
That's my why.
You know, money is a byproductof what my why is, but I know
(29:29):
that each and every day I'mgonna meet new people.
Some of them aren't gonna be inmy tribe, some will probably be
jerks.
Well, they there will be jerks,right?
But I keep attracting the peoplethat think, act, see the value
in the vision the way that I do.
And I have great fun throughoutmy day.
Let me be clear my day is verystructured.
(29:50):
We hold to calendar start andstop times.
This is not, you know, nillywilly pie in the sky, skipping
down, and you know, everythingis butterflies and rainbows.
But my watch.
Is people at its core.
And one of the biggestbenefactors as a leader of a
company is to enrich the livesof others through mentorship.
And, you know, we're going toadd more wonderful people to our
(30:13):
team as the years unfold.
We've got big plans for wherewe're taking Lone Inc.
SPEAKER_03 (30:18):
100%.
No, yeah.
Love that.
That's a great, great way tolook at it.
It's a great why.
Love, yeah, the amount of peoplethat I've been able to meet
after getting in this space.
It's it's pretty cool.
Because before that, being in anathlete pretty much my whole
life, you you do meet somepeople, but it's very similar.
You don't get to expand as much.
SPEAKER_01 (30:37):
Um where he's like prequishly good at everything
that we we play sports-wise.
SPEAKER_03 (30:42):
That's yeah, I'll I'll agree with him on that.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
And and modest too.
SPEAKER_03 (30:47):
Yeah.
But I think, yeah, over the pastyear and a half being in this
industry, I've probably met morepeople in this past year and a
half than maybe even almost mywhole life.
Like that's how many people Ihave, and a lot of people that
are very grateful to have metand fortunate to met, and that I
hopefully, yeah, we stay in arelationship, whether they're
here, they move on to differentplaces.
(31:09):
That that's been super cool.
Definitely a why for myself ismy family right now with my mom,
my sister, uh, my little nephewand niece.
Uh, my brother-in-law are superclose.
He's going through residencies,about to be an orthopedic
surgeon, so being able to helphelp them out until he gets to
that point.
My mom's given me everything inmy life.
She's been, she was at everysingle game, never missed,
giving me every singleopportunity to be able to be
(31:31):
what I can be.
So anything that I can do, likeI wanna, I want to surprise her
with vacations here and thererandomly.
If she's going somewhere, I wantto fire fly her first class
somewhere.
She's never flown first class inher life.
So I want to be able to do thatfor her.
Another wise for my futurefamily.
I eventually, you know,hopefully we'll meet someone
that'll deal with me for therest of my life.
Um, that that'd be that'd bepretty cool.
(31:52):
You know, we'll find it one day.
SPEAKER_02 (31:54):
You keep calling, Kyle.
You keep making those phonecalls.
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
100%.
And then yeah, definitely, Iwant to have kids in the future
help kind of grow them and showthem the way of life and be able
to provide for them so thatthey, you know, never have to
worry about having food on thetable or a roof over their head.
And then just being able anotherway is to allow people to
believe in things that theynever thought that they could.
(32:18):
I I've been a leader my wholelife.
Michael's given me a lot ofopportunities to be in
leadership roles within thiscompany.
And I do believe that a goodleader has that their followers,
their people, employees,teammates, whatever it is, they
they believe in them as theleader.
But I believe a great leaderinspires those to believe in
themselves.
And that and that's what I wantto do.
(32:40):
We live in a world where there'sso much information, there's so
much going on that a lot ofpeople look at it and they get
down on themselves saying, I'mnot doing this, I'm not doing
enough, stuff like that.
Where if they could focus reallyon how much they could
accomplish and how much worththey have and that they're
enough, I want to instill thatin people.
Because I've had, I've seenpeople that have been down and
(33:01):
they're just down on life, justdown on whatever it may be.
And it's a process, it takestime, but as you slowly start to
build them and grow them and letthem know, like there, there's
potential, there, there'sopportunities, and you can do
it.
Given them that framework,that's another why for me as
well, to take people who aredown and out and help them rise
to the top.
Um, I think it's just somethingcool to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00 (33:22):
Yeah.
Great wise.
Great wise.
100%.
Yeah.
I'm gonna shift it a little bithere.
Okay.
What are your guys' hobbies?
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
So I'm I'm an avid tennis player.
I'm a sailor.
Despite living in Colorado as myprimary residence, there's not
much sailing, but those areprobably the two things that
that I find joy in the most.
I am very passionate about food,clean food.
I'm not talking about going torestaurants, I'm talking about
clean eating.
(33:53):
So those are sort of the threethings that come to mind right
away (33:56):
tennis sailing, and clean, clean food.
SPEAKER_03 (33:59):
Yeah.
No, I love that.
Um, definitely on the food side.
Um, trying to personal trainingbackground, athlete background,
always learning ways to help ourbodies in that aspect.
Um I still play play a lot ofbasketball, still uh work out a
lot, staying active, that's ahuge hobby of mine, no matter
what it is.
I also one of my best friends,uh, shout out Cody.
We coach a U-15 Girls Academysoccer team in Broomfield, and
(34:23):
doing with doing that with himevery week, we've been about a
year and a half now.
That's it's been one of myfavorite things.
One to teach these girls what itmeans as an athlete, that if you
can win during this, you can winin life.
And I think being an athlete andgrowing up in sports, whether
you go playing collegeprofessionally, none of that,
the lessons you learn fromathletics and sports can can
(34:44):
take you so far.
Every single day of my life, Iuse what I learned from
athletics and that mentality andapplied to here.
So, yeah, coaching those girlsis super fun.
And then yeah, just just kind ofgolfing.
Hey, you're golfing about sevenmonths into it.
It's I'm hooked.
Um that's definitely gonna besomething I'm glad to get into.
SPEAKER_02 (35:02):
Again, precaution.
SPEAKER_03 (35:05):
Start to figure it out, you know.
Got a lot of work to do.
It's one of the, you know, it'sone of those things where I was
like, oh, I think I'm startingto figure out the driver or
something.
Next time you go play, it's it'sall over the place.
So it's that's definitely ahumbling sport, um, which I
like, but it's you know, it'scool because we it's problem
solving every single shot, whichis I think is cool, which helps
you mentally, and that's just acool hobby to have.
(35:25):
You're always problem solving.
So that's one thing for sure.
And then just hobby of justgetting out, mean people, doing
different things that I neverthought that I would do, and
then wanted to get to traveling.
After being an athlete, justwasn't able to do too much
personal traveling and stufflike that.
We traveled for sports, but nowbeing out of that, being able to
go see the world, because it'sthere's a lot of a lot of cool
(35:46):
places out there.
And I met through soccer a lotof cool people from many
different countries.
So hearing about their culture,everything about their country
where they lived got me superexcited to say, hey, I want to
go visit those places one day.
So hopefully, yeah, travelingcan become a hobby.
SPEAKER_02 (36:01):
Um what about what about you, Alexander?
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
Yeah, uh golf is a big hobby of mine.
Watches is another I enjoy mywatches.
What are we wearing today?
I have a Casio turquoise style.
Okay.
What do you what do you got on?
SPEAKER_02 (36:15):
This is uh Brightling, the Bentley.
SPEAKER_00 (36:18):
Nice.
Yeah.
Yeah, I would I'd say to uhanyone listening, don't get a
Casio.
You they they are such goodwatches and they're so cheap.
You're gonna I have five ofthem.
And then you're gonna you'regonna get so many of them.
Just don't even get started withthem.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:36):
Well, I share the love of watches like you.
When I was a boy, I had one ofthose watches.
I don't think they make themanymore, but it had the little
keyboard on it, and you could domath and you could type things
out.
And I believe it was the can Isee how?
SPEAKER_00 (36:49):
Yeah.
Um another one of mine is uh Ilike to travel.
Traveling's a big one.
And I'm pretty into comic books.
Okay.
Oh, all right.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:01):
What's that a favorite comic book?
SPEAKER_00 (37:04):
Uh it's gotta be uh between Transformers and Iron
Man.
Okay.
unknown (37:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:10):
Now what about favorite country you've ever
been to?
And or state favorite placeyou've ever visited?
SPEAKER_00 (37:15):
Iceland.
SPEAKER_03 (37:15):
Iceland.
SPEAKER_00 (37:17):
Yeah, Iceland.
I mean, if you have the chanceto go go.
Yeah.
Why would you say that?
It's it's so beautiful, and it'sI call it Hawaii's odd brother.
Really?
Because it is it's similar tolike the island life, but
colder.
And the food there is great, thepeople are great, it's just you
(37:38):
know, very enjoyable travelingexperience there.
Yeah.
Are you a surfer?
SPEAKER_02 (37:41):
You've mentioned Hawaii twice now.
SPEAKER_00 (37:44):
I wouldn't say I'm a like I like to surf.
Okay.
I'm not that good at it, but Ido like to surf, yeah.
Yeah, I hope to get better at itand surf, you know, 10, 20 foot
waves.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:58):
That'll be some fun stuff.
I've heard there's good.
I've been to Costa Rica before.
I've heard, I think I've I thinkyou told me this before there's
a lot of good surfing.
I'm down there in Costa Rica.
I'm a lot of good people thatcan, yeah, teach that wave.
Yeah, I'm gonna get down there.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
Yep.
And then, you know, kind ofbringing it back through my
point, how do you guys bringthese hobbies into your business
to succeed?
SPEAKER_02 (38:21):
Well, I think it goes back to, you know, finding
your tribe, right?
The people that value the samesort of things that you do and
you know, integrating that intoyour life and your work and your
life.
I'm not a big believer in likework-life balance.
I I work and I do the thingsthat I like while I'm working,
right?
Or so I I think that you know,people are naturally going to
(38:44):
gravitate to you because of thethings that you're interested
in.
unknown (38:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (38:49):
Yeah, I'm just saying I have a lot of uh a lot
of business partners who havethe same mindset, same hobbies,
um, a lot aligned withbasketball, working out, now
with golf.
So just always on the lookoutfor certain events that have to
do, you know, with those certainactivities and or with those
specific people, you know,brainstorming ideas of events
(39:09):
that would involve that.
Because then if we can getpeople there that also, you
know, like those specificthings, then they're more likely
to work with us and and we wouldenjoy working with them because
you know, we have a similarinterest and it's fun, it's
easy.
The business part comes and it'sall that, but then we can, you
know, get back to, you know,talking about what we what we
truly love to do.
SPEAKER_02 (39:30):
And and this is somewhat related to the
question, but it ties back tosomething you said earlier,
right?
Like, you know, when we'retalking about having a
conversation with somebody andand building that relationship
and honoring them in the workthat they do.
You know, in the past, I Iwould, if a boat was brought up,
I would go to, well, what size?
What's the motor?
You know, what's the dead rise?
(39:51):
You know, I talk the technicalstuff.
And now, and have always beengenerally interested in the
person that I'm talking with.
Now the question is, well, tellme who you take out on that
boat.
Oh, your your your two kids?
Oh, well, what do they like whenthey're on the boat with you?
Oh, well, we take them tubingand you know, they love when we
(40:12):
do these quick spins and theyget thrown off.
Well, how does that make youfeel when you get to do that?
Right.
And so going to the relationshippiece, that is how we are
building our business, right?
Because if we're focused just onthe transaction and we're
focused just on product,program, price, somebody will
always beat us, somebody willalways be better.
(40:34):
But if we're different, if we'refocused on the relationship and
the person that that's at theother end of the table that
we're working with, we'rehelping them to provide value
and build that partnership,we'll stand out every time.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
That was uh kind of took the question right out of
my mouth there.
I was gonna see what you guys dowhen others zag, how do you zag?
SPEAKER_03 (40:59):
Yeah, I also I mean, I think the biggest thing is
just providing an experiencethat you're not gonna forget.
I feel like on the mortgage sideof things and lending side, it's
sort of a mundane processdealing with the numbers, all
that stuff, where on you on thereal estate side, you know, you
get to tape up to homes, go forlisting.
It seems a little more fun andactive, and they're gonna
(41:20):
remember that experience, one,because they get to be active
with you and you're gonna givethem a great experience they're
gonna remember.
So it's what can we do on themortgage side to provide such a
good experience that one, theyhad a little bit of fun, you
know, while doing it.
They remember us.
They remember like all theseguys actually cared about us and
more of just, you know, if wecan qualify with our income and
(41:41):
all that good stuff, like we'retalking about.
Who do you take on that boat?
Everything like that.
We generally want to know aboutthese people's lives because
their their lives are important.
They're you know, hopefullyworking with us, and we're
grateful for them to work withus because they have to work
with somebody.
So we want to want to get toknow them so that we can always
reach back out after businesshas been closed to check in
(42:03):
generally and see howeverything's going.
You know, the kids liking thenew house, is the dog, you know,
are they are they enjoying theirbigger backyard?
You know, just stuff like that.
So just providing such a greatexperience that one, it gets the
job done, it takes the stressout of everything, and that they
just have a little bit of fun.
Like why why can't themortgage-based landing space be
fun?
I mean, why not?
SPEAKER_02 (42:23):
I I I would also say that when we talk with folks,
what we don't want to hear is,oh my gosh.
I was thinking the same thing,right?
Because if they're thinking whatI'm thinking, then I'm not
educating them, I'm not teachingthem something new, right?
(42:44):
What we want to hear and what weseek to hear is oh my gosh,
Michael and loaning team, Connorand loaning team.
I'd never considered that.
Thank you for bringing that tomy attention, right?
And uh, you know, you couldapply that to any business that
you're in, right?
Not just mortgage or realestate, but I don't want to hear
(43:04):
from somebody.
I was thinking the same thing,right?
To me, I'm not doing my job as aprofessional in the space, and
our team is not doing their jobas a professional in the space
to differentiate ourselves andhelp them to learn something
new.
SPEAKER_00 (43:22):
No, I don't want to really have anything to say on
that.
SPEAKER_02 (43:26):
That good, huh?
SPEAKER_00 (43:27):
Yeah, that's pretty good answer.
SPEAKER_02 (43:29):
Yeah.
Well, look, you know, I'll justadd that we're not perfect.
But, you know, whether you likethe Beatles or not, they
practice.
They practice for 10,000 hours,right?
They were they were consistentlyworking on their craft.
And that's how we approach thisbusiness.
We're consistently practicing,working on our craft to to make
(43:51):
ourselves and the experience forour business partners and our
borrowers better.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
You know, as we kind of wrap things up here, any
final thoughts, questions,anything?
SPEAKER_03 (44:06):
Um yeah, no, thanks for having us on.
Yeah, thank you for coming.
Yeah, I think this is the firsttime I've ever been on a podcast
series doing something likethis.
So it's super cool what you'redoing.
I know you're gonna stayconsistent with it um with
everything going along.
I always like to end, I alwaysend our company huddle with a
quote.
Do you mind if I say some of thequotes for the viewers just to
kind of end on?
So one thing I I'm sure, youknow, a lot of people, they've
(44:28):
probably said a similar quotelike this, it's probably out
there somewhere from someone.
But I when I was going throughmy college career, trying to
earn the right to be a starter,I learned it it helps with
sports, but also in life.
And I would say all you can everask for in this life is an
opportunity.
And once that opportunity isgiven to you, it's on you to
make the most of it.
That's and and that's as simpleas that.
(44:48):
You can't go through things andsay, Oh, I deserve this, this.
Like all you can ask for is thatopportunity.
And if it's given to you, thenboom, go out and take it.
SPEAKER_02 (44:57):
Yeah.
You can see why I sought Connorout and made him an integral
part of our team.
And he's continuing to helpdevelop the next pieces of the
company that we're growing here,right?
Any great leader knows that youcan't do it on your own.
You need the support of adedicated team.
And his inspiration and hiswords and his ability to lift
(45:17):
people up, it's got me fired upinside in a way that I haven't
felt in a long time.
So thank you to you first,Alexander.
Thank you for having us on theshow.
This is also my first everpodcast.
So, and I'll leave with onequote that my father would say
to me he'd say, Michael, you canhave it all.
(45:38):
You just can't have it all atthe same time.
And I think if we reframe ourmindset in that I can get
whatever it is that I want, butit might not come all at the
same time.
We'll keep working, we'll keephustling.
Yep.
100%.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
Yeah, that's why I created the podcast so I could
connect with more people, bringthem some value.
I just enjoy havingconversations and learning new
things.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:05):
No, yeah, you're going, you're going about it in
the best of ways.
Staying consistent, doing stufflike this.
It's it's gonna it's gonnabuild.
It takes time, but that that'sthe beauty of it.
Things that take time, that'sthey're gonna stand the test of
time when you allow it to happenand be patient with it.
So and you are that uh you'revery calm, demeaning demeanor,
very patient with everything,and that's it's gonna take you
(46:26):
very far.
Um excited to start.
SPEAKER_02 (46:28):
Calm demeanor is what he meant.
Not demeaning.
Yeah, yeah.
Just to clarify.
SPEAKER_03 (46:33):
He's always teaching me things too.
It goes too, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (46:36):
That's all right.
Um we're helping each other out,uh the whole team.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:40):
Sweet.
SPEAKER_00 (46:41):
Well, uh, thank you everyone for joining us here on
Timeless Movement Podcast.
Uh, we'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_03 (46:47):
Sweet.
Welcome to Timeless Movement.
I'm your host, Alexander Laszlo,and I'm here joined by Connor
and Michael.
Tell us about tell us a bitabout yourself.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Hello, my name is Michael Fithian.
I'm the founder and CEO of LoneInc.
We are an AI-powereddirect-to-consumer lender.
SPEAKER_03 (00:17):
Awesome.
Connor Durant here with LoneInc.
as well, an account executivehelping build the business of
our fine business partners overhere at Lone Inc.
So yeah, thanks, thanks forhaving us, Andrew.
SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
So you started Loan Inc.
Walk us through what that waslike.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
Yeah.
So, and again, thank you forallowing us the opportunity to
be on your growing podcast hereat Exam.
Yeah.
So 19 years in lending, and inthe year 2013, I was watching
things like Uber and Airbnbbecome available to consumers,
right?
Rideshare, sleep in somebody'shouse.
And I said, well, there's got tobe a better way to get a loan.
(00:59):
And so we set out with the ideaof making it easier, faster,
more transparent, and simple forthe borrower base, looking to
buy homes in states across thecountry.
SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
Nice.
So what made you want to startyour own company?
SPEAKER_02 (01:14):
I think, you know, you either have an
entrepreneurial bug or or youdon't.
Nothing against either or, butI've always had that
entrepreneurial bug.
So from a young age, I waspicking corn in Maryland where I
grew up and selling it aroundthe street in the neighborhood
for$2 a dozen.
That might date me here.
I went on to uh landscape withsome buddies.
(01:35):
Uh we would cut grass and buildretaining malls and swimming
pool ponds.
And then eventually I foundmyself in the late 90s, early
2000s in the cell phone businessback when wireless retail stores
were prevalent and getting cellphones activated.
So I've always been anentrepreneur at my core, and it
just was natural for me to makethe move into growing the
(01:57):
business of loaning.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Nice.
So we'll go, you then, Connor.
How'd you guys get into lending?
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
So there's a gentleman, Nick, who was a
recruiter, and I'll forever begrateful to him.
Called me up in 2005.
I was sitting in uh in a kitchentiling a floor and he said, Hey,
uh, I've got a mortgage jobavailable for you.
Would you like to come in?
And I said, Well, I don't knowanything about lending or
mortgage.
He says, No problem.
(02:24):
We'll teach you.
You know, three weeks on thephones, dialing 375 people a day
and transferring those folks toloan officers.
Uh, that was my start.
And, you know, it hasdramatically changed not only my
life, but the lives of thosethat I've helped.
So I'm forever grateful to toNick, leave his last name out of
this, but he was the recruiteruh that brought me in.
unknown (02:46):
Thanks.
Thanks.
SPEAKER_03 (02:47):
Awesome.
Yeah.
So for myself, I was before thisspace, I was a personal trainer
at a lifetime gym in Broomfield.
One day I'm working the desk,waiting, greeting people coming
in, seeing what's happening.
And uh one day this guy, youknow, he walks in, comes to the
front desk looking for sometraining.
Right away, we just get to talkin, we do a training session
just to show them whateverything's about.
(03:08):
You can see I didn't make itvery far with the training, but
yeah, no, he was looking, yeah,looking to get you know a little
more in shape and everything.
So yeah, took him through a fewsessions, eventually he booked
some with me.
So I was training Michael for acouple of months, and then
actually went to the recruiterone day after our session, he
kind of was like, Hey, Connor, Iwant to talk to you about some
things.
And I was like, Okay, justpiqued my interest.
(03:29):
I'm gonna I would always have agreat time training with him.
So he just said, Hey, let'slet's grab a coffee, let's talk
uh some more about the lendingspace, the software space.
And I said, Okay, yeah, let's doit.
So I spoke with him, I mean oneof our guys, Zach, and after the
hour meeting, them just lettingknow, you know, what it's like
to be in the business,everything like that, kind of
right after there, offered me ajob, and it was one of those
(03:50):
things there was no hesitation.
I just said, Yes, let's do it,let's jump into it.
I was looking to get out ofpersonal training.
And then when I knew I'd begoing to work for someone like
Michael and for that company, itwas it was just an easy yes.
And about a year and a halflater, here we are.
And I would say it's one of thebest decisions I've ever made.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:07):
Thanks.
Yeah, you gotta take thatopportunity when it comes to it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
Oh, yeah, no, 100%.
I always think it's one of thosethings where whenever something
feels scary to jump into,everything like that, that's
that's the time to do it.
It's the hardest to make thatdecision.
But if you do, give it sometime, be patient with it.
What can come about it is it'sit's a beautiful thing.
So yeah, we're still stillgetting after it each day.
So yep.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Yeah, you can only grow in uncomfortable.
Yep.
Can't grow in comfort.
100%.
So you said you were in lending19 years?
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
What were your first couple of years like?
SPEAKER_02 (04:42):
Challenging.
And so I mentioned uh 2005 asthe entry point for those that
were around and remember thatperiod, it was go, go, go.
Lending and loan products uhwere prevalent.
And it was easy to make a sale.
I say easy in the sense that wehad a lot of different products
(05:03):
to offer, some of them uh notgood, some of them good.
And so the emphasis was aroundmaking money for the industry.
And that ultimately led to thecollapse that we saw happen in
2008.
And the years that followed wereso many homeowners were upside
down underwater.
(05:23):
They were owing more than whatthe value of their home was.
Working through that in some ofthe governmental programs, HAMP
and HARP that were availableduring that time, uh, there was
a lot of pain.
And so when I say difficult, notonly for me, but for the entire
country.
And whether you owned a home ornot, uh, capital markets froze
(05:44):
during those years.
And so if you were a smallbusiness owner or you worked for
a company, it was really hot, itwas really tough, excuse me, to
get paid.
So those were sort of some ofthe beginning years.
I'm I'm grateful for them.
They taught me a lot, but butthey they were tough.
And what did you do to findbusiness in those first couple
of years?
(06:04):
So I worked for a company thatwas providing leads.
And so we did uh two approachestowards generating leads.
We did uh phone calls, as Imentioned.
I sat on the sales floor forthree weeks where I made
outbound phone calls and youknow, spoke with people about
their needs and then determinedif they would be a good fit to a
loan officer.
This is before I had a license,and quite frankly, before the
(06:27):
states and the feds came in tosay you needed a license to do
the work that we do today.
So that was one way in which wegenerated leads.
I worked for a company thattheir sole focus was direct
mail.
So imagine receiving somethingin the mailbox that says, here's
a loan offering, call thisnumber, and those folks would
call.
(06:47):
Again, I'll date myself.
You could also fax in theapplication.
And interestingly enough, thefaxed applications were usually
converting at a higherpercentage than the phone call
conversations were.
So those were sort of early daysof lead generation.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
Nice.
And Connor, how long have youbeen in this business?
SPEAKER_03 (07:05):
Coming up on a year and a half.
SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Nice.
Yeah.
So what was how's your firstyear and a half been?
SPEAKER_03 (07:11):
It's same similar to when Michael started.
It's it's been a tough timegetting started, a slow time.
But for me, and I I say it allthe time, I find it a blessing
in disguise getting into thisspace at the time it is.
I always thought if if I were toget in this in the beginning of
COVID, uh when all these ratesare super low and everyone's
buying a house and it's easy, Iwould say, oh, this is it's the
(07:32):
easiest job in the world.
You know, it's it's easy to findbusiness, everything like that.
Um, and then, you know, it wouldcome to fruition when things
changed and I wouldn't be asequipped to handle what's going
on.
So it's been it's been a lot oflearning, a lot of prospecting,
just staying true to theactivity, staying true to the
vision that we have for not onlythis industry, but the company.
I mean, it's just having thatfaith that as long as we keep
(07:54):
the activity going, I mean it'llcome to light one day, once you
know the market and industry canget better.
And I would say it's neverexcuses, they just they just
don't help anything.
You know, if I make excuses forthings, it's not gonna make
things better.
So it's can you adapt, you know,as many times as possible.
That life is every day you'rejust adapting.
And that's just kind of what itis.
It's easier said than done tomake it happen, but the more you
(08:16):
do it, the more you practice atit, the more you kind of accept
it and learn learn to love that,then it becomes a little bit
easier.
So yeah, to stand true to theactivity, uh been a year and a
half, so and just keep plantingthose seeds um everywhere you go
and just kind of hope for thebest.
SPEAKER_02 (08:34):
Exactly.
Real quickly, we have a lot ofsayings at Lone Inc., and and
one of them is we're not chasingperfection, we're chasing
continuous improvement.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
You make excuses or you can make results.
Yep.
That's that's a great one.
We are gonna add that one.
Yeah.
Yeah, and then uh I was readinga book called Million Dollar
Weekend.
Okay.
I don't know if either of youhave read it.
I don't do something.
But yeah, in one of thechapters, he goes, Now, not how.
(09:04):
So, you know, when you're tryingto, at least for me, I'll be
like, well, I'm doing thistoday, I'll do that tomorrow.
Okay.
But I'll have time in the day todo that.
So I'm trying to condition mymind to being, oh, well, I can
do that today.
I'll just get that done today.
Yeah.
And so what have you done tofind business in the last couple
(09:26):
of years?
SPEAKER_03 (09:26):
In the beginning, a lot of it was just letting
everyone I know in my space,whether it be family, friends,
just people that I know, whatI'm doing, what industry I'm in,
and then from there, a lot ofthem say, Oh, I know this real
estate agent, I know thisfinancial advisor.
And then I would give them acall, start a little bit cold
just because they didn't knowwho I was.
But once I let them know how Igot their number and how I know
(09:49):
them, then they would open up alittle bit, turn into a coffee
meeting just to learn aboutthem, learn about their
business, let them know whatwe're doing over here at Lone
Inc.
And then from there, justfollowing up with calls, asking
for the business.
A lot of, I'm sure as you know,a lot of networking events, just
getting in front of people.
I love the organic and naturalway of building relationships
(10:09):
with people, but then alwaysstaying true and always
following up with them.
So that's some of the biggestways now to lie, yeah, just
being on the phones as much aspossible.
I know in 2025 doesn't seem youknow as prevalent and stuff, but
in in this industry, in thisbusiness, a lot of a lot of
stuff gets done on the phone.
Um so it's just staying true tothat and trying to find some
sort of value each time forthem, whether it be in business,
(10:33):
whether it be for in theirpersonal life, just just being
there for um our businesspartners.
Because I want it to be a truerelationship and not
transactional.
You know, you hear that all thetime because that that stuff
will come.
That'll be that's part of it.
But if we're gonna be in thisfor the long run, you know, we
want to build that truerelationship with one another.
Um so that it can stand um thetest of time with that thing.
(10:55):
So yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
And that's core to our business too, right?
We are a relationship-basedbusiness and nothing against
other lead sources.
There are a lot of them that youcan pick and choose.
Our primary focus is thetelephone, making phone calls,
calling people, havingconversations with them,
honoring them and the work thatthey do, learning from them,
(11:18):
elevating them, supporting themin their business.
That's the approach that wetake.
And so it's done well for usover over the last nine years.
SPEAKER_00 (11:28):
Yeah, when you guys, when Connor first reached out to
me, I was like, you know, loneink.
What's going on with lone inkthere?
You know, just in my mind, I wasI was a little questionable
about the name.
And then, you know, you guysconnected with me, and I was
like, man, these guys are reallycool.
Oh, dude.
Yeah, I like this.
unknown (11:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:48):
Yeah, no thanks.
Yeah, there was yeah, it wastrue to a little bit of the
business I talked about issocial media, it's here and
there.
I'm mainly just finding you werepeople like yourself.
Like I saw you, I love theconsistency of you posting every
single day.
Is it today 120 today?
Yeah.
So yeah, day 120 of everything.
And once I caught that, I waslike, that's that's what's
(12:08):
lacking a lot.
It's just consistency, just ingeneral.
So it's just staying true to itand being consistent.
I was like, oh, get this guy acall.
This would be this would be funto a fun guy to work with.
Because that's the thing too.
You know, you want to work withpeople that you like that you
would enjoy working, you know,with God on the c on the golf
course uh a few times, you know,stuff like that.
So and then just seeing you, youknow, coming right out of high
school, boom, coming an agent.
(12:30):
Um, that's like you don't seethat that often with our younger
generation.
So it's just like, you know,it's just something you want to
be a part of.
So yeah, super cool.
SPEAKER_02 (12:38):
And to that point about working with people that
are uh of the same mindset asyou are, you know, I I I I
didn't recognize this earlyenough on, right?
Because I think as humans, wealways want to please everybody,
right?
And we want everybody to likeus.
But what I've come to realize isI don't have to be, nor does
Connor, nor does our company,have to be everything to
(13:01):
everyone.
But we can be a lot to a selectgroup of people.
And, you know, I'll give anotherexample of that.
I I could stand on the streetand and and throw out a hundred
gold coins, 25% of the peoplewould probably be angry at me
for throwing out those goldcoins, uh, inconveniencing them.
So I think that that's that's animportant realization that uh
(13:24):
that I've finally come to.
SPEAKER_00 (13:26):
Yeah.
And I think it's importantbecause like I I found, you
know, myself connecting with acouple of people, and sometimes
I'm like, well, I don't reallyknow how well we would click,
and I don't know if it'd be, youknow, a good relationship there.
And I think that's importantbecause, you know, at least for
me, I'm not in really the housebusiness, I'm in the
relationship business.
(13:46):
Absolutely.
And building those relationshipsis what gets you business.
SPEAKER_02 (13:49):
Yep.
You you will lose folks thatwant to buy homes, right?
Because there isn't arelationship, and and that's
okay.
Another realization for us isthat, you know, you'll call a
hundred people and 20, 20 ofthem will take the opportunity
to talk with you.
I'm talking if we're if we'relooking at cold prospecting,
(14:10):
right?
That means that 80 of thosepeople are saying no or aren't
answering.
And that's part of thedifficulty in a sales job, no
matter what you're selling,right?
Finding that 20% that is therelationship that you can build
upon, that likes the same thingsas you, that values the same
things as you, that prioritizesthe same things as you.
(14:31):
And nothing against the folksthat don't, just a different way
of thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:37):
Yeah.
Um, we were talking about eventsthe other day in the office, and
they're like, Yeah, find eventsor create events that you would
attend because that's whatattracts the like-minded people,
and that's what gets youbusiness in the door.
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
True.
Yeah, and it's just yeah, it'sjust an easy kind of icebreaker.
You know, you're there likingthe same thing.
So yeah, it just makes it alittle bit easier.
Like we kind of talked abouteven with golf and everything.
You know, we're all we're outthere doing the same thing and
we enjoy it.
No one's like, ah, gotta get outand golf today.
Like, uh boo-hoo.
No, they're we're all theredoing the same thing.
It's easy to talk.
So, yeah, those like-mindedthings just make it a little bit
(15:14):
easier.
And you're already connectedright there.
SPEAKER_02 (15:17):
So we we put on a lot of events.
They're educational based at ouroffice in downtown Denver.
It's a classroom that holdsabout 40 people, and the room is
packed because there are folksthat are there that want to
learn and improve.
And whether it be about loanproducts or whether it be about
sales techniques, these events,to your point, Alexandra, they
attract people to your tribe, ifyou will.
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
And the room's called the monkey barrel room,
which is kind of fun.
It's kind of interesting.
We didn't name it.
The building named it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
Do you guys have any idea why it's called the monkey
barrel?
SPEAKER_03 (15:49):
I yeah, I have no idea.
We've had we've asked a lot ofpeople and they're just like, I
don't know.
Maybe they just yeah, picked arandom name and maybe gets more
people in the door, a littlemore curious.
Like, what is it?
Yeah, we got some barrels inthere, what's going on?
So, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:02):
Yeah, and I like when we were first started
golfing, you were like, yeah,everyone's gonna, you know,
everyone's having a good time,no one's angry.
Yeah.
You know, I think that's prettyimportant when you're inviting
people to events, is they'rethere to have a good time,
they're not there becausethey're forced to.
SPEAKER_02 (16:16):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And you know, that ties tomindset, right?
Uh the the way in which youapproach things is is so
important.
And we have a culture of, youknow, we're thumb pointers,
we're not finger pointers,right?
So we look internally on how wecan solve, how we can do better,
rather than try to pass the buckand point at somebody else.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
Yep.
And then how do you guyscontinue to build your business
to ensure success?
SPEAKER_02 (16:44):
Ooh, I I think that Connor hit upon that, and I'll
take this one.
But you know, he touched uponit.
It's it's about consistency,it's about knowing what your
model is.
And there's lots of models,right?
Whether you're in lending orwhether you're in real estate or
uh auto sales, there's a model.
And if you stay true to yourmodel, and and for me as the
leader, you focus on operationalexcellence.
(17:07):
You keep perfecting that model.
We're not everything toeveryone.
There are products and programsthat we don't offer, but when we
do offer a product and program,we're very good at at making
sure that we deliver on what itis that we're offering.
So I think, you know, if youthink about having blinders on
the side so your peripheralvision doesn't get you
(17:28):
distracted, you stay focused onwhat your task is, what your
model is, and you keeppracticing it, right?
I'm not a huge sports person, soI will fumble on most likely the
analogy here.
SPEAKER_03 (17:39):
But God, you got that one though.
That was the start of it.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
Yeah.
But you know, I mean, TigerWoods, you were talking about
golf, right?
He had to swing a club at onepoint in time.
And he practiced his swing,right?
Whether you like him or dislikehim, right?
Uh, you know, the point that I'mmaking is he consistently
practiced what his craft was.
And that's how we are growingour business is we're perfecting
our craft.
(18:03):
We're constantly looking toimprove and we're focused on one
particular segment of themarket.
SPEAKER_00 (18:09):
Yeah, and I like what you said with the blinders,
because you know, I say it withshiny objects, because people
jump to the next shiny object.
And I've definitely fell victimto that, but I think it's
important to realize when you'vejumped to the shiny object and
when you need to get back to thebasics.
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
We're all guilty of that.
Life is full of distractionsthese days with the technology
with the technology, excuse me,that we have at our fingertips.
It's it's hard not to bedistracted.
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
Yeah, and with your point of consistency, it
compounds every day.
And what I found is I started toengage more on like Instagram,
threads, Facebook.
Okay.
And, you know, commenting,engaging on people.
And you know, with even thefirst week that I've done it,
I've, you know, seen moreengagement on my videos.
I've seen more people open up tome.
Yep.
(18:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:58):
I I'll let Connor speak on this, but another thing
that we do is we ask.
We're not afraid to ask.
We have a handful of lines thatwe use to ask for the business.
SPEAKER_03 (19:08):
Yeah.
No, yeah, I think I think that'san important thing too.
I want you to build thatrelationship.
Yeah, to asking for it.
You never know what you're goingto get in life unless you know
you ask for it.
You might you might as well try.
Right.
You don't want to live with thatregret of, ah, what could have
been, could have this.
So yeah, just try and ask.
Um, I think that's one of thebiggest things holding a lot of
people back is that regret partbecause maybe they're afraid to
(19:30):
fail, maybe they're afraid ofthe no, which is what it could
be.
And would I I completely agreewith that?
That's not an easy thing to getbehind.
But say you do ask and they dosay yes, or and we do find that
a lot of people are prettyappreciative of us calling um
and asking and staying, stayingtrue to it and consistent.
My favorite story on theconsistency side, I'm a big, big
(19:51):
Kobe Bryant guy.
His mommy mentality iseverything, but helped me get
through college, college sports,pro sports, this job here.
He talked about how he learnedwhen he started waking up every
day at 4 a.m.
in training instead of 6 a.m.
He said he would get another oneor two extra sessions in each
day.
And just like you said, thatadds up and compounds every day.
(20:11):
So after a year, two years, fiveyears, he says, look at how much
more I've done to my competitionjust by starting that early.
So maybe every day in this spacewe can do one or two extra
little things every day thathelps compound each time, and
then you just set yourself apartfrom your competition.
So and then just stay staydisciplined to it.
Lazan there with him, quote Ijust put out a couple weeks ago
(20:35):
was being delusional to the factthat it's gonna happen, which
you have to sometimes you haveto be delusional to when you
have these ideas, you have tobe.
But then you have to also bestaying disciplined to actually
make it happen.
So yeah, I just yeah, hold trueto that.
So RP Kobe.
SPEAKER_00 (20:50):
Yeah.
And uh kind of back to yourpoint of asking, the same book,
it talks about your ask muscleand how you develop that.
And one of its challenges wasmake a game out of getting the
no's.
Say today I want to get 10 no's.
Okay.
And you know, go for therejection, don't go for the
(21:10):
approval.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:12):
That's an approach I haven't heard.
And, you know, I'll just saythat part of being in sales, and
I consider us in sales to arelationship, is getting the no.
That is part of the job.
You are not going to win 100% ofthe time.
Back to the sports analogy.
The basketball player, thegolfer does not win 100% of the
(21:34):
time, but they keep focused,right?
And my father, who's been a biginspiration in my life and a
mentor to me, right?
He always says, one more.
Do one more.
Do one more than the next guy,right?
And so that is that has been afocus for for me and for our
team as we continue to grow it,is how can we wake up two hours
(21:55):
earlier and do one more loanconsultation?
How can we do one moreappointment?
How can we make one more phonecall to use some of our specific
loan ink and industry things?
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
How do you guys like overcome obstacles and ceilings
uh arise?
SPEAKER_02 (22:19):
Uh well, I'll just I'll just say that the the first
thing is for me, and I workedhard at this, I try to take a
step back and remove any emotionfrom what's going on.
And that's not to say that I'memotionless and I'm perfect, but
I try to take and look at itfrom a objective place rather
(22:41):
than from an emotionalstandpoint.
And then I think about well,what are the possible outcomes
that would be good for the team,for the referral partner, for
the business partner, for theborrower in our our case?
So so that's that's how Iapproach obstacles is I take a
step back and you know, I Ithink about when somebody will
(23:04):
email you something, and ifyou're right online and you and
you read it, like what's thefirst thing that you want to do?
You want to you want to fireback right away.
Well, if you write that emailand you walk away and come back
to it an hour, three, five hourslater, is that same message the
one that you want to send?
And what I've found is most ofthe time it's not.
SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
Yeah, sometimes I'm like, why did I say that?
I should have waited and and andthought about it.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Sure.
You know, and and this ties toour business.
We we've been building loan ink.
March of next year will mark 10years for the company being in
existence and lending peoplemoney in a handful of states,
helping thousands of borrowersto achieve generational wealth
through real estate.
And so, you know, uh I I just II'm tickled pink about the
(23:56):
opportunity that's ahead of us,and uh we will continuously
innovate and improve and andwork to get better.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
I'll kind of open this button up to you guys
because I feel like I've beenasking all the questions.
Um you guys have any questionsfor me?
All right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
Yeah, I would say I mean, I guess, yeah, with what
have been has there been anychallenges for you being, you
know, starting new off in thecareer?
It's always challenging, whetherit be lending, real estate,
first couple of months ofeverything like that.
Has there been any challengeswith you being as young as you
are?
Do you find, you know, somepeople might be like, oh, this
guy is so young.
(24:32):
How, you know, stuff like that.
Have you had any of thoseobstacles and and what have you
done to kind of overcome those?
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
I haven't found you know, too many people saying,
Oh, well, you're too young, youcan't really do anything.
That's because our boys like sixfoot six.
SPEAKER_03 (24:49):
Yeah, that was what the young walk in that first
open house.
I was like, oh damn.
unknown (24:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:53):
I was like, we're gonna pick a role here.
Like I could build you a lob ifwe need to.
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:58):
Yeah.
I think with people I'veconnected with, they're like,
How old are you?
And I say, I'm 18, and you know,usually their response is, Wow,
congratulations.
I can't believe you're out ofhigh school doing this.
I'd say the biggest problem isyou know, finding people that
(25:18):
will work with me, that willtrust me.
And you know, why me?
What do I bring them?
So it's kind of I've kind of hadto shift my mindset a little bit
to more of a I I'm gonna bringyou value and you're gonna bring
me value.
Okay.
So I've just found trying to beas knowledgeable as I can is my
(25:38):
big biggest piece of valuebecause I may not have all the
experience, but I've all thistime to give you and to learn.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:46):
This this came from a book that that I read, The
Challenger Sale.
And, you know, it talks aboutthree key things.
It says teach, tailor, and takecontrol.
And I think regardless of yourage, Alexander, if you can teach
somebody something that theydidn't know, if you can tailor
it to their needs, and you cantake control of the situation,
(26:08):
you will be wildly successful inreal estate beyond your peers
and beyond the folks that areolder than you.
SPEAKER_00 (26:16):
I also found um confidence really helps you.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
Yep.
And how you show up, right?
Nice pressed shirt, you know,nothing against how folks choose
to dress, but you look very wellput together.
Thank you.
You did the first appointmentthat we came to meet with you,
and I I think that that speaksvolumes too.
So is it my turn now to ask youa question?
Go ahead.
Wonderful.
So your why.
(26:41):
What's your why for doing all ofthis?
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
Yeah, my why is financial freedom and time
freedom.
I want to enjoy life however Iwant and not have to worry about
money.
If I wanted to pack my bags andhead to Hawaii for a year and
not work and just enjoy theisland.
Or if you know I wanted to takemy kids to where, I don't know,
(27:05):
Disneyland or something for aweek and just not have to worry
about the money and not have toworry about, oh, I've work on
Monday.
That's that's what I want.
SPEAKER_02 (27:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:15):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's the I think that'sthe biggest thing, yeah, is the
the time part.
Um if if stores sold time,everyone would be there lining
up to buy.
I mean, I think that's one ofthe most important parts.
Because a lot of you know,people they have to, they're
tied down to certain work hours,stuff like that.
They'll miss their kids, yeah,games, events, stuff like that.
(27:36):
So you're having the freedom tobe flexible and everything like
that is you know, goes beyondany dollar amount.
But then being able to have thatfinancial freedom on the
backside to allow you to dothat, um, I think is everything.
I think that's why a lot ofpeople love, you know, being in
this industry and why you alwaystell people like just keep
going, keep going.
Um it'll it'll it'll be worthit.
Um yeah, there's much time asyou can get back.
(27:57):
I mean, that's everything.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:59):
Yeah.
I was talking about this withNoah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, um, and he was asking memy why.
And originally my why wasfinancial freedom, but it's kind
of shifted into the time parttoo, because as I said, if you
have all this money, but youhave no time to spend the money,
(28:22):
why do you have the money?
SPEAKER_02 (28:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
Yeah.
That's a great point.
SPEAKER_02 (28:27):
Yeah, money is not the yardstick to measure someone
by, at least not in my book.
And that's that's hard to, youknow, hard hard to see in an
American culture that is aboutgrid, drive, hustle, you know,
beating the next person.
And don't get me wrong, we'rewe're very competitive.
We rank everyone in our team uhagainst one another for
production numbers frominquiries to loan fundings, you
(28:48):
know, the activity on the callblocks.
Like we're looking at thatstuff, we're tracking that stuff
because we know that that helpswith improvement and
performance.
But, you know, your why can bedifferent than mine and
different than his.
And yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Well, as you bring that up, what's your guys' why?
SPEAKER_02 (29:08):
So yeah, I look mine is I get every day to wake up
and have conversations withpeople.
I get the opportunity to talk tofolks such as yourself, and I
get to work with great folkslike Connor and the rest of our
team.
That's my why.
You know, money is a byproductof what my why is, but I know
(29:29):
that each and every day I'mgonna meet new people.
Some of them aren't gonna be inmy tribe, some will probably be
jerks.
Well, they there will be jerks,right?
But I keep attracting the peoplethat think, act, see the value
in the vision the way that I do.
And I have great fun throughoutmy day.
Let me be clear my day is verystructured.
(29:50):
We hold to calendar start andstop times.
This is not, you know, nillywilly pie in the sky, skipping
down, and you know, everythingis butterflies and rainbows.
But my watch.
Is people at its core.
And one of the biggestbenefactors as a leader of a
company is to enrich the livesof others through mentorship.
And, you know, we're going toadd more wonderful people to our
(30:13):
team as the years unfold.
We've got big plans for wherewe're taking Lone Inc.
SPEAKER_03 (30:18):
100%.
No, yeah.
Love that.
That's a great, great way tolook at it.
It's a great why.
Love, yeah, the amount of peoplethat I've been able to meet
after getting in this space.
It's it's pretty cool.
Because before that, being in anathlete pretty much my whole
life, you you do meet somepeople, but it's very similar.
You don't get to expand as much.
SPEAKER_01 (30:37):
Um where he's like prequishly good at everything
that we we play sports-wise.
SPEAKER_03 (30:42):
That's yeah, I'll I'll agree with him on that.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
And and modest too.
SPEAKER_03 (30:47):
Yeah.
But I think, yeah, over the pastyear and a half being in this
industry, I've probably met morepeople in this past year and a
half than maybe even almost mywhole life.
Like that's how many people Ihave, and a lot of people that
are very grateful to have metand fortunate to met, and that I
hopefully, yeah, we stay in arelationship, whether they're
here, they move on to differentplaces.
(31:09):
That that's been super cool.
Definitely a why for myself ismy family right now with my mom,
my sister, uh, my little nephewand niece.
Uh, my brother-in-law are superclose.
He's going through residencies,about to be an orthopedic
surgeon, so being able to helphelp them out until he gets to
that point.
My mom's given me everything inmy life.
She's been, she was at everysingle game, never missed,
giving me every singleopportunity to be able to be
(31:31):
what I can be.
So anything that I can do, likeI wanna, I want to surprise her
with vacations here and thererandomly.
If she's going somewhere, I wantto fire fly her first class
somewhere.
She's never flown first class inher life.
So I want to be able to do thatfor her.
Another wise for my futurefamily.
I eventually, you know,hopefully we'll meet someone
that'll deal with me for therest of my life.
Um, that that'd be that'd bepretty cool.
(31:52):
You know, we'll find it one day.
SPEAKER_02 (31:54):
You keep calling, Kyle.
You keep making those phonecalls.
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
100%.
And then yeah, definitely, Iwant to have kids in the future
help kind of grow them and showthem the way of life and be able
to provide for them so thatthey, you know, never have to
worry about having food on thetable or a roof over their head.
And then just being able anotherway is to allow people to
believe in things that theynever thought that they could.
(32:18):
I I've been a leader my wholelife.
Michael's given me a lot ofopportunities to be in
leadership roles within thiscompany.
And I do believe that a goodleader has that their followers,
their people, employees,teammates, whatever it is, they
they believe in them as theleader.
But I believe a great leaderinspires those to believe in
themselves.
And that and that's what I wantto do.
(32:40):
We live in a world where there'sso much information, there's so
much going on that a lot ofpeople look at it and they get
down on themselves saying, I'mnot doing this, I'm not doing
enough, stuff like that.
Where if they could focus reallyon how much they could
accomplish and how much worththey have and that they're
enough, I want to instill thatin people.
Because I've had, I've seenpeople that have been down and
(33:01):
they're just down on life, justdown on whatever it may be.
And it's a process, it takestime, but as you slowly start to
build them and grow them and letthem know, like there, there's
potential, there, there'sopportunities, and you can do
it.
Given them that framework,that's another why for me as
well, to take people who aredown and out and help them rise
to the top.
Um, I think it's just somethingcool to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00 (33:22):
Yeah.
Great wise.
Great wise.
100%.
Yeah.
I'm gonna shift it a little bithere.
Okay.
What are your guys' hobbies?
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
So I'm I'm an avid tennis player.
I'm a sailor.
Despite living in Colorado as myprimary residence, there's not
much sailing, but those areprobably the two things that
that I find joy in the most.
I am very passionate about food,clean food.
I'm not talking about going torestaurants, I'm talking about
clean eating.
(33:53):
So those are sort of the threethings that come to mind right
away (33:56):
tennis sailing, and clean, clean food.
SPEAKER_03 (33:59):
Yeah.
No, I love that.
Um, definitely on the food side.
Um, trying to personal trainingbackground, athlete background,
always learning ways to help ourbodies in that aspect.
Um I still play play a lot ofbasketball, still uh work out a
lot, staying active, that's ahuge hobby of mine, no matter
what it is.
I also one of my best friends,uh, shout out Cody.
We coach a U-15 Girls Academysoccer team in Broomfield, and
(34:23):
doing with doing that with himevery week, we've been about a
year and a half now.
That's it's been one of myfavorite things.
One to teach these girls what itmeans as an athlete, that if you
can win during this, you can winin life.
And I think being an athlete andgrowing up in sports, whether
you go playing collegeprofessionally, none of that,
the lessons you learn fromathletics and sports can can
(34:44):
take you so far.
Every single day of my life, Iuse what I learned from
athletics and that mentality andapplied to here.
So, yeah, coaching those girlsis super fun.
And then yeah, just just kind ofgolfing.
Hey, you're golfing about sevenmonths into it.
It's I'm hooked.
Um that's definitely gonna besomething I'm glad to get into.
SPEAKER_02 (35:02):
Again, precaution.
SPEAKER_03 (35:05):
Start to figure it out, you know.
Got a lot of work to do.
It's one of the, you know, it'sone of those things where I was
like, oh, I think I'm startingto figure out the driver or
something.
Next time you go play, it's it'sall over the place.
So it's that's definitely ahumbling sport, um, which I
like, but it's you know, it'scool because we it's problem
solving every single shot, whichis I think is cool, which helps
you mentally, and that's just acool hobby to have.
(35:25):
You're always problem solving.
So that's one thing for sure.
And then just hobby of justgetting out, mean people, doing
different things that I neverthought that I would do, and
then wanted to get to traveling.
After being an athlete, justwasn't able to do too much
personal traveling and stufflike that.
We traveled for sports, but nowbeing out of that, being able to
go see the world, because it'sthere's a lot of a lot of cool
(35:46):
places out there.
And I met through soccer a lotof cool people from many
different countries.
So hearing about their culture,everything about their country
where they lived got me superexcited to say, hey, I want to
go visit those places one day.
So hopefully, yeah, travelingcan become a hobby.
SPEAKER_02 (36:01):
Um what about what about you, Alexander?
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
Yeah, uh golf is a big hobby of mine.
Watches is another I enjoy mywatches.
What are we wearing today?
I have a Casio turquoise style.
Okay.
What do you what do you got on?
SPEAKER_02 (36:15):
This is uh Brightling, the Bentley.
SPEAKER_00 (36:18):
Nice.
Yeah.
Yeah, I would I'd say to uhanyone listening, don't get a
Casio.
You they they are such goodwatches and they're so cheap.
You're gonna I have five ofthem.
And then you're gonna you'regonna get so many of them.
Just don't even get started withthem.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:36):
Well, I share the love of watches like you.
When I was a boy, I had one ofthose watches.
I don't think they make themanymore, but it had the little
keyboard on it, and you could domath and you could type things
out.
And I believe it was the can Isee how?
SPEAKER_00 (36:49):
Yeah.
Um another one of mine is uh Ilike to travel.
Traveling's a big one.
And I'm pretty into comic books.
Okay.
Oh, all right.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:01):
What's that a favorite comic book?
SPEAKER_00 (37:04):
Uh it's gotta be uh between Transformers and Iron
Man.
Okay.
unknown (37:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:10):
Now what about favorite country you've ever
been to?
And or state favorite placeyou've ever visited?
SPEAKER_00 (37:15):
Iceland.
SPEAKER_03 (37:15):
Iceland.
SPEAKER_00 (37:17):
Yeah, Iceland.
I mean, if you have the chanceto go go.
Yeah.
Why would you say that?
It's it's so beautiful, and it'sI call it Hawaii's odd brother.
Really?
Because it is it's similar tolike the island life, but
colder.
And the food there is great, thepeople are great, it's just you
(37:38):
know, very enjoyable travelingexperience there.
Yeah.
Are you a surfer?
SPEAKER_02 (37:41):
You've mentioned Hawaii twice now.
SPEAKER_00 (37:44):
I wouldn't say I'm a like I like to surf.
Okay.
I'm not that good at it, but Ido like to surf, yeah.
Yeah, I hope to get better at itand surf, you know, 10, 20 foot
waves.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:58):
That'll be some fun stuff.
I've heard there's good.
I've been to Costa Rica before.
I've heard, I think I've I thinkyou told me this before there's
a lot of good surfing.
I'm down there in Costa Rica.
I'm a lot of good people thatcan, yeah, teach that wave.
Yeah, I'm gonna get down there.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
Yep.
And then, you know, kind ofbringing it back through my
point, how do you guys bringthese hobbies into your business
to succeed?
SPEAKER_02 (38:21):
Well, I think it goes back to, you know, finding
your tribe, right?
The people that value the samesort of things that you do and
you know, integrating that intoyour life and your work and your
life.
I'm not a big believer in likework-life balance.
I I work and I do the thingsthat I like while I'm working,
right?
Or so I I think that you know,people are naturally going to
(38:44):
gravitate to you because of thethings that you're interested
in.
unknown (38:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (38:49):
Yeah, I'm just saying I have a lot of uh a lot
of business partners who havethe same mindset, same hobbies,
um, a lot aligned withbasketball, working out, now
with golf.
So just always on the lookoutfor certain events that have to
do, you know, with those certainactivities and or with those
specific people, you know,brainstorming ideas of events
(39:09):
that would involve that.
Because then if we can getpeople there that also, you
know, like those specificthings, then they're more likely
to work with us and and we wouldenjoy working with them because
you know, we have a similarinterest and it's fun, it's
easy.
The business part comes and it'sall that, but then we can, you
know, get back to, you know,talking about what we what we
truly love to do.
SPEAKER_02 (39:30):
And and this is somewhat related to the
question, but it ties back tosomething you said earlier,
right?
Like, you know, when we'retalking about having a
conversation with somebody andand building that relationship
and honoring them in the workthat they do.
You know, in the past, I Iwould, if a boat was brought up,
I would go to, well, what size?
What's the motor?
You know, what's the dead rise?
(39:51):
You know, I talk the technicalstuff.
And now, and have always beengenerally interested in the
person that I'm talking with.
Now the question is, well, tellme who you take out on that
boat.
Oh, your your your two kids?
Oh, well, what do they like whenthey're on the boat with you?
Oh, well, we take them tubingand you know, they love when we
(40:12):
do these quick spins and theyget thrown off.
Well, how does that make youfeel when you get to do that?
Right.
And so going to the relationshippiece, that is how we are
building our business, right?
Because if we're focused just onthe transaction and we're
focused just on product,program, price, somebody will
always beat us, somebody willalways be better.
(40:34):
But if we're different, if we'refocused on the relationship and
the person that that's at theother end of the table that
we're working with, we'rehelping them to provide value
and build that partnership,we'll stand out every time.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
That was uh kind of took the question right out of
my mouth there.
I was gonna see what you guys dowhen others zag, how do you zag?
SPEAKER_03 (40:59):
Yeah, I also I mean, I think the biggest thing is
just providing an experiencethat you're not gonna forget.
I feel like on the mortgage sideof things and lending side, it's
sort of a mundane processdealing with the numbers, all
that stuff, where on you on thereal estate side, you know, you
get to tape up to homes, go forlisting.
It seems a little more fun andactive, and they're gonna
(41:20):
remember that experience, one,because they get to be active
with you and you're gonna givethem a great experience they're
gonna remember.
So it's what can we do on themortgage side to provide such a
good experience that one, theyhad a little bit of fun, you
know, while doing it.
They remember us.
They remember like all theseguys actually cared about us and
more of just, you know, if wecan qualify with our income and
(41:41):
all that good stuff, like we'retalking about.
Who do you take on that boat?
Everything like that.
We generally want to know aboutthese people's lives because
their their lives are important.
They're you know, hopefullyworking with us, and we're
grateful for them to work withus because they have to work
with somebody.
So we want to want to get toknow them so that we can always
reach back out after businesshas been closed to check in
(42:03):
generally and see howeverything's going.
You know, the kids liking thenew house, is the dog, you know,
are they are they enjoying theirbigger backyard?
You know, just stuff like that.
So just providing such a greatexperience that one, it gets the
job done, it takes the stressout of everything, and that they
just have a little bit of fun.
Like why why can't themortgage-based landing space be
fun?
I mean, why not?
SPEAKER_02 (42:23):
I I I would also say that when we talk with folks,
what we don't want to hear is,oh my gosh.
I was thinking the same thing,right?
Because if they're thinking whatI'm thinking, then I'm not
educating them, I'm not teachingthem something new, right?
(42:44):
What we want to hear and what weseek to hear is oh my gosh,
Michael and loaning team, Connorand loaning team.
I'd never considered that.
Thank you for bringing that tomy attention, right?
And uh, you know, you couldapply that to any business that
you're in, right?
Not just mortgage or realestate, but I don't want to hear
(43:04):
from somebody.
I was thinking the same thing,right?
To me, I'm not doing my job as aprofessional in the space, and
our team is not doing their jobas a professional in the space
to differentiate ourselves andhelp them to learn something
new.
SPEAKER_00 (43:22):
No, I don't want to really have anything to say on
that.
SPEAKER_02 (43:26):
That good, huh?
SPEAKER_00 (43:27):
Yeah, that's pretty good answer.
SPEAKER_02 (43:29):
Yeah.
Well, look, you know, I'll justadd that we're not perfect.
But, you know, whether you likethe Beatles or not, they
practice.
They practice for 10,000 hours,right?
They were they were consistentlyworking on their craft.
And that's how we approach thisbusiness.
We're consistently practicing,working on our craft to to make
(43:51):
ourselves and the experience forour business partners and our
borrowers better.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
You know, as we kind of wrap things up here, any
final thoughts, questions,anything?
SPEAKER_03 (44:06):
Um yeah, no, thanks for having us on.
Yeah, thank you for coming.
Yeah, I think this is the firsttime I've ever been on a podcast
series doing something likethis.
So it's super cool what you'redoing.
I know you're gonna stayconsistent with it um with
everything going along.
I always like to end, I alwaysend our company huddle with a
quote.
Do you mind if I say some of thequotes for the viewers just to
kind of end on?
So one thing I I'm sure, youknow, a lot of people, they've
(44:28):
probably said a similar quotelike this, it's probably out
there somewhere from someone.
But I when I was going throughmy college career, trying to
earn the right to be a starter,I learned it it helps with
sports, but also in life.
And I would say all you can everask for in this life is an
opportunity.
And once that opportunity isgiven to you, it's on you to
make the most of it.
That's and and that's as simpleas that.
(44:48):
You can't go through things andsay, Oh, I deserve this, this.
Like all you can ask for is thatopportunity.
And if it's given to you, thenboom, go out and take it.
SPEAKER_02 (44:57):
Yeah.
You can see why I sought Connorout and made him an integral
part of our team.
And he's continuing to helpdevelop the next pieces of the
company that we're growing here,right?
Any great leader knows that youcan't do it on your own.
You need the support of adedicated team.
And his inspiration and hiswords and his ability to lift
(45:17):
people up, it's got me fired upinside in a way that I haven't
felt in a long time.
So thank you to you first,Alexander.
Thank you for having us on theshow.
This is also my first everpodcast.
So, and I'll leave with onequote that my father would say
to me he'd say, Michael, you canhave it all.
(45:38):
You just can't have it all atthe same time.
And I think if we reframe ourmindset in that I can get
whatever it is that I want, butit might not come all at the
same time.
We'll keep working, we'll keephustling.
Yep.
100%.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
Yeah, that's why I created the podcast so I could
connect with more people, bringthem some value.
I just enjoy havingconversations and learning new
things.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:05):
No, yeah, you're going, you're going about it in
the best of ways.
Staying consistent, doing stufflike this.
It's it's gonna it's gonnabuild.
It takes time, but that that'sthe beauty of it.
Things that take time, that'sthey're gonna stand the test of
time when you allow it to happenand be patient with it.
So and you are that uh you'revery calm, demeaning demeanor,
very patient with everything,and that's it's gonna take you
(46:26):
very far.
Um excited to start.
SPEAKER_02 (46:28):
Calm demeanor is what he meant.
Not demeaning.
Yeah, yeah.
Just to clarify.
SPEAKER_03 (46:33):
He's always teaching me things too.
It goes too, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (46:36):
That's all right.
Um we're helping each other out,uh the whole team.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:40):
Sweet.
SPEAKER_00 (46:41):
Well, uh, thank you everyone for joining us here on
Timeless Movement Podcast.
Uh, we'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_03 (46:47):
Sweet.
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