Michigan broker-owner thrives after opening shop amid pandemic

“At that point, I really developed relationships with my clients where they became returning clients. It wasn’t just a burn-and-turn where you talk to somebody today and never talk to them again. Follow-up to me was a big deal, relationships to me were a big deal.”

That penchant for customer service prompted her to open her own mortgage shop, circumnavigating the traditional step of working at another company first before hanging her own shingle. “Because I had such a good client base – I built such a good client base in the five years that  I was working for that company – that’s when I decided, maybe I should take this on my own and go broker and develop from there and help others whether it’s Realtors or loan officers.”

She vividly remembers the moment she decided to venture out on her own: “I knew I wanted to leave the corporate worked when you become a number. I didn’t want to be that anymore.”

Which is not to say the path to broker/owner status was easy. By the time she launched Michigan-based Beyond Lending in 2020, the scourge of COVID-19 reared its ugly head. “We were fortunate enough to be deemed essential [workers], which was good. Being under the direct lender side, everything I was doing was phone-based. It wasn’t in person anyway, so it wasn’t as difficult for me.

“But the challenges were definitely there. How are we going to close? How do we get you to sign documents where someone can watch you sign those documents or notarize those documents? We are in an ever-changing industry, so we always have to roll with it and we have to be adaptable to whatever is happening.”