Quontic CEO dies in accident

In the podcast, Schnall ticked the bank’s core values and explained how prominently they figured during company meetings. “If we don’t get this right, it’s OK,” he said. “If you break something, it’s OK. But we have to make progress every day. As long as we’re making progress, we’ll get better.”

Another core value: Say cheese, promoting the tactic of smiling – especially when things get tough at the office. “It’s silly, but sometimes things get tense,” he said in the podcast. “Lighten up; this isn’t life and death, and this was our way of reminding each other of that. Just like you do when the guy holding the camera says: ‘say cheese’.”

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Schnall last year touted the hiring of Craig Schimelman as national wholesale sales manager, categorizing the move as a step toward the mission of making Quontic the top non-QM lender in the country. “Craig is a heavy hitter in the mortgage industry, and we are pleased to have him join the Quontic team,” Schnall told MPA in February 2021. “We are committed to the wholesale mortgage side of our business, and bringing Craig onboard furthers our goal to be the premier non-QM CDFI lender in the nation.”

Patrick Sells, chief innovation officer at NYDIG, was among those expressing sadness over Schnall’s death. “My heart is shattered as his friend, for his family, for the Quontic family and all of those who knew and loved Steve,” Sells, who worked alongside Schnall at Quontic for three years, wrote on LinkedIn. “Steve taught me how to make deals and how to live with both confidence and humility in a way I’d never seen before.”