Saturday, August 30, 2008

Before I Met Banking

Before I met banking, I was working for several mortgage companies in California. My experience was mainly in helping others to obtain a loan. Some of my experience came from real estate sales. I got into the market in 2003, "when it was good" as many mortgage veterans say. I got into it as merely a telemarketer, making phone calls and phone sales. It was a tedious job. My boss at that time would give me lists of people to call, and everyday I would go down that list, make notes and if I didn't make a sale on that day, well, by golly, I kept notes and times of contact, so I would be able to say "Joe, I called you yesterday around 2p.m. to tell you that I can help you."

Much of my experiences in the mortgage industry grew, as my relationships with people grew, as my relationships with customers grew. The more sales I made, the more I began to understand the relationship I needed to establish with my clients, and the more I began to understand my clients. Prior to the mortgage industry I was always in front of customers, always helping them with whatever they needed, whether it was transferring their phone calls to the right person (screening calls), helping customers to make a payment plan or payment (accounts receivables/payables), or helping my co-workers with their jobs, I always was in front of customers, people, and the overall public.

Through this experience of always talking to customers, I continually spooned my abilities to connect, to reverberate their needs in what I was doing. It was almost as if customers would come to me and tell me what they need, and I would talk to their need through what I did for them at that time. I became a decent mortgage loan officer managing sales in the millions of dollars. Closing record level closings, managing other loan officers, and making a ton of money. And at every point I recognized that things always were different from one client to the next, because if you weren't progressing with every single client you had, you weren't increasing your income. Identifying the truth about each client was always a task that helped me to pivot my sales in the right direction.

These experiences led me to a different awareness than the other. These experiences helped me to recognize awareness as a tool for excelling. Awareness, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically, created a means for a way to go about my life, and precluded my time at this moment, because up until this moment, I didn't know that it was my awareness that had gotten me where I had been at that time, even up until now.

Through the experiences of the most recent housing crisis, economic crisis in the U.S., and price instabilities, my awareness evolved into a ball that kept "rolling". Kind of like the wheels on a car that keeps moving. That's likened to my awareness.

Along the way I picked up different types of balls and learned to keep a basket to hold these balls in. I found these different balls, in different times, in different areas. And throughout my experience, I would take a ball and throw it out, in hopes that it could take down the cash I needed at the time. In most cases I threw my ball, and it bounced back.

Needless to say, I've reached a destination of no return, and not for one second do I think or regret the way I've came with my work experiences and my awareness. It has continually crafted my ability to reach into the mortage finance, corporate finance, trading finance, and banking finance arena, and has created more opportunities of growth and progression.

Oh, that Animal? It's called "Banking"!

It's no surprise that banking is so difficult to understand. I mean it's not just going to the bank, checking the interest rates and taking a loan, or depositing money. It's so much more. Much of what we know about banking comes from commercials and our connections to our loan officers and mortgage brokers and bankers. Banking, is what I visualize as an animal. A good friend of mine referred to banking as an animal that always changes. Banking is it's own animal. And the past 6 months I've uncovered it. Meaning, I've touched it, I've smelled it, and I even listened to it....sometimes. LOL. Sometimes I listen to the beast. But don't think of it as a beast or an animal like your pet dog (Or like my dogs Star and Kimo). Because I wouldn't kick them and spit on them like I do to the animal I call "banking". Banking is a creature that has many senses...I mean, when you think about private banking, you'd be better off relying on all your other senses versus your brain. Because your brain cannot connect with banking the way it is, the way it really is, the way it is internationally, historically, and locally. And again, I'm referring to private banking. So don't get a hissy fit if you work in banking and get offended. If you are offended, go to another site, and thank you for coming.

What I mean when I say you can rely on all your other senses, because you are better off that way. When you encounter a deal in private banking it's better for you to try and smell it, taste it, or listen to it. Pray about it and know that if your faith is as strong as you believe it is, your faith will take the course of leading you through the correct direction. Because for those that know what I'm talking about, many of the intracacies of banking is non existent to us. Meaning, you can't find it on the internet, you can't find it talking to your friend over the phone. You will only find it if you leave your ego at the door, strip everything you know, and pull your tail between your legs.

I've lived with banking for the past 6 months. It comes with me to work, it lives with me at home, it sleeps on the floor next to me. Banking has really been trained and has truly changed into a nice pet. And now it keeps me going and has became a companion. It's a companion that has led me to uncover some of the best stories. And I hope you all will contain your excitement as I teach you about my pet animal I call "Banking".