Chris –
All right. Welcome to the Breakthrough podcast and I am excited to be here with my man, Mike Pearson. Thank you for being here today.

Mike –
Thanks for having me, man.

Chris –
Awesome deal. Well, the reason that we do this podcast, a breakthrough podcast, is because we want to inspire you to break through to the next level. And to do that, you’ve got to hear from some of the most creative, most remarkable people in the marketplaces where we live and hear their stories, hear how they broke through I have met Mike, and the reason that I asked you to be on the podcast Mike’s, because I’ve met with you probably five or six times now, and every time I meet with you, it’s like a layer that just keeps coming down and as I met with you and heard your remarkable story, I was like, We got to do a podcast and you and I were not even meeting about doing a podcast, but the back story is you we know who each other are from being in the marketplace.

Chris –
But you worked with my wife Tracey, like many, many years ago, and you guys were both managers. You were both leading teams there in the mortgage space. And so I remember the day that my wife was, like Mike said, to go out. He’s going to go be a retail manager or I mean, he’s going to be a retail loan officer and he’s looking at, you know, going to just changing everything that he’s done. He’s he was like in the call center leading people. And now he’s going to go out and do it on his own. And he’s super excited about that. And, you know, and I remember thinking, it’s not easy. I remember this literally I remember the day I remember thinking to myself, it is so hard. It’s a long road from being a manager, leading people to go out and hustling deals, and fast forward to you have helped hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of people, especially veterans, get into homes.

Chris –
And so finally we met and I was like, This guy is remarkable. And you have a remarkable story that I thought was worth telling. And so, you know, I just want to thank you for taking the time, the day to be on. And I hope that people because we talk about breakthroughs and the things that happen and breakthrough moments, you’ve had many of them and I’m just going to give a rundown, just like a heads up like people. This is going to be a wild ride. But this dude, I mean, the story about coming up, the story about, you know, your brother you were telling me like, you know, your brother, you had a year to catch some guy doing some crazy shit.

Chris –
There you are. You lost your wife at a very young age. You’re a widower. You’ve been a father to your children. Just so many things that have happened in your life that I’m like, man, I don’t even have a 10th of that. That’s happened in my life. And then I talk to you and you’re like, this, this like this. You just wear confidence like nobody’s business. And so that was one of the things we’re talking about. I do. Where do you get your confidence from, considering the shit that you’ve been through? And so anyway, man, thank you for being here today. I can’t wait to hear your story today.

Mike –
Hey, man, thanks for having me. I appreciate you taking an interest in the story. I’m happy to be here.

Chris –
This is awesome. So, you know, we were talking and one of the things that I asked you early on was, you know, we were talking about how you help mortgage. I mean, you help veterans and you have this really cool brand. So it’s like motorcycles and you’re you know, you’re being like just a guys guy. And I think that’s helped you attract certain types of individuals that are like, disputes.

Chris –
Cool. He can help me out, but then as we started talking, I was like, Where is this interest? You’re not of that, you know, where where did the interests of vets come in? And you told me this wild story about coming up. So, you know, can you share some of that about how, you know, you took an interest in the military because of your upbringing, because you have a crazy story, man?

Mike –
Well, I mean, it’s definitely a story. I was born to a military family. My father was a helicopter pilot and gunman during the Vietnam War. And I was born on the Air Force base. And, you know, at a young age, I was taken from my parents. So there were four of us. And my father and mother just she was you know, she had an abuse problem with alcohol and substance abuse.

Mike –
Yeah. And, you know, one night some guy knocked on the door at our house late at night and he was, like, demanding money for my dad, for my mom owed him something. And he basically told the guy, get out of here, I’m gonna shoot you. And then all of a sudden, you know, later Mom comes home drunk, high.

Mike –
Who knows? Yeah. Attacks my brother takes the three siblings and put us in a back room. He’s trying to hide us on the couch, and all of a sudden, my dad comes into the room and slammed the door, and then a knife comes through the door. And so he opens the door, and then the knife goes through his hand and then Mom left. And so he put us in the car.

Chris –
Okay, your father.

Mike –
So you got the four kids in the car and he’s driving. It’s raining. Yeah. And he gets pulled over by the police because he’s speeding. So I remember looking out the window and I was three. I remember this clearly. And there he is with the hand wrapped up. He had a knife in it a knife still in it? Cops are, like, talking to him. And that was it. After that, we’re in a foster home. So I assume the state took us away. Yeah. And so I was in foster care for the next, you know, six months or so. And then we were adopted, all of us, by one family. And also that family.

Mike –
My father, my adoptive father was an airplane mechanic on the same air force base in Thailand during the Vietnam War, not at the same exact time. But ironically, he’s a Vietnam War veteran. Yes. From the same Air Force base. So I come from a long line of veterans on both sides. The adoptive side and the biological side. And so I just have a vested interest in it. I grew up kind of a military kid. You know, my dad was on top of us, like we had to have everything in line or we were getting, you know, smacked around. So.

Chris –
Well, this is an interesting thing because when you say my dad so do you have any sort of relationship or did you carry on any sort of relationship with your actual father, the one who was stabbed in the hand?

Mike –
So we all wanted to meet him. And so we met him and I think I was 15 and in walks this really tall guy is probably like six three. Yeah, a tall, skinny man walks through the door and he’s completely lost his mind from the war. He has a lot of PTSD issues going on there. And then we met him there and realized that we were happy being adopted. Yeah, because our parents wanted us to see because we were like, you know.

Chris –
But that’s a traumatic thing to go through. Like as a kid, like three years old, you know, your dad’s protecting you in some form or fashion, and then you get taken away. And then how long do you remember? Or is it a blur of like, what it was like to be with this random family?

Mike –
We were with random families. I mean, I just remember it would just be somewhere new. Yeah. And there’s just a few traumatic incidents that happened where I remember not, you know, I was being, like, shipped around from home to home.

Chris –
Oh, my gosh.

Mike –
But yeah, then we finally found a home. And of course, I didn’t know where my dad was. Like, I just wanted my dad, like, I would bust through the door at one time in the middle of the night and run down the street. And my mom, I was, like, sleepwalking. But I wanted my dad. Yeah. And she drove up in the Suburban and picked me up. I was just sitting on the corner crying like, but I had to go to, like, counseling and all that. And growing up because I had daddy issues.

Chris –
Yeah. I mean, like, how do you not, you know, I mean, it’s such a confusing situation. And I remember you posting this picture of you and your pops, your adoptive dad or adoptive dad. I want to say you had bought a house, like up north or something like a Chicago.

Mike –
Area, right? It’s Southern Illinois.

Chris –
Southern Illinois. Yeah. And you bought a property there. And there was a picture of you, too. And, you know, so that’s your adoptive dad. That’s the guy that brought you up.

Mike –
And he was hard on us. You know, he grew up on a farm, like kind of a ranch in Utah. And he had multiple brothers and siblings, and his dad was a hardass. And so he kind of raised us that way and you know, I’ll admit it, you know, we got the belt and I deserved all of it, I’m sure. You know, and I have no regrets about that. And, you know, I wouldn’t say that my dad and I became buddies until I was an adult. And then I realized, like, we’re not so much different. Like, we’re more alike than I thought. And he’s like, my best friend. So the picture you saw is I helped him by a truck because his vehicle broke down on his birthday and I flew out and he picked me up and we went straight to a dealership and we got him his truck. Oh, yeah, he was. I want you to watch the video. It’s.

Chris –
It’s actually got him a truck. Yeah, that is a pretty remarkable thing to do. And I know he’ll never forget that. So, you know, in terms of as you were growing up, were you the oldest or the middle?

Mike –
What? Right in the middle.

Chris –
You’re right in the middle. And so you have older brothers or older sisters.

Mike –
So my parents adopted five children and then they had a child of their own. So there are six of us.

Chris –
Six.

Mike –
And we’re all from different backgrounds and whatnot. But I have an older brother and two older sisters. I’m. I’m then it’s me and I have a little brother and a little sister.

Chris –
You told me this crazy story about your son, and we’ll get into that later. But, you know, how does that how do you think that, you know, this is a really good segue way and we won’t post this until after Father’s Day, but how do you think this has made you you know, that experience changed you as as a father and as you know, the one leading the family today?

Mike –
Well, you know, you got to learn from your experiences, right? So I didn’t have a close relationship with my dad. I mean, we really didn’t have any sit-down conversations. He was always working, supporting all these kids that they tested, you know, And my mom didn’t work. So you know, she was at home with the kids and, you know, when I had my first son, Jake, I fought for him immediately. I had joint custody of him at six months old. So I had a six-month-old baby. What I asked for. I went to court for it. Yes. And I was like by myself. I’m walking around with a cordless phone like, Mom, what do I do?

Mike –
Like, I was freaking out, and but I. I loved him so much. And. And you know what it is? It’s just like kids need to be disciplined. Like back then, it’s like a generational thing, right? Like, that’s how my dad got it. I got it like my dad did. But then I. I got my kids and I put it I put a twist on it. So all the things that I, I didn’t get when I was a kid, I give all of that to my boys. I listen to them. I spend time with them even if I’m not into what they’re doing. Like, I’ll go play my son in Madden football and get smoked 100 to nothing, right? Yeah. And I do it for him because he’s so happy.

Mike –
Absolutely. All the little things. And you have to start at a very young age like you have to be that person in front of them all the time. And what happens is you build this relationship in this trust where these kids, they just don’t want to let you down. Like my boys. They see they’re very proud, they’re very confident, and they act a lot like me. Yeah. And they just. Dad, I won’t let you down. Like. Yeah, military-like. And I’m like, it works, you know what I mean? And I don’t know if it works for everybody, but it certainly has worked for me and my boys.

Chris –
Well, this is an interesting thing because, you know, when you think about the way that we came up and I don’t know that it’s like it could be a father thing, but no one I knew growing up had relationships with their dads. You know, nobody nobody, like, hung out with their dads. But now it’s like a thing, right? I think I think, you know, for our generation, the way we were brought up, a lot of people are looking at it and saying, I don’t like the way that that came. I don’t why I didn’t like the way I was brought up. And therefore I’m going to try to make these changes. So like you said, you made this you had this twist when you brought up your kids, but you also had this other traumatic thing.

Chris –
And I’m skipping around, but like, there’s no one I know anywhere in my life other than you that lost their wife the way you did and I mean, lost or what period? That’s it. But then you did at a young age and then you had children at that. So, you know. How comfortable are you talking about that?

Mike –
No, I’m happy to talk about it because it’s an important story. You know, she was a wonderful human being and she’s very successful and she got sick and we had a New Year’s Eve party, the turn of 2016. She got sick, she got pneumonia, and she had it that whole week. And she, you know, she’s Mexican, Hispanic, and she’s like, oh, I’ll just take some tequila and some honey and I’ll be okay. All right, you know, And so she’s very stubborn about it. And then she wanted to go see her mom that weekend. And so she went down to Tucson and took our little boy and she had an unexplained seizure episode, and it killed her.

Chris –
I mean, literally like that. Or did she go to the hospital?

Mike –
She had a seizure and she was pronounced dead. They were doing the defibrillator. They brought her back, her heartbeat back. And then she was in ICU on all the machines for the next two weeks until her prognosis worsened. And she had seizures that wouldn’t stop and she had widespread brain damage and that was it. How old were you? It was seven years ago. So she would have been 39, actually, just a couple of days ago. She died at 32. I was probably 30.

Chris –
So you get it. You get a call. You’re aware when you get this call.

Mike –
As they’re doing the defibrillator on her. I’m getting a phone call. Where were you? I was here and there’s a hearing. Gilbert Yeah. And so I jumped in my truck and I remember driving like 120 miles an hour down that crazy road. And it was raining, of course. Make it even more dramatic. Yeah, just with my mom on the speaker and I’m just sobbing in between the tears and the rain, I couldn’t see shit.

Mike –
Yeah, Somehow I made it to the hospital in Tucson in one hour. Which is. That means I was flying. You were flying? Yeah. And I remember walking into the room and everybody was calm. They took me back and they pulled the curtain, and there she was. And even though they. She had a heartbeat, she wasn’t there. Like, you know, you knew. Yeah. You will know. And I knew. Yeah, I knew. I felt like she was. She was just standing next to me looking at herself. And we’re both like, What the fuck just happened? And for the next two weeks, you know, there was, there was hope that they could bring her back, but she would never be the same. She’d probably be in a wheelchair. You’re like, with widespread brain damage.

Chris –
Just not the way to.

Mike –
Live. And that meant she would never drive a Mercedes. She had big fancy jewelry. I mean, Tracy knows she was a pretty girl. Yeah, beautiful. And that’s no life for her, like. And so after two weeks and getting worse, we just had to stop. And that was terrifying.

Chris –
Wow. And then so as how old are your kids at the time?

Mike –
So it’s just I had a little boy Jackson was three and a half and Jake was probably 12 or 11 and a half. And Jake, I had with the previous girlfriend and Jackson was the one that I had with her. And he actually saw it happen.

Chris –
Who he was with her. Yeah.

Mike –
So it was there. He saw it like they had to take him out of the room.

Chris –
And he was he said seven.

Mike –
Is three and three and a half.

Chris –
It’s our set.

Mike –
So I had just joined the retail world and in 2015, you know, I left. CHACE Like the third quarter of 2014 took some time off. Then I got on with movement at the turn of the year 2015 building a team. I had a branch, you know, I was excited and I had some momentum going in that whole year. It’s probably doing close to 2 million a month just coming out of the gate swing and a brand new guy. Yeah and then she died. And so all of a sudden my focus changed from doing loans to taking care of this little boy because I had to make sure that he was emotionally just all the things like he was okay and so I just focused all my time on him. Yeah. And he’s, he’s amazing. Honor roll student. It’s well-rounded. He’s in the orchestra, he’s in the drama club, and he’s still out there smashing kids on the football field.

Chris –
So he’s a man this, I mean, it’s amazing, but I mean, it’s, it’s a remarkable situation because, you know, you went to this as a child where you have pulled away from your family three and a half and that same age where he now is being pulled away from his mother. And that’s a whole different traumatic, you know, experience and to see that he’s doing well. And, you know, you and I have talked several times, but every time we talk, your face lights up just about, you know, your kids and you were talking about your old is coming over and just, you know, watching your pride as a father is something that I think, you know when a day like Father’s Day comes up.

Chris –
I hope that you’re honored, you know, in a way that maybe, you know, most people don’t understand. But I think that you’ve done a really amazing job with that. And, you know, we didn’t say this upfront, but, you know, the reason that I wanted to meet with you was not only because you’re an amazing loan officer in the marketplace and people need to know where you are.

Chris –
You have 25 years of experience doing this, right? You’re a veteran in the mortgage space and you’re also helping veterans get into homes. You’ve created this amazing brand. I’ve watched your success throughout the way. And I always, you know, come back to, man, this guy has this amazing story that needs to get out, which is why I wanted to talk to you. But I love the success that you’ve seen and my question for you is how do you think you all these things that have happened to you right in life, you know, did the things that have happened in your family, the things that have happened with your wife, you know, you having to become a father in a way that maybe you weren’t prepared for two times over and then, you know, how did that play into your success? As, you know, a loan officer and a leader in the mortgage space?

Mike –
Well, I would say that ever since I was a kid, I just always felt like I had to do things a little bit harder, like try harder and do better for my parents, for my mom, because she took that she was 30 and she adopted all these kids. She does have five kids within two years.

Mike –
I was adopted in 1980. They adopted my other sister from Korea in 78. So here they are, 30 years old, my mom, and I’m like, I owe it to her to like, be a good kid. Like I’m the only kid in my family that got a license and a car on their birthday at 16. Yeah, I had three siblings older than me that didn’t even have a license. That’s how it’s always been for me. Like, I have to be that person standing up for my brothers. Yeah, I’ve been in fistfights for my little brother. I can’t even countless times. Yeah. And, I’ve carried that same mentality in the workplace. I, I started it, you know, it was, it was.

Mike –
It wasn’t Chase Bank one. I started at Bank One in 1998, and they hired me as a business banker. And within a year and a half, I was a manager, so I was running a branch. And so I did that. And then, you know, my buddies and I that work there and Tracy being one of them, we just found ways to just smash everybody. Yeah. And I just, I always had this drive in me just in. It’s from like, my upbringing, like, I just have to win, you know, like, I got to do it. And it’s not it’s not even just about me. It’s about my family. Like I. You probably know I help my family, like if they need help with finance or whatever they need like I help people.

Mike –
So I have to be that rock. Like, I have to do that. Yeah. So even when my wife passed, I took some time away and I just really focused on my boy. And then I just got complacent in the sense that I just wasn’t maxing out my potential and I still have it. I’m actually just on the brink of doing it like, I’m just getting out there on social media. I’m like, and that’s why I like this podcast. It’s kind of like reintroducing me, saying, Look, I’m here, I’m here and I’m out here swinging like, you know, throwing blows, like just knocking them down, man. It is whatever it takes. Like, I’m getting loans done for my real estate agents.

Mike –
I’m letting you know I’m not letting anybody down. And that’s just where that’s where it comes from. And that drives it a little bit deeper than other people’s.

Chris –
Well, that’s what it’s about, right? So, like, if you think about, you know, when we talk about breakthrough and what it means to break through, there’s millions of breakthroughs of people all have gone through. Right. And so in life, there are these moments where you’re stuck, you’re pissed off, you feel like your voices and heard. You feel like, you know, something mentally has to change in order for you to change your situation, and then boom, you make the decision, and you break through. And it happens. It happens on everything. And so, you know, the comment that’s been told to me many times is, you know, in order for there to be a breakthrough, there has to be a breakthrough, a breakdown. And sometimes those breakdowns can be mental those breakdowns can be you’re fed up with it or the breakdown could be in your case.

Chris –
There are things that happened around you in circumstances that you couldn’t even control, that you had to break through, you know, and you couldn’t have ever predicted that you would be a widower. You could never have predicted that you would have to be a father in the way that you had to. And so those were breakthrough moments, right? And so that’s why I love having conversations with people like you because I see your success in the marketplace and I also see it as this is an individual that is not telling their story to the masses in a way that would help them connect with you. There are so many, you know, other men that will hear your story and say, Man, that dude like that dude has heart, right? I’m going to I want to do a transaction with him because I think that what his story is all about resonates with me and, you know, how you have been able to help people like somebody will see a video of you rolling down the street and a Harley and judge you one way and then hear your story and be like, that’s not the guy that

Chris –
I completely you know, it’s a completely different dude. And so that’s why I love about what that’s what I love about what you’re doing is you’re inspiring people to get their story out. And I wanted to give you the platform to be able to tell it. And this is what I love about these conversations for you, of all the breakthroughs that you’ve had in life, right, that you’ve had to go through, you know, what’s the one that really stands out to you, where your back was against a wall, you felt like the world was closing in on you and you said, fuck this. I’m gonna I’m going to I’m going to figure that out and I’m going to do it this way. What was that moment for you?

Mike –
It’s I kind of feel like moments right now because.

Chris –
Of everything that you’ve been through.

Chris –
You have been through some shit there, but yeah, and it’s right now, this is a moment where you’re about to really get to that point where you’re pissed and you’re you’re going to break through.

Mike –
You know, it’s funny because it’s a good question, but that’s my honest answer. You know, I love it. This market’s fucked up. The last couple of years have been crazy. Well, let’s give.

Chris –
Let’s get the audience. So there are people that are that I mean, let’s really break it down. People who are listening to this can listen to it for many reasons, but they’re not always in a mortgage or in real estate. Right. So talk about what it’s like to be a mortgage loan officer in the market today. I mean, from your perspective.

Mike –
It’s very lonely.

Chris –
Yeah, it’s lonely.

Mike –
It is very lonely right now. I mean, 20, 20, 20, 21, we’re so busy. It was like you could turn people away and now it’s like, I would love to talk to anybody. Please call me. Right. But that’s the breakthrough right now is that I said earlier, it’s I have I know that I haven’t tapped out like my full potential and I’ve just been able to get by and do well enough to where I’m comfortable but now, like seeing the market, you got it. You got to get with the social media thing. You got to get with the times or you’re going to get left behind. And I realized that. And so I’m like, No more of this. Everything’s okay. Like, I’m just going to cruise control through life, Like I’m going to come out and I want to I’m going to come out swinging right now and I’m going to do more video and get back out there. So I would say and especially because now it’s being recorded, Yeah, this is my breakthrough.

Chris –
This you can’t you can’t come on here. On The Breakthrough podcast saying.

Chris –
Breakthrough and then disappear that shit ain’t happening.

Mike –
Hell, no. No, that’s I don’t.

Chris –
Think it would be with you. I mean, I don’t think it would be with you. And I think that that’s where I, why I was like this. This is I see it. And you know what? I actually agree with you. I see that, you know, we had talked a couple of times and you’ve always kind of been like, hey, man, you know, I’m on cruise control, I’m rocking, I’m crushing it. You know, I’m happy and I don’t care where or what loan officer you are right now. You are feeling this market, you are feeling it and you’re looking at your business and saying, what do I get to do to turn it up? And I’ve seen more loan officers do more social media in the last, you know, 90 days than I’ve ever seen because they’re seeing the importance of getting your word out, the difference between you and anyone else is your story and your story is different and it resonates. And there’s you know, there’s there’s a lot of impact that you can have for somebody that’s gone through what you’ve been. I mean, even though I only know one person with your story, there are a lot of aspects of your story with people out there that share the same interest, and who better to do a deal with than someone that resonates with the same type of sentiment and the same type of background that you have from foster kids being a foster kid to losing your wife, to being a single father, you know, to have to the struggle of a six-month kid and figuring out like, hey,

Chris –
I wanted this, but now what do I do with it? You know, like, what am I? And it’s to watch 18 years later that you actually accomplished something pretty darn amazing, you know, so all those things are amazing. So tell me about it. Like what it was. You know, when you look at your business today and if you were talking to a loan officer right now, what advice would you give them?

Mike –
If you put your head down, get your hustle game on. Yeah, You know, everybody’s out there scrapping for what’s out there. And there’s a lot of good guys out there, a lot of good loan officers, a lot of talented folks out there. It’s going to be a grind. And those just walking into this business, I mean, hats off to you.

Mike –
If you can come out here, swing and throw down some deals. I mean, this is the toughest that I’ve ever seen it. Yeah. You know, and I’ve been in the game a long time, you know.

Chris –
It’s crazy and this is, you know, just us talking about like, what’s crazy about it? Not to interrupt you, but like, there are loan officers who are brand new in the industry who are crushing it right now because they have no understanding of what everybody just went through. So, you know, from the perspective of living in 2020 and 2021, imagine this, listeners.

Chris –
Imagine this. Imagine everyone you know who owns a home and everyone you know who’s renting now has the opportunity, unlike any time else in a lifetime, to do a transaction with you. And all of a sudden that bus stops. Your reality is completely changed because you could turn away deals and now you’re like, what happened to that person? You know, somebody else helped them already, you know? And so now we’re scrapping and, you know, the loan officers that are crushing it are doing probably three things really, really well. One, they have a marketing strategy, whether it’s social media or whatever the case is. But there is strategy number two, they have a cadence of talking to their past clients and making sure that they’re consistently being helped, and then number three, they have a CRM that’s doing, you know, amazing work behind the scenes with them. But those that have those three functions and a consistent basis are going to win. And you’ll be surprised, man, how many loan officers I meet that don’t have either any of the three. And it’s a crazy time to not have those and I 100% agree with that. I definitely have all of those in place. Yeah. Do I maximize the use of those? Probably not. Yeah, I think that’s a good point.

Chris –
Yeah, but a lot of people won’t admit that. And I love that you do Oh yeah. Yeah. I’ll be the first to tell you that. Like I picked up a coach recently.

Mike –
So I. I paid coach. I got to coach. He’s a $100 million producer, and I don’t want to let him down. So all of a sudden, I’m doing the videos that I didn’t want to do. That’s why all the videos, I was like, Yeah, I’ll let myself down all day long. That’s fine, but I can’t let somebody else down. Yeah, like I’m doing fine, but I need to. I need to be doing this. Yes. And so, yeah, I picked up a coach and I don’t want to let him down.

Chris –
Good for you, man. So, you know, I’ve said this before on content that I’ve done, but, you know, There are two types of people in the world. There are people with coaches and people without coaches. And, you know, you’ve gone through life being a leader, and all of a sudden you now have a coach. So tell me, how did you identify your coach? If somebody was out there looking to get a coach, what would be your recommendation for that?

Mike –
I would just say it. It’s it wasn’t even humbling for me. It’s just a smart move. Yeah. Every guy that I know that’s a top guy has a coach, you know, That’s just what you got to do. You got to have somebody hold you accountable. People are sharing best practices on a level and on a level that you don’t have access to. So I would just say that you know, getting a coach necessary, finding a way to get somebody in the game that can help you share ideas, hold you accountable. And we’ll see how where it takes me.

Chris –
How many sessions have you been in?

Mike –
It just started at the end of April. So it’s been what you pay.

Chris –
What are you paying?

Mike –
I think it’s like 1200 a month.

Chris –
That’s a lot. That’s a lot of money. That’s like a car, a really nice car or house payment, you know, So. So that’s crazy.

Mike –
So I’m not paying all of that. I’m paying a portion of it.

Chris –
Good, But like, I got an I had a, I had a coach for probably, I want to say like four months, 3 to 4 months and I was like 2500 a month and it’s a lot. Oh dude, it was, it was I mean and you know, it was during like the heyday, so I didn’t really mind it. You know, I would probably have a little bit more of a problem paying that now being in the situation that the mortgage industry is in. But I fired him like three months later because he would just do weird shit, man. Like he would let me think of some reasons why I fired him.

Chris –
Well, number one, I started dreading the calls with him. Like, I was like, I don’t want to do that call. Yeah. And then I was like, Well, then why do I feel like that? And I got these calls and he would like, give me this homework to do, and I would do the homework. And so like for me, I, I barely got out of high school, right? Like I’m not an academic by any means, so giving me homework and having to do that, I was like, I don’t want to do this. And it was like all this shit you had to think about and be by yourself with and, you know, reflect and write. And so I would do it and then he would never even mention it.

Chris –
The next time we got on a call, I’m like, Bro, did you even, like, see what I did? Like, did you are we just not even going to reference all the work that I put in? And then it.

Mike –
Sounds like you didn’t have a good coach.

Chris –
Well, no, but what’s his? It’s crazy about it because I hope he never sees it. But, like, here’s what’s crazy about this. He actually liked the advice that he gave me on the calls was powerful. Like it helped me, you know, He was like, I remember I was in a negotiation for something with my higher-ups at work. I was negotiating a different role and when you make a change in the mortgage industry, no matter what change you do, there’s a com plan that comes in place. And I was like, you know, trying to figure out how that was going to work. And especially if you’re taking a step up to take step up means that you’re going to get lower pay like people think you’re going to get more money.

Chris –
It’s actually the opposite. So I was trying to figure out how is this going to work. You know, and when you’re in negotiations, it’s business. I don’t care, you know, what it is. But he gave me some really good advice. He said, you know, first off, acknowledge the fact that they don’t want to be there. They don’t want to be negotiating with you right? And so if you’re coming off like a douche, you know, it’s going to work, you know? Right. So acknowledge the fact that, like you guys, all just want the same things. You just need to figure out how the money work. And it was just like really powerful information and it worked in my favor, but it changed my demeanor because I would go into these meetings and I was just like completely, like not the same person that I was on a day to day.

Chris –
I was like, ready to like, you know, I just didn’t trust anybody. And I was like, Why do I feel like that? So I hired a coach, to help me out with it. So I think, you know, the reason I tell you that story is that I think in times in life, when you’re at a point in your career where you’re stuck, sometimes getting a coach helps you get unstuck. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to be a life coach for the rest of your life. It could be, I need them for the next six months and then I’m going to find somebody else.

Mike –
And that’s probably, like I said, this is my breakthrough. I’m trying new things to maximize my potential. Like, let’s see where it takes me. Get the coach, try it. Absolutely. You know, I love it doing the social media things. So.

Chris –
Absolutely. And I think the social media thing for you, for the sake of the conversation, I think that you know, for a guy like you who has an amazing story and who is doing some really creative like your video, for those that are listening, this is easy mortgage Mike just look for him on Instagram and follow because his content is very different from most of the content that I’m seeing. But I think that’s what’s going to help you stand out Now. It’s time to just pour gasoline on it and get tons of it out there because I think you can’t oversaturate the market with your story. And I think you have a really, really interesting story. But you know, you’re helping people. Now, let me ask you this.

Chris –
How did you cross into this specialty? Because there are loan officers who are generalist, who help everybody and, you know, kind of can and you’ve kind of specialized in helping veterans in a way that most people haven’t been in on that. Tell me about that.

Mike –
Well, I just want to make it very clear that I will help anybody.

Chris –
Yeah, I agree with that.

Mike –
And just to back up a little bit, like when you talk about my social media and if you watch it, it might seem like I’m some scary guy, but I’m like, I’m just a big goofball. I’ve been very humbled in like, Yes, but everything is genuine and I use that word to describe myself. It’s what you see is what you get.

Mike –
I care so much about every client. I care about my damn Zillow Review. Like if I don’t get five stars, I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. Yes, you know, I got a four and a half that was the lowest one I ever got recently at the turn of the year. Perfect transaction. Yes. I was like, I wanted to call the client. Good. What the hell’s wrong with you? You just ruined my perfect street.

Chris –
Oh, my God.

Mike –
I care about everything. I want my real estate agents to be happy. I want them to be like I love Mike. And then they tell their other realtor friends, and, you know, any agent that’s ever dealt with me. Well, I’ll stand by. This will say Mike’s. No, he’s a good guy. A genuine guy. Like he knows his shit.

Mike –
He doesn’t fuck up like that’s who I am. Yes, but having said that, like, you know, when you deal with veterans, these guys, you know, in the active military, they’re risking it all out there. I mean, what they’re doing, their sacrifices for the country, you know, the sacrifice they’re doing, you know, leaving their families, they have all this shit going on and then, you know, they go to buy a home and they get some loan officer that puts them through the wringer and they don’t deserve that. They deserve like a red carpet rolled out. Like, let me walk you through the process and make this so easy for you that you tell all of your military buddies. And it’s just kind of been like that for me. They’re all referrals off, you know, I don’t buy leads or any of that. But yeah, it’s just people word of mouth and it just and it’s compounded and I constantly do you know, I do a couple of videos a month or whatever, maybe more but that’s kind of what it is is I, I took an interest in especially if I get a veteran on the phone I mean any client but you get a veteran. I mean, it’s like you got to lay it down for military style. Boom, boom, boom. No messing around. Yes. Bang it through. Done deal. And they’re just like, what just happened? Yeah. In fact, I have a guy, Robert Cox, a veteran. He was renting OC and I had lunch with a real estate agent. And then that agent went to Robert Cox’s apartment that night to have a beer or something and he’s like, Why are you renting? He’s like, I don’t know. I don’t know if I can qualify. He’s like, Oh, dude, I just sat down with this loan. Officer Mike Pierce should give him a call. I’m not even kidding. Two weeks later, the dude’s in a house. That’s crazy. We. Yeah, I got it. It happened last month. Yes. And he’s.

Mike –
He’s still blown away. The reviews are out there. He’s already mentioned it. But, you know, and he says it in the review. I’m just sitting at home in my apartment two weeks ago, and now I’m sitting at home in my new house.

Chris –
So how were you able to do that? I mean, talk about your ability because there’s a loan officer somewhere listening out there saying, how did he do it in two weeks?

Mike –
Well, it’s all about number one is a loan officer. You need to know your shit. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Don’t over don’t over. Ask him for stuff. Don’t submit the wrong things. No. Know what you need? Yeah, I know exactly what I need for my clients.

Chris –
You. Where did you learn that? How did you learn that?

Mike –
And I learned it at Chase. And here’s why. Because when you pull a credit report, you take an application, and you make sure it’s clean, right? Then you pull a credit report and you have to go through that report. You’re basically reading the story of their life. Yeah. And you need to understand who that client is by looking at their credit report.

Mike –
You can see, you know, what their credit history looks like. What are you you know who they are?

Chris –
Are and you get the profile right, you?

Mike –
Know? Yeah. So that’s what it is. I learned it from Chase because I’m sitting there with my guys. I’m like, Did you even look at the credit report? Yes. What’s the matter with you? You didn’t see this on the credit report? Yeah, because if I didn’t do it, my boss would be my ass. Why aren’t going over the credit report, you guys? Yeah. So that’s where I learned it from.

Chris –
So funny. Any time I get, we get burned. You know what a deal. You find out like they have an equity line somewhere that, you know, it’s like, give me the credit report, and then, boom. Like, how did you not see this? Like, it’s plain as day, you know? But there are a lot of loan officers that will miss things like that and so attention to detail is probably one of the most important things.

Mike –
Yeah, I mean, credit report and then read your AC findings. Do you copy? Read them. It’s not hard. Just look at it and then get exactly what it asks for. Don’t get anything more. Yeah. So it’s getting the right stuff upfront, and submitting the perfect package to the underwriter. Yeah. Meanwhile, just you got to have your process in place. Like, you got to get that appraisal ordered immediately. I’m on the phone with the agents. I need that pest inspection. Yeah, I need that. Because if there’s anything wrong with that pest inspection, we got to fix it. And it has to be clear. We’ve got to send the dude back out. Yeah. And so I have agents going through and tidying up.

Mike –
Yeah. What my. You know what I mean. If there’s a faulty grate, go run some rock over it. Yeah. And they do that. Trim the trees off the house. Yes. You know, save everyone the headaches. So that’s the kind of stuff that a good loan officer should be doing. Yes.

Chris –
Yes, I love that. I love that. So, I mean, this is where this is what it’s all about. I mean, I love you seeing you fired up about this because so many people like it. Look, if you’re going to be a decent loan officer in the marketplace and you’re going to be just good at what you do when you get a veteran, you know, you got to take that extra step because they have there’s so much at stake with like a guy two weeks in an apartment.

Chris –
I mean, if you didn’t get him into that house, then another month rolls in or his lease has to you know, he has to find a place. And that’s the worst thing to do to somebody who served our country. Right. It’s worse to do to anybody but to do it with that. It even compounds that.

Mike –
Sadly, you know, I’ve run across veterans that just, you know, have disabilities or you know, they’re injured at war and unfortunately, they have bad credit because of it like they’re and here they are like they want to buy a house, you know, use their VA benefits, but their credit is bad. Yeah. And it’s because of, you know, injuries at war or they’re over here fighting, and then credit goes to shit here.

Mike –
Yeah, whatever the reason is. So I will help anyone. I will fix the credit. I don’t send them to credit repair companies. I just run through our credit system and do the what-if simulators and it’s pretty easy and it’s always accurate for me. Yeah so I tell them what to do and then, you just nurture it and just let it develop, and boom, six months later, it’s like a Christmas gift. You just handed it to real estate. It’s like they get to go and they’re like, Oh my gosh.

Chris –
Here’s a tip for anybody listening that’s helping veterans. Like if they’ve ever been to war, most likely are they ever been in combat? They are disabled in some fashion. So getting them to do the medical evaluation is key because if they come back, whether it’s even minor hearing loss, then once they become, you know, disabled, then that funding fee goes away and that’s a significant saving. You’re getting to a veteran by counseling them to get them into to take an especially they’ve been to combat. I mean that’s really where you know benefits. But a lot of veterans band have like my dad was one of them like for the longest time like looking at him saying you know you have disabilities you know and he didn’t want to go and do the medical evaluation.

Chris –
Had too much pride to do it. Like you got to get in there and do it. And then once he did, he was like 100% disabled. And so it’s like crazy that, you know, veterans just like, don’t want to do it. It’s like a pride thing.

Mike –
Well, that’s one of the first things I look for it. I tell him, Look, just shoot me over your D to 14, and then I just extract this certificate of eligibility off the VA portal. And I can see right there if they’re disabled or not. Yeah. And, and then have a conversation around it then. But I go right just straight for it. Like straight for it. Yeah. I want to make sure that you’re, you know, you have your, your copy like in your entitlement. That’s why you got to go to talk to VA or something.

Chris –
Don’t even know. Yeah that I love that man. So. So where do you take it from here, brother? I mean, like this, is your this is like one of your moments where I feel like this is going to be, you know, Mike coming out of, you know, where he’s been to this new guy with this new brand and where do you want to take it? What are the goals? Put it here. Put it out. Let’s manifest this today, man.

Mike –
No, man, It’s going to be it’s like, you know, I got hit on my Harley. I think I told you.

Chris –
You this like some girl.

Mike –
This girl, T-Bone, John.

Chris –
You’ve gone through. Is this crazy?

Mike –
As she T-boned me going, 45. Yeah. I flew diagonally three lanes in oncoming traffic. Thankfully, nobody hit me. I’m laying in the gutter and I was away. I mean, I was blacked out as I was flopping around. I can just hear my motorcycle getting ran over and then the car screeching and they stop from like me to the door there and I was like, Oh my God, I’m alive. Like, I can’t believe this and I just like, I got to get up. So my right leg was busted, my foot was shattered and my Achilles was lacerated. And I got on my one foot and here’s this dude hopping off the road and everybody ran it.

Mike –
Women were crying. People were like trying to help me. And my bike was all mangled and the paramedics got there, all standing there staring at me. They’re like, I don’t even believe what we’re looking at right now. This is crazy because normally there’s a dude with his bone sticking out, screaming, Yeah, or a dead guy. Yeah. You know, not some guy smiling.

Chris –
By far the most dangerous thing.

Mike –
And, you know, I. I kept it quiet because when my wife passed, I lost a lot of business because people want to give me my space. And unfortunately, it hurt me. So I kept it pretty quiet. A lot of people didn’t know this. In fact, some people were probably just filling out.

Chris –
I mean, considering like, how much I do know. I didn’t know about that.

Mike –
Yeah, they were going to they were going to take my leg. It was a week where I had to let it. They gave me a week to let it heal a little bit. And then I had my surgery. So but what I did is I knew my bike was mangled. So I went out and I was looking immediately for a new motorcycle and I find this one, it’s perfect. I go down there, crutches. I’m banged up. Yeah. Road rash all over. And this dude’s like, You’re crazy. Do you want to buy this motorcycle? And I’m like, Yeah, meet me at the bank on Monday morning. So then I took the whole weekend and I hate ice based on the biggest pussy when it comes to cold water.

Mike –
Yeah, And I put my foot in an ice bath the whole weekend to get the swelling down. Yeah, I shoved it in a cowboy boot and I went to the bank, so I had to walk. Like I had a broken leg, and I rode that motherfucker home. Oh, my God. So I pulled it in my garage, and then I had surgery the next day and so for 16 weeks, I just looked at it. Yeah. And then they, they. I would go outside and turn it on. Turn out. I got a good friend here to go do this. So it’s dope. Yeah. Like, yeah, hopefully, I can write it. Yeah. So the day I got me, I cast off, I woke up and they had the rain had just cleared and I took it for a spin and I pulled up and I was having a bloody Mary down the street at Rooster’s, my favorite bar and I called my girlfriend and I sat on it and I knew that I could flip it and sell it for the same price or maybe even make a little money. I was a great deal, but if anything, it’s just like, that’s who I am. Yeah, like I wasn’t giving up. Like, you can punch me in the face and I’m just going to just keep coming.

Mike –
Yes. And so I don’t know. I don’t know how that relates to your question, but that’s just where my mindset is. It’s like, you know, no matter what life throws at me, I’m going to it’s going to keep coming. I’m just going to.

Chris –
Put a boot on and strap it in and keep the keep rocking, man. I think I know. I think that’s what it’s about. I think that you could figure out if people can figure out a way to get over adversity by getting back on the horse if you will, and in your case, getting back on a Harley Steel horse. Yeah, I still do. Steel horse, Right? Steel horse. A lot of reference to Bon Jovi there if you can get back on a steel horse. And that’s what it’s about. It’s getting back on and riding it out. And I think you I can’t wait to see this man because this is going to be you know, you’re hearing him here first and if you go back and you look at the guests that I’ve had on the show, I don’t normally look for guests that are with big names. My goal is to find the people before they become the big names in the industry. And you’ve been in the industry for 25 years and you’re now looking at the industry differently to say this is not time to kind of coast through it, it’s time to just start crushing it and I can’t wait to see what you do, man. So I can’t thank you enough for being here today, for sharing your story, and for telling people again where they can find you.

Mike –
Mike Pearson on Facebook and hashtag Easy Mortgage. Mike, you’ll find me just for the bald guy riding around on a Harley.

Chris –
Well, man, I can’t wait to see what you do. Thank you for being here. For those of you that are listening to this podcast and made it all the way this far, go through and smash the like button. Subscribe to the podcast. Once we switched, we recently switched the name from the Chris Martin Show to Breakthrough and we have, you know, tried to regain all the traction that we were getting. We thought we’d keep all the same listeners, so get out there, subscribe. But also if you want to see and get to know who Mike is, the Chris Martin YouTube page and you will see this live, you get to see who Mike is and watch this whole thing.

Chris –
Instead of listening on your headphones. You can actually check it out on YouTube. So, Mike, thank you for being here. Brother.

Mike –
Hey, and just I just want to say one thing and I just I’ve watched you grow over the years. I have heard all the things I’ve seen Your progress, man. You’ve done great for yourself, man. I’m proud of you.

Chris –
Thank you, brother. That means a lot to me, dude. And listen where I can help. And getting friendships like this is what this industry is about. You know, Mike is a 20-year veteran, a mortgage works at Fairway Mortgage. He doesn’t even work with the company I work with. But, you know, the reason that I want to connect with different loan officers is that I don’t think that we in the industry do a good job of collaborating with people at different companies because we all kind of live within our worlds, you know, even you, I think you had mentioned it like, man, people are going to see us on this podcast.

Chris –
They’re going to think like and I’m like, Don’t we don’t worry about that. I mean, this is about building brands. It’s about, you know, helping you, giving you a platform to tell your story. And it’s really about impacting, even if it’s just one person out there that’s listening to this podcast that said, I’ve been through what that dude’s going through and now I know how to, you know, work my way through it or I’m inspired.

Chris –
That’s what it’s all about. So thank you, brother.

Mike –
And you know, if there’s anybody out there that wants to talk to me about it, I’d be happy to talk about any of it with them in any way that I can help. And just remember that no matter how bad you have, there’s always someone out there. There’s always worse.

Chris –
Things. There you go, brother. Thank you, ma’am. So thank you for offering that. Yes. Hit up, Mike. And if you need anything, hit us up. We’d love to hear from you. Do you want to hear any other type of content or do you want to be a guest on the podcast? Hit us up. We can’t wait to talk to you.

Chris –
Take care, everybody.