Today Skip interviews Steve Richman after spending time together at the Mortgage Bankers Association State & Local Workshop and advocacy events in Washington, DC.Steve emphasizes that advocacy and PAC education need a clearer elevator pitch and that relationship-building with legislators can influence rules affecting the mortgage industry. 

They discuss what loan officers are facing now, especially the tension between technology (CRM, AI, automation) and relationship-driven sales, arguing there’s no substitute for face-to-face networking. Steve cautions against using AI note-takers and tech as a crutch, advocating handwritten notes for retention, and explains the value of boredom for creativity versus laziness. He encourages LOs to build strong elevator pitches, expand networks, and adopt AI to build skill and comfort, including prompting AI to ask clarifying questions and creating a voice profile to match personal tone.

Episode highlights:

00:00 Cold Open and Introductions

00:30 Catching Up and Summer Vibes

01:02 DC Conference Takeaways

01:28 Advocacy and PAC Explained

02:31 Relationships With Legislators

03:51 Tech Versus Human Connection

06:22 Networking Still Wins

07:57 AI Note Takers Debate

08:56 Writing Notes to Remember

10:10 Tech as a Crutch Examples

11:43 Memory Offloading Fails

12:26 Notes Versus Distraction

13:10 Boredom Sparks Creativity

15:21 AI As Steroid Not Crutch

16:18 Elevator Pitch And Networking

18:07 Bored Versus Lazy

19:00 Practical AI Habits

20:33 Voice Profiles And GPT Tells

21:05 Contact And Wrap Up