The Insight Interviews - Powered by Rewire

Brett Lindquist was destined to be in the mortgage business. His father was a hotel resident manager so Brett lived in hotels until he was 13 years old. When his parents bought their first house, Brett thought, “how do people do this?” Brett attended Florida State University, captaining the swim team while double-majoring in finance and real estate. Upon graduation, Brett interviewed with a mortgage broker who got him interested in the business and he’s been in it ever since. In 1995, Brett co-founded The Mortgage Firm, a residential mortgage company that makes homeownership a reality. The company has experienced 15-20% growth for each of the past ten years. With 50 branches and over 600 employees, the company closed over $3.6 billion in loans in 2020. Brett gives back to the community by serving on the board of governors of the business school and the Boosters at Florida State University. He is married to Cindy and has two fantastic children.

In this episode Steve and Brett discuss:

• Always looking for the positive and bringing kindness to others.
• Assigning your employees beneficial job tasks that they enjoy.
• Bringing balance into all aspects of your life.
• Assembling and empowering a great team of people through trust.

Key Takeaways: 

• You don’t have to figure everything out on your own; utilize specialty coaches so that you can learn from them in their field.
• Make partnerships work by “staying in your lane”  and focusing on the part of the business that is your specialty.
• Maximize organization; plan out your schedule for greater productivity.

“People should be doing what they like to do and what they are best at.” - Brett Lindquist

Mentioned: 

Marcus Buckingham Defining Strengths

Built to Last 

Good to Great

Connect with Brett Lindquist:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMortgageFirm

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-mortgage-firm-inc./

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TMFClosingSimplified/

Website: https://www.themortgagefirm.com/

Email:  [email protected] 

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Bruce Hohensee is currently leading the recruitment efforts for Fintech, Sila Money, based in Portland, OR. He is also Principal of Talent Driven Consulting, a firm specializing in solving recruitment challenges for their clients. TDC utilizes a process including a behavioral assessment to ensure that their clients hire individuals who fit the role and organization.

Bruce has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Washington. Before starting TDC, Bruce was the North American Recruitment Manager for Hercules Incorporated, won numerous sales awards, developed training programs, and has served as a leader and manager with several Fortune 500 companies. He and his wife, Elise, have been married for 23 years. They have two boys (Caiden and Levi) and reside in the Corvallis, Oregon area.

In this episode Steve and Bruce discuss:

• The characteristics that make a good or bad boss.
• Knowing when to make professional and career transitions.
• Recommendations for being highly employable.
• Hard skills and soft skills: do people just have them, or can they be taught?

Key Takeaways: 

• Create intentional opportunities for others to get familiar with their why. 
• Be courageous enough to make the change you know you need.
• There will never be a perfect time. Don’t wait, keep moving.

“It often looks messy at the beginning, it won’t look the way you think it’s supposed to from day one.” - Bruce Hohensee

Connect with Bruce Hohensee:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talentdrivenconsulting/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucehohensee/

Website: www.TalentDrivenConsulting.com

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

David Jaffe is an Independent Mortgage Banker for Guaranteed Rate in Ventura, CA, and has been featured in Mortgage Originator Magazine, Mortgage Executive Magazine, and the Scotsman Guide as one of the top 20 loan originators in the country. After college he spent four years skiing, traveling, and generally messing around before he realized he needed to get a job. That was over 30 years ago and since then, David has closed over $4 Billion in loans. David is passionate about developing the systems and processes that will help him wow his customers with his service and believes there is no substitute for genuinely caring for people and pursuing their best interests.

In this episode Steve and David discuss:

• Completing a needs analysis, to dive deep into what your clients actually need.
• The value of time blocking and not committing to more than you can complete.   
• The importance of team chemistry and similarity in work ethic. 
• When people are not doing well in their role, do them a favor and let them move on.

Key Takeaways: 

• The most important thing is to look out for the client’s best interest.
• Focus on 3-4 things and do them well instead of trying to tackle your entire to-do list.  
• “Be persistently consistent and consistently persistent.”

“Hang on to every single client by having a system in place to create a raving fan and just wow them.” - David Jaffe

Connect with David Jaffe:

Website: https://people.rate.com/david-jaffe-239040

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Mariella Massa is the CEO and Founder of FinHous. Before moving to the tech space she served as CEO of Appraisal MC, the largest independently owned national appraisal management company, where she currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Appraisal MC, Mariella was a founding partner at Initech Appraisals where she served as Chief Operations Officer. Since 2014, Appraisal MC has been recognized annually as one of the fastest-growing companies by the Cougar 100. Mariella was awarded CEO of the Year by HBJ in 2019. She is a certified appraiser and speaks throughout the country as a subject matter expert on Appraisals and Valuations.

In this episode Steve and Mariella discuss:

• Correspondences between your personal life and business life.
• Empowerment through vulnerability, and trust.
• Finding power, motivation, and growth in discomfort.
• Embracing change to bring new opportunities.

Key Takeaways: 

• Work to make yourself irrelevant and obsolete in your business through the trust and empowerment of your people.
• Find the courage to step outside of what you know in order to make yourself better.
• Always strive to see the good in people while making an effort to help them to be better.

“As you grow your team is empowered to take on a lead where you become irrelevant to a point.” - Mariella Massa

Connect with Mariella Massa:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinHous

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finhous/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/finhousapp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finhous/people/

Website: www.finhous.com

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected] 

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Steve Longan was employee #1 here at Rewire and he’s our Director of Research and Development. In this role, he helps Rewire develop programs that help our clients bridge the gap from where they are and where they want to go. He’s very good at it. 

And over the last few years Longan, which is what we call him around the office, has become a formidable coach for many of our clients who say a lot of very nice things about him and his work with them.

But when I asked Longan for his bio for the show, it was all about him as a husband and a dad and a reader of books and a person who runs a lot. And about how appreciative he is to be helping people at the deep level he does

In this episode Jason and Steve discuss:

• Growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset
• The alternative uses exercise, word clouds, labyrinth walks, and appreciative inquiry model.
• The primary role of leaders.
• Perfection, procrastination, and failure as part of the process.

Key Takeaways: 

• Facilitative, positive leaders and mentors inspire greater creativity.
• The importance of paying attention to the language you use. 
• Leaders developing the ability to create a space where their employees have their needs met in order to embrace their natural abilities, create, and produce quality work themselves.

“The language that we use is prophetic.” - Steve Longan

Mentioned: Leadership Is An Art, by Max Depree

Connect with Steve Longan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-longan/

Website: https://www.rewireinc.com/

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Christine Jensen has spent 37 years in banking and finance, specializing in mortgage lending for the past 27 years. She is a Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional, a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist, a Certified Senior Advisor, and a Producing Branch Manager for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation in Olde Town Arvada. She originates both Forward and Reverse Mortgages, which gives her the resources to help her clients make wise financing decisions throughout their entire lives. Christine and her husband, Dana, live in Arvada, CO, near their four grown children and four grandchildren.  

In this episode Steve and Christine discuss:

• Making it your mission to serve people well.
• The differences between transitions and transformations.
• The importance of “So what?” and “Where are you and what are you thinking right now?” questions.
• The gift of listening to and genuinely hearing others.

Key Takeaways: 

• The importance of adapting to your environment.
• Embrace challenges to see where they will take you and how they can change you. 
• The gift of learning to be curious about yourself and your mindset. 

“The technique is about being interested in people, not interesting.” - Christine Jensen

Mentioned: The Bottom of the Pool by Andy Andrews

                    Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud 

Connect with Christine Jensen:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reimaginingretirement/

                    https://www.instagram.com/christinereverse/  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/christinejensen-fimc/

Website: www.ChristineReverse.com

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Sherry Graziano is the leader of the Truist Mortgage Omni Experience and Relationship Deepening group. She is responsible for driving client-centric strategy, client experience, and client deepening initiatives. She joined SunTrust in 2011 and brings a unique combination of sales, operations, and technology experience to deliver a differentiated mortgage client experience.

Because I’ve known Sherry for a few years now, I can tell you there aren’t many people who have more passion or energy for what they do than Sherry does.

In this episode Jason and Sherry discuss:

• Being grateful for the benefits of challenges.
• Listening, learning, and leading together in order to build trusting relationships.
• Having patience, grace, and understanding with one another.
• Empowering every teammate to rise and lead.

Key Takeaways: 

• Create a culture of empowerment, leadership, and harmony.
• There is no greater power than that of a positive mental attitude, and a positive mindset in overcoming adversity.
• Building a community through connection and trust where people know their thoughts are being heard and they are safe taking the risk to be vulnerable.

“Every decision that we make is one decision at a time” - Sherry Graziano

Referenced in the interview: Brene Brown

Connect with Sherry Graziano:

Website: www.suntrust.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-graziano-1b48693/

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

LAURA CALANDRELLA is a leadership strategist and consultant. She has spent the past two decades working with organizations from across the environmental community to design collaborative approaches to our most pressing issues. Her career began as a conservation biologist and international development practitioner. These experiences gave Laura firsthand knowledge of the power of collaboration, but also the difficulties that arise when diverse perspectives align under a shared vision for change. Now she guides the growth of sustainability and conservation partnerships by teaching the practices of collaborative leadership. Her work strengthens relationships, delivers more holistic and creative solutions, and allows her clients to achieve impactful results at increasingly larger scales.

In this episode Jason and Laura discuss:

• It’s about relationships, in any business, with our planet, and with people. 
• Not being concerned with what other people think of us but rather our interconnectivity as people.
• Continued growth and dialogue with one another as fellow humans.
• Better production occurs through happier people with positive mindsets.

Key Takeaways: 

• Start the day after coming to an understanding of your reason, your purpose, understanding what you’re doing, why you’re here while being open and present. 
• Create the environment around you that promotes focus to help you stay clear and present for achieving your goals for the day. 
• Be willing to do the inner work on your own readiness and growth in order to achieve your results, goals, and successes.

“What would change if we thought of adversaries as allies?” - Laura Calandrella

Mentioned: Simon Sinek Find Your Why

Laura’s book: Our Next Evolution Transforming Collaborative Leadership to Shape Our Planet’s Future 

Connect with Laura Calandrella:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lcalandrella

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lcalandrella/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcalandrella/

Website: https://www.lauracalandrella.com/

Email: [email protected]

Book: Our Next Evolution Transforming Collaborative Leadership to Shape Our Planets Future 

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Kevin is parent of 4, and husband of 1. He is an ex-judo and water polo player and beginning surfer.  Kevin is a Senior Investment Strategist on the Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) Multi-Asset Solutions team, with 25 years of investment industry experience. He has taught classes at the University of Arizona in the Eller College of Management and the University of California, Berkeley in the masters in the financial engineering program at the Haas School of Business. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and finance from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Arizona. 

In this episode Steve and Kevin discuss:

• The value of lifelong learning. 
• The importance of where to look for and where to find inspiration. 
• Knowing when to take a step back and lighten your workload. 
• Caring about impacting people's lives.

Key Takeaways: 

• Know yourself well enough to know what you’re good at and admit what you are not good at. 
• Don’t be afraid to mentally adjust and change the ranking of your priorities to prioritize what is more valuable to you than what you accomplish at work. 
• Doing the right things is more important than doing the flashy things.

“You can find links in seemingly unrelated things you do.” - Kevin Kneafsey

Connect with Kevin Kneafsey:

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Jarrod Holiman began working in mortgage banking at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, followed by CTX Mortgage and Yuma Mortgage Group before joining his current employer, Nova Home Loans, in 2009. He is currently the Vice President/Branch Manager for the Yuma location, with over 40 employees and the largest mortgage market share in southwest Arizona.

Jarrod is a volunteer and Peer Coordinator for Arizona’s Court Appointed Special Advocate program and has been advocating for abused and neglected children in court since 2007. He is also the volunteer Area Coordinator for CarePortal, a division of The Global Orphan Project.  CarePortal helps serve families in crisis by providing resources that help keep children out of foster care, reunite families, or assist when children age out of the system. And Jarrod is the President of Yuma Christian Academy, a private K-12 school established in 1975.

Jarrod has been married for 25 years, and he and his wife have seven children, three of whom joined the family through adoption. 

In this episode Steve and Jarrod discuss:

• Counting your blessings and making those around us feel our love. 
• The importance of strategy and procedure in business.
• Taking the time to listen to others and giving credit to those around you.
• Leading by being your authentic self consistently.

Key Takeaways: 

• Be willing to make mistakes to lead and create a culture that wins.
• Every experience you have prepares you to pour into people in a way they need.
• Business is all about interacting with people; if you don’t understand people you won’t understand business.

“Everyone has a gift, I can and should learn from anyone.” - Jarrod

Connect with Jarrod Holiman:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarrod-holiman-817b946a/

Website: https://jarrodholiman.novahomeloans.com

               https://yuma.novahomeloans.com  

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Kristen Braun

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions.  You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.