On today’s episode of Power House, Diego sits down with Patty Arvielo, the co-founder and CEO of New American Funding to talk about what it takes to thrive in a challenging housing market.
New American Funding has grown 60% organically over the last year, has had significant market expansion over the past two years — all white maintaining a 98% profit retention rate over the past two decades. She walks through her 44-year leadership journey, from teenage data entry clerk to CEO, and how her partnership with co-CEO (and husband) Rick Arvielo drives their strategic edge.
They also dive into the importance of company authenticity over flashy sign-on bonuses, and how Patty is paving the way for more women to step confidently into leadership roles in mortgage.
Patty will be joining us on stage this year at The Gathering.
Dont miss out — register here!
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Anticipating market cycles will always be key to growth.
Steady, consistent organic growth beats out acquisitions.
Genuine culture, not quick incentives, will attract top talent.
Empathetic leadership matters more than you think.
End-to-end platforms should be seen as opportunities, not threats.
Women should be open to taking career risks.
Strong relationships are the foundation of strong companies.
Related to this episode:
Agenda | 2025 HousingWire: The Gathering
https://events.housingwire.com/the-gathering-by-housingwire/agenda/session/1627317
Registration | 2025 HousingWire: The Gathering
https://events.housingwire.com/the-gathering-by-housingwire/page/3561205/registration
Patty Arvielo | New American Funding
https://www.newamericanfunding.com/about-us/our-leadership/patty-arvielo/
New American Funding
https://www.newamericanfunding.com/
Enjoy the episode!
The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire president Diego Sanchez every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
New American Funding has grown 60% organically over the last year, has had significant market expansion over the past two years — all white maintaining a 98% profit retention rate over the past two decades. She walks through her 44-year leadership journey, from teenage data entry clerk to CEO, and how her partnership with co-CEO (and husband) Rick Arvielo drives their strategic edge.
They also dive into the importance of company authenticity over flashy sign-on bonuses, and how Patty is paving the way for more women to step confidently into leadership roles in mortgage.
Patty will be joining us on stage this year at The Gathering.
Dont miss out — register here!
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Anticipating market cycles will always be key to growth.
Steady, consistent organic growth beats out acquisitions.
Genuine culture, not quick incentives, will attract top talent.
Empathetic leadership matters more than you think.
End-to-end platforms should be seen as opportunities, not threats.
Women should be open to taking career risks.
Strong relationships are the foundation of strong companies.
Related to this episode:
Agenda | 2025 HousingWire: The Gathering
https://events.housingwire.com/the-gathering-by-housingwire/agenda/session/1627317
Registration | 2025 HousingWire: The Gathering
https://events.housingwire.com/the-gathering-by-housingwire/page/3561205/registration
Patty Arvielo | New American Funding
https://www.newamericanfunding.com/about-us/our-leadership/patty-arvielo/
New American Funding
https://www.newamericanfunding.com/
Enjoy the episode!
The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire president Diego Sanchez every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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NewsTranscript
00:00This episode of Powerhouse is brought to you today by Polly.
00:05The thing is, you got to watch data.
00:07Data tells the truth to every single story.
00:09So we have the data and we show it.
00:18Welcome to Powerhouse, where we interview the biggest names in housing and ask them about their strategy for growth.
00:25I'm Diego Sanchez, president of Housing Wire, and my guest today is a special one.
00:31It's Patti Arviello, the CEO of New American Funding.
00:35Patti, it's so great to have you on the show.
00:37Oh, thank you. I was so excited for today.
00:39So really, thank you for having me on.
00:42Now, it's been a tough couple of years for the mortgage industry.
00:49You're a very upbeat personality and person.
00:53How have you kept yourself motivated and focused on growth during this difficult housing market?
01:00You know, that's a great question.
01:02I think my 44 years in this business, I was prepared for these cycles at a young age when I was that originator who thought that loans would keep falling out of the sky.
01:14And then all of a sudden the faucet turns off and you're broke.
01:17So I learned that lesson, very fortunate at a very young age.
01:21So actually, it's a strategy at NAF to anticipate markets like this.
01:26In markets like this, unfortunately for others, you know, it's very disruptive.
01:31And if you plan right, these are actually the years you grow and take market share.
01:36So that's exactly what we did.
01:38But, you know, during COVID, when loans were falling out of the sky, everybody was killing it.
01:44We were literally going, OK, when is this going to end and what's our strategy?
01:49So we're very strategic.
01:51I think a lot of that comes from my wonderful co-CEO, my husband, Rick Arviello, and I.
01:58I mean, we're literally together 24-7.
02:00I am Latina, so I literally live on fear every day.
02:04So it's a good strategy when you're worrying about the future.
02:07So we were very prepared.
02:09We actually grew probably the most we've ever grown last year.
02:14Yeah, that's super interesting.
02:16And I want to talk more about that growth in a moment.
02:19But you brought up Rick, and we've had him on Powerhouse before.
02:24Clayton interviewed him a year or so ago.
02:26And how do you and Rick split up the executive responsibilities at New American Funding?
02:35You know, it's just supernatural.
02:37He's great at what he's great at, and I'm great at what I'm great at.
02:40Like, if you were going to sit here and talk to me about MSRs and, you know, capital market
02:44strategy, I'd probably be a very boring interview.
02:48But Rick thrives in that.
02:50Rick thrives in data and in tech.
02:53And listen, my strength is people.
02:55I love people.
02:57I resonate with people.
02:59I come from the same background as most of the people that work in this business.
03:02So that's the strategy is that we do very different things.
03:05And we respect each other.
03:07Like, I don't question him on the decisions he makes on his side of the lane.
03:11And he doesn't question me on decisions I make on my side of the lane.
03:16That makes a ton of sense.
03:17And so you mentioned that this has been a really good growth time for you.
03:23And you're taking market share in this difficult housing market.
03:27How did you prepare for that, you know, in terms of mindset and in terms of actual business
03:33preparations?
03:35You know, it was about two years ago, about a month ago, two and a half years ago.
03:40You know, I was, I led sales, right?
03:43I really led most of the sales leaders at NAF.
03:47And we were two years ago just in 33% of the country.
03:52And every great leader needs to come to, you know, actually go inward to realize, am I the
04:01person to take us to the next level?
04:03And I knew that I wasn't for many reasons.
04:07And so I started the hunt for somebody better than me.
04:11And I was super blessed to find somebody better than me.
04:14And they have been at NAF two years and two weeks.
04:20And he's a gentleman.
04:21And his name's almost just like mine.
04:23We're 10 days apart in birth.
04:25I knew it from the first call.
04:26This is like, I have to have this person.
04:29He started at NAF two years ago and literally changed the way we saw the market.
04:35Now we are in every state.
04:38We have 95% coverage in just two years.
04:43We grew 60% last year where the market, I think, grew 17%.
04:49We were up 60% all organically.
04:52We didn't acquire a company.
04:54We didn't buy a company.
04:55It's all organic.
04:55So really, honestly, it was just me finding somebody better than me.
04:59And I'm just super blessed that I, you know, that I love people.
05:03And I'm super blessed that he came to work at NAF.
05:06And so how does that split work in terms of where you spend your time?
05:13Are you still leading the sales team or have you delegated that responsibility?
05:17So, no, I do lead the sales team.
05:20Listen, I'm the heart of NAF.
05:22I lead everybody.
05:24Everybody at NAF has my cell number.
05:26I don't care if they're a receptionist, the facilities manager.
05:30Everybody can get a hold of me.
05:31That's my secret sauce is I truly love people.
05:34Um, no, Pat Bowlin leads sales and I have an amazing leadership team, but I'm super much
05:42the glue to them.
05:43And so, like, when we strategize together, I see things.
05:46I'm highly competitive in a really good way, though.
05:49And, um, we strategize.
05:50But, yeah, he's the one getting on the plane and recruiting.
05:53And, you know, that's, I am also a mother and a grandmother.
05:57And, you know, I found that I wasn't able to do that or pick up the phone.
06:00I literally have the worst call reluctance of any salesperson you ever met.
06:05It's, it takes me a lot to call somebody and he's a maverick.
06:09And just the relationships he built, he also changed the way we had, we were running sales.
06:14He changed the model we had really based our growth on up until that time.
06:20And he expanded it.
06:21I mean, it's just really been a gift.
06:24And, um, so, yeah, it's just becoming better.
06:27And sometimes you just have to find better people to take you to the next level.
06:31And that's what I did.
06:33Totally makes sense.
06:34Um, and so, as you navigate this very weird spring housing market, right?
06:41Like, it seemed like we were, um, really starting to grow.
06:46And then the past couple of weeks, it's a little bit more uncertain.
06:50How are you navigating the spring housing market and staying on that path of, like, we're going
06:57to grow and we're going to take market share no matter what?
06:59Okay.
07:00So, I'm going to tell you this because I do know this.
07:01Yesterday was our biggest app volume day since 2023.
07:10Really?
07:11Yeah.
07:11Our volumes have done nothing but go up the last four weeks.
07:14So, Rick and I were on the couch this morning.
07:17We're like, the news and the data are not caught up yet.
07:22So, I'm telling you, I had Glenn Stearns reached out to me last night.
07:26He had his biggest month in his company history last month.
07:30So, something's going on where it hasn't really hit, you know, the news outlet yet.
07:37So, yesterday, our biggest app day since 2023.
07:41And Glenn Stearns had his biggest month that he's had in Kind Lending's company history last month.
07:46So, something's going on.
07:49Either there's, you know, listen, there's so much debt in this country.
07:53There's so much equity in this country that people are tapping into it.
08:00And I think a lot of it is based on the unknown of where we're going as a country.
08:06And I think we're all kind of thrown in on a loop with this whole tariff situation.
08:10I think we were all like, yes, he's going to cut rates, right?
08:15So, I think we're all like misinformed or didn't read the market right.
08:20But, yeah, something's going on.
08:22Because those are two facts.
08:24Biggest app volume day yesterday, Glenn Stearns' biggest month last month.
08:27So, other than that, like I said, Rick's the data guy.
08:30I'm just telling you what I'm hearing from my friends and from what we had and we're experiencing.
08:35Yeah, I love to hear it.
08:36I wonder if there was any geographic concentration to it.
08:40Or it just was like nationwide, you just had a lot of that.
08:42I don't know if it's something you dig into.
08:44It's going to be a good article that's positive that will get everybody excited.
08:47Something's going on.
08:50All right.
08:51Well, I've got to have my folks in our newsroom follow up because that seems pretty interesting.
08:55All right.
08:57So, you are the CEO of a top retail lender.
09:03But you haven't always been in leadership in mortgage.
09:07Did you picture this for yourself when you started your career in mortgage?
09:14Absolutely not.
09:17I mean, I started when I was 16 as a data input clerk.
09:22And then I'm like, oh, I'm going to dream to be a loan opener.
09:25And then I'm like, okay, these processor people make more money than me.
09:28I'm going to dream to be a processor.
09:29And then I'm like, oh, the underwriters at that time, now processors are different.
09:33But at that time, underwriters made more money than processors.
09:36So, I just looked upwards in what that upward mobility meant to me.
09:42It wasn't until, and I'm very successful at Countrywide and very young.
09:46I was 25, number two in the country.
09:49You know, I was really, really young.
09:51And I do credit what Angelo built as my college.
09:56It is where I learned how to be everything.
09:58I was underwriting.
09:59I was originating.
10:00I was managing people.
10:01I was horrible at everything.
10:02But it literally taught me my mistakes on how to be better.
10:06And I just was lucky I did it young.
10:08By the time I was 30, I met Rick.
10:11And he was the entrepreneur.
10:12I always just worked for a paycheck.
10:15So, I wasn't ever dreamed about being an entrepreneur.
10:17Actually, never crossed my mind.
10:20I wasn't raised that way.
10:21But when I met Rick, who had been a lifelong entrepreneur, and he had retired, and I welcomed
10:26him to come to work with me because it was so much fun.
10:29And, you know, you should really get into mortgage as my boyfriend.
10:33He saw in me what I didn't see in myself.
10:36So, honestly, if it weren't for Rick, I probably would not be here today.
10:42But slowly now, looking back, I don't want to dim my light or diminish my expertise.
10:47I mean, by the time I was 30, I was in the mortgage business 15 years.
10:50I'd done everything.
10:52I was shipping, insuring, underwriting.
10:55I had my charms.
10:56I had my lap.
10:57I was a top originator.
10:58I mean, at 30, how great to have all that experience.
11:04Yeah.
11:04And I imagine if you've touched every part of the loan origination process in your career,
11:10and like you said, at such a young age, I have to imagine that that makes you a pretty
11:15good leader of a mortgage company.
11:18You understand all the issues in the process.
11:21I do.
11:22And I'm very in tune.
11:23You know, I still oversee operations with Christy.
11:26We talk and strategize.
11:28You know, I'm in charge of everything regulatory.
11:31Those relationships are mandatory for any CEO and founder of a company.
11:36You know, the state regulators.
11:37I sat on the board of the CFPB.
11:39I sat on HUD's board, Fannie, Freddie.
11:42I've been on every board.
11:43I stay very close to D.C. as I don't believe government has a role in the private sector.
11:49But if, you know, they're going to play in it, I should be at the table.
11:53So, you know, that has been my role at NAF, and I enjoy it.
11:57But, yeah, it's given, you know, like I always said, we built this company because Rick figured
12:01out I was the best employee he was ever going to hire.
12:05And, you know, we ran the company as boyfriend-girlfriend for nine years.
12:11And we just have the utmost respect.
12:14But, honestly, it's just such a great synergistic fit.
12:17I do everything he doesn't want to do, and he does everything I don't want to do.
12:21So, yeah, not to get too personal, but that's an interesting dynamic to have your partner
12:34in life also be your partner in business.
12:39Has that ever been challenging in terms of growing the company?
12:44Like, tell me about some of the obstacles that you've encountered and overcome in that
12:49dynamic.
12:49Honestly, I would love to be able to tell you that, but we have a phenomenal marriage.
12:54I mean, we really do.
12:55It's my second marriage.
12:56I had training wheels.
12:58My first husband works at NAF.
13:00He's been at NAF for 13 years.
13:02He's a great partner of ours.
13:04So I've been very fortunate in my life that I have great relationships.
13:10So I think if we didn't, it'd be one thing.
13:13But we, like, he talks so highly of me, you know, and I talk so highly of me.
13:19But we truly feel that way.
13:21And it resonates through our company.
13:22We actually show up truly authentically as a couple for everybody.
13:26At President's Council, we're always together.
13:28At every leadership, we're never apart.
13:31But if you really think about it, in business, the hardest thing to do is find your trusted
13:36advisors.
13:37Yeah.
13:37That's the hardest thing.
13:40And I found mine and he found his.
13:42So we go to sleep every night knowing that no matter what, we have each other.
13:46So that's really the secret sauce.
13:49I love that.
13:50So let's talk a little bit about growth for 2025 and beyond.
13:57You know, as you've assembled this leadership team, sounds like a really dynamic and interesting
14:01group of people.
14:03How are you thinking about growth?
14:07And as you think about that strategy, what's the split between organic growth, you know,
14:14growing within the company, and then maybe going out there and buying some other companies
14:18in organic growth?
14:20Yeah.
14:20So I'm a big believer in organic growth.
14:23You know, this is a fact because I had to state it in my Inc.
14:29magazine article and they fact check like no others, right?
14:33Rick and I have kept 98% of the profits that we've made over 22 years in the company.
14:39The company is highly, highly solid.
14:42When you acquire companies, you're at risk of spending 50, 100, 200 million dollars, right?
14:50To acquire something that may or may not fit.
14:54And the biggest thing for us is culture.
14:56And it used to be blase.
14:58And when I used to talk about it a long time, but I think really people believe in it now.
15:02People buy into culture.
15:03There's a feeling you get when you walk into the door to any organization.
15:06And we have a really strong, tight one.
15:09And when I, and we have, we've spoken to many, many companies that have now been acquired
15:13by other people.
15:16Honestly, they just weren't cultural fits.
15:18And the minute they come over and the minute the news gets out that somebody's talking, you
15:23know, the loan officers just start to look and retaining them is so much work emotionally,
15:29especially for someone like me, that a lot of times it just doesn't make sense culturally.
15:35And, and it's a lot of money to put up front for an unknown.
15:39And I'm just, listen, we live in Las Vegas.
15:42We don't gamble one penny.
15:43I just don't gamble.
15:45We're highly conservative.
15:47Even this whole, you know, loan officer strategy of paying these big signing bonuses up front.
15:54I mean, I think it's done a disservice to the industry and we don't play that game.
16:00And the other thing is, is on the, all that does is drive the price up to the consumer.
16:06I mean, it just really, where, where we've gone as an industry is not pretty.
16:11I don't like it.
16:13Have I played in it?
16:15Yeah.
16:15We've, we've had to pay some signing bonuses to compete with a few of the others that just
16:20use that strategy to grow.
16:21But let's see at the end of the day, when it really matters how much capital you have
16:26and what your balance sheet looks like, who has the biggest balance sheet?
16:29Like I'm very, we're very conservative.
16:32So I just, I don't know.
16:34Is it, I think organic is great.
16:36I think investing in the quick, in tech right now is more important than paying signing bonuses
16:42to people who are now going to sit on the sidelines because they got a fat check and
16:46they're not going to originate anymore.
16:47I mean, we watch the data on people who leave us and get the checks, their volumes come down
16:51almost 80% of the time.
16:56So how do you think about organic growth and recruiting if you'd prefer to keep, you know,
17:05the signing bonuses reasonable, right?
17:09And you have other competitors that maybe are unreasonable in terms of those signing bonuses.
17:14What is, what is your pitch to that top LO or branch manager if it's not like, here's
17:23a big fat check for, for you to come work with us?
17:26Yeah.
17:26I mean, we show them data.
17:28You can see it in the data.
17:30I mean, you get the signing bonus check, you go over for the most part.
17:34I mean, not one of us is a nonprofit.
17:36Every one of us has to make a profit on the loan.
17:39We can only do loans at a loss for so long.
17:41And a lot of us have been doing loans at a loss for the last few years, right?
17:45Just to grow, maintain our sales force.
17:49You know, yeah, I'll tell you, we sell culture.
17:52We sell our tools.
17:54We sell our product base.
17:57We sell a lot of things that the industry doesn't know about us.
18:00And we also sell the fact that you can see it in data.
18:04The most of the originators that go over to these places where they get the big checks,
18:08there's like this honeymoon period of like four months.
18:11And then all of a sudden, they're not selling these low rates anymore.
18:15So the thing is, you got to watch data.
18:17Data tells the truth to every single story.
18:20So we have the data and we show it.
18:22Now, sometimes people, listen, somebody called me and said, I'm going to give you a million dollars
18:27to be my friend or come over.
18:28I mean, it's pretty enticing.
18:30So I don't blame people.
18:32I don't blame anybody for leaving us to get the check.
18:36Honestly, I usually send them a text.
18:39I roll out the red carpet out because I love most of the people that leave us.
18:43And a lot of times they just come back, right?
18:47So there's that strategy.
18:49I just believe fundamentally at the end of the day, all we're doing is ending up charging
18:53the consumers more.
18:54I mean, we have to make money.
18:55And you can't pay all these originators half a million, a million, million and a half
19:00dollars.
19:01At some point that runs out.
19:03We've got to make profit.
19:04Every one of us has.
19:05So I don't believe in the model.
19:07There's a few of us peers that like don't get it.
19:11I'm not pro for it.
19:13But, you know, I play the game.
19:16I play the game, but I do it our way and make it make sense for NAF.
19:22Yeah.
19:23I want to dig in on that a little bit because, you know, there's the recruiting pitch that
19:28you give to the LO, but there's also LOs that are going to be right for your culture and
19:35LOs that aren't.
19:36Um, what are those characteristics of, of an LO that is going to thrive?
19:45They're very heart centric.
19:47I just interviewed one the other day.
19:49I go, I know you're coming in NAF.
19:50Literally like a loving dad talked about his daughters all the time.
19:54You know, listen, we're very empathetic company.
19:57I'm very loving and outwardly loving to everybody.
20:01I do a lot of videos.
20:02I show my emotion.
20:03I, I, I tell them what it's like to be a mother.
20:05I have kids that have struggled, you know, with their health.
20:09I share all, I'm like a real person and I share that.
20:12And so it depends on who shows up like the real person or somebody they think they want
20:18me to see.
20:19I can see when people show up authentically and those generally are the people who resonate
20:23with our team.
20:25Even the men are heart centric at NAF.
20:27We're all super sappy.
20:29We're all super loving and talk about our kids and our family.
20:32So yeah, I can tell almost initially when I pick up the phone, if it's an egocentric
20:37guy talking about how great they are, a girl, probably not going to fit.
20:42Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
20:43And you don't want people that are going to stick out like a sore thumb in your culture.
20:48That's not good for anybody.
20:50So there've been some deals.
20:53You're not, sounds like you're not doing a lot of M&A right now, but there has been
20:58quite a bit of M&A that has happened so far this year.
21:02Namely, Rocket has bought Redfin and Mr. Cooper.
21:08And so they're building this end-to-end homeownership experience.
21:12Zillow is also building an end-to-end homeownership experience.
21:16Do you view those end-to-end platforms as a threat or an opportunity?
21:23I have the end-to-end.
21:25I have everything that Rocket has.
21:27I have my own real estate firm.
21:29I have my own servicing portfolio.
21:31Actually, we won JD Powers.
21:33We took that honor away from Rocket two years ago.
21:36I have every single thing Rocket does.
21:39So, no, I don't see it as a threat.
21:43Much like if you think about Amazon a few years ago, right?
21:48You think about being Walmart.
21:49Would you think it's a threat?
21:51But Walmart has done nothing but grow since Amazon has grown.
21:56Nobody wants one choice in America.
21:58Nobody does.
22:00Consumers are going to resonate with Rocket.
22:02Some consumers resonate with me.
22:04The other thing I saw right away, because everybody was texting me,
22:08even peers, were like, oh, my God, what do you think?
22:12I think that as an IMB who sold their servicing for cash,
22:18who have been selling service release for all these years
22:21to do whatever it is with the money they're going to do,
22:26that's who I would be concerned for.
22:27Because now all their loans that they've ever done are being serviced by Rocket.
22:35And let's not kid ourselves.
22:37Rocket, PennyMac, Freedom, exceptional at customer retention.
22:46We have the same strategy.
22:48We're smaller, but we emulate the best.
22:51When I look at our peers, I'm not looking at Honda Report,
22:55because it has Navy Federal Credit Union, Chase, Citi, has PennyMac.
23:00I mean, PennyMac just originates from their book.
23:02I only look at model matches to me, and the only true model match to me is Rocket and Loan Depot.
23:10Nobody else has what we have.
23:14We have the fourth largest call center in the United States of America.
23:19We have a thriving real estate firm in Detroit.
23:22We have a $71 billion servicing portfolio in Austin.
23:28We have an all-cash buying program that's thriving.
23:31I mean, we have everything Rocket does.
23:34We're just the Walmart to the Rocket.
23:37So, no, they're not servicing my clients.
23:40I am super great at retaining my book.
23:43So, no, I'm not afraid.
23:46I will get what I'm going to get.
23:48But it is going to be disruptive to those who have not retained servicing.
23:53Yeah, I completely agree.
23:55And interesting to hear about your servicing strategy.
24:00Do you go out and try to acquire servicing rights,
24:04or are you just servicing the mortgages that you originate?
24:08Yeah, I'm not a buyer of servicing like PennyMac or Freedom.
24:12I just retain.
24:15Yeah, that makes sense.
24:17So, I'm really excited because you and I are going to get to talk again in about a month.
24:23Yeah.
24:24And you're one of our featured speakers at the gathering.
24:29And I'm just wondering, what are you thinking about sharing with that audience,
24:35which is primarily going to be mortgage executives like yourself
24:40and then executives from real estate brokerages?
24:44Listen, I'm an open book.
24:45And I don't really come out and speak publicly much.
24:49You know, after COVID, I kind of sat with myself and worked at NAF.
24:54So, you're really one of the first events that I've actually attended since COVID.
24:58And so, I'm going to be a little out of my comfort zone because I haven't practiced so much.
25:06I honestly just, when I come out, I really just want people to see me for who I am.
25:12When I started this journey, I very much care what people think about me and Rick.
25:17And I told Rick, you know, it's very competitive.
25:19I deal with a lot of very strong, egocentric male peers, like mavericks, right?
25:29And it's different being a woman founder.
25:31It's really, really different.
25:33I'm very driven by my emotions.
25:36And so, for me, I would really like to see that that works, too.
25:42There is a different look of leadership in mortgage.
25:46And I don't want to retire with being the only one and only female founder.
25:52There are female presidents that are right there with me, but not founders.
25:57And I'll tell you, as a founder, you go to sleep differently at night.
26:00There's a responsibility I have to the 5,000 people that work for me.
26:03And I want more women to take the risk.
26:07And that's what I teach people now.
26:09I didn't want to take the risk.
26:10I didn't think I could.
26:12I wasn't taught to take risks like Rick.
26:14That is the fundamental thing that's preventing women from being IMB founders and thriving,
26:20is that we're afraid.
26:22And so, I really want to show people that if a processor in 2004 can now, can be a processor
26:31in 2004, and now can be one of the largest IMBs in the country competing with the Mavericks,
26:37that they can, too.
26:38And I think it's important because this business, and I said it on a video the other day, there
26:43hasn't been a mortgage company I've walked into in my 44 years where I don't see primarily
26:47women working.
26:49From receptionists, your processors, your underwriters, your funders.
26:52I want those women to know they can sit at my seat.
26:55Well, I think I've got our topic.
26:58We're going to talk about your entrepreneurial journey.
27:00I think that's a great topic.
27:02And the interesting thing about that audience is, like you said, there are some female executives
27:08on the mortgage side.
27:10But on the real estate brokerage side, there are a lot of owners who are women.
27:16And so, I think that message will resonate with them and hopefully inspire some of the
27:22female mortgage executives in our audience to take your path.
27:26Patty, I really appreciate you taking the time today.
27:29I think this is a great conversation.
27:32Thank you so much.
27:33No, thank you so much for having me.
27:35It's been great.