Creating A Personal Brand Around Finance, Fashion, and Fun

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Go check it out right now, visit LOKestudy.com and download your free copy today. Hey, hey, hey, listeners. You know this is by now. It's your humble host, Jeff Zimper. Welcome to this episode of the Mortgage Marketing Radio podcast. I am so thrilled. You've tuned in. You deserve a round of applause. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So I'm not sure when you're listening to this, but this is, gosh, when I'm recording this, it is right around, we're rolling into the Thanksgiving time frame. And I wanted to pause and number one, say, thank you. Thanksgiving is all about taking time to reflect on what you're grateful for. And if I haven't said it enough, have I told you lately that I love you? Right? Have I told you that I appreciate you? I'm grateful for you. I am. This is really awesome that you get to connect you and I here and just come together and have share ideas, share ideas that I hope are impactful for you in helping you navigate this career. So thanks again for tuning in and appreciate you. And by the way, if you want to take the conversation to the next level, if you haven't heard by now, we've got a private Facebook group called mortgage marketing radio. Just go to Facebook, type in mortgage marketing radio. You will be asked three qualifying questions. Please don't skip over those. Don't accidentally miss it. And then you know what I mean? Because I don't have enough time to double check and verify. Are you legitimately a practicing mortgage loan professional? I know we have some real estate agents listening to this podcast, but the private Facebook group is exclusively for mortgage professionals, but you can reach out to me directly on the socials right on Instagram mortgage marketing radio as well. You can follow me there. So this episode, we are talking to Erica Davis out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She's with Guild Mortgage. And I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Erica. Thank you for making time from your busy schedule. Erica's a wonderful, amazing lady who's doing some incredible things. And when it comes to personal branding, when it comes to obviously creating a business, you're going to hear the numbers from Erica herself, right? She's on the Scotsman's guide of top producers. She's been in the business almost 20 years. She's rocking the units, rocking the volume. And we dig into this is like sometimes listeners will share with me that they thought a podcast they heard in where I'm featuring, let's say a top producing originator, like we are here, you know, felt that it was very instructional. I like to kind of open up and dissect, right? The various aspects of somebody's business, right? The sources, you know, do they know their numbers, you know, and to really hopefully illustrate to you what it looks like to run a right high performance, high profitability in a high happiness level mortgage business because you can have high performance, high profit, and be happy, shocking, but true. Yes, it's all in how it's designed and set up and it's a process of course to getting there. It doesn't happen overnight. And I think the conversation with Erica today strongly represents that. So we're going to unpack her main sources of business, break it down between past clients, agents. And then the cool thing about Erica is that, you know, we talk about personal brand and a lot of people struggle with, well, how do I do that? I don't want to be personal for those of you out there that have private Instagram accounts and, you know, what not? And you're still questioning, how do I not just talk about mortgage or real estate all day long? Well, you're going to hear Erica talk about the intersection between what she's passionate about fashion, right? Where she lives, local area, myrtle beach, all the local fun, cool things to do there. And how she's leveraging media, right, to level up her awareness and her brand to create conversations at scale and to build trust and like ability at scale, right? And you're going to hear how she's doing it and having a fun doing it and having fun because she's also teamed up with her husband, right, in the business together. And that's a great, wonderful thing if that's the right thing for you, right, for her it is. So I think and hope that you'll enjoy this conversation and make sure you take from it what's useful for you and if things are not useful or relevant, that's cool too. But have an open mind because guess what? Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open. Yes, there's the old classic joke, thought I'd bring that back, but it's true, gotta keep it open mind. So I'm glad that you're here and keeping an open mind. And if you want to follow Erica on the socials, you can do that. The links are in the show notes, Instagram, she is known as the stylish lender, 39,000 followers there. And I appreciate you listening tune in and hope we see you in the private Facebook group at Morgan's Marketing Radio soon. So without further ado, let's get into this week's show. Erica Davis, welcome to the show. Well thank you, glad to be here. Glad that you are here as well and a long line of guild alumni as part of this podcast. I know, got some honored. Yeah, for sure. So for the listeners, give us the quick backgrounder on you. How long in the biz, like year-to-date units in volume? Mm-hmm. I'll tell my age. I've been in this business almost 20 years now. So and honestly, it was kind of like a family thing. My dad has been in lending forever and ever. And I was going to get into the financial side of everything. Went on an interview, long story short, went up to see my husband who was also in lending. And his boss at the time was still our boss at the time is Matt McGill, and he said, Erica, what are you doing? You know, this is in your bloodline. You need to come get into lending and a week later I did. Mm-hmm. The rest is history. And I know you've blazed quite a trail. I was doing a little bit of research, but do you happen to know where you're at year-to-date so far? I have to be honest. I had to look it up before we got on this call. Yeah, I'm right at 60 million and close to 260 units. Wow, congratulations. That's fantastic. Thank you. All right, so the next question, let me make a note here, 260 units, 60 mill. What is the number one source of your business? I have a wide range and I think that's one of the cool things about this business. You know, everybody's different. Every lender is different on how they get business and how they growth themselves. One is predominantly past clients. I've got my realtor source, believe it or not, it's probably right at 20%, so it's not big. And then other than that, it's really a blanket, if you will, of social media, just word of mouth, that sort of thing. Okay. So whenever anybody says past clients, I get really curious about how you farm that, so to speak, right? Like what are the activities you do to drive, to build such a fence and get retention and repeat out of that? Sure. Yeah, it's, I'm a big fan of, and I teach my team this, it's, you know, these are clients for life. We always want to give the best customer service possible. And you know, once they're in our system, it's just being top of mind doing, I'm a big fan of doing monthly videos to blast out to the clients. And it can be on anything, you know, it doesn't have to be mortgage related. In the summer, I'm a big tequila drinker, so I had to share my best tequila cocktail with them. Really? And I got a lottery spot for that. Really? That's awesome. You get to drink tequila, send videos. You get loans. That's right. I filmed to be in my husband making it. So just having that personal touch, I think, goes a long way. 100% agree. And we're going to talk more about that. And naturally, when we talk about the video, I know my audience by now, they get curious. How, what are you using using, bomb bomb, what are you sending these videos out? Bomb bomb is definitely what I use constantly. And we are so blessed. We have Cam Martin as part of our team, and he specializes in videos. He's our videographer for anybody that's in our office, our spear. So even if I do a quick one on my own, I can shoot it to Cam. He does the editing and gets it ready to go. Nice. And do you try and keep a consistent schedule? Are you planning in advance? Like, okay, is it once a month? Is that the average cadence? It is. Sometimes it's even more than that, but it kind of just depends when I'm in that video zone. I try to knock out as many as I can, especially when it is about lending in the process. I don't know, it flows so much better, and it's easier to do. And then as far as the personal stuff, it just depends really on what's going on. If it's found a great spot at the beach, and I want to make everyone aware of it, especially, we live in Murdle Beach, South Carolina, so we have a lot of new beasts. They're retiring or moving here from up north. So I really do like to share my hotspots, my favorite places. That's interesting when we talk about what are we sending our past client database? Because there's a lot of debate about sharing mortgage-related info or real estate market-related info. But if I'm following you, it sounds like there's a fair amount of your content that is focused on that. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good mix. I think if it's, you know, let's be honest, if it's all about lending, I think our clients are going to get a little bored, especially if they're in their forever home and they're not looking to make any moves, that sort of thing. So again, that's why I really like to just do a mix. Okay. All right. So we're doing at least a once a month video, and it's either in summertime, you have a good excuse to kill us, to kill us recipes. And then, of course, there's other cool things to feature throughout where you live, lots of places to take advantage of the beach and all the outdoor activities and stuff. What else do you do to stay top of mind with the database besides video? What do you do? What's it called? Homebot or anything like that? We do. Yeah. Thankfully, you know, with Guild, there's so many easy opportunities to stay in touch with the clients. So definitely homebot. You can sign up for these drip campaigns, and I love them because it doesn't, it looks more unique instead of a typical, you know, canned email is shortened to the point. And so it looks like you personally did it. You all those right now, my husband and I are part of financing the American dream. So any time, you know, we film one of those, obviously, we share it with past clients as well and our realtor partners. Well, that's doing a lot to build your brand, obviously with your existing. But is that also creating a lot of awareness for you outside of your normal? Yeah. Yes. I mean, I don't know that they watch it at the time. It's aired on Saturdays, but of course, social media is just a click of a button. It's very easy for people to watch, you know, when it's convenient for them. But we've had a lot of response from realtor partners, thanking us, you know, for showcasing Mortal Beach and past clients. And again, it's a great way to highlight the local spots here. We do some of those episodes with, we don't really do it with individual realtors because we live in a small town and I think it would just do more harm than good. So we've highlighted particular developments and then always try to do a local, you know, a local spot, a local, it could be anything restaurant, brunch spot, things to do with your kids. You name it. So that has been a great way, you know, for all sources to be able to, you know, keep us top of mind and to get that business, keep on, keep growing. Were you apprehensive about that or reluctant early on to be like, you know, putting yourself out there, so to speak? Of course. The first episode I was so nervous and thankfully our videographer, he is so down to earth, not pushy. I mean, he's the best. So he, the second I met him, I'm like, okay, I can do this. And then just trying to, thankfully, it's me and my husband. So it's not as nerve wracking. We know each other so well, obviously, we can tell when one person starts to, you know, stutter a little bit or lose their lines, we can, we can pop back in and help each other. Yeah, by now, you know how to feed off each other and pick up where one might be dropping the ball. Some speak right? Exactly. Or just push each other out of the way. Like, okay, you can't do the intro. I'm going to do it. Yeah, I love it, I love it. So you guys are essentially, you're on the same team, right? We are, we are and we aren't, I guess, we both have, for years, we've had our production has been separate, but and it's kind of all hands on deck. We have several offices for guild. We have the coastal area, basically, so I think it's about five offices and we're growing. So we kind of divide and conquer me. I help, you know, I help with marketing, kind of the marketing leader that works with our marketing team. I help the individuals, Ella, we've, Ella's, we do a coaching program, that sort of thing and, you know, Chris is there for all the, the nitty gritty, the HR and making sure that business is profitable, that sort of thing and obviously helping with recruiting. Right. Okay. All right, so that's some stuff or anything else like, with past database, do you do like annual reviews or a client events when it's not COVID, you know, all that? We, yes, we do. So I have a member of my team, her name's Gail Bakker and she's semi-retired now and I'm so glad she didn't fully retire. She works on the weekends and she is really like our ambassador, if you will. So she focuses on taking care of them, she'll make the birthday calls, the loan university calls, just does an excellent job of, you know, keeping those clients taking care of. And prior to COVID, we, we were, we did have several events, obviously we haven't been able to do that, but this year we're bringing it back. We're going to partner with the local charity here and help give back. But we've also done, since COVID's loosened up just a little bit, you know, kind of fun things. We'll have a food truck in our, in our parking lot and it's always a way to give back. This one in particular was for our veterans. Oh, I see. So you have a food truck in your parking lot and then you'll just, you'll invite veterans, you'll post on social, hey, come on down if you're a veteran, right, free tacos or whatever on us. You got it. Hmm. I bet that gets a good showing. It does. Yes. I think everybody's ready to physically be out and, you know, just enjoy that socialization. So regards to the, your ambassador making calls and birthday calls, for example, some, you, you guide me on this. Some L.O.s may feel like they need to be making those calls calls. How do you feel about that or how would you answer that? Well, I used to be Miss Control Freak and thought it all had to go through me and there's only so much that you can accomplish on your own. So, you know, I think with your branding, it's more of your team and just not you as an individual. And as long as the client, you know, they should experience that firsthand as they go through the process. So it's not a surprise when they hear from one of the teammates. And I do have, especially with the birthdays, we did a team video to send out to the clients then. And then she personally makes the call, but absolutely not. I think it's, you know, your database is your baby, basically, and it definitely needs. You've got to work at the best way possible. And I think that's, it's a whole team effort, depending on how many people are in that database. What is your, then in terms of your team, while we're listening out here for a second, what is your process when it comes to getting referral or the loan application process? I'm a curious, because there's all, you said a hundred different ways to do this. But how do you do it? Let's say it's today, you get a referral from a realtor or somebody who reaches out and wants information about buying a home, let's say. Sure. So right now and the team structure, it all, personally, I've, that's something else that I've done several different ways. I think it depends on, on your teammates, you know, what their strengths are, how, how seasoned they are. So right now, I have a team that's, most of them have not been in this business for a long time. So what, what I've done there is I've divided the process up. I have one guy's name's Mike Silvernault. He handles the front end. So when that lead comes in, I'll go ahead and I'll put that lead in, I use chatter and sales forces, basically like a text that goes into sales force that everybody can see. So I put the details down there, he'll make the intro call, you know, follow up with the client until we get the application. And for the most part, I always like to do pre-approvals versus a pre-qual. So until he gets the majority of the documents, he holds it. And he'll verbally say if the client is good, he'll let the realtor know, hey, they're, they're pre-qualified, you can go ahead and take them shopping. And then once they get the documents, it's assigned to another member of my team that really specializes in reviewing the documents, making sure there's no red flags. And then they take the client to closing. And where do you pop in? It depends. Sometimes I don't at all. I really don't. If they call my cell phone and I'm available, absolutely, I'm going to pick up the phone and introduce the team and just make them feel good about the decision. But oftentimes, I'm not involved. So you, when did you pivot to having a team, because I know there was probably a retraining that had to happen for your referral partners and stuff, right, about whether they get you or not. And maybe I'm wrong because you do the marketing side and I don't know, but did you have to go through that process? I did. And, you know, I did lose some referral partners because of it. I would never forget this one lady I loved working with and all of a sudden it was crickets. And I had a call and asked, you know, did I do something wrong? Because, you know, I don't know what I don't know. So if you can help me, I would really appreciate it. And it was simply, she said, you've grown too much for me. You know, it's, I like to have that individual one-on-one relationship with the lender, you know, in our clients and it was nothing I had done. It was just, it wasn't a good fit anymore. So it does each time I talk to a rilter partner, I let them know, you know, how the team flow works and a big thing for, you know, most people know they're textures instead of a physical phone call. So, you know, I said, just, just text the team number. You can call us. It's all hands on deck to make sure, you know, the client is taking care of as quickly as possible. And that gives them a little bit of relief that, no, I'm not passing them off, it's just truly a team that's there to, you know, get them started as quickly as can and keep them updated. That sort of thing. Tell me about this text, the team number. What is that? Rilter will text you the basic info, first last name, phone number, email or something? Yeah. I have a separate like team line, a team line that comes in and we've got, with that line, you can, you can call or we can send text out from it. So and again, it's something we all have access to. So whoever is up, they can quickly take care of that client or Rilter. And sometimes obviously, you know, I still get a lot on my cell phone and I'll certainly take care of those things and then keep the team updated and chatter or if more needs to be done, all that's put there. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Okay. And so you've basically trained your agents to send referrals that way? I'm trying. Yes. It's getting that way. Absolutely. And now that, you know, it is a team, I feel very comfortable with that. I've changed how or who, I'm sorry, who I'm getting business from or who I'm actively getting business from. I'm focusing more on developments or larger teams because they, they work the same way. Right. Right. So they get it. Yeah. You know, back to that agent who went crickets on you and stopped sending you referrals because she, or he preferred the one on one attention, was, was that a significant amount of business for you? One of the grand scheme of things, no, but, you know, obviously at, at heart, nobody likes to feel rejected, but I think over time too, you know, back a couple years ago, I was so into making the calls on the realtors. It was, you know, just I spent a ton, a ton of time each and every day making those calls and then it was just an aha moment. I want to say it was three years ago, I, I looked at where my business was coming from. And you know, I, I was shocked, I was like, okay, when less than 20% of my business is coming from these agents in my top five, maybe give me $2 million a year, that's when I really, you know, changed. It went into the clients and then I was really focusing, focusing on marketing and just having a broader reach. I love that exercise for those listening. It's, it's something that I suggest L, L's do every year is doing audit on your source of business. To your point, we can think somebody's like, oh, no, I'm getting so much business, but then you look at it and you're like, whoa, no, no, all right, 15 hours and hours and, you know, sometimes money. It's not that we want to kick them to the curb, it's how much time are you investing in, and all that, that whole conversation. Tell me what then, then did you then refocus your attention on the upper tier, the top 20%, let's say, of your partners? Yes, most, most definitely, and a goal for mine in 22 as well is I've really picked out like five things that I want to focus on. Again, it's bigger teams, developments or, you know, a real estate office as a whole. And I think I focus on that, bringing the business in, and then the team, you know, they're going to handle the individual real estate agents and it happens kind of naturally too. It's one person likes to be, you know, with this particular rilter, and then you can assign them. So they work together all the time, and I've found that works really well. Well, how many people are on your team handling loans, you know, are our licensed loan officers, let's say? There is four. I don't know, they're originating to or they just working your incoming. They're working my incoming, however, they're licensed, so absolutely if one of their friends or family, you know, is referred over because of them, that's, that's their business. It goes into under my team umbrella, if you will, but they'll get, you know, commission on it. All right. Let me ask you a question. And of course, none of this has been prepared. So if you don't know the entity, that's fine. If there's somebody else who's a, who's a close friend, when I ask her, she knows, she knows if she doesn't generate 80 leads per month, then let's just say lead is a referral or an incoming inquiry. If she doesn't generate that, she's not going to hit her income goals. Yeah. Do you have a similar type of model that you know what the numbers are? Absolutely. I can definitely relate to that. I, that's my main focus. If I don't hit 100 leads a month, we've got a problem. So again, that's, that's, that's on me as a team leader. I have to have that business. I have to have the leads coming in. And I think having a team, it almost gives you an extra push because their careers are on your line. So if you're not doing the work to bring in the business, you're affecting them. And just to clarify, so a lead for you could be from multiple sources. It could be past client, could be referral, could be something on internet, social, whatever, right? All right. Interesting. And, and to that point, of the 100, are you able to track or source might be a redundant question, if so, I apologize. But are you able to track or source where the bulk of those hundred that comes from? Yes. That's really, I learned that several years ago. And I mean, now again, it's like clockwork. That's all I focus is on is just to make sure the business is coming in the leads. How many of those leads, you know, can we get pre-approved and then obviously closings? So that's every single day I look at that in my dashboard and sales force. So I know if, you know, if there's something that can be changed. For instance, in the summer, I noticed our conversion ratio was down quite a bit. So I really needed to look into that, see what was going on. If it was, you know, we were just getting bad leads or was it our follow up and making that a priority. So absolutely, it is a hundred percent. You've got to monitor those leads because at the end of the day, you know, if you're monitoring closings, it's too late, right? You have to, I have to monitor the incoming business. How do you track that conversions, for example, right? Have stick conversions to whatever your systems, sales force or something? We do, but that's new, you know, I used to have an Excel spreadsheet and whenever that each and every day with the team to make sure, you know, nobody is being left out, you know, we haven't missed a call or an opportunity. And once the lead comes in, all priority, you know, all hands on deck to get it pre-qualified, pre-approved. So now that we don't have the Excel spreadsheet to do that in the system, you know, we're able to track it through sales force. What's the frequency of meetings with your team to review numbers and other metrics? I used to do it daily, but because of the help we've gotten within sales force and it's so visible, we do it three times a week and honestly, that's probably not even necessary. But it's, it's good because people, you know, with COVID, not everyone is physically in the office every, you know, every time. So just the camaraderie is nice. That's awesome. Very good. Thank you for taking us through that. Very telling lessons for people who, you know, are at a stage in their career where they're trying to go to the next level. I often find that some of the feedback on like digging in deep into, you know, a top producer right, like you who knows their numbers, like that's, that's one of the key things you need to know. Know your numbers running a business, right? And where they're coming from. So you're making your maximizing your time. Absolutely. All right, let's switch into something a little bit more fun. And that is, tell me about the stylish, who is this person? I know. Well, a couple different things. So I've always been like, I love, I love fashion, I always have. It's been fun. And I did have some severe help that she's last year, thankfully, I'm okay now. But I really got into blogging and fashion and taking it to the next level after that because honestly, it was stress relief. And it has just organically grown and grown and I absolutely love it. It's just a way, again, to keep, to keep in contact with anybody and everybody because social, Pinterest, YouTube, all that is just such a broad reach. And I've enjoyed it. People get to see my personal side, of course, lending is in there as well. And another plus, again, it's about giving back to the community. There's several boutiques that, you know, we partner up together to do things in restaurants. So yeah, it's just, it's a lot of fun. Well, you've, you know, so we talk a lot about branding, right? On this podcast and in the industry, we know it's kind of like a hot topic. But you have a website called The StylishLender.com, and I'm looking at this and we'll share all the links for people that hold this thing. But it's like this interesting blend that I've not seen yet of the fashion, it's like one identity for you. You love fashion clearly and then, but also you're a mortgage professional and you're intersecting the two. Like did you think about that before you did it or just just kind of evolved, you know what I mean? It did evolve as kind of funny, a good friend of mine, Hannah Young, and she's also now, because of the relationship she's now working with Guild in our marketing department. But before them, we were just, she's a social media expert and we were bouncing ideas off of each other and she's like, oh, the StylishLender. I'm like, yes, that's perfect because I am in lending and yes, this is a passion for me. And so we just, we went with it. That's really cool because I'm on your back on your Instagram now, which is The Stylish Lender. You've got 39,000 followers. All right. Let me ask the obvious question that people with their sales had on ask, have you gotten any inquiries about mortgages from Instagram? Um, yes, some, but it's almost, it's the best thing from it is realtor partners and if you're a manager recruiting, really, it's strong. Yes, because on the recruiting side, um, you know, like they feel like they personally know you. So it's not as awkward. They know your personality. They know what you're about. So it's been wonderful having those first Zoom meetings with, you know, somebody you want to bring on because immediately it's, the friendship is there and it goes a long way. And the same with the realtor partners as well. Same exact thing. They feel like they know you. Let's talk about that for a moment then. The realtor partners, um, are they, do you find realtor partners are DMing you? Like, hey, love the video, love the dress, whatever, um, versus you going after them. Is that more, more so hard as? Yes, there's several realtors, um, especially this year that I've gained from social media. Um, and it's kind of odd. We've messaged each other back and forth, back and forth. And I've probably only met them in person one time. Um, so yeah, it definitely goes a long way. And I have got enough you, uh, you know, clients from it, but, but again, it's more, um, the bigger picture. Well, no, no, it's just very interesting because clearly that's not your, it's not your focus. Like, I'm scrolling here. Maybe I can't find it, but, um, I'm wondering if you actually have any mortgage related videos or content on this, or is it more on the fashion side? It's more on the fashion side. I do a lot of videos, you know, obviously for lending, but that goes on to typically, um, our guild page or on YouTube, um, and then just blasted out through emails. Well, you got some on here. I can see you're on the whole phone with a client tells you they have a 700 credits. Really fun. 60 like that never happens, right? Yeah. And if I do, um, a mortgage video that's going to be, you know, again, distributed in another way, I always put it on my story, but oftentimes it doesn't go into the actual feed. Hmm. Very interesting. Of course, it's very high quality as well, right? You. The video production is definitely there. It's your point. You've got somebody on your team that can. Yeah. Pam's awesome. What is your then, um, so your, your Instagram presence isn't going to be like most, you know what I mean? Because you're intersecting to, to, uh, to us, to agendas basically. Um, but what is your, your schedule look like, your content schedule when it comes to producing video? Do you batch film? Do you have? Does it multiple times a week? What does that look like? I, um, definitely do the batch filming. And then when we filmed the American dream, Pam comes with us just to get some fun like B roll. And if we need to do a quick video, he can shoot it there. So again, just kind of maximizing time whenever I can. And it's kind of nice to with them both in the office. You know, if you're just in a good head space and you're like, Hey, let's, let's do something fun. They're right there. And they're able to do it. That is true. That makes it. Yeah. But the scheduled, um, again, because me and my husband worked together, if there's videos of the two of us, we do it once a month. Yeah. And you've got some good videos there together. They're fun. Um, you guys obviously have a good connection naturally. 19 years of marriage will do that. There you go. That'll do. I'm, I'm 21 myself. So there you go. Nice. Um, I'm just really like blown away and part and impressed because I get them on the website. It's on the slender. And it's like me, Erica, fashion, business, apply for alone. I think too. I know this sounds crazy. But in the southeast, you know, in Murdle Beach, South Carolina, it's hard to believe, but a lot of women still are not working. You know, it's, I feel like finally, it's a new wave of people that are, but for the most part, we've been raised that you have to be a stay at home mom and you have to be the good wife and cook and not that I'm not those things don't get me wrong. But stay at home mom is not for everyone. So it's nice to see, you know, that that finally women are doing what they want to do, that they're, you know, driven to do and have passion for. So I think when the fashion aspect comes in a little bit is I'm proud to wear business clothes as cheesy as that sounds, but you know, it's just, it's cool. That's great. Yeah, absolutely. How long have you been doing the American dream? Um, we've only been doing it. It's less than a year. We just renewed for another six episodes. Okay. All right. That I would assume has helped create awareness and connection for you locally. It has. Yep. It's, it's been, um, it's, it's just good brand branding and name recognition. I think, um, you know, we put it on our signature line on our emails. So it's just, I think you get a little bit more respect by having that on there. Sure. It's social proof. Sure. Yeah. Um, wait a second. What is this here? I'm just watching your video about how much of a down payment do you really need? Wow. That's cool. So that's you kind of with a backdrop there, a video backdrop, which is nice. There you go. Another thing too. I want to mention, um, YouTube. Now that's something direct to consumer for sure. I've gotten, um, gosh, at least five closed loans from YouTube videos. So if, if you're, you know, taking the time to do the video, I certainly recommend putting those on YouTube. Is your YouTube channel the stylish lender? Yes. Right. Here we go. Um, I was looking at that earlier. So, but are you actually consistently posting this, your content to YouTube as well? I, I do for the videos. Obviously it's not like, I'm not doing it on a daily basis like Instagram. But one instance in particular, I have a good, um, he's my number one realtor partner, but he has a, he's on YouTube all the time and he's, he's done that for years. So I've been a guest twice, you know, just to talk about the lending side, um, and him talking about, um, our area, retirement opportunities, that sort of thing. And it's always, always gone so well. You know, a lot of people show up and ask questions and then we can reuse that video. Anytime I do it immediately, I'll get emails or calls from someone listening. All right. I want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. So your YouTube channel is Erica Davis, the stylish lender, right? And if I'm looking at the correct channel, is you have 12 subscribers? Yes. Now, the, the videos that I'm talking about, um, it was with a realtor partner. His name's Jeremy Blanton. And he has a bigger following. So that's where you got the business off of YouTube. Yeah. Okay, got it. But, you know, something for lenders to, you know, just to look at it, they've got, um, either to do like a live event like that, just to talk about lending in real estate or see if any of their real estate agents are big on YouTube. Yeah, absolutely. There's multiple ways to leverage these different platforms we're talking about. Yeah, I just pulled up Jeremy there. That's cool. He's got 3,000 subscribers. Yeah, that's a good way to expand your awareness is offering to bring information to a realtor's platform. That is if it's in Scram Facebook or YouTube, right? Yeah. For example, um, plus you're doing all the stuff there in highlighting local businesses. Like you said, you're at the fire and smoke gastropub a few weeks ago. I mean, what a great life. You get to go out, wear cool clothes, see beautiful places, eat at amazing restaurants. Sounds too good, right? Sounds too good. Too good. What, um, what's coming up next for you? What do you, what do you plan on doing differently in the coming year 2022? We got a big year planned. My husband and I, we are going to combine our production, combine our teams. Um, so we can, I feel like at this point in our careers, that's the best way to go. Because not only are we focused on production, we're also focused on growth. And that's given us so much joy, just bringing people into this business, helping them, you know, grow and meet their goals. So, um, yes, we're making that change come, uh, 2022. We've already let our teams know. So we're just game planning on the best way to do that. And we're excited. Yeah, that's awesome. Are you, um, licensed in any other states? Yes, I'm licensed in Florida, obviously South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. And getting some business out of those as well. Uh-huh. Florida is great because it's one of those areas. If somebody doesn't find something to Myrtle Beach for whatever reason they're headed to Florida. So it's helped keep a lot of business. That's interesting. That's important. My, my longer term plan is to in the winter time, I believe, or it could be, see, I live in Vegas. So in the summer. Oh. Yeah. So I'm trying to think, how do I balance that, right? Because, because Myrtle Beach and Florida, beautiful in the winter, right? Yes. And all that kind of jazz. Uh-huh. So I don't know. I'll talk to you later about that. Which is the better place to buy. But, uh, this has been awesome. Very educational and inspirational at the same time. Thank you. Sure. Congrats to all your success and future success to come as well. For those who want to connect with you. What's the best place to just follow you? Was it Instagram or where do you want to send them? Yeah. Absolutely. You can follow me on Instagram. The stylish lender. And I check my messages constantly. So feel free to reach out there. Or, um, I'm sure my phone number email beyond this as well. So get me a ring. I would love to help. Yeah. I would definitely encourage you guys to follow her because it's a perfect blend of, you know, when we talk about with personal branding, you know, this is well real estate agents. So we're loan officers. You know, they feel like, uh, it's difficult for them to be personal. So to speak. Uh-huh. Air quotes. And, and I've got this from somebody else years ago. But, uh, it was a personal brand can be the intersection of. Personal like what you're into, what you're passionate about, what hobbies and fun. And your business as well. And you've done a great job, obviously intersecting the two, blending the two, right? Which is fashion and all that kind of stuff. And all the wonderful things and where you live and blending that in together as one. That's. This is it. This is a model right here. Now, for you guys out there, maybe the fashion thing isn't for you. I don't know. It could be, right? Absolutely. It could be. It looks pretty sharp in a robe. Yes. All right. Well, listen, I appreciate you making the time. Listeners, uh, as always, thank you for tuning in. Please go follow. Erica on Instagram. The status lender. And we'll put the links in the show notes. Erica, once again, thanks for being here. Absolutely. It was a pleasure. All right, everybody. Thanks for listening. 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