Episodes

Six months chasing one agent. She finally texts back, and the Loan Officer freezes. No idea what to say. Five years ago I'd have typed him a long answer from memory of how to reply. Last week I just said: that's episode 317. Here's what changed. 425 episodes of Mortgage Marketing Radio. Ten years of practitioners who actually do the work, scripting, database, agent classes, consumer direct. The answer to almost any problem you've got is already in there. And functionally, all of it was unus...

I'm back behind the mic with a rapid-fire episode — two swipeable ideas you can put to work this week, plus the one thing that decides whether anyone shows up to your next class. Idea #1 — Turn MLS data into content realtors ask for. Jerad Larkin pulled 12,029 Denver home sales and found roughly 63% closed with a seller concession, around $10,000 on average. He broke it down by property type and price range, white-labeled it into a carousel, and handed it to agents to post as their own. One Fac...

Gen Z homebuyers are watching your videos, checking their credit, and still not picking up the phone. Here's exactly why, and the fix that gets them to call. Guild Mortgage partnered with YouGov on a national Gen Z Homebuyer Study: 1,400+ buyers, open-ended answers, their real words. In this episode, guest host Katie Shive sits down with Drew Gillette, VP of Marketing at Guild, to break down why young buyers go quiet and the content that finally earns the call. The number that explains it all: ...

You’ve been sold a lie: that if you just post enough content, the business will come. It won’t. And in this guest-host takeover of Mortgage Marketing Radio, Michelle Mikel and Jennifer Butcher prove it with real numbers. Jen is a 25-year mortgage veteran and host of the She Talks Money podcast. She was doing what all the gurus tell you to do — five videos a week, a polished feed, all of it. And she was still stuck on the question that haunts every originator: “When am I actually going to make m...

I studied two new research reports covering 260,000+ LinkedIn posts — and in this quick-hit episode, I break down exactly what's working on LinkedIn in 2026, specifically for loan officers and mortgage pros who want to get seen, build a personal brand, and attract referral partners. Just the data, and what to actually do with it. You'll learn: ✅ Whether links really hurt your reach (the answer surprised me) ✅ The format with an 11X interaction boost most LOs never use ✅ Why horizontal video...

You feel it, don't you? That constant pressure to post more, create more, be more online — just to keep up. Meanwhile, your pipeline isn't moving the way it should. Here's what nobody's telling you: the top-producing loan officers I work with aren't stressing about their next post going viral. They're doing something different. Something that's been working since before social media existed. And it's making a massive comeback. In this episode, I'm going off-script to challenge the "post more" ...

Six weeks ago, I went silent. No episodes. No posts. No noise. I was fighting cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil and tongue. Two rounds of chemo. Thirty rounds of radiation. And a whole lot of time to think. Today, I'm back. And I'm not just picking up where I left off — I'm coming back with new clarity, new energy, and some powerful insights I can't wait to share with you. In this episode: What the last 6 weeks looked like (the real version, not the polished one) A huge thank-y...

Mike Faraci (founder of Red Button Media) sat down with James Duncan (former mortgage marketing exec, now advising at Calum Advisors) to tackle the question every loan officer is quietly asking right now: "With so many new AI tools dropping every week... what the heck am I actually supposed to be doing?" Here's what you'll walk away with: → The one question to ask yourself before adopting ANY new tool, platform, or AI "solution" (miss this and you'll burn months chasing shiny objects) → Why "...

Most loan officers are solving the wrong problem. They think next-gen buyers need lower rates. Or bigger down payment assistance programs. Or easier qualifying standards. The data disagrees. Kristin Messerli, Co-Founder of First Home IQ, has spent six years surveying 9,000-plus respondents to study exactly what is holding millennials and Gen Z back from buying their first home. And what she found is that the biggest barriers have nothing to do with money. They have everything to do with trus...

He's closed over $4 billion in mortgage production. He's not yet 40. And there's a good chance you've never heard of him. That changes today. In this power-packed episode, NFM Lending Managing Director Greg Sher steps in to guest host and sits down with one of the most quietly elite loan originators in the country, Oleg Tkach. Born in Ukraine, started in mortgage at 18, and built a $4 billion career without a major social media presence, without cold calling, and without ever chasing business ...

A borrower you've closed loans for before just photographed your Loan Estimate and dropped it into ChatGPT. The AI told them you're overcharging. You're not. But they believed it anyway — and the deal went somewhere else. This is not a hypothetical. It happened to one of Trevor York's clients last week. And according to a stat dropped in this conversation, 77% of consumers now trust AI as much as a human expert. That number was lower a year ago. It will be higher next year. So here's the rea...

What if the loan officers who are struggling most to grow their business are asking the wrong question — and one loan officer from Fargo, North Dakota figured out the right one? In this episode, guest host Katie Shive sits down with Kayla Kallander — a top-producing loan officer, LinkedIn powerhouse, and first-time home buyer advocate who's built a referral machine in one of the most overlooked markets in the country. If you think first-time home buyers are too much work for too little payoff,...

What does it actually look like when a top-producing loan officer stops dabbling with AI and fully embeds it into every layer of his mortgage business? In this episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio, guest host Katie Shive sits down with Abdel Khawatmi — Area Manager and founder of Got Mortgages with PRMG — to break down the exact system behind 121 units, $40M in personal production, and 210% net revenue growth year over year. This is not a conversation about generating social media captions with...

What if 10 loans a month — not 30 — was actually the goal? Sam Abazari has coached over 120 loan officers. His LOs average doubling their business every three months. His top producer closes 30 loans a month. And his branch does $250 million a year. But his argument? The sweet spot is 10 loans a month, one assistant, 25-35 hours a week, and 200-300 bps margin. That's the formula for financial freedom, time freedom, and mental bandwidth — all three at once. In this episode of Mortgage...

What does it take to close 230 purchase units in your first year as a loan originator? For Andy Beigel, it started with one obsession: practice. While every other LO chased refi money in 2020, Andy was cold-calling realtors on Zoom — building a purchase pipeline from scratch. By year-end, he had 230 units. By 2025, he had $93M in personal production and a $250M branch he built from zero in Columbus, Ohio. In this episode, Andy breaks down: → His word-for-word rate objection rebuttal → The f...

In this episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio, we talk with top-producing mortgage originator and elite coach Amir Syed to reveal the exact blueprint mortgage loan officers need to follow in 2026 to thrive—not just survive. Whether you're a mortgage loan originator, broker, or LO looking to increase production in a competitive market, Amir breaks down the 3 critical pillars every LO must master right now: Marketing and Personal Branding – How to become “Five-Mile Famous” and generate referr...

Is social media actually hurting your business more than helping? What if you could grow without chasing trends, dancing for the algorithm, or constantly creating content? 👉 Get the Knowledge Bank Business Plan here: https://www.authoritydotio.com/knowledgebank-lm63306988?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=Sunny+Lenarduzzi+Channel&utm_content=Social+Media+Is+Over%2C+Here%E2%80%99s+What+Will+Grow+Your+Business In this video, I share why I completely quit social media — and how our b...

Forget resolutions. In this solo episode, I’m taking you inside the personal mindset shift I’m making for 2026 — one that’s already reshaping how I lead, work, and live. Instead of a list of goals, I’ve chosen two powerful words to guide everything I do this year: 👉 Gratitude and Delegate. These aren’t just nice ideas — they’re essential strategies for cutting through the noise, clarifying priorities, and leading from a place of alignment. Inside this episode: Why resolutions often ...

Success as a Mortgage Originator in 2026 starts with clarity. 🎯 In this episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio, I share the two words I’ve chosen to guide my mortgage business and personal life — and how you can apply the same process to your 2026 goals. 📘 Inspired by One Word That Will Change Your Life, this episode will help you: Simplify your 2026 goals Clarify your direction in business and faith Focus your energy where it matters Create more referrals without the grind 🎁 Get the FREE One Word ...

Want to get more agent referrals without cold calling or chasing? See how Travis Newton added $40M in funded loans by hosting done-for-you workshops. Check out the myAgent Classes one-to-many system here: https://www.go.myagentclasses.com AI is already shaping who gets recommended as the best loan officer in a market. Most LOs do not realize they are invisible to it. In this episode, I sit down with Katie Shive, brand strategist and AI visibility coach, to break down how loan officers can get di...

In this powerful episode, Katie Shive reveals how mortgage pros can leverage AI to build visibility, rank in search, and attract real leads online. Katie, a brand strategist and AI marketing coach, breaks down the concept of GEO — Go Everywhere Optimization — and how it’s changing the way consumers find mortgage professionals. You’ll learn: How to create a "core entity statement" that helps AI recommend you first Why your bio consistency across platforms like LinkedIn and Google is critical ...

Are you stuck in the same production level year after year, wondering why the needle isn’t moving? It’s not because you’re not capable—it’s likely because you’ve stopped asking the right questions. Imagine if you had a framework to challenge your assumptions, elevate your standards, and scale your business with intention. Today on the show, we’re diving into a powerful self-audit: What are the 13 questions every loan originator should ask themselves to grow, scale, and lead in 2026? To help us ...

In this special crossover episode, you'll hear Geoff Zimpfer guest-host The LO Down Community Call with Connor Bartley to uncover how four top-producing LOs are generating real pipeline through strategic agent events. Forget the stale Lunch & Learns—this panel breaks down what’s actually working to get butts in seats and referrals on the books. You’ll learn: Why classes are the most leveraged way to connect with agents at scale How to pick topics agents care about (hint: it’s not mortgage gui...

In this episode, we welcome James Duncan, a recognized leader in mortgage marketing who was honored as a “Marketing Leader” by HousingWire in 2022. James Duncan is the Founder and Chief Marketing Strategist at Caelum Advisers—an agency specializing in helping mortgage executives build resilient, growth‑focused marketing systems. James shares how to modernize your marketing strategy, avoid common tech traps, and align your brand to drive real ROI—without losing the personal touch your clients ex...