Carla Green

People believed in me. They supported me. They trusted me—and that made all the difference.

I didn’t finish college. The mortgage business was booming, and at the time I also had a husband who didn’t support that path. But looking back, I can see that my education came in a different form.

When I was 19, my boss Cheryl took a chance on me. She brought me into the mortgage business and taught me everything—driving to and from work, walking me through deals, showing me how to figure things out when there were no computers to do it for you. Just a calculator, manuals, and determination.

But more than that, she believed in me. She invested in me. She saw something in me that I didn’t fully see in myself yet.

That kind of belief changes a person.

I truly believe every young person needs someone like that—someone who sees their potential, invests in them, and pushes them forward.

And it doesn’t stop there. Even now, I have people like Steve Jacobson our CEO who believe in me, who send encouraging words and remind me to keep going.

It’s that support. That care. That belief from the people around you that shapes your path more than anything else ever could.

Andy Andrews really shifted my mindset in 2014 when he introduced The 7 Decisions from the Travelers Gift at our annual Fairway Meeting. The one that stuck with me most is simple but tough: the buck stops here. I take full responsibility—no passing blame. If something goes wrong, it’s on me, not my processor, underwriter, closer or anyone else.

That also means I need to seek wise counsel. If I don’t know something, I shouldn’t guess and fix it later—we have resources and people in place for a reason. At the same time, I can’t get stuck. I have to be a person of action, even when things feel uncertain.

I’ve picked up the phone on weekends and reached out when needed—sometimes even getting leadership involved—because finding a solution matters more than timing or comfort. I also remind myself to choose happiness, even in the middle of chaos… and in this business, chaos is pretty constant.

And when I mess up, I don’t stay there. I reset. I move forward. That mindset—find a way when there is no way—is something we live out every day. Whether it’s through collaboration, brainstorming, or those late-night team emails, we figure it out together.

You need a mentor. Truly, every young woman does—someone to look up to, someone who will challenge you, guide you, and invest in your growth.

My mentor Cheryl didn’t just show up—she poured into my life. She didn’t have to drive me to work or teach me every little thing, but she made sure I learned what mattered. She would give me bonuses and then require me to use that money to pay off my credit cards. At the time, it felt tough—but she was teaching me discipline, responsibility, and how to be wise with money. She believed in me so deeply that she even co-signed my student loan. That kind of belief changes you.

Young women need to get involved. Join clubs. Step into nonprofits. Be part of organizations. I’ve served on boards like Mansfield Cares, participated in Leadership Mansfield, and worked with Keep Mansfield Beautiful. Opportunities like these open doors you didn’t even know existed. Exposure creates growth.

Don’t settle for the status quo. Ask questions. Stay curious. Keep learning. At Fairway, for example, there are endless learning resources—videos, tutorials, step-by-step guidance. The tools are there. Growth is available. The only real failure is choosing not to try.

And never forget this: your circle matters. The people you surround yourself with will either push you forward or hold you back. Choose wisely. Because in the end, your environment will shape your success more than anything else.

The reality is,a lot of this comes down to educating the borrower. When I bought my first house, interest rates were around 14%. I remember thinking that getting 12.5% meant I had hit the lottery. But home prices were much lower back then, so the overall affordability looked very different than it does today.

That’s why we tell buyers: marry the house, date the rate. You can refinance a rate later, but you can’t go back and buy the same house at yesterday’s price. Still, we do need rates to come down—that’s one of the biggest challenges in today’s market.

Another issue we’re dealing with is how credit bureaus handle consumer data. The moment we pull a borrower’s credit, their information can be sold, triggering a flood of calls from lenders they’ve never even heard of. I’ve had clients receive 40–50 calls within a day. While there are supposed to be changes to limit that, we’ll see how it actually plays out.

At the same time, credit report costs are rising significantly—jumping from around $50 to as much as $200–$300—because bureaus are trying to replace lost revenue from selling data. That cost ultimately gets passed on to the consumer, and it’s something that really needs oversight.

On the inventory side, pricing in our Texas market hasn’t come down much. It’s rare to see homes under $300,000 anymore—I recently closed one at $305,000, and that’s about as low as it gets in many areas. The surge we saw in 2020 and 2021 changed the landscape completely. Buyers were paying well over list price—I even had a client offer $100,000 over asking, coming from California.

On my Facebook page, it says: Faith, Family, Fairway.

That says everything about me. Those three values mean the most to me, and they are all connected. They are not separate parts of my life; they are woven into who I am and what I do every day.t says Faith, family, and Fairway. That says everything. These three values matter most to me, and they’re not separate parts of my life—they’re woven into who I am and how I show up every day.

I'm so grateful for Fairway, the culture, and the leadership. There is no place I would rather call home. Fairway is more than a workplace to me....it's family, and I thank God for the people and the environment that make it so special.