Genie Prieto-Cunningham

I attribute my success to all the different experiences I've had throughout my 30-year career in the mortgage industry. For years, I used to be angry that I kept moving between companies and roles, but now I realize that every single experience was valuable. I've done everything from being a title rep to underwriting for major companies like Conseco Finance, working in sales for Wells Fargo, managing mortgage companies, and helping start brokers and turn them into lenders. Even though my husband didn't like me doing sales and networking, which meant I would step back into operations roles, all of that taught me something. I learned to be tactful and gained deep knowledge across every aspect of the business. The biggest lesson came after my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer in 2022 and passed away in June 2024. Watching him suffer and take his last breath taught me that nothing is truly life and death except actual life and death. In the mortgage industry, we always treated everything like it was life and death, but it's really all about how you handle things. That perspective shift, combined with all my years of experience, has shown me that I have so much knowledge to share. I know everything about every kind of loan - non-QM, government loans, all of it. And if I don't know something, I can look it up in the guidelines because those are ever-changing. My success comes from never stopping learning, going through all those different roles without comparing myself to others, and now understanding that my purpose is to help others in this industry.

Don't compare yourself to anybody, especially not to somebody who's been doing it for years and has so much knowledge that you feel intimidated. It's best to just look at somebody as a role model and pick a great one - find somebody that wants to be a role model and ask them realistic questions. Don't think there's some magic factor out there that's going to make you successful, because there isn't one. You have a service that you provide people, which is mortgages, and you have to find customers that need your help. The first way that starts is letting people know that you are here, this is what I do, and I want to help you. They are going to know a lot less than you already do. I used to walk into offices and see ladies with files stacked up high and be so jealous of them, thinking I wish I could do it, I'm not great at sales. But I just never gave myself time. Really focus on letting people know what you do, and when you get the business, ask your mentor for help putting it together. Don't second-guess yourself thinking 'I don't know enough, I can't help somebody,' because you'll lose the customer. And don't become greedy where you don't help the customer the right way. Never forget to ask for help those first few times. Watch somebody doing the closing, and with your knowledge, you can kind of mimic them. Pick a great role model, don't compare yourself to anybody, don't ever second-guess yourself, and never forget to ask for help. One day you're going to look back and realize you've become the pro.

The mortgage industry has been very difficult lately. I don't know if you keep up with mortgage industry news, but it's been challenging, especially for underwriters like me. I've been doing this for 30 years, and I've experienced a lot throughout my career. One of the biggest challenges I've faced personally is feeling like I've been aged out of the industry a little bit, or so it feels - and I hope it's not just me. After my husband passed away in June 2024, I had to tough it out on my own without doing any GoFundMe or anything like that. The industry has gone through so many changes, with companies coming and going. I've seen the whole evolution, from working with companies like Conseco Finance that used to have huge basketball centers and are now gone. The mortgage business has always been treated like everything is life and death - I remember my manager at Conseco saying 'it's the end of the month, are you serious? My loan officers are counting on a paycheck' when I needed to pick up my sick child. But I've learned that nothing is truly life and death except actual life and death. The opportunity I see now is in coaching and mentoring, helping people navigate this industry in a more positive way, teaching them to be positive owners, positive managers, and positive leaders instead of operating from that constant pressure and fear.

The most important values to me are putting people first and not making everything so complicated. For most of my life, I was a mom first, a wife first, and I happened to be in the mortgage business. I was married for 32 years, and I'll admit that I bowed down to whatever my husband needed - I have no regrets about that because it was my upbringing. But I've learned so much through the pain of losing my husband and watching him take his last breath. I realized that we all make things more complicated than they need to be. The sun's still going to shine tomorrow. Sometimes when we have a problem that feels so heavy that we feel like it's the end, all our heart is telling us is 'I can't do this on my own,' and you need to reach out. You need actual support, physical support - your religion and faith, that's not always enough. Don't do it alone. I want to tell the whole world: if you need to talk to somebody about any problem that you're having, please come and talk to me. I just want to help people understand that no matter what we're going through, it's really not that hard. I'm a people person, and I want to coach and help others, not for a company, but for myself. I want to be a positive influence and help people become positive leaders. I used to think I knew more than most people and didn't need to learn anything, but going through pain taught me humility and the importance of continuous learning and supporting others.