Dwayne Stein: From Subprime to Success

Bridget: Welcome back to CCM Talks. I am Bridget Linton, and joining me today is branch manager Dwayne Stein. Now Dwayne, I know you’ve been doing your own podcast for many years now. So, I’m going to do my best to follow in your footsteps and do this podcast.

Dwayne: Sure. Hey, absolutely. I look forward to it. I’m glad, glad to be here for sure.

Bridget: And speaking of doing this for many years. You’ve been with CrossCountry Mortgage now for the last 13 years. Can you walk me through your journey and how you got started in the mortgage business, and then specifically CCM?

Dwayne: Yeah. Started off, in the, what they used to call the subprime business, B/C lending and, back in, I hate to show my age here. May of ‘94 is when I graduated, so ‘95. So been doing this for 30 years now almost.

And, so in that subprime market and then kind of graduated from there and then, was running, I had ten states I was in charge of, and all of a sudden in ‘09, the bottom fell out and all of a sudden working for a big corporation, I was like, okay, now we’re all unemployed overnight, had to let go of four hundred people. So that kind of stunk.

So, and was floundering, had gone to two other companies, recruited me, went there, they got, one of them got closed down, one the federal government came in and shut down. So all of a sudden, like, it’s a weird thing when you get an email that says none of your loans can close because our funding has been shut down.

So you call, you call your boss, and you’re like, this is a joke, right? Well, it wasn’t. And I said, you know, I’m out. I’m getting out of the industry. And I got an overnight package from Ron, and it was out of nowhere. It wasn’t expected because everybody was calling. You need to come over here because we did good volume and we were doing a good job.

And, and I got an overnight package from Ron and called him and Ron’s Ron, he is he is a great guy. He is an awesome person to talk to. Very motivating. And, you know, I pretty much was, he’s a lot more mature than I was, thank goodness, because a lot of what I was talking about was, you know, I’d just gotten burnt twice.

So a lot of my questions were, well, what about this? What about that? And watching where we were from that day, and he said, you just got to trust me and go from there. Flew me up to Ohio, we had dinner and next thing you know, came on board and, since then it’s it’s been, I mean, just ever-changing, just, you know, and it’s it’s been and all the change has been for the better. It’s really been just drastic.

I mean, you got to keep in mind, I was branch number eight. So, you know, when I first came on board, we were still trying to get Fannie Mae and Ginnie funding. Right? So it was very, very, very unique. So it was it was, but to this day, it’s been the best thing ever. And watching it grow is, is been amazing, that’s for sure.

Bridget: And we’re so lucky to have you here for the last 13 years. And you were talking about how many changes or how much growth has gone on within CCM. What do you think has been the biggest change within the market and CCM?

Dwayne: Well, I think what you get with CrossCountry is you get support, number one. And I think the change, Ron’s always been a pioneer. He’s staying ahead of the market. And that’s because of the leaders he brings in, watching how he develops people and brings in great talent. But it’s all about really what I find is he’s ahead of what the market’s doing, simply because he’ll put things into place. He’s a risk taker and, and but, but calculated. Right?

So, you know, I like to call him a pioneer and likes, he likes to get in there and he puts, puts you in situations where success is really the only option. And it’s hard not to get behind a guy like that, that’s for sure, especially for this long.

Bridget: And you kind of just answered my next question, but go into more detail about what keeps you at CCM.

Dwayne: Yeah. Look, if it, for me, it’s as much as when you get burnt. When you work for the largest bank in the world, then you’ve got these other companies that come in and promise you the world and they fall. And when you are like me and you have people who count on you for your livelihood, it’s important to know that you’ve got somebody that does what they say.

There’s a lot of talkers out there, right? Especially right now. And look, we’re out recruiting people, right? So what I would tell those folks is, if you want true entrepreneurship, this is the place to do it. Right? I mean, outside of, hey, if you want to go spend your own money and, and do all those things and the brokers and all that, what you get here is as close to that.

And all the risk is at the upper level with Ron and with corporate. So it allows you to do what you got to do, knowing that the lights are going to be on. It’s very satisfying and very comforting for my team and the folks that work underneath me.

Bridget: And walk me through a typical day in your life working for CrossCountry Mortgage.

Dwayne: Yeah. I mean, look, every day, I mean, obviously right now it’s looking at rates, right? It’s, trying to figure out, are we going to play Russian roulette today or not? Right? So when we decide that’s not an option, right, we get on the phones and we market and we do what we got to do, and we have the best programs out there.

And that’s the thing. He’s keeping us ahead with the buy now refinance later, all these other things, these little tidbits that he does when it comes to different programs that are put in place for us to succeed, really, it’s you got to look yourself in the mirror every day. And if you’re not succeeding and we see people, you know, then it’s on you.

You got to really do a mirror check and look at yourself and go, it’s not because, he will give you the tools to succeed. It’s on you if you can from there. So a typical day is it’s grinding, right? Especially now more than ever. 12, 14-hour days and just understanding you got to do it again tomorrow and be prepared for when the, when the turn does happen.

Bridget: And for someone that is considering a career at CrossCountry Mortgage. But they’re on the fence right now, what would you do?

Dwayne: I would tell them, you need to be able to come in here, understand that it’s not, all the obstacles and all the excuses will be removed. It’s going to be on you, so you will never have any reason not to succeed.

So in my opinion, CrossCountry makes it where failure is not an option and success is kind of the only choice there. And so what I would say is if you bring it, they will give it back tenfold for sure.

Bridget: I love that. And one thing I love about CrossCountry Mortgage, too, is that they’re all about giving back to the community. And I know you do a lot of that. Can you talk a little bit more about what you do for the community and what it means to you?

Dwayne: Well, look, you know, CrossCountry, when I started, I was branch number eight, right? And at the end of the day, nothing is bigger than the brand. But you’ve got to make sure that in that market, while CrossCountry is the brand, they know you as the individual.

So giving back and whether it’s doing, you know, events for kids, Toys for Tots, dog adoptions, pet adoptions, just pictures with, you know, different things like that. You’ve got to make sure that you’re in the market helping out hurricane victims. Different stuff like that. Right? So, it’s helping out. And what I love about it is when you get the support from CrossCountry Mortgage and doing those type of things.

So it’s, it’s amazing in communities, everything, because that’s where we work and we live. So, you know, showing that you’re out there, only helps you thrive in that environment.

Bridget: And we appreciate all you do.

Dwayne: Thank you.

Bridget: We talked a lot about your career. We talked a lot about CrossCountry Mortgage. Let’s get to know Dwayne a little bit better. Do you have a fun fact you can share with us?

Dwayne: I used to wrestle alligators being from New Orleans. Right? So there was a time, right? You know? Yeah. So that was a long time ago. But those days are. I’m not as fleet as foot. Right?

Bridget: Wait. You’re saying that way too casually.

Dwayne: Yeah. Well, in South Louisiana, you need something to do on a weekend, right? So, you know, why not? Yeah. So. And especially in South Louisiana, when you start having a couple giggles going down and they start, you get a little braver. So, hey, why not hop on a boat? Let’s go in the middle of the water and let’s go see if we can take down some alligators.

Bridget: Have you ever gotten bitten by one?

Dwayne: No, I have not. But, I’ve had a friend that did, and, we got lucky. He was able to get back to land and and, let’s just leave it at everything’s fine today.

Bridget: Okay, when was the last time you wrestled an alligator?

Dwayne: Oh, my gosh, 20 years, at least, at least.

Bridget: So you’re a retired alligator wrestler?

Dwayne: Yes, yes. I’m retired. Right. But there was a time. There was a time, but now no longer.

Bridget: Well, you don’t have the time because you’re working so hard at CrossCountry Mortgage.

Dwayne: That’s right, that’s right, that’s right. I’ll leave that to Swamp People and all that stuff.

Bridget: Well thank you so much for sharing your incredible journey with us. Again, we’re so lucky to have you at CrossCountry Mortgage. Again, if you’re considering a career at CrossCountry Mortgage, make sure you visit CCM.com and we’ll see you next time on our next episode of CCM Talks.