Empowering Veterans: Freeman Sawyer’s Mission

Bridget: Welcome to CCM Talks. I am Bridget Linton, and joining me today is Regional Vice President Freeman Sawyer. Freeman, thanks so much for joining me. Now you recently came to CrossCountry Mortgage. What made you want to join CCM?

Freeman: Monday was my first day.

Bridget: Oh my gosh. Brand new.

Freeman: Brand new. I actually shop the top six mortgage banks in the country. Okay. And, met with Ron and decided I wanted to work with Ron and Joe Mac.

Bridget: You know, they’re great guys. So how’s the transition been so far? I know it’s new.

Freeman: So far, so good. Lots of hands on. Everybody’s taking good care of me. So I’m feeling good about bringing my pipeline over.

Bridget: Okay. So I know you’re new, but, you know, one thing that we pride ourselves on at CrossCountry Mortgage is the culture. Can you talk about the difference from other places that you worked compared to CCM?

Freeman: Well if the Sale Rally’s any show of force here, the transition is going to be great and the culture is phenomenal already.

Bridget: And you are known for being a builder in business. Can you talk about the relationships that you’ve been able to build?

Freeman: Yeah. So I’ve been with the same home builder for going on 11 years, so we have a great working relationship. We do about 50 million a month, give or take. So it’s a good group.

Bridget: And for you, something that I love reading about you is how important Military is for you. I know you have family members that serve. Can you talk a little bit more about the huge impact that has been on your life?

Freeman: Yeah. So I’m actually the founder of Heroes Ranch in Quitman, Texas.

Bridget: Amazing.

Freeman: About three hours from here, actually. And it’s the only, disability-friendly hunting ranch in the country. Everything that we have there from transportation on the ranch, side by sides, pontoon boats, hunting blinds, everything is geared towards a disabled Veteran, first responder, Gold Star family member or special needs kid.

Bridget: That is amazing. How did you come up with this idea?

Freeman: So I grew up in San Antonio, not far from Austin here. All my grandfathers were in the service. All my uncles were in the service. My dad was a government contractor. All the guys I grew up with, their dads were in the service to government contractors. So I get to, I got to spend a lot of time on the bases.

But also got to see a lot of guys exit the Military and it’s not a great exit. And then, so when somebody gives, you know, their life, obviously that’s the, that’s the biggest thing they could give. But a lot of guys get body parts too. And so I want to help those guys have a great time and kind of get, get their moxie back.

Bridget: And obviously you’re making such a huge difference in so many lives. Do you have any special stories that you can tell of someone that you really impacted?

Freeman: Well, we had a young man who had had a car accident, and lost the use of his legs. And, we had another one that was about 25 years old. So a little older than this 18-year-old. We allowed him to mentor him out at the ranch, and it was a, it was a great thing. So at Heroes Ranch, you’re going to laugh every day, but you’re also going to cry every day because you’re going to see some cool stuff. Right? That just brings it out of ya. So anyway, that’s what we like.

Bridget: I mean, I’m fascinated by this, and I want to learn more. If anyone that’s watching wants to learn more about all of this, how can they find it?

Freeman: Just check us out online at HeroesRanch.com.

Bridget: HeroesRanch.com, there it is. And when you came to CCM, and you saw that that’s also very important to CCM, is giving back to Veterans and Military. Did that help in the transition coming over to CrossCountry Mortgage?

Freeman: Absolutely. One of the questions I asked, so they had asked me to look up on Google and check me out. So it was a good match right off the start.

Bridget: Well we appreciate everything you do. Again, I know you’re new, but we’re so excited to have you as part of the CrossCountry Mortgage team. We appreciate everything you do for the Military as well. I do want to get to know you just a little bit better, though, before we wrap up this interview. Do you have a fun fact that you can share with us?

Freeman: Fun fact? Well, I don’t know if it’s a fun fact. But, but I actually had a cardiac event, eight weeks ago, on my visit to CCM. So I’m all good.

Bridget: Wait a minute. Okay. Yeah, that’s not fun by any means. Are you okay?

Freeman: I’m okay. I actually had a birth defect that I had known about when I was just 20-something but nobody said, hey, one day your heart’s going to quit. The day I met with CCM, my heart quit working that day.

Bridget: Was this in Cleveland, Ohio? It was in Cleveland. I mean, I’m not trying to make light of this situation, but if you’re going to have a heart issue, I guess Cleveland, Ohio might be okay, considering we’ve got the Cleveland Clinic right there.

Freeman: Absolutely, and me and my wife, we’re believers. So, I think God put me in Cleveland that day for a reason.

Bridget: Everything happens for a reason. I’m a big believer in that as well. I’m so happy that you’re okay, and you made it here. And you get to be a part of CrossCountry Mortgage. And for anyone else that would like to learn more about careers here at CrossCountry Mortgage, all you have to do is visit CCM.com. And we hope to see you on our next episode of CCM Talks.