Female Disruptors: Tammy Wittren of NFM Lending On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
… It isn’t supposed to be easy. It is meant to be hard. As mentioned, great success comes from great struggle. Learning what does and doesn’t work. And sometimes, the majority of that is struggle over self.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tammy Wittren.
Tammy Wittren is a licensed loan originator serving Portland, Oregon, and the surrounding areas. With over 30 years of real estate and lending experience, Tammy has a detailed understanding of the industry from all angles. From becoming a licensed realtor and assisting the nation’s top real estate agents to a branch manager at award-winning NFM Lending, Tammy has separated herself from the competition by building a team of professionals and community who share her same commitment to serve others.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I have been in the residential mortgage and real estate industry since I graduated college in 1988. In the beginning, I was selling real estate alongside the #1 agent in the US. A few years in, I had decided to relocate to Oregon and was in the process of applying for a home loan when the mortgage lender helping me had mentioned that I had the most real estate experience he had ever seen. Humbled, he has asked if I was interested in the home loan lending process and working for his branch.
Quickly, I joined his team, was the branch manager for six months and the rest is history. I have been doing home loans ever since. My background in real estate has allowed me to see the industry from all angles and truly understand the needs and struggles of realtors.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
In the residential mortgage industry, we just came off the lowest rates that we have historically seen. More people were able to buy a home than before. Mortgage companies were staffed up. Everyone was busy with leads. Now, as interest rates rise, we know that all of this will flip with a slower season ahead. Our team is prepared for this transition, and we know the market will flip again. It’s a cyclical process. It’s crucial for my team to continue to support and serve our clients and realtors during this time when it’s harder to create more product and guidelines are tightening.
When rates were low, we were able to fill requirements more for the underserved and diversify the inclusion in the homeownership marketplace. What makes are team unique is that we work one on one with clients to help them find the right loan for their home, that makes the most sense for their unique situation and finances. Sometimes that means getting creative with the ways we are able to qualify people for homes as prices and rates continue to escalate.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’ve definitely shared this story before but the first thing that always comes to mind is one particular afternoon that a client was meeting me at my house during a huge snowstorm. Everything in Portland was shut down. At this time, the government was giving $8k credit to qualifying homebuyers and I had a client who needed to get their paperwork signed. They drove out to my house, in the storm, for me to review and sign the docs. Halfway down my 150-foot driveway, the client’s car got stuck in the snow. So what did I do… I threw on my snowsuit and started shoveling my way out to them.
When I got to their car, the husband was scraping the windshield and the wife got out in a dress, no coat and large wedge sandals. Without hesitation, realizing there was no way of getting their car down the remainder of my driveway, I tell the lady to jump on my back and I’ll carry her to the house since I had my snow boots on. The moment she did, the lady flattened me like a snowboard. Then, we were both rolling around in the freezing cold snow. I ended up giving her my boots and sprinting back to the house. All of their paperwork was signed and they earned their $8k in homebuying credit. It’s a day I’ll never forget and will always make me laugh.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I believe that it is huge to have someone who believes in you and sees your own potential, before you can even see it in yourself. Intentionally surrounding myself with people who encourage me to believe bigger, has been a life changing experience. Mike Russell was the first person who hired me and he would always tell me how he just knew that I would be successful in this industry. He saw something in me that I couldn’t necessarily see in myself at that time, and it allowed me to dream about the possibilities and want more for myself in this life.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
When I hear the word change or disruption, it means that I’ll be problem solving at some point. Either I’ve made a mistake, there is a new home loan regulation, the list could go on… but I believe that we don’t grow unless we are faced with how to navigate those situations. From ashes, you will find great growth. And sometimes, the best growth, comes from a great struggle.
A system that has tested any disruptions is taking the time to know my numbers/metrics and what works for my team without the shortcuts. I think it’s like a phone conversation. Yes there is emailing, texting, the easier and quicker ways to send a message, but sometimes the best solution is picking up the phone and have a good ole conversation.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- Do the work. Take the time to know your metrics because numbers don’t lie.
- It isn’t supposed to be easy. It is meant to be hard. As mentioned, great success comes from great struggle. Learning what does and doesn’t work. And sometimes, the majority of that is struggle over self.
- Have a clear vision. Ask yourself, what is my end result? And then believe that is possible.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Question all of our systems. All of our customer service. Ask our customers how we could be better and be present during the hard conversations. Be curious if what we are doing is competitive. We don’t rely on status quo.
We also aim to continue to be in the “Great Eight” at NFM Lending. But most importantly — to continue to serve our community, our realtors, our clients and our business partners, without financial regard for ourselves. We truly believe that by simply serving others, good things will come for us. I don’t think that is standard practice for most, but it’s the moto we’ve built our business around.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve seen that women are faced with is being labeled overly emotional. If you are assertive, then you are being “bitchy.” If you are emotional, then you are labeled as weak. Then this leads to not being taken seriously in the workplace.
I hope every female realizes that all of these labels that you may experience at some point in your life doesn’t mean that you are weak or uncertain or less capable of doing your job. Tears can be okay. Being empathetic because a client is going through a tough situation, builds relatability. Learn to lean into your personality traits, communicate clearly and use it to get people to work together for a better outcome.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
One of my favorite books is “The Carpenter” by Jon Gordon. His books are so simple, and I love it. This one in particular is all about serving. If your heart is in the right place and you are serving, you will have more business than you know what to do with. Life is a big circle.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
For people to be conscious of how powerful the words to themself are. What you say, becomes your truth. I’m poor. It’s too hard. I don’t win. Before you know it, you will wake up and that will become your truth.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I say this to everyone but “do the work.” Want to be fit? Take time and go for a run every day. Have great friends? Intentionally seek time to spend with them. For anyone you see around you that has abundance in any area of their life, they have done the work to get where they are. The work is hard. You just have to do it.
How can our readers follow you online?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tammywittren/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TammyWittrenMortgage
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-wittren-53483b11/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Tammy Wittren of NFM Lending On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.