From Food Service to Successful Loan Officer with Family-Like Support

Connor (00:00) I would recommend joining MPA to other loan officers because of the abundance of tools that we have from our in-house processing, who's absolutely incredible. Always makes sure that our deals close on time. To the support that we have from our leadership here, everyone's gonna make sure that you have what you need to not only survive, but to thrive, and answer any questions that you may have. It's a very close-knit, family-like feel here at MPA. Hi, I'm Connor Bocanegra. I live in San Antonio, Texas, and I'm a loan officer with MPA Home Loans. My career journey before joining MPA, I actually had no background in mortgage. I was from the food service industry. My branch manager, Jake Garza was also a general manager from the same company. I saw how much he enjoyed working with MPA. I saw the freedom of his time that he had. And so, I just asked him one day what it was that he did, and how I could kinda get into the field, not even expecting a job with MPA, but kind of just wanting some more background information about it. He told me that he would take me under his wing really, and that he would show me the ropes, but I just had to get licensed. So I went and I got licensed in about 2 weeks. I was super excited to join. What made me decide to join MPA was that I knew that I was going to get the support that I needed being a brand new loan officer. That was super important to me to have someone that was going to show me, and teach me instead of kind of just leaving me on my own. I could tell based off of the tests, and the new knowledge I was learning that it was super complex sometimes. So to have that support, not just from my branch manager, but from Michael, from the Ramsey's, from other loan officers here in the office, I knew that I could get any of my questions answered. My experience so far with MPA has been amazing. I've always gotten the support that I needed, from the start really, from my onboarding process to joining the MPA family, and feeling like it was a space where I could grow, a space where I was accepted, where everyone was invested in me. To know that everyone was happy to see my wins, from the first deal that I closed, the company cheered me on, post congratulations, reach out to me, call me. My biggest cheerleaders really. It just really makes you want to stay with them. It feels more like a family than coworkers. What stands out to me most about the culture at MPA - I spoke to Michael about this a while ago - is that all the moves that MPA has been making as far as growth, as far as support, like adding our in-house processing team, it was always with us in mind, what was going to help grow our business. And it was always what was going to be most beneficial to the client as well. Being at MPA has impacted my growth as a loan officer by making sure that I had the proper tools that I needed to succeed. The patience of my branch manager here, and his leadership really helped me, from the ground up, build something to where now I have realtors calling my phone. I have clients reaching out to me. So to start from nothing, and get those tips and tricks from Jake, it really helped me build my business into what it is today. My future with MPA looks I'm excited about what we can accomplish together, the company and myself. I would love to be a branch manager one day. The support that I receive from my branch manager, from the leadership at MPA, I would love to pass that on, to kind of pay it forward to new loan officers, and to help grow the business of other loan officers in the future.