How Franklin Warens scaled a multiple 7 figure mortgage brokerage business, Guiding Families Home

Why don't you tell us very briefly who is Franklin Warren? >> Franklin Warren's a first generation uh Cuban here in the US. I I got so blessed that, you know, came over when I was about 10 years old or so and got handed this blank sheet of paper that uh I was able to kind of fill my hopes and dreams on. I've always had a passion for for finances very young at, you know, 19. I started

working at the bank and kind of just very fascinated and I really wanted to grow in in that banking and that finance industry because I just saw so much potential in the financial services industry. A majority of people who become millionaires do so through real estate. And that's what kind of piqued my interest to transition from the financial advisor role that I foraw myself in the future to go into real estate. But my biggest fear is

like, how the heck am I going to get some families to help? I'm just starting out. I don't know how to close a loan or, you know, do so many things yet. But ultimately, some families start trusting you because of the the person and character that that you are. Out of all of your experience that you've had, what has been the three most important key takeaways for your success? Today I'm really excited to have Franklin Warren

on another episode of Pick Up the Phone podcast. He shares how he left his corporate job at 26 years old, being a high performer at that job. Starting off with helping families, he went from helping seven families in one year to helping over 100 families in another year. Uh he's going to talk about how he scaled a large organization with a ton of people using the EOS model, the entrepreneur operating system. Um, he's going to be

talking about how he closed over 12 million in production in one month. And he's going to be talking about he's on how he's on track to build a multiple sevenf figureure business that's generating over multiple seven figures in a year. So, I'm really excited to share all of this with Franklin. He's got an amazing story how he came over from Cuba uh as a very young man, as a very young boy. And I think you guys

are really going to enjoy this this uh this story uh everything that we talked about and you guys are going to get a ton of value from it. Uh, so again, like always, please uh like the video, comment on it, subscribe, and uh I want to hear some feedback. Let me know what you guys think. Let me let me know what you guys want to hear more of. And uh I can't wait for you guys to

see this video. >> Welcome to another episode of Pick Up the Phone podcast. Today's guest is Franklin Warren with Warren Financial Group. Uh pick up the phone where every solution is only a phone call away. So Franklin, welcome. Welcome here, bro. Yeah, excited to be here. Um, excited to be with you and let's let's talk some shop. Man, this is something that Jose and I do uh very often. Uh, being very close friends. So, yeah, looking

forward to sharing any value that we can with you guys. >> I'm very excited about it, bro. And, uh, we've we've traveled a lot. We've had a lot of conversations and I feel like every time we're, you know, in a private setting, it's always about business, right? It's always about growth. It's always about offering value to each others and also helping each others through any struggles that we're having. So, I I think we're going to have

a good time today talking about all those things, especially uh offering value to anyone that's that's listening to this uh to this episode. So, absolutely. Let's get started, bro. Um >> why don't you tell us very briefly who is Franklin Warren? >> Man, Franklin Warren, a first generation uh Cuban here in the US. I I got so blessed that, you know, came over when I was about 10 years old or so and got handed this black

uh blank blank sheet of paper that uh I was able to kind of fill my hopes and dreams on, you know. So, uh super blessed that I was able to join an industry with individuals such as Jose that uh that look to empower each other. We're always, you know, looking like like we mentioned to add value and and I mean really just focus on on growth for herself and others. Uh right now I lead a boutique

mortgage brokerage company in Houston, Texas. Uh we're about 30 strong right now and God willing by the end of the year and I'll share some of those experiences about how I got there with you guys. Um looking to be the the number one boutique mortgage broker in in the Houston, Texas area. >> I love that. And hopefully future uh in the nation, right? >> God willing. >> Yeah. Yeah. I definitely see it. So, uh let's get

started with uh understanding your your journey, right? Like how how did you get to this point where you're at? your uh why don't you tell us a little bit about your some of your biggest wins in your organization? Can you share a little bit about that? >> Yeah, absolutely. Um and and if it's okay, I'd like to go back about, you know, back back to how we got to this point also and uh how I was

able to grow to this point and I've always, you know, had a passion for for finances. Uh very young at, you know, at 19, I started working at the bank. I know kind of just very fascinated. Uh, and and I did I started as a one of those tellers counting counting 20s back to to clients. Here's 20, 40, 60. Here's your cash. And I'd see these big balances and all that. And uh and I really wanted

to grow in in that banking in that finance industry because I just saw that, you know, so much potential um uh in the in the financial services industry. Fast forward a couple years later, started started working up my way through the chain of command um at uh at Chase Bank and you know all the way until JP Morgan from a teller, then a banker, then what we call a relationship banker, which is when you go out

and you get a couple, you know, licenses series 63 in life and health and uh that's when you start learning a little bit more about, you know, securities and finance and the investment world and retirement planning and all those things. Uh then I was really blessed to be given opportunities to be a a manager on duty and business banker. Um and then in the business banker roles whenever I started talking to business owners and uh something

that really fascinated me about a business owner is kind of like this entrepreneur mindset that that we have to have as well, right? Uh very go-getter uh mentality that nothing's given uh to you. You have to go out there and and put in the work for it. uh I continued progressing in those roles and then became a private client banker where I was helping more so affluent households. And what I noticed about the affluent households, it's

they typically got their one, you know, one of several ways, but the one that really uh stuck out for me the the most was um as as I was this, you know, financial advisorish uh banker uh trying to get them to move their, you know, their investments or their assets from another bank to to chase to continue to grow our book of business was that most of them were real estate investors, right? A majority of people

who become millionaires do do so through real estate. >> And they were also the most stubborn whenever I would try to get them to commit to go do anything type of like security or you know your uh any index funds any kind of offering a CD. They they just knew that their capital was uh was so much better at play right and and it's and obviously it's uh real estate investor's opinion as well. Whoever you ask

going to tell you something different an adviser will tell you something different. Uh but I kept noticing that these guys just kind of had this grand life, you know, with a lot of flexibility and freedom um you know through through real estate and that's what kind of piqued my interest to to ultimately transition from the financial advisor role that I foraw myself in the future to go into into real estate. >> Wow. >> Uh and that

journey ended up uh that it took me into into lending, right? Um, so fast forward then, you know, you're you're working as a as a teller, you're working at a bank, you're you're working your way up, you're you're obviously very successful there. Um, let's talk about the journey into actually being a lender. What how did that happen? How did that transition take place? Because, Franklin, let's let's be real. I mean, there's a lot of people that

are in a corporate world right now, right? That are in a 9 to-5 that they want to jump into entrepreneurship. they want to pursue this journey, you know, but it's not for, you know, the the week. >> It's not for the week ahead, >> right? So, it takes a lot of courage, right? I spoke to Cody about this yesterday >> and um let's talk a little bit about that. Like, what did it take for you mentally

and from a mindset wise to say, you know what, I can do it, right? How did that transition happen for you? >> And, you know, I get I get goosebumps just kind of thinking back at that time, you know, five years ago when when uh I finally took that leap of faith, guys. And that's what it is. You got to take the leap of faith in yourself and have that self-belief and and and diminish doubts. Uh

uh the the banking or whatever n the 9-5 might be or you know uh 52 whatever it's is what I call the golden handcuffs that kind of like our societal norms has created for a lot of people. >> Um uh given that obviously there's there's a place for everybody and and ultimately the the biggest success for me is going to be happiness. If you have happiness in in what you're doing, I I wish you the best.

I'm like you cracked the code. You figured it out. continue doing what you're doing there and building building on that. You don't have to become an entrepreneur an entrepreneur and make millions of dollars to to be defined, you know, as success or anything like that. Success can be defined many different ways. But uh I got to a point in my career with where I literally got a Wolf of Wall Street up, you know, great friend of

mine at the time who who then became my mentor and I talk about him all the time. His name is Jesus Hernandez. Uh we we went out for some margaritas at uh at Gringo, you know, and and I said, "Hey, Jesus, how's it going for you right now? You're in the loan officer world. I'm over here working at Chase and I'm at, you know, absolutely crushing it. I'm, you know, I'm 25, 26 at the time and,

uh, doing really well. Just kind of started six figure, you know, six figure income, which I I thought I was like, this is it. I I got it. Life is great. And it was. I mean, >> you're 26 years old. You're crushing it, right? >> Absolutely crushing it, right? One of the top bankers in in in the nation out here from from Houston. So, so blessed. So blessed with life and I'm giving it my all. I

was the type of worker that my managers would literally have to tell me, "Hey, you're supposed to get off today at 5:00, you know, but I'm like, "Well, the bank doesn't close until until 6:00. Can I stay and make a couple more calls?" >> Uh, so it's that go-getter, you know, >> go-getter mindset that really helped. And um and we went out and and she was like, "You know what, bud? I think >> I think you

you'd be a great loan officer." I'm like, "I I was thinking about doing real estate. I you know a bigger pockets podcast was out at the time and everybody's like Brandon Turner and I'm going to do the burr method and buy rent and >> I got a little bit of money saved up in my 401k and and uh and Jesus goes nah you don't want to do all that if you were realtor you might have to

drive around and there's some you know really incredible successful real estate agents um who go through uh and become you know investors which is what we call the the progression or the evolution of uh of real estate sometimes right you kind of have to start somewhere and evolve to that uh solarpreneur, entrepreneur, investor uh field, >> right? >> And uh I said, "Hey, Jesus, listen man, if I look up how much a loan officer makes a

year, >> Google's telling me you guys make like 50 60k." I'm like, >> "I don't I'm doing a little bit better than that. >> I don't know about that." >> Yeah. And uh if you know going back to Wolf of Wall Street, if you guys remember uh those of you have seen the movie, at this point this you know Donnie and uh and the wolf are at a at a coffee shop and and Donnie big bucktoothoth

comes up and he's like show me a check for $72,000 and I'll come work for you. I'll quit my job and come work for you. and uh and you know his sister didn't have a check to pull out to pull out of his backpack or anything, but he he pulled out his phone and he showed me you know on Zel the the wires and and and quick pays and everything and it amounted to uh you know

a little bit over 50 we'll call and I was like you know what >> or 50k. >> Yeah. >> Within the last month or so >> within the last 30 days or so and I'm like I'm in. >> Yeah. Done. >> Say less. >> I've never seen that in my life. >> 600 grand a year. That's what it is. >> So I said I'm I'm in. I'll be there on Monday. I I spent two weeks uh

seeing what was a show of what the the lending is. It's a it's a very tough game, you know. >> Yeah. >> And uh and nothing was closing in the beginning of that that first week or so. Families were crying on the phone, extensions on houses and files were falling through because whatever scenario may have happened, people lose their jobs or open credit or, you know, get get upset with their spouses. So many different scenarios. And

and I'm like, this is this is nuts. This has to be a lie, right? >> Yeah. >> This is I'm >> There's no way. >> I'm out of here. I'm I'm going to give this two more days and I'm out of here. Well, tell let me tell you in those last two days I saw the closings begin to happen and the wires and checks start coming in and I'm like, >> "Okay." >> All right. >> I'm

in. >> Yeah. >> I'm in. So, this is uh this was back in in 2019, >> you know. >> And how did you know Jesus at the time? >> So, Jesus was my my friend and and mentor whenever I started working at JP Morgan as a as a personal banker uh several years before that also. So, we always maintain in in contact and it ultimately got to the point where I said, "Yeah, I'll come work for

you." Yeah. >> And uh and and that that relationship developed and Susan and I have done so much since then and empowered and helped so many families. uh we've hired you know dozens of employees and and we've done so many things together from from me working to you know for Jesus as as his mentee to us opening up u you know branches together and hired again hiring dozens of people and creating a mortgage broker shop and

and ultimately splitting ways but still very you know being very close friends that we're able to mastermind and collaborate together on a lot of things. We we speak at least you know we have a meeting at least once a month still. >> I love that. Yeah. And it I think that like speaks volume to your character and the kind of person that you are, right? Because so many people go through business and easily very easily start

saying the opposite thing. Man, you know that business partner fed that guy, right? Or that business partner screwed me over. And for you to be able to part ways with that business partner, uh, and shout out to Jesus, too, because I love the guy. Great guy. Um, and be able to sit here and say, "Hey man, like this was a part of my journey. Great guy. Uh, taught me a lot." and you know part ways we're

still friends still mastermind I think that's uh speaks volumes to your character so uh shout out Franklin >> No absolutely >> yeah uh so let's talk now about like so you're you're there at that point and you're like okay it's time for me to and I remember this this transition too by the way but for everyone that's listening let's talk a little bit about how you went into now okay you are partnered up with Jesus right

you're you're there you're working with him but now it's time for me to go on my own way, right? >> That's another step mentally, right? A big mindset jump now. So, >> let's talk about overcoming those obstacles, those fears, right? And having that courage now to jump now to saying, "Hey, I'm going to go and do my own thing 100% where you're 100% owner." Um, what was that like for you? >> And it takes so much,

right? So, you take the leap of faith, you start doing and investing in something new. Thankfully, I had the mentorship from an amazing loan officer, which which of course was Asus. And I remember starting in 2019 and my my biggest fear at at the time it changes so much as you're evolving through this entrepreneurship journey, right? But my biggest fear is like how the heck am I going to get some families to help? Nobody knows, you

know, what I'm doing in this industry. I'm completely new. I'm just starting out. I don't know how to close a loan or, you know, do so many things yet. But ultimately, some families start trusting you because of the the person and character that that you are. And then you just kind of get your hands dirty, right? you you you get get some blood, sweat, and tears uh and some sweat equity in the game and you start

uh finding ways to figure out how to help these families. So 2019, uh you know, my goal was to help 10 families that year. I think I did seven just kind of cuz it was towards the end of the year and I was very excited about that. Then 2020 starts up and we all know what what happened in 2020 starting kind of February or March COVID hits, right? the banks start shutting down and and everybody's thinking

in the in in many industries that this going to be like the worst thing that's this catastrophe that's about to happen. Little did we know that on the on the lending wave it was going to be one of the most you know >> profitable >> one of the most profitable things that that could potentially so I did I rode that wave. I mean in in 2020 I I uh I helped uh 55 families which that's a

decent number for for your first year. Yeah. >> Uh 2021. What does that equate to in uh in about revenue or in uh >> in commissions if I remember was roughly a little bit over 200,000 or so? >> 200K. >> 200K or so. Yeah. >> So that's the revenue that you made for or yourself >> for myself that year. And I'll tell you about I 14 I I didn't start closing any families until May >> uh

because everything that was happening in you know January, February, March had to transition companies and so many different things uh because of what was happening with COVID and restrictions and guidelines. Yeah. >> Uh, and then in August of that year, I helped 14 families and my it was my first >> in August. >> In August 20, I'm like my first 50 something,000 month and I go, "Mom, I made it." >> Yeah. >> Should I buy my

Ferrari now or later? >> Yeah. I'm like, "Here we go." Started, you know, buying me a couple nice things. It's kind of like a achievements or accomplishments for for some goals that I set for myself. And then uh and then making sure that I would put some money away to what I really want to do was like, okay, I think uh this is hasn't even been a full year, but I have some proof of concept that

I I can close 14 loans is that's that's pretty great. >> Uh then the year after that in 2021, I helped about 120 families or so. At that point, I'm like, okay, we need to start we need to start growing a team. >> Yeah. >> Um >> got to reinvest all that right back into the business. >> Absolutely. So it's you start doing an investment of time and capital into other people. you know, they're your brain

babies, the same way that I was for for my mentor then. And we started >> um started just duplicating ourselves through other people so we can have a a further reach and and help be able to help more families. >> Yeah. >> So, the transition went from, you know, loan officer into to like kind of team leader, right, that I had >> Yeah. >> a loan officer assistant and another loan officer that that helped me help

families. And then we started creating a processing team and a and a processor assistant that would handle the documentation, all the files. So everything from A to Z from talking to the client on that first initial call, motivating, empower them to to apply and find out where they're at, either giving them a plan of action or getting them pre-approved to to be able to move forward all the way to, you know, helping them through the contract

and everything that's needed, insurance, taxes, paperwork, all the way through closing and and beyond, right? We call them client for life because uh we'll still do check-ins, general check-ins throughout to make sure that they're doing the right things to continue building wealth for for their family through real estate, even if it's just a primary residence. >> Yeah. >> So that that's uh >> and everyone should continue buying real estate, right? So if if they buy from

you once, you know, it it makes sense to >> keep in touch with them and make sure that uh their financials stay in order so they can keep on purchasing properties, building their wealth through real estate. Absolutely. So I love that. Um let's talk. So that was that was uh right around what year? 2021 >> 2020. So we're talking 2020 2021 and 22 is whenever we uh we >> when you start scaling and actually like hiring

people. >> Yep. Created a we created a branch with myself uh and two other partners and then we started kind of building our own um uh mini teams right with within that branch where we started scaling a lot bigger. Um uh that that was through a retail organization called Guaranteed Rating. We did really really well with them. They gave us a lot of different tools uh and processes and systems and and everything that that we needed

to to begin scaling and then uh it got to a point where we decided to transition from the retail world to what we call the the broker channel. Um where we we do have a little bit more flexibility and leeway on how we want to scale. It's kind of like you pick the options that you want to grow with. You know >> what's the difference between the two? >> Typically on the on the retail side and

there's some there's some great retail lenders out there and some amazing loan officers that work for these retail lenders. Uh but but I would say what's different between the retail and the broker side, typically a pricing standpoint. On the broker side, pricing is a little bit better. We do have a lot more flexibility because we're not working with one direct wholesale lender. Like if you work for Chase, >> you can only do your loan at Chase,

right? >> If you're a broker, you could you can uh you can use, you know, different banks and different credit unions and different lenders and they have to have different uh niches and and appetite for for different consumers, clients, or families that we're helping. they're okay with, you know, some some of them give specific pricing uh for those people who have a lower credit, right? Some of them have niches for down payment assistance. Uh some like,

you know, your high 800 credit score, putting 20, 30, 40, 50% down and they'll give you a better rate that way. >> Uh whenever you go directly with with the bank, just kind of, you know, they have a little bit they have a little bit of everything, but not all the best bells and whistles, you know, shine appropriately because they obviously their investors have an appetite for something specific that they're looking for. So then you're able

to create an avatar for every single bank and be able to know this bank specializes in this niche. So therefore, Mr. Client, you fit into this bank right here. They're going to give you the best rate. >> So that that client, they may not have gotten approved somewhere else or not have gotten approved for exactly what maybe a different price point that they were looking for or an interest rate. we could potentially find them a lower

rate or a down payment assistance program or any kind of specialty program that that that bank specific bank may not have been offering. >> Um and and sometimes they do they get really competitive with very specific things. But the great thing about us is we can get competitive with everything not not anything specific because we have those those relationships. >> I love that. Love that. When did you start uh Warren's Financial Group? >> So Warren Financial

Group started last January actually. Yeah. >> 2024. >> 2024. Yeah. So, it's been it's been one year in inception and um I mean we're we're blessed and highly favored. We have such an incredible team. We uh uh we helped 44 families last month which was around $12 million in funding and that's not normal for a boutique uh mortgage broker uh shopping and we're we're scaling so much with these uh you know incredible individuals that we have

on the team and and some other ones that that are that are joining on board right now that we're we're going to take over slowly but sure. >> Yeah, absolutely. I love that. How many uh how many to to total employees do you have now? >> So we just uh hit 30 which is uh which is a milestone that comes with uh with some growing pains in in entrepreneurship, right? Uh 30 employees. We we've been really

>> really lucky that we've we've put the time and we're trying to grow it correctly. Not not too fast because we don't want a wildfire to kind of spread, but uh making sure we have the the right systems and processes in place uh when it comes to training and scaling somebody's business, getting them with the right partners. So 30 employees is a good number that we're likely going to hold for uh for the next few months

or so because our our job is we we want the people who join us to scale their business, right? We're not just hiring to hire and and letting you know letting everybody uh come in and I know you you've seen this. There's a couple people that we've discussed they're like, "Hey, they have their license or they, you know, they they want to get in the they want to get into this this world. They're really interested." It's

not it's not that simple. It doesn't just work like that. Yeah. >> Not at all. Uh it's it's a process and you need to bring on the uh the right people only. So 30 people in your office now. Let's talk about some of your biggest wins. Um what's the most amount of money that you've seen in any given year through your businesses? >> I mean it's it's in the multiple seven figures, you know, um on the

on the lower multiple seven figures, lower to mid multiple seven figures, but >> it's everything comes with with scalability. As the team continues to grow, uh so will the revenue right now. Uh the the great thing that uh that I really love is I don't I don't want to take a whole bite out of a grape. I'll take I'll take a small bite out of a watermelon. Yeah. >> If the rest of the team is eating

and doing well, then everything's going to be okay up top. Also, >> yeah. >> Uh it does come with, you know, as as an entrepreneur, you are you are the last to eat. As a boss, you're the last to eat. >> Yeah. And you carry all the risk, too. >> You carry all the risk and you're the first one to reinvest. You know, I've I've gone multiple months as as luxurious as some people can can make

it seem or look at me and then the lifestyle that I enjoy, which comes with a lot of freedom that I've that I've set up for myself as well. Um there's been multiple months that and you know this is not something that you're telling your employees on a dayto-day and they don't know what's on the account or what >> sometimes you take a loss. >> Sometimes you take a no. Yeah. Yeah. I think the the best

entrepreneurs are the ones who take the most L's and they're just they're learning opportunities, you know? >> Right. Right. Yeah, >> you got to keep on going even though you're going through failure sometimes and >> absolutely >> come on come up on the other side now more knowledgeable with more experience, more wisdom so you can make the right decision next time. >> So man, I think that's uh I think that's absolutely incredible. You know, the the

entire journey. Um let's talk about some of your biggest challenges that you're having right now, right? It seems like you're you're growing a lot. You're you're having a lot of people. What are some of your biggest challenges right now? Maybe in recruiting or with people like what what is your biggest challenge in your business right now? Yeah, I I'm glad that you brought recruiting up. I mean, uh we're in a people managing business, too. As a

team continues to grow, everybody has different uh different uh you know, beliefs and moral compasses and ways they like doing things. And again, we try to systematize, but we're not going to micromanage everybody that comes in. So, what our job is to kind of set a foundation for for the people who are there to scale, whether they're in operations or in sales. Uh, one of the challenges is is we want to make sure that, uh, we

we do take our time now, which is something that we've learned, you know, a little bit earlier on that we're hiring and firing the the right way. And we do we don't have a lot of attrition. We have we actually uh most of the people that come in, we haven't had to let many people go in the in the years that I've been in business. It's only been three. >> Um, and uh, we're still very, you

know, amicable and they're they're very thankful for the opportunity that they had with the company, which which means that we're doing something right. like they'll reach out to this day with messages of like, hey, I'm so thankful about the journey of the little bit of time that I spent with you guys. >> Uh but but hiring, I mean, hiring is something that I didn't know how to do really well at first. And it kind of started

with friends and family and and it's, you know, uh whenever you do friends and family, sometimes you forget in the beginning how to set the right expectations of, you know, what's expected, what are what do you bring to the table, what are they supposed to bring to the table, what are you going to do, and what are they supposed to do? What are you supposed to do together? Um, but that's that's uh that's something that that

we're overcoming and finding the right people is uh it's it's tough. We're lucky that some people find us and reach out and and then, you know, we hold interviews and, you know, build some rapport and bring them in. >> Yeah. >> Uh but a lot of times, you know, some people can interview really really well >> and and that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be your next, you know, your next killer and everything. >>

How have you gotten better at hiring better people over time? >> I have a a business coach. His name is Scott Rose. He's one of the top lend his name >> Scott Groves. >> Scott Groves. Okay. >> One of the top lending coaches in the in the in the US and he coaches, you know, uh branch managers and company owners and everything in between. And Scott has helped me with my, you know, with my business and

even some personal development. Um uh and he gives me a lot of tips and tricks on on the best way that he's found that he's done it, right? And and nobody has the perfect answer. >> Can you share some tips and tricks? >> Oh, absolutely. I mean, his his thing was hiring slow and firing fast. That's that's a really really big one. Making sure that you're not just looking at a resume, but doing research on somebody,

whether it's through social media channels, actually calling, you know, the their partners who who um who referred them or recommended them, seeing if you have anybody in common that you can reach out to. And um in the type of interview style that we do, it's not like, hey, what's your greatest weakness? You know, uh we do bring some of those things up, but we want to know how how somebody kind of reacts on a day-to-day in

this type of industry that we're in. you know, uh what would happen if if this scenario came up or um and and then also we want to find out what motivates people cuz everybody's motivated by something different. >> Yeah. >> Uh and in this business that we're in, don't get me wrong, most most of us are motivated by money >> and success, right? Absolutely. >> Um that's a really that's a really big one, but at the

end of the day, um there's there's always some intrinsic values that are really are going to get you out of bed. It gets to a point where you're making a certain amount of money and you're like, "This is not bringing me the same joy and happiness that it was." So what what motivates you Franklin? >> Oh man, what what really motivates me is seeing um I have a saying that I I I which is I want

to build my business around the lifestyle that I want to live. Freedom motivates me my family, right? Uh getting healthier and and focusing on that. Uh seeing my team develop and handle, you know, and and handle challenges. I my team wants to to grow. And whenever you're asking for growth, you're going to be given challenges to overcome. So, um, I like to be there to help them with leadership, mindset, development, uh, even file structuring, whatever it

may take to to see them get to that next level. Um, and it could be anything from, you know, help helping them become a better loan officer or helping them become a better team leader or or giving them and and trying the right decision, the direct decision as best as my opinion might be to u get healthier or, you know, become more what whatever it depends on on the goals that they're setting for themselves. >> Yeah,

I love that. Seeing people win also is a it's a huge thing for me. Like I love seeing people get to that next level, overcome barriers. Uh especially with my business, I I I love seeing my employees just constantly learn new things and being challenged. Um bringing in, you know, uh that next tier of revenue for them. It's it's beautiful to see. >> And I know we we've discussed this Jose and I had this, you know,

beautiful conversation and I think we were like in the Philippines somewhere in in a beach. And one of the things that that we discussed at the time is we we had really um I know I I went through it and and Jose went through it where we went to transition in life from health to wealth, right? And it gets to a point where you kind of let yourself go um which health is the foundation of a

lot of different things in life as as as we've uh found out and we kind of had let some of our health go and and kind of coming back around and and investing uh time because some some people become very wealthy and they try to buy their their health and that's not necessarily the the best play. I mean, it requires an investment of uh of time and and mindset as well to get you to that level.

And >> uh uh and you know, you're an inspiration when it comes to that. Like, you're so consistent. You're one of the most consistent individuals that I' that I've ever seen. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. >> I think I think uh you know, health always should always come first for most people. And I it baffles me >> to see some people, you know, talk so much about wealth and success and all these things and

then, you know, you look at them and they don't look healthy, right? and >> can't cash checks from the grave, you know. >> No, you can't, you know, but not only that, you know, like for example, if you if you're overweight, you know, not knocking, you know, body shaming anyone, but man, you can't enjoy life, you know. You can't go for a run. Uh I when I was fat and overweight, you know, this was, you know,

like maybe five, six years ago, I used to weigh like 260 lbs, something like that. I was ginormous, >> man. I felt sluggish, right? Depressed. And that's not the right way to enjoy life, you know? It's uh it's all about having uh just just this energy and charisma for life, you know, passion. You can't have that if you have all this extra weight on you. So, I'm really glad that we've uh after that trip, we definitely

got on our our ball and we've uh we've made a lot of strides there already. So, >> but Franklin, you mentioned something else, man, that I'm actually really curious about. You I love systems and processes, you I think like we've we've I've already talked to you about uh about systems and processes quite a bit, but can you share some of the most uh helpful systems and processes that you've seen in your business that are helping you

right now? >> So, I feel like if you can track it, you can grow it, right? So, um where focus goes, energy flows. >> Absolutely. So, we we track um what what are the non-negotiables uh for our sales team, which is pick up the phone, right? How many calls are you making? Everything has a numeric value into a certain conversion. Especially with us and our conversion uh is a lot higher than than industry than industry average.

So not not only do we call do we track the calls uh that are inbound and outbound, how many um uh what we call leads that are coming in and then ultimately what we want to do is we want to turn that lead into a client. We want to be able to to motivate them to find out uh like I mentioned earlier exactly what they qualify for, what programs are available or not. um if they do

have down payment assistance, if they need to be put on some type of action plan, if they need some credit help or some help with their taxes, we have the right partners to do all those things. If we have to put them on a savings plan or if they're ready to start building wealth through through real estate right away, whether it's their first primary or they're looking to do any kind of house hacking, we're very very

well verssed uh in in different things. Me being a, you know, an investor like like yourself here in the Houston area, having a little bit of everything from single family, multi, small apartment complexes, etc., um we've been able to dab and and understand and that's something that we coach to the team so they can uh then pass that along to to the families that we're helping. So, uh then we go from, you know, how many applicants

came in and we track on the the pre-approval ratios. How many how many people were we able to get pre-approved um and how many of those turned into a contract that ultimately is a family purchasing a home and and building wealth through real estate. So, those are our main metrics that that that we're tracking uh right now. >> Yeah. Yeah. And obviously, you want to always decrease that conversion, right? So, you want to make sure that

you're >> closing more deals per number of calls that you're making, right? >> Absolutely. >> So, I think that's a really good metric to to hold your team to. >> Um, >> and I'll tell you something about that industry average right now. Let's say if you get 10 10 applicants or so, right, in in that month, uh, you're supposed to pre-approve about two or three of them, which is 20 30% conversion. Okay? Uh, and and most

people who I who I've seen or, you know, brought on to the team and some loan officer I talked to, they're doing a little bit less. They're doing about 10 15% conversion. conversion. Yeah. Oh, wow. So, we've we've been on a four month what's three and a half months now. It's it literally started the last week of December of o over 50% conversion on everybody that applies with us. >> 50% >> over 50% conversion. Yeah. That's

high. >> Yeah. And I'm not saying 60 like there's literally 53 54 57 52. That's what we're seeing week over week over week over week because >> what do what do you think is attributing that success for you? Uh it's it's been uh I've always been very geeky and analytical and I've learned from a lot of top you know loan officers a lot of different tricks and trips and and ways to structure a file uh much

more so than than your ordinary or ordinary loan officer. So, um, you know, I can't I can't divulge exactly what some of those tricks are, but but but obviously everything within the guidelines, everything within the law of what, uh, this system that we use is called automatic underwriting systems that, uh, that that views at the risk, right? The risk of that client whenever we're looking at, you know, their credit and and it not only does it

look at their credit, but it looks like what items do they have on their credit, right? Is it is it somebody who's have a 780 credit score and they have two credit cards that they open up within a year? M that's a really high score, but it's very weak. You know, uh sometimes a client that has a, you know, the two homes and a several vehicles and multiple credit cards and they might have a late payment

or two and their credits in the 660 is going to have a higher um a higher approval odd sometimes than than that 780 that has those those two credit cards, right? >> Then we take a look at income as well. Income's a big factor on how much you're going to qualify for because between your credit, those debts, and the income that you're bringing in, Yeah. that's going to determine your ability to repay that that asset, that

mortgage or that liability, whatever you depending on on what you're purchasing, whether it's an investment or or something for your family. Uh, and then in income, there's there's different uh uh breaks that some people don't loan officers don't necessarily notice that this that the system is reviewing as far as risk, like what type of industry are you in? Are you a W2 employee that's on a salary? Are you a W2 employee that's variable? You do sales,

right? So, your income's kind of coming up and down through through time that you have to take into account. Are you self-employed? Did you just start or do you have a company that you've been running for 3, 5, 10, 15, 30 years? >> There seems to be like a ton of variables when it comes to actually qualifying a loan, right? So, >> how did you how did you how did you get to the point where you're

able to figure out all these different variables and be able to say, okay, based on all these different variables, this is how we can make a deal work. >> What does that take? >> Uh, so it took practice. Okay. It took ingenuity and it took uh definitely reaching out to I've never been afraid to ask for help. Reaching out to other people. >> Yeah. >> To run a scenario by them to see if they have something

and not not every time you reach out to somebody with, you know, this these kind of kooky weird scenarios that would come up for me >> uh did we find a way uh to do it, but ultimately after doing it enough, I mean I mean I'm talking thousands and thousands and thousands if not if not tens of thousands of times, you know. Um I've I've talked to in the last couple years over 10,000 clients at least

just myself. I I imagine now the team that we have just how big our reach is, how many families we're talking to every month. Uh so >> it it it definitely took some ingenuity uh looking at that you know different variables in the credit and the income and how to structure assets where the funds are coming from what it was okay with and um and practicing man you know. >> Yeah. >> I love that. >> Let

me ask you a question. Out of all of your experience that you've had, what has been the three most important key takeaways for your success? Well, that's a great question. Really putting me on the spot on that one. But I can tell you what, whatever comes to mind first, right? It's not it's not something that um I've necessarily have um have logged in. I'll tell you consistency is a huge one, right? >> Oh, yeah. >> Going

back to it. Just staying consistency. >> Consistency. Consistency beats so many different things in life. Um >> um I can't even tell you motivation or no uh consistency will create everything. It'll create discipline or create >> the habits the habits that and rituals that will take you to that point. Right. >> Um the other one is creating the right uh the right team. >> Creating the right team. >> Creating the right team has been a huge

huge huge uh win for me. anything from um we have some middle management unlike some other mortgage brokers we have some middle management uh I have a COO her name is Adriana Gomez and she does so many things for the company I mean she's just absolutely incredible she was my first hire been with me for about four years or so and I've known Adriana for over a decade now we worked at the bank together I mean

she runs operations hiring firing training delegates compliance a thousand and one in one things that that she's good at uh she's getting ready to kind of you know bring an assistant in in on her own. Uh for us, we have a VP of sales, right, who provides development, coaching, uh recruitment as well, acquisitions of loan officers and helps with scalability and creates practice. He's the one who tracks all our KPIs. >> Uh he's the one who

tracks all of our all of our metrics, right? Because it's not something that I would create the time to >> what's his position >> to do myself. VP of sales. >> VP of sales. >> So he keeps track of all the KPIs. >> Yep. And then from that is is the the hierarchy continues as uh team leaders, right? team leaders in processing and then team leaders uh and loan officers who have, you know, junior loans or

loan officers or loan officer assistants that that work for them in processing. They have processor uh you know, processor assistants or or loan managers on on either side >> and um making sure we have the right people in the in the right seats. I mean, I I held them, you know, we we know about entrepreneur operating systems. I have level Yep. have a level 10 meeting every Tuesday >> uh you know at at 10 with uh

with my leadership team and we discuss >> how how to the inefficiencies that we're going that we're looking at the growing pains what are wins personal w everything and then whenever you you do all these things is not just talking about them right because a lot of entrepreneurs have a lot of these really great ideas and I should market and I should do social media and I I should do anything will almost anything will work with

with consistency >> consistency do it over and over again >> over and over and Uber and and and finding what those inefficiencies are and and restructuring and putting the right, you know, things in place, systems and processes like you mentioned. >> Yeah. And you mentioned something really important and you know, you you uh touched very briefly on it, but picking the right team, right? That's a it's a big pretty broad statement, right? Let's get into the

nitty-gritty in that, right? Because EOS is one of the tools that you actually use to be able to pick up pick the right team. But what other tools or specific technical information or tips and tricks can you share with people so that they can they can learn how to pick the right team? I mean everything that you were mentioning like the Oric chart, you know, you're mentioning you you got a COO, you have a VP of

sales. All of that is not, you know, that doesn't come from thin air, right? It it came from somewhere. How did you learn all that? >> And and I love to share the the story of kind of like how it happened for um for myself and Adriana, how we've gotten to this point together, right? where she's literally running a large part of the company with um with the team leads and and everybody has a has a

part in it. But but building the right team doesn't like you mentioned doesn't just kind of fall off of a tree, you know, right? >> Uh it takes time and you don't just hire a COO. >> No, >> Adriana was hired as a loan manager, loan officer assistant. Yeah. >> Learning how to make calls, gather documents. >> She earned her stripes. >> Absolutely. More more more than uh more than anybody else. Yeah. >> Um, reviewing income

and pre-approving and understanding how credit works and taxes and so many different things that you have to learn on on the on the lending side to be very proficient. And uh, and then it she worked her way up into, you know, uh, loan pre-approval manager and then processor and then processing manager and then operations manager, branch manager and now ultimately COO. Just imagine all the different skill sets that you have to continue learning to develop to

get to that co position. Now co is a is a very grandiose position is up there right that doesn't mean that she's done learning I mean there's so many things that that we're continuing to learning as we're going through uh through growths and recruiting and growing pains of you know small what could be uh a small inner office conflict that just kind of takes some you know some communication within the team and resetting boundaries and expectations.

So uh picking the right team doesn't uh it's not just about picking the individual itself. You you want to look for people who have heart and drive but it's also going to require development development on the person that that you're bringing in and then development for yourself. >> I don't have a ceiling. I can't give myself a glass ceiling because I don't want there to be a you know a top or a ceiling for any of

the you know partners, workers, employees, whatever you know anybody wants to call them that we have within the company. Our goal is to help them scale to as big as they possibly can. Whether uh you know, even if that includes me, I was I was an incredible originator. You know, my best year I did about 70 million, helped 200 and something families. But I want all of my team members and and and then some to be

able to build to that and and continue growing, right? Uh develop their own team, their own branches, which is something that that we're looking to do in the in the future. And what I'm really in love with is um and and I love lending. I love helping families build wealth through real estate. But what I love even more than that is seeing these individuals develop and being a in a leadership position. Uh being a leader doesn't

come easy to me necessarily. It's something that I have to invest in through mentorship, coaching. >> It's an everyday thing. >> It's an everyday thing. I mean reading, you know, leaders are readers, right? How to influence and influence people. It's a great, you know, the the Carney book. I was a little bit of an back in the day. Now I found ways to kind of rephrase myself to be more motivating and empowered to the individuals that

I'm that I'm speaking with. Then >> uh there's there's so many ways, but you kind I have to stay consistent in in developing me >> for my team as well, >> right? >> Yeah. >> So, to summarize it all up, >> we're picking picking the right team and I believe that all of that came because of your ability or your drive to consistently invest in yourself to develop yourself as a leader >> and myself and and

and others. Yeah. >> Yourself and others. Yeah. But I feel like whenever you invest in yourself as a leader, in turn that makes you naturally invest into other people because at the end of the day, whenever you're developing yourself as a leader, you're not doing it for yourself, right? You're doing it for other people. You're doing it so you can be a better person. You can be a better leader. You can be a better uh friend,

a better confidant. And uh you're not doing it for yourself, right? You you want to do it for the people that you work with, the people that you serve, your clients, your customers, your partners, and everyone. So >> um I I think it all kind of just falls into all that together. So >> that was the second thing. You know, we mentioned uh the three things that made you successful. Number one is consistency. Number two is

picking the right team. What would you say number three is? >> It's a good number. Honestly, um, one that's been that's been really big, uh, you know, consistency and having the right team. The other one that's been really big is, um, and we we discussed a little bit of it, but it's in investing in yourself, right? Making sure that wheel of life is, uh, is being nurtured and and watered in in a lot of different aspects.

Um, and that kind of goes back to, you know, to consistency and and also to having the right team so you can be able to do things like staying healthy and going to the gym or um, you know, having your those those meetings that you don't miss with your your development coach. >> Um, those meetings that you have with with the team. So, uh, whatever we want to chalk that uh up to be, but mentorship, mentorship

has been a really um a really really big one for me. Um, mentorship has helped me with with a lot because they they they provide for me what I need sometimes as as a person is it's really tough to give yourself accountability. >> Yeah. >> Right. So, when you have somebody that can uh remind you and get on you, whether it's, you know, an incredible friend like you and we could go, hey, I haven't seen that

you've been going to the gym recently or uh hey, what's what's going on with that business you said that you got started? Did you finalize those, you know, whenever we touch base again, every time we see each other, did you finalize that process? that you bring on that a player that you had been that you've been so excited and you've been talking about for some time. Yeah. >> Um >> and I feel like whenever we do

it for each other, there's always like it's never any judgment. It's more so like because we care about each other, right? It's like, "Hey man, like you said you were going to do this. What's going on with it?" You know, like is >> is there anything missing, you know, what's holding you back, right? And I think just that questioning alone is enough to be able to like give yourself a kick in the ass and say, >>

"Hey, man, you're right. like there's there's absolutely nothing that's holding me back and it's just myself, so let me go ahead and get my ass to it and do it. >> And sometimes we're looking for just, you know, a sounding board so we can, you know, go over some ideas and, uh, there's different things that work for for for our businesses that that could potentially we could collaborate on that that work for each other. >> Um,

I mean, you are somebody who motivated me to create systems and processes in place. I remember uh I don't even remember where we were in the world on on this trip, but uh what country we're in and you're showing me on your phone how you have a a detailed um uh you know the processes and procedures literally >> from A to Z what every player supposed to do and and that's something that we ultimately created. You

kind of you know it took me some time but it was it was years later. Yeah. um where where we do have scripting and a lot of different tools available for for our members to kind of take and run and create their own from it based on their personality and their clientele and everything like that. >> Yeah, I love that man because I you know when you surround yourself with the right individuals like it just it

just feels like everything flows better, right? And not only that like we we're able to offer each other value, right? This is the struggle that I'm going with. Have you ever gone through this? Right? what can you what have you done and if you were been in a similar situation right and we we go on these trips and we you know we're all over the world we're in Asia we're in you know in South America we're

in Europe you know we're in Iceland and the entire time it's just not nothing but masterminding um so I think it's so important for people out there to to realize that they need to surround theirelves around the people that they want to be like right number one but before that even uh before that even happens right people need to understand that you need to become that person first. Yeah. >> Right. So, it it goes back to

self-development. It goes back to leadership. You got to invest in yourself, right? Invest in mentorship. Um I think that's something that people really take for granted. But, you know, I'm really glad that you and I both uh took that path a long time ago and we invested I invested a lot in myself as well. So, >> absolutely >> uh super super huge and important. something I see in you and you you recommended a book to me

called the go-giver, you know, which which uh you're kind of like coming in from a value standpoint, always always looking to add value before you even earn the right to um to ask for whatever it might be, business or time or uh a friendship. We we see this a lot where um we have a very close-knit, you know, we call it a tribe, but you know, our our group uh our mastermind group, it's very close close-knit

and and people come in all the time be like, I'd love to travel with you guys. And yeah, like you don't just earn that right away. You know, you it's really tough to um to help make somebody understand just how close our our community is, that that group is, you know, how much we take care of each other, how much we invest in each other. Uh and I'm not talking just money because we have done that

too, right? By uh by by sharing uh business ideas or colleagues or you know, so many different things. resources, >> resources, but time, you know, where where we we'll go work out together or we'll meet and >> and we'll do so many different things to to help each other develop. >> Yeah. >> Um and and u you know, it starts by by giving. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. For anyone that's listening, if you know, if you're

looking to get, you know, at least plugged into the right people, I would say figure out a way to figure out what that person needs. figure out if if you want to be friends with someone, figure out what that person needs, you know, figure out the pain points, figure out what's missing in their life, and then offer it to them as a solution for absolutely free. Uh, and I think that, you know, naturally we're we're human

beings. We're we're humans of uh reciprocity and we want to like give back. So, if you're giving to me, I want to give back to you, right? So, I think that that's probably one really important way for someone to be able to offer value to someone. Figure out what that what someone needs and then offer it. So, >> well, um, Franklin, I think, uh, I think this has been a great episode, man. >> Yeah, I know.

I I love being here and and if I could close out with, um, uh, with something, if there's anybody out there that's in the in the lending space and real estate space and and you're looking for ways to grow or scale your business, my phone line's always open. I'll give it to you guys. It's 7023766240. I'm sure we'll, you know, you throw up uh, whatever might be the Instagram uh, handle or anything like that. Feel free

to get connected with >> Yeah. What's your Instagram? Franklin Warren WS. We love providing value. You know, if if uh you reach out to us, whether it's myself or somebody else on our leadership team or some one of our team leaders or loan officers, we love adding value back to our community, whether it's helping somebody through uh credit, taxes, income, uh getting pre-approved all the way to different things that we do to scale our business, market

insights, getting them in contact with whoever we think would be a good fit uh for for them or their business. So guys, feel free to uh reach out to myself or Jose. >> Yeah, >> another incredible person with a lot of, you know, a tremendous book of a black book of contacts here in the in the Houston area and then some >> quite a bit of contact. Yeah, >> absolutely. So, we we'd love to we'd love

to help and add value. If there's anybody that you feel like uh would benefit from having a conversation with us, that's exactly what what we're here to do. We'd love to help them grow. >> Love it. Love it. Well, thank you so much for joining. This is uh episode two of Pick Up the Phone Podcast and uh we'll see you on the next one, bro. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.