She says turning pain into purpose can help brokers offer the best possible service
With over two decades of industry experience to her name, Sabeena Bubber (pictured), mortgage professional at Verico Xeva Mortgage, pointed to her dedication to the job as a major factor in her long-term success.
Bubber started working in the industry in 1999, when she entered Avco Financial Services. This formative experience was crucial, as it was at Avco where she “learned everything about lending, credit, sales, and running a business.”
“I then moved into an underwriting position with a B Lender for a few years before becoming a mortgage broker,” Bubber told MBN. “I got into mortgage brokering because I was a hard worker and I loved the relationship side of the business and was used to working long hours with my prior employers with no financial benefit of doing so.”
Bubber recalled that this was a welcome change from her previous challenges in other industries.
“I figured that moving into a commission-based position might help me to earn based on my efforts and give me more flexibility in terms of controlling my environment,” Bubber said. “One of my frustrations as an employee was that no matter how hard I worked, that even if I wanted to take a longer lunch hour, they didn’t want me to as it wasn’t fair to the rest of the team. I was there two hours before anyone and I was the last one to leave every day, but an extra 15 minutes for lunch, I knew I needed something that allowed me to be more independent.”
Bubber owned her own firm from 2007 to 2013, until she merged her operations with several others in Vancouver to form Xeva Mortgage. She also founded 100 Brokers Who Care in 2016, “which really should be Hundreds of Brokers, as we now have over 170 members across Canada.”
“We all chip in $100 per quarter and nominate and vote on families and causes that are in need of additional financial help,” Bubber said. “By the end of this month, we will have given away over $160,000 and some of that has been to people in our own mortgage community who have the need.”
But the road to helping others is never an easy one, especially when one has to wrestle with personal struggles.
“The dips – we have all had them and they aren’t necessarily market based dips,” Bubber said. “Dips in business, dips in motivation, dips in purpose and drive. I’ve had dips that have lasted an entire year. These lead into my limiting beliefs of why I don’t believe in myself sometimes and how I can equally self-sabotage when some external factors are in play. I have done a lot of work to put these behind me.”
In Bubber’s case, pain was transformed into purpose.
“I help a lot of clients going through separation and divorce. After I went through it myself, I realized that there was so much that I didn’t know about how agreements can be structured differently to allow people to qualify for financing,” Bubber said. “I work with self-employed individuals on strategies around this, as well as divorcing women who need help understanding their own finances and credit and how getting divorced will impact their housing and finances and help them find the resources they need.”
