Loan officers are very much front and center
Scott Valins (pictured) always wanted to grow his business – but he simply didn’t have the time. Speaking to MPA, he said that it was a chat with a buddy that inevitably led to both personal and professional growth.
“I was having a conversation with my best friend who’s built very large, successful companies – and he questioned why I hadn’t ever tried to scale my business beyond my personal production,” said Valins. “My answer was I really never had time to go find the right partners that could help me do this - because I was aware of my strengths but also of my limitations.”
Now, as co-founder and CEO of GoRascal, he looks back at this moment as the start of it all. It was a process of continuing to add the right kind of people to Valins’ team - individuals with diverse skill sets and differing experiences.
“My friend actually introduced me to people at his company who’re looking for new opportunities and who already had the experience. One of the guys he introduced me to was David, a senior operations teammate who worked with him from the early stage startup to the exit of a business.”
This was the first step. Valins recognized the potential of combining his industry knowledge with David’s fresh, operationally savvy perspective. Together, they embarked on a mission to transform the customer service aspect of the mortgage industry.
Their initial strategy? Building a strong team of loan officers, not based on experience but on their innate service-oriented personalities. And from there, Valins and his team aimed to nurture and grow this talent, focusing on providing unparalleled customer service.
The industry’s dynamics, however, led to a strategic pivot. Rising mortgage rates and changing market conditions in the early 2020s prompted a revaluation of their business model.
“We realized there wasn’t enough business for our team to stay excited about the mortgage business,” Valins admitted.
How GoRascal changed its approach
This realization led to an innovative approach, leveraging the growing potential of the mortgage broker channel. Valins and his team shifted their focus to creating a unique consumer experience, differentiating themselves in an increasingly competitive market. The new mission was clear – to build the happiest home for loan officers, which in turn would translate into exceptional service for the end consumers.
Discussing the brand ‘Go Rascal’, Valins highlights the importance of a consumer-facing image that is both engaging and unconventional. The name, developed with a branding agency, was chosen to reflect an approachable, dynamic, and slightly countercultural image, resonating well with their target audience, especially in a bustling city like New York.
“The idea was to have more of a consumer facing brand and be very retail about it,” he said. “And again, when I say retail, I don’t mean the retail that everyone else thinks. We wanted, being in New York City, to attract people coming out of college who were interested in tech and going into the tech industry.
“So if we put a techie sound on our company and we were counterculture, maybe we could recruit some really good talent that way.”
And Valins isn’t alone in his search for top tier mortgage talent – something made even more competitive in the ongoing labour shortage. According to data from ManpowerGroup, 77% of employers are struggling to fill job vacancies – making this the highest talent shortage in 17 years.
Valins is optimistic about the future of both the sector and of GoRascal, however – despite the perils and pitfalls of the last few years.
“We had a pretty big operational staff, processors - a lot of them going into support existing growth,” he said. “What we were projecting to be a rocket ship style of growth pivoted – and in the spring of 2022, there were massive amounts of layoffs.
“This was the first time in my career that I had been exposed to anything like that at that scale. David had some experience in dealing with firings and whatnot – so it was great I had him to lean on when going through that. I think it was a really good introduction to the mortgage business for him. While no-one wishes this upon anyone, we got lean, we made really good, smart decisions – and that’s just carried on now.”
And, with over 100 licensed loan officers on the books, GoRascal is primed for whatever the future throws their way. Especially considering how passionate Valins is about being a hands-on CEO.
“Given that I still originate a bit, I enjoy being in the weeds and having my finger on the pulse from the origination in the sales side. This allows me to impart my knowledge from my 20 years in this business of how to go about it the right way. While our mission is to build the happiest home for loan officers, we still ingrained that part hustle ownership piece through my weekly sales calls that I host.
“We’re hopeful we can grow and add many 100s more loan officers, preserve the brand and the reputation as well as bring on the right people. They’ll go on to be stewards of GoRascal.”
