Chasing Excellence

Chasing Excellence is a podcast for founders, operators, and leaders focused on building high-performing businesses. Each episode features in-depth conversations with top performers across industries—with a strong focus on the mortgage industry, where success depends on consistent deal flow, efficient systems, and sharp execution. We break down: What’s driving revenue right now The marketing and sales systems that actually convert The real bottlenecks that are slowing down growth How top mortgage brokers and lenders scale in a competitive, regulated market This isn’t theory or recycled advice—these are real conversations with people actively building and scaling. If you're in the mortgage industry and want to grow smarter, simplify your systems, and close more deals consistently, this podcast is built for you.

Chasing Excellence is a business podcast hosted by Tony Thompson, with 19 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Tony Thompson hosts Chasing Excellence, a business show with 19 episodes published.

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  Chasing Excellence

  From Dropout to $80 Million: Jennifer Kline's Space Coast Mortgage Story at Neighborhood Loans

  Aug 30, 202621 min

  Jennifer Kline is the Spacecoast Area Manager at Neighborhood Loans in Melbourne, Florida, a nine-year mortgage veteran closing more than $80 million a year who joined Neighborhood Loans this past February. Jennifer never set out to work in mortgage — she started as a mobile loan closer for extra income while staying home with her daughter during the mid-2000s refinance boom, all while working toward a teaching degree and eventually a master's degree aimed at becoming a school principal. Instead, an opportunity opened at Chase's loss mitigation center, and mortgage became her career by accident rather than design; she was named Rookie of the Year in her first year in the business. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Jennifer joins host Tony Thompson to talk about treating her business like an actual business rather than tracking leads on sticky notes, mentoring young female real estate agents as what she calls a "mentor mom," and her own homeownership story — buying her first home at 24 with down payment assistance, then using that equity to help fund a business her husband ran for 25 years, a chain of events that ultimately helped fund 30 more home transactions. What You'll Learn: Why Jennifer calls real estate "psychological selling" in a fear-driven, high-rate market How treating her business like an actual business — not sticky notes — quadrupled her production Why she now mentors young female real estate agents as a "mentor mom" figure Her own down-payment-assisted first home purchase, and how the equity from it funded 30 more home transactions Why she considers herself a "hold" on herself — and what Tony thinks she's missing Connect with Jennifer Kline: https://neighborhoodloans.com/jennifer-kline/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-kline-19403363/ Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

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  Chasing Excellence

  40 Years, One Rule — Always Answer: Sergio Gutierrez's Playbook at GRC Lending in Miami

  Aug 30, 202623 min

  Sergio Gutierrez is the Broker Owner of GRC Lending in Miami, Florida, 40 years into a mortgage career built on straight answers and hard-won referrals. Sergio got his real estate license first, but three months in, a friend named Carmen suggested he also get his mortgage broker's license "just in case." He passed on his first attempt, and within six months had left real estate behind entirely — mortgage, he says, was his "actual click." GRC Lending takes its name from the last-name initials of Sergio and his original partners, with a company slogan, "Get Ready Close," built around a Formula One-style logo. Sergio's business leans heavily on Miami's immigrant community — clients from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Philippines — and he's candid about the real obstacles they face: high property taxes that price out mid-income buyers, and lending restrictions for non-permanent resident borrowers, even those who've lived in the country for years. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Sergio joins host Tony Thompson to talk about why he never dodges a phone call, why telling a client the truth — even a "no" — has built him more business than competitors who overpromise, and the story of client Eric Gray: a failed loan, an honest phone call, and six buyer referrals since. What You'll Learn: Why "commission breath" and dodging tough calls are, in Sergio's words, what kills a mortgage business How honestly telling a client "no" in two days built him more repeat business than competitors who dragged out a "no" for three months The real lending obstacles facing Miami's immigrant homebuyers — high property taxes and restrictions on non-permanent residents His advice to young originators: invest your commissions into real estate equity instead of spending it The story of client Eric Gray — a failed loan, an honest phone call, and six buyer referrals since Connect with Sergio Gutierrez: http://www.grclending.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergio-gutierrez-273b7222/ Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

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  Chasing Excellence

  The Villages, Florida: Guy's Playbook for Leading the #1 Real Estate Team for 6 Years Running

  Aug 30, 202620 min

  Guy Williams Jr. is Team Lead and Co-Owner of the Roberts Williams Team at RE/MAX Premier Realty in The Villages, Florida, the #1-producing Realtor team in The Villages and surrounding areas for six consecutive years, with more than $400 million in total sales and nearly 1,000 families served since 2020. For years, Guy and his business partner and brother-in-law, Matt Roberts, ran the team without real systems in place until late 2023 and early 2024, when they made their first hires, built out a full team of eight, and brought on a business coach through The CORE, a lender and real estate coaching organization. Following that coach's playbook — with a deliberate focus on repeat business and referrals over pure transaction volume — the team has doubled its business in the past two years. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Guy joins host Tony Thompson to talk about avoiding what he calls "commission breath," his "Bigger Pile Theory" for chasing mentors across every area of life, and why he's more excited than afraid about where AI is taking the real estate industry. What You'll Learn: Why Guy warns against "commission breath" — and how it kills repeat business and referrals His "Bigger Pile Theory": constantly seeking out mentors across family, fitness, finance, business, and spirituality How hiring a business coach in 2024 helped the Roberts Williams Team double its business in two years Why he believes AI will enhance relationships in real estate, not replace them His prediction that two-thirds of the industry could shift to discount/flat-fee brokers within 3-4 years — and why relationship-focused agents will still win Connect with Guy Williams Jr.: https://www.robertswilliamsteam.com/ | https://www.remax.com/real-estate-agents/guy-williams-the-villages-fl/102073657 Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with top producers and leaders across real estate and mortgage.

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  Episode #19

  $1M Down the Hard Way: Sukesh Shekar's Path from McKinsey to Founding Altgage in Boston

  Aug 25, 202620 min

  Sukesh Shekar is the Founder and CEO of Altgage, a mortgage company he built in Boston after a $1 million home purchase of his own turned into an education in everything wrong with the mortgage process. Before mortgage, Sukesh was a junior partner at McKinsey & Company — a Ph.D. and Notre Dame alum who assumed a home purchase would be straightforward given his own financial background. Watching how opaque and frustrating it was, even for a high-income household with a physician wife, is what pulled him fully into the industry roughly three to four years ago. Altgage's approach leans on details most brokers skip: watching the 10-year treasury for the right moment to lock a rate, waiving escrow where it genuinely helps a borrower, and structuring loans around how a client's income actually qualifies — all sped up by AI tools Sukesh uses to learn faster and analyze deals. His take on where the industry is headed: as AI takes over more of the mortgage process, the brokers who stay curious and keep the human guidance sharp are the ones borrowers will still need. What You'll Learn: Why Sukesh believes human guidance becomes more valuable, not less, as AI advances How watching the 10-year treasury can help time a rate lock Why "insanely curious" is his #1 trait for new loan originators What his own home-buying experience taught him about fixing the mortgage process Connect with Sukesh Shekar: https://www.altgage.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukesh-shekar/ Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

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  Episode #18

  $30M and Still Self-Processing: Mario Escobedo's Relationship-First Playbook at Sienna Mortgage

  Aug 18, 202612 min

  Mario Escobedo is the Broker/Owner and Senior Mortgage Advisor at Sienna Mortgage in Henderson, Nevada, and he does something most high-level originators avoid: he's simultaneously the top producer, the broker-owner, and the one still processing his own loans. Mario grew up around the mortgage business, stepped away for a stretch, and came back to it in 2016-2017, bringing a corporate sales background with him. He named the company Sienna Mortgage after his niece Sienna, his wife's goddaughter — reasoning there was no better name for a business built on family and trust. Today Sienna Mortgage does more than $30 million a year in production, almost all of it purchase business, growing 15-20% year over year. Mario credits relationship-based sales as his edge, running quarterly realtor masterminds with 15-25 agents to keep those referral relationships sharp. His view on sales is simple: it's the ability to build trust with somebody — nothing more complicated than that. What You'll Learn: Why Mario treats sales as "the ability to build trust with somebody" How running quarterly realtor masterminds keeps referral relationships alive Why staying hands-on as a self-processor makes him a better broker-owner What it took to grow Sienna Mortgage 15-20% year over year Connect with Mario Escobedo: https://siennamortgage.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-escobedo-2a6b37132/ Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

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