We recently connected with Lynda Martin-Lawley and have shared our conversation below.

Lynda, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe that all success starts with passion and a vision! I have worked with and coached high-performing sales professionals most of my mortgage banking career and have found there are a few attributes that had positioned them for optimal success.

1) Positivity
2) A clear set of goals & objectives
3) An unstoppable tenacity
4) Adaptability, agility and innovation
5) Always have a Plan B ready for market shifts, competition and growth

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in a creative, Bohemian family in LA in the early 60’s. My father worked out of our garage as an upholsterer to the entertainment community and my mom could literally do anything with her hands…seamstress, painter, antique refinisher and an extraordinary cook/baker. My creative and foodie roots go way back and I was certain that I would become an artist or teacher.

I should also mention that my strong, maternal grandmother escaped from Russia to the US in the 30’s and was the quintessential immigrant ‘American Dream’ story. Her strength and work ethic still inspire me to this day.

Fast forward to my mid 20’s…and as ironic as life can be…I ended up working for a mortgage banking company that was poised to become dominant in our industry and ultimately a Fortune 100 company. Although working in finance and a corporate environment was not my 1st choice in careers(!) I discovered that I was able to mentor/teach my adult team the biz and mortgage banking was the “vehicle” to allow my passion for Leadership to shine through.

I worked for 3 subsidiaries of this Lender over a wonderful 25 year career, led the #1 team(s) that held all company sales performance records. I am most proud of the legacy of tens of thousands of families that we helped buy their homes and my devoted team members that were committed to servicing their needs.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Mortgage banking is a roller-coaster of cycles. We never knew when the ‘up or down’ may occur. as we were affected by economic trends, the real estate market, investor gyrations and most importantly, interest rate increases or decreases.

For those of us that wanted to sustain in a volatile industry (that we willingly signed on for!) we quickly realized the vital importance of: resilience, tenacity and adaptability. This is a key component in ANY new or established business.  Having a Plan B, C or D ready to execute to offset a down cycle in your business, could make the difference whether you survive, or not.

One example of how we were inherently agile and able to course-correct was when Covid hit. Our sales teams needed to adapt from a personalized, ‘in the field’ model to remote Zoom communication. They leveraged people being home and feeling isolated to dig deep into their needs to maximize refinancing their homes to expand or renovate, rather than move, as home prices were sky-rocketing at that time.

What was most apparent to me was the positivity they applied to a devastatingly difficult era. They were used to finding alternative solutions expeditiously and this was their primary philosophy of how they approached business. A good lesson!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m not certain ‘unlearn’ is the best term…but ‘learn’ is a better starting point to illustrate my story for those Solopreneurs or early founders. When I started my career I was a one person show and worked hard to please my various bosses and mentors. I learned quickly and I had a strong work ethic and I felt valued as part of a fast growing company.

Just to give the readers some perspective, when I started with this Lender in 1983, they had about 150 employees. When I retired in 2007…they had 60,000 and I had witnessed and been part of many, chaotic growth cycles.  I had my 1st employee train and mentor me(!) by sharing that I was still doing all the work myself and not allowing her to rise (and sometimes fail) on her own. It was the best advice I got in my early career! As your businesses grow and scale, you must trust your team to handle their areas of responsibility with the following guidance:

– DELEGATE! Determine what the best time and use of your talents are. Delegate/out-source other functions
– Have you given them all the tools they need to be successful?
– Have they received the appropriate training?
– Monitor their performance until you are confident that are on the right path
– Recognize and acknowledge good performance

Last philosophic insight: “Fail Fast”…learn the lesson and make NEW mistakes! There is no such thing as perfection in life or business and dwell on the successes, not the failures.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://teamlml.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyndamartinlawley/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-martin-lawley-3baa229/