Russell Petty

CTO at Milestone Mortgage

Speaker

I started in mortgages building out software (Encompass) for a small broker shop in Charlotte, NC when I was a teenager. I was employee 12.

Even back then, I was very driven and saw the opportunity in becoming a loan officer my very first week there and never looked back.

I was not good at mortgages for the first few years. I started a mortgage brokerage and I had no idea what I was doing. I burned through money the first year and went through some very hard times. I was sleeping in my office to get more hours, I was trying everything.

I did not give up, I did not make excuses, and I continued to work harder and harder, and I exited that company with $2m+ 18 months after opening.

I then went from the broker side of things to the retail side of things with a lender. I missed owning my own company after about a year or so there and decided to open up another brokerage - Grow Mortgage.

I learned from the mistakes of my first company and Willow Home Loans is thriving because of them. We have a team of over 30 people now and we are growing at an incredible rate through one of the worst markets imaginable.

We are doing it by sticking together and keeping focus on why we do what we do - to help homebuyers. Transparency, keeping the buyer first no matter what, and communication even when it’s hard are three of our most important core values.