Full Transcript is Below:
– Welcome in to our Top Producer series for the month of May, 2021. I’m NFM TV’s Greg Sher. We go to Bend, Oregon, where we welcome in Ryan Bundy from one of his two locations in Bend, Oregon. He also has a location in his hometown of Lake Stevens where he’s a very well-known commodity. We’ll get into that in a moment. But before we do that, Ryan, thanks for being with us on NFM TV. You are our top producer for the month of May.
– Thanks, Greg. Good to be here.
– Ordinarily, we do the personal stuff at the end but you’ve got quite a story that I want to get into. You were inducted into the Lake Stevens High School Hall of Fame in 2018, because you were a superstar athlete, both in high school and in college. I’m just going to read some of your accolades here. You were an All State linebacker. As a sophomore and junior baseball player, you were the team MVP of Mr. Baseball. You also graduated with a 3.9 GPA. You were then given a full ride to the University of Washington, Division One, obviously, where you started at catcher, and you led the team in hitting as a freshmen. In 1998, you were named the second best defensive player in the country. And you also help your team win a Pac-10 title in 1997 and 1998 before you were drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round. Take us from that day you were picked by the Toronto Blue Jays until the end of your baseball career. How long did it last and what did you learn?
– The draft was in June of ’98. I was super excited like that whole year. I kind of knew I was going to be a higher draft pick and the anticipation, you know to be a professional baseball player is super exciting. So when I signed with the Blue Jays, I went over to St. Catherine’s Ontario. They shipped me off to Short A, and I was like homesick, in culture shock. And just, I felt really alone in a lot of ways because I’d been around people I really loved and trusted on the University of Washington baseball team. So the structure of college baseball and the comradery, you lose all that when you go to professional. That was a big adjustment. I didn’t do real well that summer, you know, just struggling with that transition. At the end of that season, I just didn’t know if I wanted to play anymore. You know, I think I lost the love of baseball. It wasn’t about winning anymore. And it wasn’t about your teammate. It was really just solely, you’re on your own and that kind of mentality, you know, it just wasn’t for me. And I just decided that at that point I was ready to move on with my life.
– What kind of toll does that take on you being a highly touted superstar drafted by a major league baseball team and then coming to the realization shortly thereafter that your heart wasn’t in it anymore?
– You know, coming in as a catching prospect and a high draft pick, all eyes are on you. I didn’t know how to handle it ’cause I knew everybody, when I go back to the dugout, after striking out and struggling, I knew that people were talking about me. “Look at this guy, he was a high draft pick.” “He’s not even that good.” And that all got in my head. And when that gets in your head and you don’t have the tools to deal with it you know, it’s destructive. Literally there’s a gaping hole in your soul that you have to find a way to fill. Well, you know, at 24 years old, I filled it with partying with my friends. It took me about 12 years to kind of figure out what was going on and how to like bridge the gap between sports and what that structure looks like and business, and what that structure looks like. And that they’re very similar. I’m just glad that I got through it and learned a lot from it.
– What were those attributes, from sports and business, that you were able to identify that you used as a springboard to where you are now?
– When I wake up in the morning, I’m going to the ballpark. I tell my team, we are a high performing championship sports team. When we come into the team meeting, we’re ready to roll. When I get up, I get up to play the game and I do the fundamentals through my routines. And by the time I hit work, it’s game time for me.
– So you came to NFM in mid-February of this year. What made you choose NFM and what have you experienced since joining?
– NFM wasn’t even really on my radar. I interviewed with a lot of companies. The people at NFM have exactly what I expect out of my team and myself, the response times, the intensity of how everybody works here. Like it’s unparalleled in my experience in the mortgage business. So, you know, I’m a pretty intense guy. I like to move quickly. I like to be efficient. And I mean, NFM, it just blew me out of the water, put the foot on the gas pedal and make sure they’re taking care of their loan officers. It’s very impressive.
– You’re re-invented yourself. It’s pretty amazing. What are you trying to accomplish next?
– I really want to pour into other people and help other people grow, my team, get to their goals, but I really had to do that for myself first. And I did that the last few years and now stepping into the branch manager role and, you know bringing on people who want to develop and that’s really my passion, is giving back.
– You also have an obsession that I want to talk about. Let’s give it a listen and a look.
– Whoo! Whoo, whoo! Stylin’ and profilin’! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
– What is it with you and Rick Flair?
– Rick Flair has a reputation of being a wild man. And I look back on that 12-year period of my transition, and I kind of laugh and I go, “I was very similar to Rick Flair.”
– So, I went online to look for some mementos from your baseball career. Your baseball card is selling online right now autographed for $14.
– Wow! Well, if you’re into buying high and selling low, then that’s a good choice for you.
– Ryan, before we let you go, we’re going to bring in a special guest, who I think you will recognize. We’ll put her up on the screen right now. It’s your mom, Chris, who joins us from your hometown in Lake Stevens, Washington. Say hi to mom.
– Hi, Mom.
– [Chris] I’m surprising you.
– It’s a great surprise and a little emotional.
– You are surprising him. Thank you for agreeing to pop on here. We’ve talked about his plight as a baseball player, as a top prospect in the country, how he reinvented himself to become one of the best originators in the world. He’s always been a great student. I would imagine he was an awesome son. How proud are you of Ryan?
– Well, I couldn’t be prouder. I mean he has reached every goal that he has set in his life. Awesome athlete, multi-talented. And just makes my heart happy.
– When you think about the memory of Ryan as a kid, take us through the best baseball memory that you can remember.
– I guess probably when he, you know signed his professional contract and that was pretty special. And then he bought me a car, which was awesome. And then took my husband and myself on a trip to Thailand.
– Ryan, you must be very proud of your mom too, having raised you guys and giving you all the love she did over the years.
– Yeah, especially having kids now, you realize what they went through and really appreciate them.
– Mom, thank you.
– Thank you so much for having me.
– Love you, mom.
– I love you too.
– Ryan, I appreciate your joining us as our top producer for the month of May. It’s been great getting to know more about you and we look forward to watching your continued ascent among the mortgage elite.
– Thank you, Greg. Great being here.
– That’s Ryan Bundy, branch manager of NFM Lending out of the Bend, Oregon and also Lake Stevens, Washington area. We appreciate his time. We appreciate yours, and we’ll see you again here on NFM TV.