Full Transcript is Below:
– I’m NFM TV’s Greg Sher. It’s not a big secret. There are a lot of characters in the mortgage business, our feature top producer for the month of November 2021, put the C in character. You’ll often find him dressed up in multiple disguises. He’s the quintessential life of the party. And when he’s not shutting down 400 loans every year, Main Street Home Loans Area Manager & Vice President, Derek Evans even tries his hand in rapping. Take a look. ♪ She had them apple bottom jeans ♪ ♪ Boots with the fur ♪ ♪ The whole club was lookin’ at her ♪ ♪ She hit the floor ♪ ♪ She hit the floor ♪ ♪ Next thing you know ♪ ♪ Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low ♪ ♪ Them baggy sweat pants ♪ ♪ and the Reeboks with the straps ♪ ♪ She turned around and gave that big booty a slap ♪ ♪ She hit the floor ♪
– Joining us now from Richmond, Virginia is that very man, Derek Evans. Derek, thanks for being our top producer for the month of November. Congratulations on your enormous success. Was that the first shot at that song? ‘Cause you really got it down.
– I might have practiced a bit in the shower, but yeah, that was, I know the words there’s no doubt.
– Now obviously you’re a great producer, but you’re also a ball of energy, you keep it moving. Have you always been like that?
– Yeah, pretty much. I, you know, I enjoy having a good time. There’s no doubt about it.
– It’s not easy to get to a hundred million and that’s what you’re aiming for this year. So far, you’ve already eclipsed 300 units and we’ve got a little less than a quarter to go. I know you’re shooting for that 400 number. We’re looking at some of these pictures right now, man, you have a lot of fun. I feel like you may have more disguises and costumes than you have office wear. I just feel honored that you actually pulled out a normal looking shirt.
– I was gonna wear my Halloween costume on here, but some people told me it’d be best if I didn’t.
– I wanna talk about the great culture at Main Street Home Loans, part of the NFM Family of Lenders, you and your crew joined NFM in 2019 and your brand is out there, what’s it been like that transformation into kind of your own brand?
– It’s been terrific when we started this, it was something new for all of us, but you know, it’s just mortgage banking. The culture that we’ve created throughout our company is just amazing.
– So to get to the level where you can be a top 1% originator and close the kind of volume you’re closing, what does it take?
– For me the biggest thing has been being consistent, being present. We work with a lot of different agents. I’ve always felt in this business as in a lot of businesses, it’s, you know, what have you done for me lately? And invariably, when I walk into an office, I get a deal. So if you’re just sitting in your own chair, in your own office, it’s hard to move to the next level.
– You’ve been in the game since 2005. So 2022 will be your 17th year. Very curious to know what someone like you was doing prior to mortgages. I don’t, I don’t know, what were you, a dance instructor, were you a rapper? What did you do?
– I was a school teacher. So right out of college, I got a job in Philadelphia. I was an athletic director, decided that I was ready for it for a change. And then I went into finance. I had a math background as well. I had a nice transition over to the mortgage industry.
– So you’re from Philly originally. Talk about that connection with Philadelphia. It’s so unique, especially for a sports fan.
– Yeah, I mean, I am a die hard sports fan. I played sports in college and I, you know, grew up in Philly and I’ve always been Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, Sixers fan, Villanova fan in basketball. You know, Philly fans love their teams.
– Any truth to the story that you once jumped the line and became a member of the Philadelphia Eagles marching band?
– You know, I might’ve got myself a pair of symbols and marched around at a tailgate with the Philadelphia Eagles marching band. But you know, I don’t think there’s any footage of that.
– Yeah, so you’ve pretty much admitted it. Some other things that I’ve learned about you through my research department is that you are a guy that tends to run his car all the way on empty when it comes to gas, true or false?
– That is absolutely true.
– Yeah, have you ever run out of gas?
– On occasion, you know, I haven’t in a long time, I’ve gotten really good at it. I mean, you can drive around a long time on zero. You really can, you should try it, it’s exhilarating.
– Yeah, I’ve done it. And I’ve run out of gas. Now, you’re a man of great stature. Of course I would say that because I’m all of 5’8 stretched out. What are you? 6’3?
– I was 6’4 at one time, but I think I’m down to 6’3 now.
– Yeah, and so we’re looking at your dog right now and just, something’s not lining up for me. Like I could see you with a pit, with a Rottweiler, you know, maybe a German shepherd, but four or five pound dog?
– No, it’s seven, seven pounds, it’s huge.
– Okay, even pounds, that’s a big dog.
– She’s two years old. And we named her Carson after Carson Wentz and people now want me to change her name to Jalen, but I’m not ready for that.
– So what moved you to Richmond? How did that happen?
– We just had a little girl and we were ready to do a little more suburbs, then we lived in center city Philadelphia in a really nice area, but not a blade of grass around. And I was ready for a change. It was going to be hard for us to live on one teacher’s salary, which is not easy and that got me into finance. So we moved down here in 2000 and still going strong.
– I’m going to give you a chance now to give your family a shout out.
– My wife, Bridget is a Saint. Anybody that knows her comments on, I don’t know that she’s just a Saint because of putting up with my work stuff or just a Saint because she married me. I think it’s probably the latter. My daughter’s out of college. My son’s at Penn state right now and they get it. They know when the phone’s ringing, realtors don’t wait, you know, you don’t want them to go onto the next lender. And so I like to make myself available and it’s really worked out well for me. My family is absolutely fabulous.
– Curious, before we let you go, what your take is on technology, ’cause you know, you look young, but I don’t think you’re a millennial. So are you instituting all the great technology out there? Or are you one of those people that fights it?
– I do my best to stay on top of it. My team is a tad younger than me, so they try to get me on that level, but I’m still trying to figure out what that, I don’t know, Instagram thing or whatever it is it’s called, I don’t really know.
– Well, you’re an enormous success and we at NFM and the NFM Family of Lenders are definitely better with you a part of the organization. Thank you so much for agreeing to be our top producer for the month of November 2021, Derek Evans from Richmond, Virginia. We really appreciate the time.
– Thanks for having me, Greg. Had a great time.
– I’m Greg Sher, we’ll see you again soon.