In
a

new
episode
of

“The
Loan
Officer
Podcast,”
host
Dustin
Owen
chats
with
John
Cornish
of
Iowa-based

Key
Mortgage
Group
about
his
path
into
the
industry,
tips
for
scaling
a

mortgage
lending
business
and
how
to
avoid
stagnation
as
a
loan
originator. 

This
interview
has
been
edited
for
length
and
clarity. 

To
kick
off
the
conversation,
Cornish
explores
his
background
before
entering
the
mortgage
lending
industry.
Cornish
started
his
career
in
mortgage
banking
at


Wells
Fargo
in

Iowa
in
2003.

Cornish:
It
was
a
great
time.
There’s
a
huge
value
in
me
getting
into
the
mortgage
industry,
as
it
imploded
around
that
time.
I
didn’t
have
any
choice
but
to
succeed. 

Cornish
also
dives
into
his
experience
at
a
local
Iowa
bank
after
leaving
Wells
Fargo
following
the
post-housing
crisis
industry
changes
in
2008.

Cornish:
The
first
couple
of
years,
everybody
talked
about
how
things
used
to
be.
I
can’t
believe
we
have
to

verify
income.
I
can’t
believe
we
don’t
have
this
program.
I
never
had
those
at
Wells
Fargo
Financial,
so
that
kind
of
helped
me
out.
I
just
put
my
head
down
and
worked.
I
knew
I
had
to
figure
it
out.

Owen:
How
long
did
it
take
before
you
were
consistently
generating
leads
and
consistently
funding
four
or
five
transactions
a
month?

Cornish:
Don’t
quote
me
on
the
exact
year,
but
I
think
I
made
$19
million
in
2008.
It
was
over
100
units.
When
I
sold
competitive
products,
the
sales
portion
of
it
felt
really
easy.
Before,
I
wasn’t
making
friends
with
clients.
But
I
wanted
to
create
a
referral-based
business,
so
the
transition
was
easy,
and
I
talked
to
as
many
people
as
I
could.

Owen:
I
mentioned
plateauing.
You
had
a
point
in
your
career
where
you
were
working
80
hours
a
week.
You
went
from
doing
$17
million
or
$19
million
in
your
first
full
year
to
consistently
doing
about
$40
million
a
year.
What
changed?

Cornish:
I
had
$40
million.
I
was
making
enough
money
to
support
my
family.
There
was
nothing
that
was
really
broken,
but
I
knew
I
wanted
more
and
I
knew
I
was
handcuffed
by
the
place
that
I
was
working
for.
That
was
the
first
thing.
So,
within
90
to
120
days,
I
was
out
of
the
banking
world
and
opened
up
my
own
branch
of
an

independent
mortgage
company,
which
was
kind
of
new
to
our
market.

The
conversation
ends
with
Cornish
discussing
his
outlook
for
2025
and
beyond
for
the
mortgage
industry
as
a
whole
and
his
own
business
in
particular.

Owen:
What’s
exciting
you
about
2025
into
the
2030s?

Cornish:
Because
the
last
two
years
have
been

extremely
hard
and
I’ve
created
a
more
disciplined
version
of
myself,
I’ve
grown
my
business
when
most
people’s
business
went
down.
From
an
individual
standpoint,
my
team
is
as
dialed
up
as
it
has
ever
been.
And
I
know
that
I
can
continue
to
grow
this,
and
I
get
satisfaction
out
of
getting
the
most
I
can
out
of
my
potential. 

I
learned
by
burning
my
hand
on
the
stove
multiple
times.
It’s
a
constant
evolution.
I
can
help
you
do
it
right
quicker,
because
I
made
mistakes
myself
so
that
you
don’t
have
to
learn
from
my
mistakes.

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