Women in Mortgage Spotlight
Susan Hamel
Mortgage Broker · Home Loan Nerd
“Relationships will matter far longer than titles, so take very good care of them.”
Susan’s journey reflects more than twenty years of growth, reinvention, and resilience. Through every role and every market cycle, she has remained grounded in trust, relationships, and a determination to never give up.
How did you find your way into the mortgage industry?
Honestly, I think the mortgage industry found me. I started my career in the chemical industry and even owned a wedding photography business. None of that exactly screams ‘future mortgage professional.’ Then, in 2004, I found my way into mortgage as a broker. I loved the combination of people, problem-solving, numbers, and a little bit of controlled chaos. Twenty-plus years later, I’ve been a broker, a top-producing loan officer, a sales leader, a recruiter, a coach, and just about everything in between.
What kept you going during a season when this work felt especially hard?
Perspective and probably a healthy dose of stubbornness. This industry has given me some incredible highs, but it has also humbled me more than once. I’ve helped build something only to watch market conditions change the plan. What kept me going was remembering that a difficult season doesn’t erase everything you’ve built before it. Markets change. Companies change. Titles change. But experience, relationships, reputation, and the ability to get back up and reinvent yourself stay with you. My mantra has always been, ‘Never Give Up.’
What’s a lesson you learned through experience that you couldn’t have learned from a training manual?
People rarely remember your perfect process, but they absolutely remember how you made them feel when the process wasn’t perfect. You can learn guidelines, sales techniques, systems, scripts, and leadership strategies from a manual. What you can’t learn from one is how to sit across from someone who is scared, frustrated, disappointed, or overwhelmed and figure out what they really need from you in that moment. Business is built on trust, and there is no training manual to teach you how to earn it. You earn it one conversation at a time.
How has your definition of success changed over the years?
Early in my career, success had a scoreboard. Hit the goal. Beat the goal. Be #1. Then set a new goal and do it all over again. Somewhere along the way, success became less about the scoreboard and more about the experience. Today, I want to take something that can feel complicated and stressful and make it feel manageable, even enjoyable. If we get to the closing table and my client feels less like a transaction and more like a friend, I’ve done my job well.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Stay focused on what you can control. Not every storm around you has to become a storm within you. Keep your eyes on your own path, trust what you’ve built, and keep moving forward. Relationships will matter far longer than titles, so take very good care of them.
When you think about the legacy you’re building, what do you hope people carry forward?
I hope people remember that I cared. Of course, I want to be remembered as someone who worked hard, knew her business, delivered results, and wasn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves. But I hope my real legacy lives in the people I helped along the way. If I can leave behind a trail of people who are a little better because our paths crossed, I’d call that a pretty great legacy.