Kahren Oxner: Top Producing Loan Officer | The Business Blast Podcast #73

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Karen Ochsner with us. She's a top-producing loan officer, branch manager with Academy Mortgage. She's coming to you from Portland, Oregon. Karin's held various roles in the mortgage industry over the last 18 years. So welcome to the show, Karin.

Hi Tyler, thanks so much. I'm really happy to be here. I appreciate it.

Of course. Well, we'll dive right in. The first question that I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

The best story from my life. Well, gotta go back to the first time I was ever fired, I think. Um, and that was years and years and years ago, and, uh, the one who did it was my father. My mom and dad, uh, owned a couple of car washes growing up, and my very first job was to, you know, go up to the car washes after school, and I had to clean those things. They were It was dirty, thankless, awful work. And to be honest, I didn't do my best work every day. So I would kind of slack off. I didn't take it very seriously. And no kidding, dad fired me.

That's brutal.

It was awesome and I totally deserved it. And you know, it taught me a really valuable lesson. I don't take for granted the opportunity to work. I don't take for granted when people give you a task. No matter how small, no matter how insignificant, no matter how kind of grueling or embarrassing or frankly dirty it is, you jump in and you give it your all. You go 110%. And he did end up hiring me back. And I really had to put together a business plan and put together a plan of how I was going to do things going forward. But I'm telling you, that was brutal. And I've kind of held onto that.

And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

Wow, that's a big— that's a big one. So as many of your listeners probably know, you know, the mortgage industry has just gone through a lot over the last, you know, several years. And I've been in it for just, just about 18 years now. So I've seen tons of cycles and tons of shifts. And I definitely feel some big shifts coming again, kind of moving forward. I think we're going to see a lot over the next 6 6 to 12 months in my industry specifically. But honestly, I think the biggest thing to really know about my industry is you really, you get what you pay for. Cheaper in these terms is really almost never better. I always encourage people, whether it's getting pre-approved with me or someone on my team, shop local. And work with a pro and talk to other people and really interview your loan officer and really get that feeling of the entire process and make sure that they're thorough. Do the hard work upfront. We try very hard as an industry to have transparency, but there are still situations that are really negatively impactful to people. So I just, I really encourage people to shop local and work with a pro.

And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily like industry specific.

Mm-hmm. You know, I think we all get so busy and life can be, you know, really chaotic. And unfortunately when that starts to occur, people start skipping really important steps that kind of, you know, in their process that really got them to a successful place. So anytime I'm feeling that within my own team, or within my own business, try to, you know, get back to the basics, if that makes sense. So, you know, really just remembering how we got to the level and position that we are. And it's the simple things. It's, you know, returning phone calls in a timely manner, ensuring that your teammates are crystal clear on the process. So who does what when? You know, I always tell my team a file finishes how it starts. So, I think that's true in any business really, is to really define that process and make sure that everybody on the team is crystal clear. So, you have to have that roadmap. And then kind of another thing that has always really helped us, and I think it could be applied towards really any industry, is do a recap. You know, when it's done, when the sale's closed, when the quarter ends, when the year's over, just constantly recapping. I mean, any sports team watches film, right? The reason why they watch film is so they can go back and see what they did throughout the process. And they watch film for games that they won and games that they lost. So it doesn't matter how awesome you did, you can always go back and do your recap and watch your film and figure out what could have been done even better, even more, um, we shouldn't have done this. So just kind of constantly seeking and searching to improve process. Because I think in any and every business, defining that really clearly and then being open to changing it when you are checking out that film after game day, super critical.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Just to chime in there with, because I work with a lot of business owners with like their, their books and growing their business online. And one of the biggest things that I see is that when people start to make like their first, let's just say like 6 figures or so with like online marketing, a lot of times what tends to happen is they try to fix all of their future problems with money. So they'll just like throw money at Facebook ads and be like, that'll grow our revenue. But they forget the basics that got them to the six figures in the first place. And, you know, there's nothing like some old-fashioned— and it's not even old-fashioned, but there's nothing like just hustle and those basics that got you where you are. So don't My only reason for chiming in is like, I agree. And just don't forget that, yes, money can solve a lot of problems, but if you want to continue to grow, money will help you, but it doesn't mean that you slow down the work ethic. So, yeah, I agree.

Well, and a lot of times, yeah, and to your point, a lot of times what needs to be altered or changed or fixed requires zero capital investment. So, save yourself those resources and do that deep dive and be really honest about what that looks like. 9 times out of 10, it's a process problem and people just don't have clarity around that piece. And then all of a sudden you lose sight of just exactly what you said. How did we get here? Why are we not willing to do the things today? I'll go clean the car wash if I need to. You know what I mean?

Exactly. So, if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

That's awesome. Sunscreen, lots of it. Man, I don't know that I'd necessarily give my younger self a ton of advice in terms of changing the course of history because I think some of the best lessons that I've learned are out of really, really challenging times. I tell my team that success is actually a really poor teacher, right? And again, you know, you still watch the film whether you won or lost the game. So I don't necessarily think I'd give myself advice to go back and change anything, but I think maybe just, you know, knowing that I have the confidence and, hey sister, you're going to be awesome. Just wait 10 years and you'll see.

Definitely. And I really like that answer then. In addition, sunscreen is also very important.

And sunscreen.

And then going down a slightly like different path is, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

Oh man, I'd say focus forward. I actually have— there's this really cool picture that we have in our office, and it's the picture of Michael Phelps winning an Olympic medal, and the guy that he was swimming right next to had been kind of leading the race. And literally the picture is of the competitor, and I don't even remember his name, looking over to see where Phelps was. And because he took that second to look over and check out the competition, and just instead of focusing right ahead of exactly where he was going, he lost. So focus forward. It doesn't matter what everybody around you is doing. Matters what you're doing. And I also, man, Facebook and social media and online, Instagram and all this, you're constantly comparing your real life and everything that you know and that you struggle with and that you're insecure about and that you have challenges with to everyone else's highlight reel. You know what I mean? And it's just not reality. So, I think just not focusing on what other people are doing, not focusing on, you know, not focusing on your competition and just focusing straight ahead and being crystal clear about your why, that relieves a heck of a lot of stress and a heck of a lot of, you know, barrier to happiness. So, yeah, focus forward, be happy.

I agree. I actually had this conversation with somebody else about with that, with Instagram, we have how, like, I think in today's world that could be like a leading, one of the leading causes of like depression and stuff. Yeah, you know, people are looking at other people's Instagram pictures and it's like, listen, these are, you know, heavily filtered, heavily, heavily highlighted, like, and you know, they're at home in like their pajamas scrolling through this, like, my life's not like that. It's like, well, yeah, it doesn't— that person's life isn't necessarily necessarily like that either, but it's still, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Like, you shouldn't even be comparing, um, it to it. You know, Instagram obviously is used for business with advertising, but it's also just meant for like pleasure and connection with other people. But, um, to actually— and inevitably you do somewhat like subconsciously, I feel like, do you compare? But you can't let it get out of hand. Um, so I think that's an important, uh, point that you made.

Well, and you can't let it steal your happiness. You just can't. Because at the end of the day, that has no bearing on what you should be focusing on and what you should be looking at and looking forward. So focus forward. Don't worry about other people. Don't compare.

And what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?

Oh man, this is a tough one for me. So I love to read. I'm famous for ordering every book that I hear about online, and I've got a library of books that I've probably read about half of them and then kind of move on to the next one. But somebody that— an author that I love and somebody that I've read and own all of his books, I'm a huge Tim Ferriss fan. I think he's brilliant. Love his work. Love everything he's done. Book of his that I read was The 4-Hour Week, and I really love that for business owners and professionally minded people, entrepreneurs. I thought that was really, really interesting. And then the other one that I liked, because I also listen to his podcast, is Tools of Titans, and it's kind of like taking best practices from all these people, you know, that have found success in their prospective industries and, you know, just you don't have to recreate the wheel. It's like plugging into a system that works or a process that works or a morning routine that works. Um, you know, best practices just for success, happiness, fulfillment, you know, growth in life, both personally and professionally is, um, something that, something that I'm really interested in. So I think Tim Ferriss is awesome.

I'm a huge fan of Tim too. 4-Hour Workweek changed my life. Yeah, so also huge fan. And what's your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote and why? Got a couple of them. Probably the one that has helped me most professionally is, "The most expensive thing you will ever own is a closed mind." I like that.

And did you have any others, or is that the one you'd like to share?

That's the one I'd like to share. I mean, the other one that I like is, it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. But I think that's a different podcast.

Well, thank you so much for coming on. The last question that I have for you is, where is the best place for people to find you online?

Awesome. That's, that's a great question. I've got a website, so you can visit me at www.karenoxley.com. K-h-r-e-n-o-x-n-e-r.com. You can reach me at Facebook, or if you would like to email me, my email address is karen.oxner@academymortgage.com. Love to hear from you.

Perfect. Thanks again for coming on, Karen. We appreciate it.

Hey, no worries, Tyler. Have a great day. Appreciate it. Thanks again.

Thanks for listening to the Business Blast podcast, and don't forget, if you're interested in a simplified way of becoming a published bestselling author Make sure to check out authorsunite.com. We'll catch you on the next episode.

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