Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Magill.
Hi Emily , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a kid, my dad worked very hard. I admired it and always wanted to be like him. At 7 years old, my mom left our family, and my father had been in a horrible car accident, where he nearly died. His left arm had been severed, and his right kneecap badly damaged. He got around using a crutch and his right arm. The only reason they reattached his left arm was that my grandmother was the Director of Nursing at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and she demanded it. Within weeks, my dad found himself disabled and a single father of 4 kids under the age of 8. We were poor, and it was a struggle to say the least. The reason I mention all this is that when I find myself in moments of adversity, I think about how I am my father’s daughter, and I should at least have enough grit to survive the issues at hand if he could face all he did at that time. Recently, I reminded my little sister that we are Dad’s daughters, so we can get through tough things when she was struggling with the predicaments life presents.
When I was 15 years old, I worked as a thriving telemarketer. I was given a project for Wells Fargo and promoted, which made me realize when I was 16 years old, I should look at other telemarketing jobs. I found a job at a mortgage company, taking preliminary applications and prepare clients for the Loan Officers to take them to the next stages. I was attending college classes in the mornings, high school in the afternoons, and then ran to my mortgage job, working the phones. I loved that job, so many of my friends tried to join me, but none stayed long. When I was nearly 18 year old, management asked me to become a full-fledged Loan Officer when I became 18 years old and could register, which was how they tracked Loan Officers back in those days. There was a budget cut, and they closed down the entire office I’d been working. I began waiting tables while trying to figure out my next move. Soon, I found a Loan Officer job in Provo that was perfect for me. That company eventually had a budget cut and transferred the top two Loan Officers to work at their office in what used to be referred to as The Triad Center. I loved that job as well. After approximately 18 months in the Salt Lake City office, there was an opportunity for a promotion. I interviewed for it. The man I was interviewing with explained to me that “on paper,” it made sense to promote me. My numbers were good, I got along well with everyone in the office and I met all the marks. He continued to explain that “sadly” they could not promote a woman to the position, citing that they are “too emotional” and the men who would report to me “would not be able to respect” me. Soon after that, I was approached by a recruiter, and we went back and forth for months. I had a baby and, on maternity leave, I decided that when I returned, I would resign and accept a position the recruiter had been trying to place me in.
At my new job, there were eight Loan Officers in the office. In my tenure, I consistently averaged 50% of the branch volume. My Regional Manager would joke on calls saying, “Thank you to Emily Magill for keeping the lights on in Salt Lake City”. After a couple of years, they decided to expand our branch. They were hiring two Sales Managers who would each manage half the office, overseen by a Branch Manager. I nervously emailed the Regional Manager over the weekend and pleaded for consideration in that position. He never knew this, but I was going through a divorce and was terrified it would bankrupt and devastate me. On Monday morning, he emailed me and said he wanted to meet with me for lunch. I felt like it was a let-down. When we went to lunch I had already accepted terrible things my narrative decided he was going to say. But no, Michael Ronchetti sat down with me and thanked me for my hard work. He cited how aggressive my email was, in seeking the job. He said that he could not pass me up, as he knew I would likely leave soon after if he did not promote me. To this day, I have a deep gratitude for the promotion Mike Ronchetti gave me, as well as what he did next. Mike and the Branch Manager decided to hire an outside person for the counter Sales Manager, and they gave him all the best performers in the office. I had to hire and build a team, with the expectation of putting up numbers within 90 days. I hired an aspiring actor, hot tub salesman, and a few others that I could see the potential in. The hot tub salesman was older than my father and not happy to be reporting to me. I was younger than all my team, except one Loan Officer, who was an aspiring actor who worked in a manufacturing plant before his job there. Some of my most fond memories are when the hot tub salesman had a deal falling apart, and I grabbed his file, took him in my office, put the deal back together and he looked at my with a kind, yet smug look and said “I guess I can kind of see why they gave you this job”. It made my year! The aspiring actor was sweet. He knew I had wanted an ipod, but as a single mom, I was not going to spend that kind of money on myself. When he had his first BIG month, I found an ipod with a kind note of gratitude for believing in him.
Our team dominated. On the monthly calls, Mike Ronchetti used to say, “as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, Emily Magill’s team did it again”. I loved it! To get my guys to listen to the call, beforehand, I would have them take bets how many times Mike would say “that said” on the call. Mike would say “that said” at least a dozen times on the call. It kept our team focused on the call. We had a universal rule on our team to ensure we stayed on task: If you hit your numbers each week, you can leave at noon on Friday and we can go anywhere the team wants, on my dime. If you do not hit your numbers, we work on Saturday. It worked so well!
After some time, a competitor that was literally up the street from our office started to hire my guys out from under me. Once they had more than half the team, they called me to come meet with the CEO. They offered me a position. Missing my guys, I accepted and got the rest of the team to join us. I was hired as a Sr Loan Officer, but after a month, they promoted me as well. I loved that job! We had a margin call in October 2007 where we were unable to clear and ultimately closed. It was devastating. Our team was broken up in that margin call, closure, and ensuing chaos that followed in the market.
Within that same week we closed, I found out my daughter had been being “abused” by a family member on her dad’s side. She had an infection that I could not figure out. It was making me nuts. And I was already stressed with how to make a living. I had partnered with some former colleagues in a net branch/brokerage of a large mortgage brand.
Soon into the venture, I realized I needed to create some space between my daughter and her dad’s family while we sorted things out. I sent legal notice to my ex-husband that I was moving to St George, rented my house, and moved to St George. I had lined up an amazing job, with a $20,000 signing bonus. On my preliminary onboarding meeting, they let me know that I had been charged with a felony and was no longer working for them. I laughed it off, as it sounded preposterous. Confused, I left the meeting and found out later that day that I had in fact, been charged with a felony and other charges. The perpetrator against my daughter had filed a protective order, citing false evidence that I was in a conspiracy to commit homicide, electronic communications harassment, and more. Very long story short, I went broke, my hair was falling out, I was stage 2 hypertension, having long panic attacks at night, and I was obsessed with the fact that if they prevailed, then my daughter would end up living with that relative that I had been trying to shield her from for months. Ultimately, all charges were dropped. I believe that the police department and the Prosecutor worried I would sue because of the tremendous neglect in lack of evidence that we agreed I would accept an infraction for disorderly conduct for sending angry texts which was the only thing I was guilty of, rightfully so. That was such an ordeal, I cannot truly relay that hell.
After 18 months of living in Hurricane, Utah, we moved back to Salt Lake City for a job I had accepted. Within a couple of years, I accepted a position as a Branch Manager with a great mortgage company, got remarried to a great guy, and began my happily ever after. My daughter seemed to have bounced back, and the relative who hurt her became estranged from her dad’s family. We found as much peace as could be hoped for.
During COVID-19 pandemic, our team was slammed with mortgage loans. It was a team of all women, and it still is. We get along well, for a group of women. We closed so much business during the pandemic that we needed a change and decided to leave the company. We have landed at Intercap Lending where we lend on residential mortgages, as well as commercial loans.
Another cool thing that came out COVID in my life is that I found solace in doing one kind deed for someone outside of my home each day. It was a nice note, flowers, dropping a candle on someone’s porch, or paying for a car repair, getting a car out of repo for someone who was struggling. I was fortunate enough to get to do all kinds of cool things. I would often take food or treats to people I knew were lonely or struggling. We would also have folks we knew who felt lonely over for dinners. When COVID was coming to an end in 2022, I turned to my husband and explained I felt like we needed to do something to connect people in the days to come. We needed to get people socializing, doing service projects and so on. He hated the idea. He said I exhaust myself and should take some time for myself, and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I told him I was starting a supper club as private facebook group for my vision and naming it after him. My husband is Jason Paul Gregory. And it is Gregory’s Supper Club. I have a public page too, but I do not post on it often. I also wrote a book called Gregory’s Supper Club: An Idea for Communal Healing, to share the movement. It can be found on Amazon. I wrote it all on my cell phone, in Google Drive, as I was able. We have had some members say it saved their life at the time. They needed a feeling of community.
There is so much more to me and my story, but this is an outline of my career, and my personal life has been interjected in some places. I love my industry, as I see myself as a professional problem solver and dream maker. Our team gets to make the American Dream come true, as well as help business owners reach new levels.
My “niche” is that I care. I still love my business after 28 years in the industry. Everyone matters, and if there is a way to make a dream come true for someone, we will find it! We offer a diverse array of products, from low FICO score options to impressive jumbo lending, as well as many possibilities with our commercial funding channel.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being a woman was my first obstacle. It still poses problems. I intentionally take a man from my office for meetings with certain individuals. It makes me chuckle when we walk in, and a man only addresses the man I brought. I realize it is a societal issue and even more of a “norm” in Utah, but it still seems bananas to me.
Beyond that, I would say I am my biggest obstacle. I overthink things, allow my narrative to hold me back, and pushing myself to my highest heights is my biggest fight. I always win or learn.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I advocate for others to secure funding to buy a home or finance a business, commercial building, or real estate development. Presentation is much of that. I have presented a denied loan to the same party and gained approval. It validates the fact that it is all in how you present the facts that matter.
The fact that my team genuinely cares deeply about the success of clients and tries to be as innovative as possible truly sets us apart. We have access to some of the most innovative loan products out there. People do not realize how easy it is to qualify for a loan using bank statements or assets to income qualify. You can potentially buy a home with a FICO as low as 500 with 10% or more down. If you have a 580 FICO, you only need 3.5% down. We can finance the jumbo homes, or to build a home, and so much more. Additionally, if you want to take your business to new heights of profitability, you should buy a building where the renters pay your loan for you, and increase your profitability.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
SO many things! I close residential and commercial loans, I own a construction company with my husband, where we specialize in fire suppression systems, and I love to write. I am currently working on a new book about rising above adversity and overcoming trauma.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emilymagill.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_magill81/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilym.jasongregory
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mortgagelady/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmilyUnlicensedTherapist
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyMagillTeam/
