Amy Tierce
Title: Branch manager, Fairway Independent Mortgage
Age: 53
Experience: 23 years
After years as a successful loan originator, Amy Tierce had the perfect idea for a new career: becoming a motivational speaker. But somehow she ended up being the leader of Fairway Independent Mortgage’s Needham branch, one of the most successful in the national mortgage lender’s portfolio.
Q: How did you get into the mortgage business?
A: In 1985 I had started working in real estate sales, and I had met Amy Slotnick, who was at First Financial, and I used to send a lot of my business to her. She found out she was pregnant in 1990, and I had just given birth to our second son, who to our surprise had Down’s syndrome. So, she announced that she was pregnant and asked if I wanted to come job-share with her and learn the mortgage business. We were both going to work four-day weeks – our line was “Just ask for Amy!” – and the mortgage industry doesn’t require as intense weekend work as real estate does, so it was a lot better for my family.
Q: How did you end up at Fairway?
A: What happened was, in 2004 I spoke at an event … it was my first time speaking. And the CEO [of Fairway, Steve Jacobsen] approached me after the event and said I want to hire you to speak at our annual meeting. So, I flew to Madison [Wis.] in August of 2004, and I was just leaving HomeVest Mortgage … So, I mentioned that at the end of my talk and afterwards everybody at Fairway was coming up to me, saying, “Oh, you should come to us, you’d be great. Come be a branch manager at Fairway.”
Q: Did you come over to Fairway at that point?
A: Well, what happened was after HomeVest, my business partner Deana [Auman], who runs our operations business, and I went over to Prime, which is no longer in business. Almost immediately, I knew I had made a mistake. It was not run to my standards. And when Deana and I made the decision to leave Prime, she just said to me, “I just can’t work for these guys anymore. They’re just bozos.” And I said, “… I’m not going to go work for another guy who just dismisses to all of my ideas. I know exactly where we’re going.” And I called Jake and I said, “Listen, I think I want to come to Fairway.”
Q: Did you find it difficult to transition from one to the other, the real estate side to the mortgage side?
A: I think it’s similar; we’re really in sales … I found then, and it may be the same now, that as a mortgage person I was treated more as a professional … There was a higher level of legitimacy granted [by the public] on the mortgage side. But I would say that the best Realtors today really operate on such a high level.
Q: What’s your philosophy on growth? What are your goals for Fairway?
A: We’ve been here for three years, and [had signed a lease extension] and halfway through I’ve had to turn my conference room into an office. So, office space is on the agenda … [Growth] is very organic for me … My recruiting goals now are really one or two annually. You also have to let people grow … My number one philosophy is: Take care of [your employees] and the money will follow.
Q: Did you grow up around here?
A: My family moved to Brookline when I was 10, and I was there until just a few years ago, when I moved to Newton. This is home. Before real estate I had worked in the music business [for radio stations and a talent manager].
Q: Bit of rock and roll rebellion?
A: Well, my parents were academics; both my sister and I dropped out of high school. And I’m proud to say it … shows there’s hope for us.
Top Five Strategies To Build An Effective Team Environment:
- Get the right people on the bus; get the wrong people off the bus quickly.
- Always recognize and celebrate successes, big and small.
- Quickly conduct whole-team post-mortems when thing don’t go as planned to determine course corrections.
- Feed the troops: Having meals together occasionally creates a family feeling.
- Treat everyone as you would want to be treated.
