Sue Whitney, Eleven Mortgage Account Executive, has spent half of her career in her home state of Connecticut and surrounding northeastern states steps from the shoreline.

Due to freezing cold winter realities of the region, Whitney decided it was time for a change and transferred to Phoenix, Arizona in 2011 with her husband for sunshine, dry heat, and landlocked gloriousness.

Whitney spoke with me about her personal and professional journey, the “secrets” to her success and where the love of serving veterans through the VA loan process originated.

“You can’t convince people if you don’t believe in what you’re selling,” said Whitney. “I always believe in helping veterans. It’s an easy sell for me, and coincidentally it matches my market then and now.

I love my country. No one in my family is a veteran, but we wouldn’t be free if it weren’t for them. That was always taught to me. Anyone I see in uniform; I always thank them for their service.”

Born in Milford, Connecticut, this Becker College graduate longed to pursue Travel & Tourism through her first job out of school as a flight attendant for a small business express airline. But a friend who worked in the mortgage industry coerced her into the “finance business,” as Whitney took on a job doing mortgages for boat and yacht loans. Not long after, Whitney moved into residential mortgages. Whitney worked as a receptionist, a closer, a processor, and was in charge of pricing/hedging rates. One of the first brokers Whitney worked for was William Raveis Mortgage. Then, she became an account executive for Centerbank (who was bought by Wachovia). Whitney also worked for Bank of America before the wholesale division was closed, and Principal Residential before they were bought by Citibank.

“I didn’t gel well with the big companies” said Whitney.

You’re a number, not a person. You get lost in the shuffle. At 11 Mortgage, there are so many points of contact who are actually wiling to help- not just pass you off into a department black hole.”

Prior to joining 11 Mortgage, Whitney was with Franklin American Mortgage (which later sold to Citizens Bank) and took the leap of faith with them to move to unchartered territory.

“The nature of the beast is that your biggest customer one year, may not be the following year,” said Whitney.

You try to establish relationships, so brokers trust you and follow you wherever you go.”

Whitney emphasized that the first and foremost important thing she can do for her brokers is be accessible. “They know I’ll always answer and help,” said Whitney.

I like being the go-to person. I know underwriting guidelines so I can help structure a loan, and if anything goes off the rails I can get things back on track.”

Whitney also prides herself on setting expectations and staying consistent. “Brokers want to be able to rely on a consistent turn time,” said Whitney.

I won’t ever tell someone we have the best price, because I don’t have control over that. I can control my relationship and build trust with my brokers.”

Maricopa County, Arizona (where Whitney resides) has the highest concentration of veterans out of any county in the United States. “When I moved here, everyone had a foreclosure and/or bankruptcy,” said Whitney.

The market was tough, but I always leaned towards wanting to learn more about veteran situations (disability, benefits, pay scale, etc.) and kept the mindset of you never know everything about VA.”

Whitney humbly admits that she knows the ins and outs of the business, and that’s been the “luck” that has allowed her to carry relationships into the almost decade long category.

“I’m never moving again and starting over,” said Whitney.

I want to be with 11 forever.”