Today we’d like to introduce you to Tami Coffey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tami. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Right after getting married, I gravitated to the medical field. I went from working on a psychiatric floor, doing everything from taking vital signs to helping to restrain violent patients, to working in the Emergency Room of a major hospital, ordering emergency testing and assisting with Triage. Frankly, I was bored silly. I was pretty sure I wanted to be in Sales but wasn’t sure which industry was best suited for me.
While cruising the classifieds one day (yes, my friends, that is actually how people used to find jobs) I came across an ad for a Recruiter for Snelling & Snelling. The ad indicated they were looking for someone with a desire to be in a sales environment and they were willing to train. Done and done!
I started working for Snelling but instead of placing secretaries and accountants, I sort of fell in to working with mortgage professionals. Both my parents were in real estate, my husband at the time was heading up Underwriting for a well-known mortgage insurance firm and they all started referring people to me who were looking for new jobs.
I became “Rookie of The Year” nationally within the Snelling franchise in my first year in the business. I loved it! By year two, I had a handful of loyal clients who used me exclusively when they needed to hire a loan officer, branch manager, Regional Manager or one of the many other positions in the residential mortgage industry.
In my third year with Snelling, one of my clients approached me about starting a boutique style search firm that specialized solely within the national mortgage banking industry. I became the Senior Vice President of the firm we started and worked there for ten years. Those ten years were where I really cut my teeth in mortgage banking. We placed Executive candidates and also facilitated acquisitions within the industry.
After ten years, I decided to open my own firm and started MSA, specializing in… you guessed it, mortgage banking. I began the company as a contingency based firm, placing everything from loan officers to Presidents and CEO’s. As my client base began to grow, I added more people to my team and we switched to a retained search model. We are fortunate to have great clients; we work with everyone from small, privately held lenders to the largest depository in the country – and everything in between. About 3 years ago, I brought my daughter into the business with me, which has been awesome!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh boy…. I definitely went through growing pains. Anyone who has ever worked on commission can relate. You have good months and some not so good. I went through a divorce and found myself as a single parent. Operating a new business on straight commission when you are the sole breadwinner is definitely stressful. When I was first getting started on my own, there were definitely times when I wondered how the mortgage payment would get made. I was fortunate to have a family who was very supportive, both financially and emotionally. I made it through the lean years and came out on the other side a better person for it.
Of course, no one was prepared for what happened in 2008, which I affectionately call “the year the mortgage industry figured out it wasn’t bulletproof”. No one knew what was going to happen with the Financial Services industry – the powerhouse banks were failing, lenders were closing their doors right and left and suddenly using an executive recruiter was a luxury instead of a staple. Somehow, we made it through…. while many of our clients became a casualty of the mortgage meltdown, others remained strong and weathered the storm.
Today, business is good – we are adding new clients on a regular basis and continuing to grow the company. I will be adding two new recruiters this month.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Mortgage Search & Acquisition – what should we know?
We are a retained Executive Search Firm specializing solely within the national mortgage banking industry. When one of our clients wants to add to their executive team, they retain us to go out and find that individual. Our focus is limited to leadership roles, anything from branch managers up to and including CEO’s.
I think the thing that sets us apart from other search firms and the thing I am most proud of, is our track record of success and reputation within the industry. Having done this for over 30 years now, our name is well known and respected. Many of our new clients come from referrals and word of mouth, which is nice. We treat recruiting for our clients as a partnership – we are on their team and we want to ensure their hires add to their value proposition. What was that old Vidal Sassoon ad slogan….”if you don’t look good, we don’t look good?” I feel the same way about our placements. If we don’t recruit the best talent the industry has to offer, it reflects badly on us.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The person who taught me the recruiting game was my manager at Snelling & Snelling, Sandy Mayo. She took a chance on me, coming in with absolutely no experience and taught me the ropes. She is a total pro, and we remain good friends today.
Of course, I have to give kudos to my family, without their support I am not sure I would be where I am today. They were always my cheerleaders and gave me the inspiration to go on at the times I felt like giving up – and in the early days, there were plenty of those moments!
I also couldn’t have done this without the best clients in the industry. When my husband passed away in 2014, the love and support they showed me just meant the world. Many of our clients have worked with me for 20 years or more and I consider them friends as well as clients.
The mortgage recruiting industry is a tough business with lots of highs and lows. You have to have 3 things to be successful: a thick skin, great clients and a drive to help people succeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MSArecruiting.com
- Phone: 214-733-8989
- Email: tcoffey@MSArecruiting.com
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