Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this conversation, Melissa Korda shares her journey from being a strength coach in professional sports to becoming a hard money lender. She discusses the challenges and lessons learned during her career transition, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Melissa emphasizes the importance of building relationships in business, balancing emotions, and finding community support. She reflects on her personal growth, humility, and the significance of identity beyond professional roles. The conversation highlights her aspirations for growth and the value of mentorship in the real estate industry.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Melissa Korda (00:00)
So it taught me a lot of humility, to be quite honest. As a woman, so I’m Mexican and the heritage definitely was like, get married, have children, don’t worry about school in your future. So I fought really hard to take a route that was untraditional. So to fail at that as a woman was big. So, you I worked hard and I was blessed and I had, you know, I definitely had ⁓great open doors, know, the opportunities I deserved, I worked for them. So when I came to COVID and had everything stripped from me, I was mad. I was very mad.
Quentin Edmonds (02:07)
Hello everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds.And I’m excited to be here today. I have another fantastic guest and you want to love what she has to talk about. And I love her journey. I love her unique perspective when it comes to what she do because she came in it one way, but you know, now she has settled in another and I’m gonna let her tell you all about it, all about what she do, but I’m excited. You’re going to learn a lot today. She’s going to drop a lot of gems for us, but, this is no pressure. I’m just telling you, this is just facts. This is what’s going to happen, but you’ll see.
I haven’t lied to y’all yet. I think by the time we get to the end, y’all be like, okay, he telling the truth. So I’m telling you, she’s gonna be phenomenal. And I’m so excited to introduce you all to Miss Melissa Korda Miss Melissa, how you doing today, man?
Melissa Korda (02:54)
I’m good, I’m good, thanks for having me.Quentin Edmonds (02:55)
Absolutely. Thank you for being here. Thank you for taking time out. And I’m going be honest, Miss Melissa, I kind of want to dive in. I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. You want to give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into what you do. We love origin stories. And if you don’t mind, tell us what part of the world you’re in. I’m excited to know what part of world you’re in. But tell the people also. So what’s your main focus, your origin story, and where you are. You have the floor,Melissa Korda (03:23)
Okay, thank you. So I have to I’ll just start out. I’m in Seattle, the best city in the world. And we’re about to win the Super Bowl on Sunday. So we’re very excited up here. Um, but yeah, so going back, I am a hard money lender and I work, I work with investors we do I work anywhere from fixed and flips to grown up construction to rental DSCR loans. I’ve been doing that for about four and half years. I work with a great company. We’re a direct lender based out of San Francisco.but we lend all over the country. But I started a completely different starting point. I have a master’s degree in kinesiology. I worked for about 20 years in pro sports and worked with athletes as a strength coach and athletic trainer, had a career plan, a trajectory for kids, like everything that God had planned for me and then COVID hit. And I became a stay-at-home mom, which I’ve been very open and honest with them that it was not the job that I signed up for.
And I just needed something for me. So friends were like, stop complaining, get a job. And Conventus was hiring remote. And so I interviewed and at 40, I took an entry level position for temporary just to get through COVID. But four and a half years later, I’m still there and absolutely love it. I found something that I’m passionate about because I really get to help people.
and stay in the game because prior to I was a flipper when I had my W-2, my husband and flipped and really loved real estate. So shifting, now I’m a, just, we hold rentals, we’re landlords, we do passive investing. And if we find that great deal, like everyone’s looking for, we’ll probably jump back in. But yeah, so it’s been a, it’s been a journey, but I’m definitely in a great place where I’m at now.
Quentin Edmonds (05:52)
Thank you so much for telling us about the journey. just listening to you talk, I was writing down what I would call your resume, A master’s degree. I can’t even say what the master’s degree was in. I know what it is, but it was not going off my tongue. And I’m like trying to prep myself, but working with athletes. Stay at home, mom. Thank you for the gift of your vulnerability. Sharing that with your kids and sharing that with us like, hey, this is not what I wanted. And that’s that’s being real. Me and my wife, have a sandwich we get from Brene Brown.It says clear is kind, unclear is unkind. The clearest, kindest thing I can do is be honest about where I’m at and what this is. So I love how you was honest with your kids at 40 is entry position. I mean, I love it because I always say this and you are the right personification of what I’m about to say. I say that destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning no matter what you go through in life, destiny is not wasting one moment of your life.
Whatever you’re going through is making you it’s making a deposit into you to be the person that you are today And so there is no wasted moments and now I’m talking to you because we can talk like this God does not waste a moment He knew you before he was in your mother’s womb So this ain’t a surprise to God and maybe a surprise us but it ain’t surprised to God, right? And so I would love to know What did destiny teach you about yourself as you was going through these different transitions?
As you landed to where you are now something that you love to do now you found something for yourself What did destiny teach you about you along this journey?
Melissa Korda (07:27)
So it taught me a lot of humility, to be quite honest. As a woman, so I’m Mexican and the heritage definitely was like, get married, have children, don’t worry about school in your future. So I fought really hard to take a route that was untraditional. So to fail at that as a woman was big. So, you I worked hard and I was blessed and I had, you know, I definitely had ⁓great open doors, know, the opportunities I deserved, I worked for them. So when I came to COVID and had everything stripped from me, I was mad. I was very mad.
A lot of why me’s like why now. But really the humility that comes with that is realizing that my identity cannot, what I teach my children is my identity cannot be in what I do, it has to be in who I am. And so I was, you know, I was slapped real hard with like, okay, you’re so good at you.
now blank slate, what are you going to do with yourself? And I had a lot of little eyes looking at me just going like, mom has always had it together. Like she’s breaking down. Like what’s going on? and I had to just decide like, what am I going to do? And like my friends were, you know, stop whining about it and get a job. And I just had to say, okay, like I have to start over. And that was honestly as humbling as that was, it was also pretty awesome that
I have recreated a whole new career in four and a half years that I love and I genuinely think I’m good at. And I was taught the strength that I have, I could do anything. I might not like it or might not want to. And I love comfort. I’m like super like, okay, this is I want to be. But there are things that I thought I was strong and I thought I was capable. Like nothing could stop me. And yep, nope. I had to learn some humility and then just to learn some different strengths of not relying on who I was.
what I did, but rely on who I was and my foundation.
Quentin Edmonds (09:53)
⁓ thank you so much. So definitely thank you for the gift of your vulnerability, the gift of your transparency. I’ve said that before and I appreciate that. I always say, not always say, but when I’m talking to someone like you, I say Jesus taught you parables, right? So our lives are living examples that other people can glean from. And so as I listen to your life, to me, it’s like a parable unfolding, know, of really letting people in and seeing the impact that a story can have.And so that’s why I’m saying thank you for your gift of vulnerability. Thank you for sharing. And you talked about that word humility. I mean, I don’t hear people mention that word enough. Something that I read every day, particularly on how to love my wife is a scripture that teach that tells me to lead with humility. Like if I’m going to do anything right, if I’m going to do this job that God has given me, which is to love my family, love my wife, even as job I’m doing now, I have to lead with.
Humility and so I absolutely love that that is kind of like in your vernacular now and I appreciate you sharing I have to ask the position that you’re in now. You’re a lender Have you had any adversity within this new position? And how does adversity look when you’re a lender? Is it people know holding out information like not giving you all the information that you need with learn how paperwork is it people just up and just jumping on a deal bailing on a deal like
How does adversity creep this aid up within what you do and how do you overcome it?
Melissa Korda (11:21)
So that for me is my own downfall is that I care about people. My entire career was helping people and like, you that’s my love language. So when you start to build relationships with clients, like I feel an onus to like make sure we do what we need to do and get, you know, help them. So when things go sideways and when there’s so much pressure from an agent or from a wholesaler and they’re putting pressure on a borrower and we have to wait for title or we’re like stressed out because of an appraisal, which happens all the time, it canThat I would say is the hardest thing about this job is just really like balancing all the emotions of all the parties involved. like knowing everyone needs these deals to close, we all only get paid if we close the deal. So we’re all invested in for the positive reasons, but it can, you know, I close like 20 to 30 loans a month. And when you have each one having parties that need you, it can be very, very draining. ⁓
And sometimes I get a little, towards the end of month, my responses are a little bit sharper. So I’ve had to really work on balancing that and really having to like almost disconnect a little bit and really just remember it’s a business. I can’t control everything. But I think it’s just my downfall. It’s the nature of I want to please people. I want them to be happy. So yeah, like I don’t have a solution yet. I think I get better and better every day and every month and I keep learning. ⁓ But yeah, that’s, that is.
The disclosing stuff happens all the time. People don’t always know what to tell us or what we need to know. So we’re used to that. I assume half of the things I need to dig a little bit more. But the thrill of it, the closed loans, the canceled loans, the winning, the losing, I love that. A former athlete in sports, that is why I think I love this job. But that’s not the hard stuff. It’s the emotions of the clients and just doing right by my company and doing right by the people.
Quentin Edmonds (13:13)
Yeah, I absolutely love it. I love your approach. I love the lens, the way you approach things. hear it is actually very, very refreshing to hear. Again, just the honesty, the transparency. I appreciate you really do. Miss Melissa, let me ask you this. What is the next real goal for you? What are you looking to solve or scale next?Melissa Korda (13:31)
Ooh, goals. I shy away from goals because I feel like the goal is just to be better every day. Like that is in my personal life, in my spiritual life, the way I parent. Because some days I’m horrible and I’m like, ooh, like tomorrow will be better. And I think like over time that has been the best meter. But like I want to be better. I want to grow. Like for 2026, I closed 260 loans last year. My goal is to double that. Now it’s ambitious.It’s super ambitious. ⁓ like, I’m going to find ways to get there. And if not, I’m going to learn a lot about me and like my capacity and like what I what you know, what is reasonable. So as far as like personal, like work goals, like I definitely have goals to grow, meet more investors, help more people. ⁓ As a person, you know, I’m always looking to grow to be more balanced in my like personal ⁓ family, like life. I have kids that are adult kids. I have a middle school child.
husband, three dogs, parents that I’m involved with. And just balancing it all. I always want to be better at that too. So yeah, yeah.
Quentin Edmonds (15:18)
I appreciate it. Again, I appreciate your answers to transparency. I love it. This is really, really good. And I hope you’ll, I mean, because I just, we see, I just see so much parallel, like kind of in my life, like just to be better. So I like, I’ll give you an example. This is what I got here sitting in my office. I’ve read this book maybe like three times. I’m not sure if you heard it. Have you heard of Atomic Habits?Melissa Korda (15:40)
Nope, I haven’t. Yeah.Quentin Edmonds (15:42)
Miss Melissa, this book right here is phenomenal. And so what he talks about is like changing your habits. Like what, like he just says be 1 % better than you was yesterday. Just 1 % better, not 15%, 20%, just 1 % better. Because if, of course, if you’re 0 % better, you’re stuck at zero. But if you’re 1%, it’s the small incremental changes that have a long standing impact.And he uses an analogy like the airplane. was like, when it’s is cool? It’s coordinates. If it’s one, I can’t, the technical term, I don’t know, but if it’s just one tick off, you’re not going to hit that coordinate. You’re going to wind up in Alaska somewhere where you’re supposed to be going to New York. And so it’s just true, right? And it’s just a 1 % better. So that’s why I love hearing you talk because you are personifying that. Like, I just want to be 1 % better. I just want to know these little changes that I can make.
Melissa Korda (16:25)
That’s true.Quentin Edmonds (16:36)
just to be a better mom, better ⁓ for your parents, all these different things, and better for yourself, right? So that’s why when you talk, I’m really lightened up because I’m like, yeah, she gets it and I appreciate it. So when I went to love, so 260 loans closed, right? And you want to double that. So for me and the person that I think I’m talking to that you just don’t see them as loans, you identified that these are people on the other side of these loans, right?And so I want to talk to you a little bit about relationships. How important are relationships to you? What’s your style of building relationships? Maintain and retain the relationships. Like talking a little bit about relationships within the space of what you do.
Melissa Korda (17:18)
Yeah, so that’s all I do. Not coming from a sales background, this is a sales position. So had to really figure out how am going to do this? I’m not a salesperson. I dislike salespeople. So I had to figure out, what am I good at? And I’m good at solving problems. I’m good at meeting people. I love connecting. So I’ve really taken everything as a relationship.with and it’s honestly, it’s the root of our company. actually, when we enter a name in our system, we call it a relationship. So it’s, it’s kind of like it really, I don’t know, it just like was a perfect match for me, but everyone is, you know, a client, like I’m helping them grow their dreams. And I look at when I reach out to somebody, I’m like, I’d love to partner with you. Like my entire idea is like, we’re going to partner, we’re going to do this together. And it goes a long ways because instead of feeling like I’m going to sell someone, which
I think anyone would see through that with me because I’m just not that person. I just approach it as like, what are you working on? Like, how can I solve your problems? you paid too much in loan fees. Let me give you cheaper loan fees. Or, you don’t like that product. I have one that might fit you. ⁓ Or I can’t help you. I know people that could help you. Let me connect you or refer you. So relationships honestly is what drives my whole entire business. And, you know, I make mistakes. I am not perfect. We have loans that go sideways, upside down and
on fire. And I really, it’s a part of it, you know, and I have to how I handle that too, is I think something that it’s hard, but you also have to learn how to handle relationships that are not going to proceed. And, you know, I let me can I connect you with another company that would work with you? And I’m sorry, this happened out of our control, but I want the best for you. And that goes a long way. I actually had a client come back to me after they said, we would never work with you again. Like, this is terrible.
all over an appraisal that I have no control over. But they came back because they kept hearing my name and they just, they were like, weren’t happy with what they were doing. Second time around, loans are great, still a client, so happy like I got another chance. But it was, because I genuinely said, like, I hear you, I understand that went horrible. Like, this is another great company that we compete against that I feel like would help you too. And so I think like not coming from a sales background made that easier. Like honestly, I was 40.
So I learned people and really, made all those mistakes when I was 20 about how to interact, how to communicate, how to do that. So like, I kind of came in with the cheat code, because I lived there and done it. Like most people in my industry are half my age. it’s kind of, I kind of like, I might be, I’m older, I’m more tired and slower, but I’ve definitely been through some things that they’ll get down the road. Like they’ll realize in their 30s, like this is so much easier if it’s, you know, a please and thank you instead of like.
Hello, this is John Doe and I’m trying to sell you a loan.
Quentin Edmonds (20:05)
Right. ⁓ absolutely. Like, appreciate it. I appreciate it. ⁓ Listen, is there any topic that I did not bring up that you would like to talk about? And or is there any other words of education, inspiration, motivation that maybe you want to leave people? No pressure. But if there are anything like that, I would love to hear.Melissa Korda (20:29)
Yeah, think, well, I mean, I could say lots on everything. ⁓ But I think if I were going to leave a tidbit with your followers or your listeners is if you’re out there and you’re like, real estate sounds exciting, everyone’s making money, how do I get involved? Find a community. I think there’s so much about a community that we just, this industry is not about I don’t want to ask and look dumb. It’s more about who can help me. And then you have veterans who are like, who can?Who can we mentor? Like, I want to teach you. I’ve been in your shoes. It’s a crazy industry that I’ve never seen so much collaboration. are local groups. You can go meet people in person. There are online groups. can follow podcasts like yours. I mean, there’s lots of avenues, but don’t be nervous about jumping in and being the new person, because one, there’ll be lots of new people. And two, we all were new. Like, we all started this at one point and felt like, I don’t want to go and look
brand new and when you’re brand new. So jump in, find a group, find a community, and then just keep finding more, seek more, and you will find exactly what you need.
Quentin Edmonds (21:31)
Absolutely great wisdom, great wisdom. Listen, Miss Melissa, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can I get in contact with you, man?Melissa Korda (21:42)
Yeah, so best way, easiest way is Instagram. It’s melissakorda.lender.re ⁓ I’m all over Instagram. I mean, I feel like I see myself all the time. ⁓ But yeah, that’s kind of the easiest way. I mean, I’m sure they can reach out to you in my email. I mean, people have my cell phone, so it’s pretty easy to get a hold of me.Quentin Edmonds (22:02)
Gotcha. Well, listen, Miss Melissa let me say three things to you. First, let me say thank you for your time, because obviously, time is valuable. You got the little ones, the three dogs, your husband who, if he’s anything like me, maybe a big baby. you got to know that time is very, very valuable. I think that. Listen, my wife got to put up with me. So listen, I get it. I know I’m a hand. ⁓Melissa Korda (22:24)
At leastyou know,
Quentin Edmonds (22:26)
I’ll touch on that today like, like thank you for putting that with me. So you for your time because time is precious. Secondly, again, thank you for your story. Thank you for your narrative. I believe you being willing to share about you has really planted a seed for other people to maybe take a detour or maybe do things a different way or think about things a different way. So I thank you for that. And definitely thank you for your perspective, your mindset.and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you being here now.
Melissa Korda (22:58)
well, thank you. I appreciate you having me.Quentin Edmonds (23:00)
Absolutely, absolutely. So listen, I told y’all we at the end, you can’t tell me she didn’t drop nuggets. Can’t tell me she didn’t drop perspective. I told you she was going to. And so definitely check her out on the show notes. How to get in contact with her is in the show notes. Check that out. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I keep telling you we’re going to keep bringing up amazing people just like Miss Melissa. So Miss Melissa, thank you again. And everyone else, you have a fantastic day.
