Mark Fisher, regional vice president at UNMB Home Loans in the Bronx, New York, loves a good coffee shop, and he doesn’t mind a bit of an excursion to reach one. He’ll drive an hour, sometimes two just to find one, looking for good coffee, but also a good vibe.
“Something that’s going to inspire me and make me think and be creative,” Fisher said. “A great coffee shop really allows me to open my mind. That’s where, when I’m working on my business, I’m really making the biggest leaps.”
That’s right: Even in his happy place, amid the ambient jazz and wafting aroma of light roast, the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business alumnus can’t help but circle back to thinking about mortgages. That’s apt, considering it was in a coffee shop that he ended up finding his way into the lending industry.
“I was in one of my favorite coffee shops to spend my time,” Fisher recalled. “I was studying for the LSATs and just trying to figure out what my next step was going to be. And a friend of mine reached out and asked me what I was doing … and I told him I was there trying to figure out life. He was like, ‘Well, my friend just reached out to me and his company’s hiring,’ so I’m like, ‘Oh, what does he do?’ He said that he does mortgages and he does very well.
“I went to go meet the guy and I just liked everything I saw. I just started shadowing him for a few months to really learn what it was all about to see if it was something I wanted to dive into. And the rest is history.”
History, thus far, has been good. Last year, he closed 221 loans for $101 million in total volume — good for 34th on Scotsman Guide’s Top Emerging Stars as well as 193rd in the rankings for total dollar volume. In some ways, that’s somewhat to be expected for a guy whose brain still drifts back toward mortgages in his moments of Zen.
“I wish I could say I could turn it off, but it’s very, very hard,” he chuckled. “I’m not thinking about individual deals, but I’m thinking about how we can keep growing. I kind of work even harder when things are slower. I really focus on improving the way we do business during those difficult times.”
Late last year, his business was upgrading its point-of-sale technology as well as its customer-relationship management platform. The flow of operations is being improved so that he and his business can be ready for 2025. Fisher explained that he was raised in a lower-class household, so he got used to a diligent work ethic early in life.
“I grew up with nothing, so I naturally have that fight-or-flight mentality, and my go-to is always to fight,” he said. “Nothing is guaranteed. Just because you did great last year or the last few years, doesn’t mean that you’re going to do well in the coming years. You have to continue to try different things and just see what works, see what doesn’t and continue to evolve.”
Lean years, like the ones the mortgage industry has persevered through lately, only serve to motivate him, he said.
“The market has taken a toll on everyone,” said Fisher. “No one likes to take a step backward, but there’s some things we can’t control. They can mess with you psychologically, and it does create fear. But what you do with that fear is what will change your outcome. I’m driven by negative reinforcement, in a way. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to prove to you that I will get it done. So, for me, I’m going into (this year) with the attitude that I’m going to double my business from where it (was in 2024), you know?”
Not that he lets the job override his work-life balance; this father of three young kids always makes time for family.
“I realized a few years ago that if you allow it to, business will consume all of your time,” he said. “It’s just like this monster blob that’s just coming at you. If you don’t make the time for the other important things in your life that really matter, then you’re just never going to find the time for it.
“But it’s actually amazing when you put those things in your calendar first and then work around it. Magically, everything fits in. It’s kind of like, if you’ve ever seen that video of the guy that fills the jar with rocks. You won’t get everything in if you put the little gravel in first. But he throws the big stones in — the important pieces — and the rest just falls into place around them. That’s what you’ve got to do in this business, and the wife and kids, they’re definitely (my big stones).”
