Names: Shelley Dunn and Lara Long

 

Where were you born? Shelley: Memphis, TN; Lara: Senatobia, MS

 

Where did you grow up? Shelley: In the Memphis/Desoto County area; Lara: Went to high school in Senatobia, MS but lived in and spent the majority of her life in Hernando.

 

What are the names of your crew or team and how did you end up together?  

Producing Branch Manager: Shelley Dunn

Senior Loan Officer: Lara Long

Loan Officer Assistant: Brenda Jones

Loan Processing Specialist: Kristie Gundlach

 

Brenda & Shelley have worked together in the mortgage industry since 1999.  Brenda was the manager at GMAC Mortgage at the time, and the two met at a Homebuilders golf tournament. Brenda was Shelley’s mentor and taught her everything she knows about mortgage loans. They worked together on and off for years after that. Once Brenda decided she didn’t want to be a loan officer anymore, she became the loan officer assistant, so the two still get to work together.

 

Lara and Shelley met due to a mutual referral partner that thought they would make a great pair. Lara joined the Shelley and Brenda at Supreme Lending, where Kristie was already a processor for the company and specifically, our region. Together, the quartet make an unstoppable team with the sole mission to help as many people as possible accomplish the dream of homeownership!

 

How many years have you been in this role? Shelley has been in the mortgage business for 24 years and Lara has been a mortgage loan officer for three years.

 

Is there someone you have looked up to, or has mentored you? Why do

look up to them?

 

Shelley: There are so many people in my life that have shaped the person that I am today. Personally, my dad has always been my super-hero… he can do anything, can fix anything, and has a way of looking at problems as puzzles to be solved, which is part of what makes me good at my job.   

 

Professionally, Brenda taught me everything I know, and I will always be grateful to her for pushing me out of my comfort zone and always being there to help me.

 

Lara: This is a hard question to answer as there are so many people who have pushed me, motivated me, and guided me through my journey.  On the personal side, my biggest motivation is and has always been my children.   Everything I do, I do for them. My grandfather personally made sure I had everything I needed to get where I am today and I hope I am making my momma proud, in heaven. When it comes to business, I would never be here if it weren’t for Colie Sanford, DeSoto County President of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, and Kristy Hopper. Colie brought me into the world and Kristy taught me all about it, embraced all of my questions, and encouraged me to strive for what I wanted. While working in Memphis, I got to work with some extremely knowledgeable people in the business, specifically Steve Sutton, EVP of Financial Federal Bank. He, much like Shelley, is a walking book of knowledge that would never hesitate to teach me anything I wanted to learn. Finally, Shelley, my boss now. She’s everything you could dream for in a boss - her willingness to coach and mentor me to further my career path speaks volumes about her in general. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.

 

What have you had you to overcome in your life/business to get to where you are now, and how did you overcome it?

 

Shelley: I always considered myself as shy and have never been “good” at sales.  Overcoming my own social anxiety was one of the main things. I had to push myself to go out and make public meetings and get my face out there. I really like to learn and grow and help people.

 

Lara:  My main struggle to get to where I am now was to get out of my own head.  It was a big change for me to make overnight and a lot of scary possibilities ahead. But, I made the change I took the leap, with encouragement from my family and close friends. It can be scary to put yourself out there fearing rejection and failure, but you will never know if you don’t try!

 

What has been the most rewarding part of your business?

 

Helping people overcome their own obstacles and pave the way for them to purchase a home is one of the most rewarding things you can do.  

 

Looking into the future, how does working with real estate professionals fit into your dreams and goals?

 

Real Estate professionals are the boots on the ground and essential for this business. We, as lenders, would not be able to do anything that we do without them. Not only do we partner with REALTORS® for referrals, but they play an essential role in our seamless closing process. We want to be considered a “team member” for each of the real estate professionals that we work with. We are all here to help people realize their dreams of homeownership, and the more we work together, the more successful we will all be. We are here to help YOU grow, and we take that seriously.

 

Tell us about your family, including names, interests, and what you like to do together.

 

Lara is married to Ben Hickey. Son, Carson (8) and Daughter Liza (18 mo.)

We enjoy being outside and enjoy fun trips together. We have three dogs (Jack, Jepp and Judge), four cats (Sylvia, Skittles, Tom and Gretchen.) We enjoy spending time with our families, eating good food and a watching good movies. Lara is the eldest of four brothers and one sister and is overly excited to become an aunt in October!

 

Shelley has three grown children: Christian & Connor, who are twins that are 27 years old and both live in the Memphis area; and her youngest, Graham, who is 25 and lives in Los Angeles, CA. She has two cats, Isa and Osi. Travelling is a passion they all share. The goal for 2023 is to take a small trip every month this year!

Define success.

 

Typically, I guess one would say it’s identifying a goal and accomplishing it. I think success is whatever you dream it to be.   It doesn’t look the same for any two people, and at different points in your life, you identify areas that you want to improve.  Each step forward and each improvement in life all contributes to success.

 

In the spirit of ‘Real’ Producers, what is something that not many people know about you, something that can’t be found in your bio online that people can’t google about you?

 

Shelley: I’m SUCH an introvert. I live my life in my own head, thinking through problems, going down a rabbit hole with information that I will never remember or ever use again. I think if you cracked open my brain, a plethora of useless information would leak out (haha). I love history and feeling like I am part of something much, much bigger than any one life.   When I travel, I love to geek out on places that have a cool story.

 

Lara: I hate ranch dressing. I am left-handed. I enjoy photography, though I haven’t dedicated much time to it lately. I really want to go skydiving, but I am terrified of heights, that’s come with age. I’d prefer to be on a lake than the ocean but love being on the water in general.

 

 

Given your status and expertise, what is some advice you would give people or what can others learn from you?

 

Not only do we have the knowledge of credit and mortgage products and services, but I think what is especially rare about our group is that even if we are unable to personally close a loan for our client, with our gathered experience in previous years we are able to help guide our clients into the direction they want to go, whether that be purchasing a lot, getting a construction loan or even wanting to acquire agricultural land. We are in it to be what our clients need. I think that in this business, getting to the “why” is the most important thing that we can do to be able to guide someone on the path to achieving what they want to achieve.

 

If there is ONE thing you want to be sure the article captures about yourself or your team and how you run your business, what would that be?

 

That we genuinely care about educating others in the mortgage industry and are here to help in any way possible.

 

Favorite quote or “top tips”:

 Great things never came from comfort zones. – Eric Thomas

Share your magic with the world, you ever know what impact you’ll have. – Rebecca thatcher

Teamwork makes the dream work. – John C Maxwell

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.  – Shane Patton