A brief history of your Blown Mortgage Scribe - Part One

I have recieved now more than a few requests to share a bit more about my background with respect to how I ended up where I am now than i reveal on my About page. It is a task that I have not been too excited about as it feels self-indulgent and overly revealing at the same time. I am sure that many of you will skip these posts (and yes there is more than one) and feel free to do so, those of you interested in where this is all coming from - enjoy.

There are four parts to this thing and I’ll be rolling them out over the next week or so. It is definitely an unfinished piece. Particularly the parts about my indoctrination in to the industry and any in-depth conversation of where I learned what I share here; but its a modest start and one that I hope puts some perspective me - the person who writes Blown Mortgage every day.

– Morgan

Part 1

A lot of people ask me about my background and how and why I am in mortgages. Most people want to know why someone in the mortgage industry has a web site like Blown Mortgage. I guess its a little weird having a site that is primarily focused on the negative aspects of the industry in which I work. So with out further ado, for those of you that care about who is writing this blog please enjoy this autobiographical article that should shed some light on who I am and why I write Blown Mortgage.

The Early Years 1976 - 1998

We’ll breeze through the formative years as it can get a bit cumbersome and is primarily rooted in good-old suburban America. I was born on January 25, 1976 to Paul and Diane Brown. The first born, I am the older of two sons for my mom and dad. My brother, Graeme Brown was born a mere 23 months later in December; and to this day laments that as a December baby his birthday is always neglected. I grew up in Avon, Connecticut. Avon is a small, typical East-coast town nestled away in idyllic Connecticut suburbia. Ideal, anyway, for a relatively stress-free upbringing. Avon, and the surrounding towns Farmington, Simsbury and others are towns insulated from the difficulties of “real life.” A peaceful bubble where neighbors leave their doors unlocked at night, kids play in the street, and the most exciting thing happening in town was the occasional volunteer fire drill.

I spent the majority of my days playing baseball or whatever sport was in season with my younger (more athletically gifted) brother in between being a very serious over-achiever in the classroom. During high-school I was on our conference-winning varsity baseball team. I managed to earn an All-Conference Academic Team nod for my baseball/academic feats; though I imagine it was more for the grades than the baseball. I was also on about a million after-school clubs including Model United Nations, Tutoring in the City, Young Republicans, Computer Club you name it, I was probably on it. I spent too much time growing up stressed out about things I couldnt control; politics and my parents divorce are two that consumed the majority of my time.

Growing up in Avon in retrospect was a true blessing. Living presently in California, and meeting so many California kids who were born and raised in the OC, I am so thankful to have the peaceful, bucolic setting of Avon for my youth. The dangers of drugs, alcohol, violence were all absent from my childhood and for each day I live I am thankful for not having to deal with any of that growing up.

When it was time to go to college my high-school mentors and advisors thought Id do what every other sensible east coast graduating senior does by attending one of the myriad well-regarded liberal arts colleges in the North East. I would have none of it. I wanted out. The catty in-fighting, the cliques, being around the same 500 people for the last 18 years was just the fuel I needed to blast-off for greener pastures. I didnt make my parents too happy with my college requirements which are repeated here in total. They were 1. Some place warm, 2. some place far away, 3. Some place big. That was it I wanted a fresh start somewhere warm and potentially prosperous.

After looking at schools such as University of Miami, Florida, University of California San Diego and Santa Barbara, University of South Carolina and Pepperdine; I settled on the University of California at Santa Barbara. I was the only one from my school attending (duh) and I couldnt have been happier. I chose Santa Barbara because of the idyllic setting. I dont know if any of you have been to the campus; but it is one of the most beautiful settings in the world (based on my limited travels). The day that I went to visit the campus was a beautiful Santa Barbara fall day. I remember it exactly today 10 years later as the day I was there. It was late-afternoon; a light, cool ocean breeze swept over the campus and kissed my face. I stood, with my Dad, in one of our painfully few bonding moments, looking out over the cobalt blue of the Pacific, soaking in the salted air and feeling the warmth of the sun and possibility on my skin. It was perfection defined for a sheltered kid from Connecticut; and I still equate it with the feeling of endless possibility to this very day.

My Dad and I walked around the campus on a group tour that (minus any other visitors) ended up being a private escort around the grounds. I was hooked immediately; and I believe my dad knew before I even told him that this was my spot.

The College Years

College in Santa Barbara is a delicate balance of enjoyment and responsibility; and I handled the juggling acts better at times than others. Ironically, the further I progressed in my education the more clumsily I managed that tension. I was a Marine Biology major; intent on fulfilling a childhood dream of swimming with Shamu at Sea World as a world-renowned expert in the field of marine mammals. It wasnt until my junior year of college that I was told the cold facts of marine biology; mainly being that 99% of ocean life is plankton - hence requiring 99% of the study and research and that there isnt much money to be made studying the microscopic shrimp. Disillusioned is a good word, bored of the subject is probably more accurate, and I chose the fastest path out of the major which was a quick jump over to Zoology. Literally one class separates the majors at UCSB.

Through my first year and a half I mastered the balance of fun and class with the same skill and gusto that got me through high-school as a stressed-out, ultra-conservative, type-A personality headed for a heart attack at 22. I was Deans List with a 4.0 average my freshman year (spring quarter no less) and enrolled by selection in to the Honors Program. I began struggling with the balance between social and academic pursuits upon my acceptance in to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity during my sophomore year.

Joining a fraternity, while a definite impediment to ones academic drive (I quickly lost my honors status and was never to see the Deans List again), has been one of my most personally satisfying and successful decisions Ive made to date (with the notable exceptions of my marriage and birth of my son). It was in my fraternity that I first got the idea that it was OK to slow down a bit. That the race was rather a myth; and that there wasnt anywhere to get in any particular hurry. Right or wrong, I unwound, distressed and started to come in to my own as a person with a point of view (not a very impassioned one, mind you). My mom continues to say to this day that Santa Barbara made me who I am now.

But back to why it got me where I am today. In Santa Barbara and in the fraternity specifically I became very involved in organizing events. It was something that I loved to do. The promotion, the marketing, the outreach these were all things that lit my fire. I loved marketing an upcoming fraternity event; the kegger, the beach clean up, the softball tournament, whatever it was I loved promoting it and seeing the success as people streamed through the proverbial gates. It was my first taste of marketing, and while I was propping my eyelids open reading marine biology texts, I was enthralled with marketing. It was the first taste of the path I would eventually choose.

My senior year I was able, with the help of a very good friend, to put together the fraternitys single largest charitable event in the history of the chapter. I organized and promoted a softball tournament that involved more than 3,000 Greek-affiliated students from 6 different universities over a weekend long sequence of events, games and the requisite parties. It was a massive 3-month undertaking which involved recruiting sponsors such as Red Bull and other name-brands, as well as encouraging teams to road trip it to Santa Barbara from as far away as Phoenix. It was a huge success on all levels, and sparked an annual tradition for Beta at Santa Barbara which is planning its 10th Annual Greek Softball Tournament. It was a great achievement that was even sweeter after my failed attempt junior year to rally the same event with a disastrous outcome (no one showed, literally).

For my efforts with the softball tournament I was awarded the University Award of Distinction; one of 50 of a graduating class of 4,500 to receive the honor, which is awarded for improving the quality of life on campus and in the community. It was a great moment. At that point I should have known that my passion was organizing, promoting and marketing. But I didnt.

Stay tuned for part 2.

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[Source: Blown Mortgage]