Ask Fobby Anything: Recruiting, Leadership & Mortgage Truths

Most mortgage companies are making the same leadership mistake — and it’s costing them millions.In this episode of Laugh, Lend & Eat, we flipped the script and let the guests, Gabe Gillen, Wes Costello, and our favorite mortgage comic, Justin Neal, ask the questions in a segment we call Ask Fobby Anything. What followed was a mix of hard truths, leadership lessons, recruiting insights, and a few unexpected personal stories along the way.We dive into a controversial topic many companies avoid: why top producers don’t automatically make great branch managers. The skill set that makes someone elite at production is often the opposite of what’s required to build and lead a team.But that’s just the start.We also unpack the recruiting strategy that actually works — making the candidate the hero of the story, not the company or the recruiter. It’s a simple shift that changes everything when you're trying to attract the right talent.Along the way, we explore a deeper leadership question: What’s more dangerous in business — fear or ego? The answer might surprise you.And because this is Laugh, Lend & Eat, the conversation also wanders into favorite foods, podcasts, movies you can’t stop watching, and what happens when you suddenly realize how much work your spouse actually does when you’re running the household alone.This episode is part leadership conversation, part industry therapy session, and part unscripted fun.If you're a loan officer, branch manager, recruiter, or sales leader, there’s something here that will make you think differently about growth, leadership, and the stories we tell ourselves in business.🎧 Listen to the full episode of Ask Fobby Anything now.