TOM Talk Episode Three

TOM Talk Episode Three – Employee Interview with Amanda Benton

We are so excited for TOM Talk Episode Three! Our President, Michael Kuentz interviews our Crowley Branch Manager – Amanda Benton. Watch below – transcript added for ADA. We hope you’ll share these videos with your friends and tune in to learn more about our company and employees!

Transcript (Speakers: [MK] Michael Kuentz, [AB] Amanda Benton)

(00:00-00:05): Words on screen; TOM TALK – POWERED BY TRINITY OAKS MORTGAGE

(00:05-00:23): AB – For me, it’s, you know, it’s the crowns. It is the legacy. What am I leaving behind? With you know, you know, every morning I pray that the Lord leads me to his people and he aligns me for his assignment.

(00:23-00:28): Words on screen; TOM TALK – Let’s Talk with… Amanda Benton

(00:28-01:05): MK – Hey, TOM family, happy Friday to all! I’m excited today because I get the opportunity to speak with Amanda Benton. For some of you who have not had the privilege of meeting Amanda, she is our branch manager in Crowley, and, just a few short miles away from me over here in Aledo. And unfortunately, we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like, but, she continues to just do wonderful things out in the Crowley community and serving that community and her and her husband serving the Lord. And we’re just blessed to have Amanda. Amanda. Welcome.

(01:04-01:07): AB – Woo! Thank you for having me!

(01:07-01:13): MK – You’re welcome. You’re welcome. So how long have you been with, Trinity Oaks Mortgage?

(01:13-01:19): Almost three years. My anniversary is actually coming up on the 26th.

(01:20-01:27): MK – Good. I’ll make sure, and, I’ll make sure and send out a great, a great big celebration.

(01:27-01:27): AB – Thank you.

(01:27-01:44): MK – You’re welcome. So, let’s kind of bounce around a little bit. I want to learn all about you, but most importantly, I want the Tom family and the community to learn about Amanda. So, what is your greatest career accomplishment?

(01:46-03:18): AB – And that that’s a really hard question. Because there are so many that it’s like, what’s the greatest, it, it’s really hard to pick just one. I feel like it for me, like, probably it’s coming here. It was really, that was when my world changed. I’ve been, I’ve done this for 21 years, maybe 22. And everywhere I’ve been, you know, I’ve always worked for all the big banks. You know, I’ve worked for Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi Bank. But I was never able to, it was like living a double life. You know, compare, you know, when you went to work, you know, it was almost politically correct. And then you go home and then you have a home life. And since I’ve been here, my world is just, it is like night and day. It is like family here, within my own space, but also with the company as well, you know, it’s just, it was really starting TOM. And I used to actually pray every time I would pass the John Houston sign that is at the end of my street of my house. Every time I would pass it, I was like, man, I’m going to work with that guy one day. And the Lord literally brought me right here.

(03:18-04:20): MK – Yeah. I always, I try to. Every chance I get, because people ask the same thing is, you know, what brought you there? And obviously God brought me here, but for the first time in my life where, cause I worked for some of those big places, right. Those big brand names and, you know, having an equally yoked personal and business life is so unheard of, for a Christian walk and, you know, John and Tracy afford that opportunity for us to be safe in our walk with Christ. And, so it’s just an honor. I agree with you. This is a, an amazing place both professionally and personally. So, so tell me about. So that’s, that’s how you got here. That’s, that’s you being a part of this family, but tell me about a big mistake. That you know, has occurred in your life, how you dealt with it and really what you learned from that experience?

(04:20-07:08): AB – Well, I’ve made a lot of them and I think I’ve learned. I think I’ve learned more from my mistakes than I do from, you know, from not, probably one of the big ones that stands out was last year. We have a lot of people that are always coming in and trying to bring cookies or lunch or whatever. Right. You know, cause I got a big real estate team around me also.  and our title company brought in lunch one day and. I was like the last one to get in there and eat. So, they were already eaten. We had a room full of people and, and I ran in there, hurried up and grabbed me a plate. And then my phone rang as soon as, and I’ve been waiting for this call and expecting this call, but it rang like as soon as I put some food in my mouth. Right. And, I tried to hurry up and swallow and get the call. Cause I didn’t want to miss this guy. And I like choked so bad. Like they had to do Heimlich maneuver on me. Like I turned blue, like it, it was like a scary experience too. And, and you know, that was the scary part with it. But, you know, obviously I’ve made it through or whatever. And then, I called my husband, like as soon as it happened and I’m like, babe, I almost died today. I just want to tell you, I love you. He does like kind of thing. And he’s like, you know, he’s not like, how are you? Are you okay? You know, I didn’t get any of that kind of response. You know, his initial response was – who prayed over the food? And I was like, I was the last one in to eat. I, I really, it hadn’t crossed my mind yet. You know, I’m still getting over with the experience of choking. Right. And he’s like, who prayed over the food. And then he literally makes me put him on speaker and like do a video call and he makes me go around and ask who prayed over the food. And. Everybody, you know, like we just had the rah rah, the title company introduced them. No one had actually prayed over the food and he immediately went into prayer. And rebuked, you know, the experience and all this stuff, and thank you for our meal. And, and I was like, I was just repenting right then. And then, you know, my husband, “I have an irritating way of being right.” And I’m like, of course you do?

(07:08-07:13): MK – So, I love your husband. He’s a good man of God.

(07:13-07:15): AB – I pray now, for sure.

(07:16-07:40): MK – That was good stuff. So, Yeah, I believe we can all learn something there. God is good to us, not just for a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes before we go to bed. He’s good throughout the day and we need to be thanking him, especially when it comes to sitting down and having a meal. So that’s great. How do you evaluate success in your life?

(01:27-09:05): AB – Man. For me, it’s, you know, it’s the crowns. It is the legacy. What am I leaving behind with? You know, you know, every morning I pray that the Lord leads me to his people, and he aligns me for his assignment. And. You know, every day, you know, like I walked into this office two days ago and I had so many things planned for my day. And I had three people in the waiting room that I was not expecting. It was the whole day like that. I had people come in to see me that were not planned from nine o’clock in the morning until 9:30 that night, I was all day long. And it’s just. You know, what kind of legacy am I leaving with every person, you know, for me success, you know, the money with this career, you know, a lot of people measure their success by money. And I just feel like that is, like a bonus. It’s a side effect to what we get to do, and we get to bless others, you know, through our walk. But for me it truly is, It’s it. What kind of impact am I making?

(09:05-09:44): MK – Yeah. You know, that’s a good reminder because, you know, I, I know we never liked to have to go to funerals and, and, and, but when you start to hear about the legacy that people left, I always take inventory at that point, start to see, okay, how am I making a difference in people’s lives? What value am I injecting into their lives? Versus, you know, life giving versus life taking. And so, it’s good, Amanda, that’s a good way to, to think about it. So, tell me about a time where you went over and above the call of duty to get the job done.

(09:44-01:44): AB – Well, I, I, I do it every day. I would have to say.

(09:52-09:52): MK – That’s right.

(09:52-01:44): AB – Probably the one, you know, one that sticks out. His last month at month end, which feels like it was yesterday. Cause our time goes by so fast in this career. Last month, like the day before closing. I always call him pre-close all my buyers and make sure that they know all the important stuff that. They should know before they ever walk in the door, called pre closer, you know, pump her up, get her excited, you know, never know if the title company is going to let you go to a closing anymore. So, you know, I get ’em all cheered up and ready to go, get off the phone. Everything’s good. And she’s an executive at a large company. Hour later, this is the day before the last day of the month to close later, we get a hit that they opened up a new account.

(10:48-10:48): MK – Yep.

(01:27-11:22): AB – And I’m like, Oh, that’s nice. Okay. And I call and ask about it and she did not know anything about it. And she calls her husband on three-way and puts him into the call. And he was like, I only called to, to. Be ready to buy the fridge for after the closing, but not, I didn’t do anything wrong, Amanda. I was like, Oh, I wish it was that easy. Hahaha. So.

(11:22-011:22): MK – Yep.

(11:22-11:32): AB – You know, we go, we actually, you know, this is the beautiful part of our, our job here in our career here that we, we went into prayer immediately.

(11:32-11:32): MK – Good for you.

(11:32-11:40): AB – Lord make a way, you know, it. You know, her house was already going to be rented. Like she was already in temporary housing.

(11:40-01:44): MK – Wheels were in motion. Yep.

(01:27-12:18): AB – A U-Haul. The whole bit. And, she, three hours later, she’s on the phone trying to get an account number so we can get a credit supplement to get her credit updated and no bueno. And you know, she calls me back in tears. Doesn’t know what she’s going to do. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s working on one, two o’clock in the afternoon at this point. And I’m like, this is not looking so good. And I just, the Lord hit me. I used to work for that bank. And I know a guy.

(12:18-12:22): MK – Wow. Not what you know, not what you know.

(12:22-13:14): AB – Okay. But she could not get her own account number. I was like, I just need the account number. And so, I called my friend and I got what I needed and we were able to get her credit updated with all three agencies. Get it back, get it signed off on, you know, our. Our underwriting team and my processor. I mean, Laura Glenn and Erica. I mean, it, it just couldn’t have worked out any better. It, we didn’t skip a beat. We didn’t change our closing time. I mean, we all looked like rock stars and. It was showing up and showing off is exactly what just happened. It was just, I think it was one of the moments where the Lord winks at you and says, yeah, I still got it.

(13:14-13:31): MK – I love those moments, those are some of the best. So, that’s, that’s actually a really good segue to my final question for you. You could write a book about your life.  what would the title be and why?

(13:31-14:18): AB – Hmm. You know, it’s funny that, you’re asking that we, you know, did my office, and even at my church, we always do, kind of goals for the year. And that was one of the things that we had said this year is like, if you had a book, what would it be? And I’ve actually added a little bit to mind since then.  but I started this year with, treat them with honor. And you know, as the years went on, it’s in, don’t give up, never give up. Because sometimes you do have to keep treating them with honor. Even whenever your mind, your flesh tells you, you know, even when you have to fight it.

(14:19-14:19): MK – That’s good.

(14:20-14:41): AB – But, you know, everything we go through is, is our, you know, our history is really his story. And it’s, you know, treating them with honor. Like, I remember that every day, because it’s every day, it’s just a, what do you got in store for me today? Lord.

(14:42-14:50): MK – That’s a good way to live life right there. I would love for that to spread like wildfire and.

(14:50-14:52): AB – It’s actually my shirt. You see?

(14:52-14:55): MK – Love it! Yes. Not on my watch.

(14:55-14:56): AB – Not on my watch buddy.

(14:56-14:58): MK – That’s great. Well.

(14:58-14:59): AB – It’s actually a ministry.

(15:00-15:01): MK – Is it really? That’s awesome.

(15:01-15:16): AB – Yeah. That’s, that’s what we do. We, we give with every loan that I do, we give to The Answer International.  And it’s, you know, we are the answer.

(15:16-15:17): MK – The hands and feet.

(15:18-15:20): AB – Mhmm. Yeah. Good stuff.

(15:21-15:29): MK – Well, I see that you have, a little Valentine’s Day there. It looks like so happy early Valentine’s day.

(15:29-15:29): AB – Yeah.

(15:30-15:50): MK – At least that’s what it looks like. So, you and John enjoy that time together and Amanda, thank you. Thank you for doing this with me, but also just thank you for loving the Lord. Thank you for loving the TOM family, the JH Family of Companies, and I’m just excited for what God has in store for you and what God has in store for this company.

(15:50-15:50): AB – Yeah.

(15:50-15:55): MK – Yeah, we just need to keep trusting in everything He’s got in store and everything will just be fine.

(15:55-15:56): AB – Everyday, man.

(15:56-15:58): MK – All right. Thank you, Amanda. Take care.

(01:27-01:44): AB – Happy Valentines to you too. And the team.

(16:03-16:03): MK – Thank you.

(16:03-16:06): AB – Y’all come out to Crowley. Anytime.

(16:06-16:08): MK – Come on. Come West.

(16:08-16:08): AB – Yes.

(16:09-16:09): MK – Take care.

(16:10-16:13): Words on screen; TOM TALK – POWERED BY TRINITY OAKS MORTGAGE

(16:13-16:17): Words on screen; Thanks for watching! Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

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