Why one mortgage veteran believes fear may be holding you back, and what you can do to push through it
The life of a mortgage broker, especially for those new to the profession, can sometimes feel lonely. This is especially true for those who leave the structure of a retail environment for the freedom of being an independent broker.
One former retail loan originator who made the transition into the broker world wants to share her advice for those who may be hesitant to reach out for help.
Melissa Rifai (pictured top), mortgage broker and owner of Hyve Home Loans, is one of the breakout group speakers at the upcoming Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) FUSE event next month in Nashville. Her goal is to help brokers break out of their shells and find success.
“In order to get to that next level, you have to break through those fears,” Rifai told Mortgage Professional America. “And every day, I'm teaching that to myself still. I admit that there's lots that I don't know, and I'm okay with that.
“It blows my mind that even I was afraid to ask that question, when what's the worst that was going to happen? People were going to say no or ignore the post? I wouldn't have been any worse off than I am now. But that's not what happened.”
Finding a helpful community
It was an adjustment for Rifai coming out of the banking ecosystem and into the broker world. In the banking space, information between competitors is more protected. She said one example of a difference between the two came when she was working to establish a comp plan so her new brokerage could grow.
“I'm trying to build out a comp plan so that I can recruit and grow and scale,” Rifai said. “It's one of my goals. It's why I opened this company, not just for me to operate myself, but to bring in a community of like-minded folks. And I've been working with an HR firm trying to build a comp plan based on what I know and what I think is kind of out.
“And I wasted so much time because I was afraid to go into the ‘Brokers are Best’ community, and say, ‘What are you guys offering on a comp plan?’ I was afraid because I knew that at the bank, it was very guarded information. You know what US Bank’s comp plan is, or Regions Bank or Truist. I have all these banks in my community. They don't want to tell you because you're the competitor.
Rifai had heard all about how helpful the broker community was. She attended FUSE in 2024 to witness it firsthand. She decided to reach out to the community to find out about comp plans and realized many people were willing to help out.
“Eventually, I just got over my fear and said I needed help,” she said. “I said, ‘Hey, anybody willing to help a newbie out? What's your comp plan? What do you guys charge? What do you pay? I don't know how the broker world compensates.’ I was overwhelmed with the amount of responses that I got on that post from other brokers, either putting their comp just straight onto that page, or reaching out to me via private message or email.”
Avoiding the fear
One of the things that made the jump a little less scary for Rifai is that she was bringing extensive mortgage experience into her own brokerage.
“I feel like, even though I'm new on the broker side of the community, that my 15-plus years’ experience in mortgage and managing people and managing teams would translate,” she said. “Mortgage is still the mortgage on the broker side. The people are still the people on the broker side.”
When she was considering making the move, she received plenty of offers to come in and work in a brokerage while she got used to the change to the broker side. And while she was grateful for the offers, she knew it was only keeping her from reaching her goal. She knew that was going to require facing her fears head-on.
“Lots of brokers said, ‘Come work with us for a year. I'll teach you everything, and then you can go out on your own,’” Rifai said. “I know I can figure it out, and I know I've got a support system. I can't let that fear skew my timeline, because comfortability is the killer of growth. I would be very comfortable to work for a broker and just produce and let them teach me, but then I would be killing time when I know that that's just fear speaking. I can go out on my own and do it.”
Hunter Bolling of Edge Home Finance uses pre-approval Zooms, benefit-focused education, and deep relationships to steer vets away from bad lenders and build customers for life.https://t.co/1lmbfjv3WY
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) September 16, 2025
Her message to other brokers is to push through the fear that is keeping them from reaching their potential as a mortgage broker.
“Sure, I might make some mistakes, but sometimes that's how you learn,” she said. “You don't really make too many financial mistakes more than once. I knew that in order for me to get to that next level, I just had to overcome that fear and do it myself. And I think a lot of top producers are stuck at a great high level.
“They're top for a reason, but sometimes they can't just get over that next level, and they don't want to admit that it's fear. There is an invisible ceiling that is just that last little 20%. But what's that last little thing that would take you to the next level?”
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