Rosie Arruda Got Laid Off, then Started in Mortgages – Now She’s President’s Club | Mortgage Daddies

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:10:07
Craig Snell
Welcome back to Mortgage Daddies. Today we have one of our loan officers who has been with us for a long time, Rosemary Arruda. Rosie, as we all know her by.

00:00:10:08 – 00:00:10:15
Craig Snell
Yes.

00:00:10:16 – 00:00:12:21
Craig Snell
She brings the freaking energy to this place.

00:00:12:22 – 00:00:19:04
Craig Snell
Yeah, she’s definitely one of my favorite people in the entire office. She’s, uh, she always— nah, not always. 95% of the time, always positive and ready to go.

00:00:19:04 – 00:00:42:00
Craig Snell
Yes. So every, every 5%, you don’t wanna be on that side of Rosie. For our viewers who, uh, do business with Rosie and know Rosie as the fun, outgoing, little Portuguese mom that she is, uh, don’t get on the bad side of the 5%. That does not end well for anybody.

00:00:42:02 – 00:00:57:02
Vernon Miles
I’m Vernon. I run the top mortgage brokerage in Massachusetts with over 20 years of experience. I’m Craig. I’ve done $100 million consistently since my second full year in the business, and I’m Massachusetts’ top mortgage broker. We’re the Mortgage Daddies, with real advice, real stories, and real results.

00:00:57:04 – 00:00:58:07
Vernon Miles
Let’s get going.

00:00:58:08 – 00:01:00:14
Rosie Arruda
I’m very Rosie. Rosie’s very rosy right now.

00:01:00:15 – 00:01:14:08
Vernon Miles
Tell us a little bit about your journey, right? We’ve had a couple loan officers come on the podcast— mm-hmm— and I know your story, and I’m, I’m amazed by your story every single time we sit down and talk, and how you’ve been able to grow your business.

00:01:14:08 – 00:01:36:08
Vernon Miles
But more importantly, the way you do business is very similar to the way I built my business, Craig built his business. It’s all relationship-based. It’s, it’s not, you know, out there paying for Zillow or, or any type of lead generation or anything like that. It’s really just face-to-face, building a relationship with your agents. But I think if we could start off, like, uh, you know, how long you been at Milestone, and what’d you do beforehand, where, and how we ended up meeting is, uh, is my favorite part.

00:01:36:08 – 00:02:02:23
Rosie Arruda
Yes. So, uh, I’ve been with Milestone since June 2020, and before that, I worked for— independently— an independent location for Verizon Wireless. Worked there for 13 years as the manager, top sales rep. Uh, after COVID, they ended up letting me go. One of my good clients, uh, Scott Botelho, ended up knowing you and said that I would be great for the job.

00:02:02:23 – 00:02:05:20
Rosie Arruda
And yeah, that’s kinda how it happened.

00:02:05:22 – 00:02:26:20
Vernon Miles
Yeah, so anybody out there watching, customer service, Verizon Wireless, bartenders getting beat up every single day by, uh, the consumer— mm-hmm— makes you a perfect loan officer. Because, you know, you deal with adversity and clients going through, you know, the, the, the biggest purchase of their life. And you know, Rose, I’m, I, I’m gonna pat you on the back here. I, I give you enough shit on the regular, so, um, you’re really good with your clients, right?

00:02:26:20 – 00:02:42:17
Vernon Miles
Like, you, you treat all your clients like it’s your mom or your sister or a family member. Craig does the same exact thing. Like, hearing you guys on the phone, it really reminds me, that’s what’s missing from the other loan officers that I’m coaching or training and trying to get them to that next step.

00:02:42:17 – 00:03:02:09
Vernon Miles
But you’ve, uh, you’ve exploded your business over the last 2 or 3 years. You made President’s Club now 2 years in a row. Definitely on your pace for number 3 in a row. Mm-hmm. So congratulations to you. Thank you. Thank you. What do you, what do you attribute, like, one of the top things that you do to build that rapport and to get that business, either with your real estate partners or, you know, consumers?

00:03:02:09 – 00:03:22:19
Rosie Arruda
I think it’s the biggest thing, especially in Verizon before, I was big with word of mouth. That’s how I built the business that we had at that location in Fairhaven. And then when I came here to Milestone, of course, we all start from scratch, and I feel like the one niche that I have is that I do speak Portuguese.

00:03:22:19 – 00:03:48:19
Rosie Arruda
So I ended up going into the Portuguese communion, uh, community. Cape Verdeans, Brazilians, and I just held onto that. And the great thing about our culture is that we talk, and we like to talk. So, um, that’s kind of what’s made me be here at this very moment and where I am right now with Milestone. It’s that rapport, and people— I don’t need to do Zillow, like you said, or anything like that. It’s the mom or the aunt talking to the nephew or the kid and being like, “Hey, you need to go see Rosie.

00:03:48:19 – 00:04:02:10
Rosie Arruda
She treated us like family.” And I still keep a connection with them even after they purchase a home with Mi— through us, through Milestone.

00:04:02:10 – 00:04:02:16
Craig Snell
How do you—

00:04:02:16 – 00:04:04:11
Craig Snell
keep that connection with them?

00:04:04:13 – 00:04:27:18
Rosie Arruda
Uh, birthdays. Uh, I also tell them at closing, “Anytime you get anything in the mail, a lot of it is junk. My job doesn’t end here. I want you to send me that text message before making that payment so I can tell you if it’s correct or if it’s spam.” So that’s one of the things. Um, and I think, you know, they give us so much information, social, date of birth, some personal stuff.

00:04:27:19 – 00:04:47:15
Rosie Arruda
I think just along with those 30 days of purchasing the home, you build a relationship with them. And at times, there are a lot of clients that— I shouldn’t say, but there are certain loan officers that, you know, you don’t qualify, “Hey, you don’t qualify. Bye. Have a nice day.” I’m that type of person that I tell them, “This is you. This is your first time getting pre-qualified.

00:04:47:15 – 00:05:03:06
Rosie Arruda
Even though we might not be ready right now, I’m going to give you a game plan. And if you follow it 3 to 6 months, six months to a year, I will get you into a home no matter what. But you got to listen to me.” So I have some clients that I’ve worked with.

00:05:03:07 – 00:05:10:09
Rosie Arruda
I can think of two right off the top of my head that I’ve worked with for over two years, and finally got them into a house within the last 12 months. That’s awesome. Yeah.

00:05:10:10 – 00:05:33:20
Vernon Miles
I think it’s key that you said that the transaction or the relationship— the relationship with that person or that home buyer doesn’t start for me until we close, right? You get me from a transaction standpoint, but we’re going to build that relationship and that friendship after the closing table. And I think that’s a big separator from, like, really successful loan officers and ones that are very transactional.

00:05:33:20 – 00:05:53:18
Vernon Miles
You’re relationship-based, right? I know you do a lot of extra stuff with all of your clients, almost to the point it’s a fault, but Rosie spends a lot of time with her clients after they close, and I think that’s a big attribute of how you’ve been able to build your business, and it just keeps growing, like seeing your production go up 10, 15, 20% a year.

00:05:53:20 – 00:06:00:12
Vernon Miles
In a market where interest rates have been rising for the last three years. All right. Maybe 40%. She’s correcting me on camera. No big deal.

00:06:00:13 – 00:06:18:00
Rosie Arruda
Sorry, sorry, but yeah, I think it’s to my personality. It’s so funny because if I, I mean, if anyone seeing this ends up being one of my clients in the beginning, I am extremely professional. But then, I don’t know, you kind of get a vibe. I’m good. I’m good with feeling people out with their reactions, the way that they talk.

00:06:18:01 – 00:06:40:14
Rosie Arruda
And then I’ll just drop like a little funny thing here or there, and if I get the reaction that I want, they end up seeing the real Rosie. And I think that’s the biggest thing that makes me have a bond with my clients. And I’m also a great hugger. Everybody knows here at Milestone. So I even, you know, I always tell them I want to be there for the closing day and I want to give you a big hug.

00:06:40:15 – 00:07:00:16
Rosie Arruda
You’ve given me, like I said, your social, date of birth, some really important information. I want you to know that that face that helped you throughout the process. And I think that’s huge because I think a lot of loan officers, especially when you start to grow, right, you can’t control it, but you can’t be at every closing. So right now, if I was purchasing a home, I would want my loan officer to be there.

00:07:00:16 – 00:07:02:20
Rosie Arruda
So that’s the reason that I do it.

00:07:02:22 – 00:07:18:09
Craig Snell
Now with your business, I don’t think anybody really comes in and— and I always talk about this, you probably heard me say this a bunch of times in our sales meetings— but that, like, snowball effect, it takes a while to kinda get up and running and like get going. And then you kind of start to see that.

00:07:18:09 – 00:07:38:06
Craig Snell
What point in your career, do you know, was there like a switch where you’re like, “This year, this is happening now.” You know, without me being so stressed out about, how am I gonna get business, or is it gonna stop? Because that was always a— for me, I always had that anxiety in the beginning for the first year or 2 where I was like— oh, yeah— “Is this gonna end?”

00:07:38:06 – 00:07:51:06
Craig Snell
Or, like, you know, is, is this— am I gonna have to keep chasing— success gonna stop, you know, and, or, you know, am I gonna kinda run out of business to try to get, you know. Have you, have you had those feelings before? Do they— oh— have they gone away? Have they gotten less?

00:07:51:07 – 00:08:08:02
Rosie Arruda
I think I shit myself for the first 2 years— to be completely honest with you. You guys know how I am with my money. I am very Portuguese in that sense. Yeah, but I think with having the sales background with Verizon, I started that store, it was 30 days old, and I made it into one of the biggest stores in the area.

00:08:08:04 – 00:08:42:15
Rosie Arruda
Um, so I just, I knew if I put in the grind and the time and the work for it, it would just naturally happen. My personality is contagious, and then on top of it, I do care. So I just think those attributes just account for something and make it that way. But I would say probably last year, business just started coming my way because of the referrals, and people I wouldn’t even think of. Like, one of the first people I did their loans, their brother or cousin ended up coming to me at the end of last year, and I believe we got them into a house right before the end of the year.

00:08:42:16 – 00:08:44:21
Rosie Arruda
So just— amazing— yeah.

00:08:45:02 – 00:08:56:09
Craig Snell
It really, I mean, if you do a good job and you make the people that you work with happy, and you show them that you care, and you show them that you don’t mind spending the time with them— mm-hmm— ’cause a lot of people don’t.

00:08:56:11 – 00:09:02:19
Rosie Arruda
No, they don’t. They really don’t. You know, they— they don’t. I, I, I see it. And it’s, um, it’s something that I think separates me from a lot of people.

00:09:02:21 – 00:09:23:22
Craig Snell
Yeah. And, but it takes time. And I think a lot of people who may be listening to this or, you know, newer people here, it’s, it’s hard to kinda grasp that. Because everybody wants to be successful right away, but it takes time. It takes time to, 1, learn what you need to do to be a good loan officer, but then also to kinda build your reputation up.

00:09:23:23 – 00:09:35:05
Craig Snell
Because in my opinion, in this business, your reputation’s everything. Unless you work in a call center, you know, where you’re buying a bunch of leads and, and the phone’s ringing, you’re, no matter how, how good you may be, if you don’t have a good reputation— yeah— nobody’s ever gonna call you.

00:09:35:05 – 00:09:36:24
Rosie Arruda
I agree, I agree.

00:09:37:00 – 00:09:39:09
Craig Snell
I feel like we’re on the same page about that one.

00:09:39:10 – 00:09:41:15
Rosie Arruda
High five. Yeah.

00:09:41:16 – 00:09:58:20
Vernon Miles
I mean, speaking about, you brought up the Portuguese culture, and you’ve kinda been evolving over the last few years. I remember sitting down with, uh, Miss Rosie, and she’s doing, you know, 1, 2, 3 transactions. She’s going up, down, all the normal cycle of a loan officer growing. And I was like, “Rosie, why are you always so nervous? What are you worried about?”

00:09:58:21 – 00:10:14:13
Vernon Miles
She’s like, “I’m Portuguese. I’m worried about my money and all this.” I said, “Rosie, how much money do you have in the bank?” And I’m not gonna say it on— on live camera. No, no. She tells me she’s got a nest egg, and she tells me how much her nest egg is, and I’m like, “Rosie, this is why you’re missing something.

00:10:14:13 – 00:10:19:03
Vernon Miles
Call a financial planner. Get that money out of your checking account.”

00:10:19:05 – 00:10:20:15
Rosie Arruda
Making $0.

00:10:20:16 – 00:10:41:01
Vernon Miles
Invest it and get it out of your bank account, because that was preventing you mentally— yeah— in my opinion at the time, to really hit the ground, right? I was like, “Leave, like, 2 months, whatever your spending is, into your checking account and get all that out,” because when you start seeing that checking account go down— yeah— it’s amazing when people need it to see it.

00:10:41:02 – 00:10:57:12
Vernon Miles
You, y— you were comfortable— yeah— with having the money in your account, that if you did one or 2 or 3, it’s like, “I’m doing the best I can.” Mm-hmm. When you’re down to $10,000 in your bank account and you’re like, “Uh, what am I gonna do?” And then you started seeing Rosie consistently doing 3 or 4, 3 or 4, 5 or 6.

00:10:57:13 – 00:11:16:11
Vernon Miles
Now it’s like, what, 7 or 8 a month— trying, 5, 8, yep— kinda clockwork where it’s like— yeah. And I think that’s, that’s a big thing, and I, I just had this conversation with Jacob at the beginning of the year. I, I was like, “Jacob, you’re comfortable right now. Go spend money, buy a car, and put the rest of it in an account where you, you have to call somebody else to get permission to get your money,” right?

00:11:16:11 – 00:11:36:18
Vernon Miles
That’s why I love my financial planner, ’cause you put money in there, and then you have to call him and say, “I need to borrow $15,000 because my mortgage payment’s due next month,” or my rent, my car payment’s due. And it’s like, you didn’t work last month or you didn’t work 45 days, 60 days ago, in order to not have to make that phone call. And that uncomfortable phone call has been able to afford me to save money, right?

00:11:36:20 – 00:11:46:24
Vernon Miles
Like, I’m, I’m not naturally, you know, a gifted Portuguese descent where you wanna save every penny that you’ve ever made in your entire life. Like, if it was up to me, I’d spend every dollar.

00:11:47:00 – 00:12:08:01
Rosie Arruda
I like to spend it, don’t get me wrong. It’s just, I don’t know. My parents came from really nothing from São Miguel. Um, it was, they were pover— it, they lived in poverty. Sure. So when they came here, it was kinda that was the way it was, and I didn’t know any better. So I am very grateful that I’ve gotten into this world where I meet other people that, like, “Listen, you don’t have to be like that.”

00:12:08:03 – 00:12:30:04
Rosie Arruda
Um, I will admit, first time I ever got pre-approved when I was with Verizon, the loan officer looked at my bank statement and she’s like, “Where’s all your money?” I’m like, “It’s under the mattress.” So I am a culprit. But that’s because of what my parents taught me, and they did very well for themselves. So I just, you know, you do what you learn from, right?

00:12:30:05 – 00:12:35:03
Rosie Arruda
Or how you’re raised. But now being around you guys, it’s like, “All right, Rosie, you gotta—”

00:12:35:04 – 00:12:35:15
Vernon Miles
But I think—

00:12:35:16 – 00:12:35:18
Rosie Arruda
that—

00:12:35:22 – 00:12:54:21
Vernon Miles
that background has been able to catapult you into— 100%— where you are now, because you, you, you understand what it was like to make 50 or $60,000 a year and what the grind was to make— yeah— 60 or 80, or whatever that is. And now you’re like, “I have the opportunity to make X, maybe double, triple, quadruple,” whatever that number is— mm-hmm— by just putting in the hard work and, and the dedication.

00:12:54:21 – 00:13:10:15
Vernon Miles
We, we see it all the time, even in our own offices. We see it in all different industries. Everybody wants to be like the poor thing you say all the time. “Oh, poor thing, poor thing.” Don’t be the poor thing. Just go to work, do these activities. I mean, we have, you know, great coaching here. You get to talk to Craig anytime you guys w— uh, somebody wants to.

00:13:10:17 – 00:13:13:18
Vernon Miles
Said that out loud.

00:13:13:21 – 00:13:18:16
Rosie Arruda
It’s like my dad and my big brother. That’s exactly what it is right here. Dad and big brother.

00:13:18:18 – 00:13:22:04
Vernon Miles
I don’t know if Craig wants anybody to be called that except for Daddy over here.

00:13:22:09 – 00:13:29:14
Rosie Arruda
Well, when I need something, yes. He knows it already. When I call him Daddy, he’s like, “What does she need?” Oh, yeah.

00:13:29:16 – 00:13:41:10
Vernon Miles
For everybody who hasn’t watched any of the episodes, Craig’s nickname is Daddy in the office. I’ve seen 40-year-old grown men go into his office asking for advice, and they’re like, “Daddy, can I get 5 minutes?”

00:13:40:00 – 00:13:41:10
Rosie Arruda
1,000%.

00:13:41:11 – 00:13:42:09
Craig Snell
They always say they’re not gonna—

00:13:42:09 – 00:13:43:11
Rosie Arruda
100%.

00:13:43:13 – 00:13:49:04
Craig Snell
And then I’m like, “Well, if you need something.” Yeah. It’s the only way. I’m just kidding.

00:13:49:06 – 00:13:50:17
Vernon Miles
We have a lot of fun here. We have a lot of fun.

00:13:50:19 – 00:14:06:14
Rosie Arruda
Well, we have to, right? We deal with a lot of stresses, a lot of ups and downs. I mean, that’s one other thing that I can say. I used to get so nervous when something would go wrong, and now that, like you said, understanding of the business and the process, it’s like, I don’t really get that nervous anymore.

00:14:06:15 – 00:14:25:08
Rosie Arruda
I’m like, “It’s okay. It’s on fire,” but we resuscitate a bunch of times loans over and over and over again. So, um, yeah. And the money factor, too, that fear is just completely out because I’ve ha— I’m having that stability. Consistency. So yeah, the consistency.

00:14:25:10 – 00:14:40:11
Craig Snell
Family’s super, super important to you. Yes, it is. It’s gotta be. I mean, out of everybody in the office, I don’t know anybody that spends more time with their family and talks about their family, and you know, that’s gotta be for, for you, you know, the driving factor to try to— yeah.

00:14:40:11 – 00:15:05:20
Rosie Arruda
They, they kinda are my babies. So my parents, uh, my father used to work for Telcon back in the day. Whoever knows Telcon, I think it’s JP Keating now or something like that. PJ Keating? PJ. Um, dyslexia at its best. Um, and he used to do the streets, 140, 195, the highway, stuff like that. He would rake the tar. And, uh, he went to the Azores to visit his family with my mom.

00:15:05:20 – 00:15:21:23
Rosie Arruda
They were both in their 40s, and she came back and she’s like— Joe— Joe’s looking at her like, “At 43, what?” And basically she was pregnant. So I came many years later. I have siblings that are older than you— and I think maybe even older than you.

00:15:21:24 – 00:15:26:10
Vernon Miles
Yo, chill, chill. Yeah, maybe even older than me. What’s going on here? I’m only 47.

00:15:26:11 – 00:15:31:11
Rosie Arruda
Yeah, I definitely have older brothers than you. So I think that’s— how old are you? Me? I’m 36, but—

00:15:31:14 – 00:15:32:10
Craig Snell
You’re older than me.

00:15:32:11 – 00:15:33:17
Rosie Arruda
I know.

00:15:33:19 – 00:15:34:14
Craig Snell
Yeah, see, one.

00:15:34:15 – 00:15:51:02
Rosie Arruda
But— oh, look at the face. But yeah, um, there was just a huge age gap, so a lot of the older ones kinda went off and they ended up, they’re, m— like I said, much older. They have a lot of health issues, and I just feel like it’s my duty to—

00:15:51:04 – 00:16:08:13
Vernon Miles
You’re always taking care of your mom, your dad. I, I’ll call Rose on a random Saturday and she’ll stick me on speakerphone or FaceTime with her mom. And poor thing, she’s so cute. No teeth. She’s yelling at me. I’m like, “Rosie, why are you making fun of your mom?” She’s like, “Don’t, uh, don’t, don’t worry about it.

00:16:08:15 – 00:16:24:11
Rosie Arruda
She doesn’t understand English.” 100%, 100%. But that’s a good thing, too. Seeing them in their old age, it is a lot. Like, they joke a lot, right? They’re home all day. And it’s 2 people that I’m sure you know, you guys barely— not barely— see your wives, but y— you’re at work all day, so you don’t get to spend as much time.

00:16:24:16 – 00:16:42:20
Rosie Arruda
And now they’re stuck with each other. So, um, they’re like the best of friends, so, like, comedy is just, like, a really big thing in my house, and that’s kinda how we take sadness or hate or any— you know, anything bad, we, we try to joke with it, and I think you guys see that with me here.

00:16:42:20 – 00:16:46:02
Rosie Arruda
I’m always the jokester and always trying to make someone laugh, so.

00:16:42:20 – 00:16:46:02
Vernon Miles
You’re definitely— it definitely carries— bringing, uh, the fun to the party.

00:16:46:03 – 00:16:48:21
Rosie Arruda
Oh, yeah. Oh. Woo, woo.

00:16:48:23 – 00:16:56:05
Vernon Miles
What do you like to do for fun outside of, uh, slinging deals and mortgages and taking care of all your clients?

00:16:56:07 – 00:17:19:12
Rosie Arruda
Family. Uh, I’ve been getting into traveling a little bit more, which I’m very happy about. Um, and work, really. I just feel like right now, ’cause I got into this industry, I was, what, 30? 30, 31. I gotta, gotta do it. I gotta do it for the next 10 years. Grind as much as I can to be in the position like Craig or something like that, where I don’t really have to worry about it at all, and go from there.

00:17:19:12 – 00:17:39:13
Vernon Miles
So, that’s— I can promise you, I’m sitting next to Craig and I’m not even gonna look at him when I say this. He still worries about it, no matter— oh, I know— that, that worry does not go away for any of us, right? Because we, we, we just had Scott on. It just never ends, right? ‘Cause our personalities are just like, “Next, next.” Gotta keep moving, gotta keep grinding.

00:17:39:14 – 00:18:03:08
Vernon Miles
Uh, we’re all self-employed, right? Like, your brand and your name and your reputation are Rosie. Yep. Right? Like, so you’re, you’re working on building that and always answering the phone and never wanna let anybody down. Um, one of the big things that you, you mentioned is you take all the worry out of the transaction. Craig’s amazing at this. I thought I was really good at it until I met some of the loan officers here.

00:18:03:10 – 00:18:10:10
Vernon Miles
We take on all the stress as a loan officer. A good loan officer is like, “We got this. Don’t worry about it.” And then you hang up the phone and you’re like—

00:18:10:12 – 00:18:11:23
Rosie Arruda
I’m sweating. I’m sweating. I’m gonna, I gotta go into Da— why am I perspiring?

00:18:11:24 – 00:18:27:22
Vernon Miles
I gotta go into Daddy’s office— yep— and ask some questions here. How we gonna save this one, right? So, um, you know, I think those are some of the biggest attributes that you have that I wish every loan officer had.

00:18:27:23 – 00:18:42:18
Vernon Miles
At the end of the day, it all comes down to just caring for somebody else, right? Like, you treat your clients, like, like I said when we started, like it’s your mom. Like, if you treat every client like it’s your mom, and that’s how hard you’re gonna work on every client, they see that, they feel that, and the referrals— yes— are gonna come to you, come your way, and you’re finally hitting that stride.

00:18:42:18 – 00:18:51:19
Vernon Miles
You said this year has been, like, your breakout year. Mm-hmm. Which is exciting, because you were already doing very well. You’re successful. And now to have a breakout year.

00:18:51:21 – 00:18:54:05
Rosie Arruda
We just need that refi boom. That’s all we need.

00:18:54:06 – 00:18:56:13
Vernon Miles
Hey, we don’t need it anytime soon. We’re doing all right on the—

00:18:56:18 – 00:18:59:10
Rosie Arruda
Uh, uh, no, we are— on the growth side, but— we are, we are. But just saying.

00:18:59:16 – 00:19:06:01
Vernon Miles
I mean, you got 3, 4 or 5 years worth of clients that all need to refinance if the rate’s at 5.5, right? So it’s like—

00:19:06:02 – 00:19:06:14
Rosie Arruda
So close.

00:19:06:14 – 00:19:21:07
Vernon Miles
We’re so close. And they’re so— and they’re gonna, they’re gonna be so loyal to you because of the way you’ve treated them and stayed in contact with them since the day you closed on. I wish everybody followed up with their past clients on a, you know, at least a quarterly basis. Mm-hmm. Right? But—

00:19:21:09 – 00:19:34:08
Rosie Arruda
Well, I remember when I first started, I used to like to explain a lot, ’cause I have that teaching background. And I remember you always telling me, like, “You don’t have to explain it into detail like that.” And it’s like, I can’t control it.

00:19:34:09 – 00:19:35:01
Craig Snell
I do the same thing.

00:19:35:03 – 00:19:40:01
Rosie Arruda
Because, think about it. If— Vern, do you remember the first time you bought your first house?

00:19:40:02 – 00:19:43:10
Vernon Miles
Yeah, that’s why I’m in the mortgage business. I do too. It was a terrible experience.

00:19:43:11 – 00:20:05:03
Rosie Arruda
You weren’t scared shitless or, like— I just feel like educating someone. And I tell my clients this. I’m educating you, not to overwhelm you. I’m educating you to remove the fear of the things that you don’t know or have questions about. Like, you gotta put 20% down to purchase a home, certain things like that, like little tidbits that I think that also makes a difference.

00:20:05:03 – 00:20:17:04
Rosie Arruda
And the reason why I’ve started to succeed a lot more is due to that. I educate, and I remove that fear, and I let the client know right off the bat that this is the reason I’m doing it, not doing it to overwhelm you.

00:20:17:06 – 00:20:18:16
Vernon Miles
That’s awesome.

00:20:18:18 – 00:20:22:11
Craig Snell
What are your goals?

00:20:22:13 – 00:20:24:19
Rosie Arruda
Goals? Like, work?

00:20:24:21 – 00:20:26:12
Craig Snell
Life, work.

00:20:26:13 – 00:20:29:02
Vernon Miles
We want them all, Rosie.

00:20:29:03 – 00:20:30:13
Rosie Arruda
That’s not meant for a camera.

00:20:30:14 – 00:20:32:02
Craig Snell
Are you gonna finally buy a house?

00:20:32:08 – 00:20:51:11
Rosie Arruda
I’m trying to, trying to. Looking. But yeah, I don’t know. I’m very easygoing. Life is too short. You never know when your last day is. Just wanna have fun. Travel. Yeah, that’s the biggest thing, is travel. I just am so intrigued how different parts of the world are just so different.

00:20:51:13 – 00:20:52:16
Craig Snell
It is crazy. It is.

00:20:52:18 – 00:21:04:14
Rosie Arruda
Javi just went to the Azores, like, it’s one of the most beautiful places that you could ever be, like, go to, and I just, I— Florida, I’ve been trying all the beaches. St. Pete, been going down—

00:21:04:14 – 00:21:04:22
Craig Snell
Which one’s your favorite?

00:21:04:23 – 00:21:10:09
Rosie Arruda
Right now, Siesta Key. That sand, oh my God, it’s like baby powder. It’s beautiful.

00:21:10:10 – 00:21:10:23
Craig Snell
Never been there.

00:21:11:00 – 00:21:17:09
Rosie Arruda
You’ve never been to Siesta Key? The sand is baby powder, and it’s cold. It’s not hot.

00:21:17:10 – 00:21:19:22
Craig Snell
Nice and cool? Oh my God. More of a pool guy.

00:21:19:24 – 00:21:21:11
Vernon Miles
Oh, more of a pool guy, too.

00:21:21:12 – 00:21:22:01
Rosie Arruda
Yeah.

00:21:22:03 – 00:21:33:18
Vernon Miles
I wanna be able to go hide. I’m not, uh, I don’t tan as well as, as Rosie does. The sun doesn’t like me too much, so I like to be able to go inside to the air conditioning, fall in the pool.

00:21:33:20 – 00:21:37:16
Rosie Arruda
And then— I’m an island girl, so I can’t control it.

00:21:37:18 – 00:21:41:21
Vernon Miles
No, seriously, like, what are your goals professionally for the next 2 years?

00:21:41:24 – 00:21:46:24
Rosie Arruda
Just be financially stable, maybe get some real estate, um, and that’s about it.

00:21:47:00 – 00:22:06:19
Vernon Miles
Just keep socking away all that cash. For everybody who has watched all of Scott Crook’s, uh, episodes here on Mortgage Daddies, this is the female version of Scott. She’s single, 36. She works out. Financially sound. She’s got it financially sound. The only thing you’re missing from Scott is you don’t have a hot tub or a pool at your house that I know of.

00:22:06:24 – 00:22:07:13
Rosie Arruda
No.

00:22:07:15 – 00:22:11:14
Vernon Miles
You put a hot tub and a pool in there, and you and Scott might be a perfect match. I’m just throwing it out there.

00:22:11:17 – 00:22:17:22
Rosie Arruda
I’ll just fly us out to the, to the pool. Or, or, or the ocean, one or the other.

00:22:17:24 – 00:22:20:18
Vernon Miles
It’s cold here most of the time. We’ll go on vacation somewhere really tropical.

00:22:20:20 – 00:22:27:07
Craig Snell
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I’d love it. What’s your, what’s your favorite part about Milestone? I’m always curious what people like—

00:22:27:07 – 00:22:28:22
Vernon Miles
That’s a great question.

00:22:29:00 – 00:22:29:21
Rosie Arruda
So—

00:22:29:23 – 00:22:30:13
Craig Snell
Or why do you work here?

00:22:30:13 – 00:22:31:23
Vernon Miles
And tell the truth.

00:22:32:00 – 00:22:57:24
Rosie Arruda
Honestly, you guys accept my personality, and your personalities are not far off. I love that. You know, you have to remember, I started with Milestone, I think there was, like, maybe 8 of us, maybe. And you and Vern, I think Tanya, Mel, those were really the only, only LOs, like loan officers. Everybody else was kind of assistants when I came in, and helping out Vern.

00:22:58:00 – 00:23:16:09
Rosie Arruda
And you. And then, I don’t know, that was one big thing. I’m really big with coming to work, it doesn’t feel like work if you have family and friends around. When you’re having a bad day— I— we’ve had it. I go into his office, and I’ve had a bad day, and I just close the door, and I’m like, “Just need to talk to you.

00:23:16:10 – 00:23:26:11
Rosie Arruda
Is that okay?” And he’s like, “Yeah, what’s going on, Rosie?” And he can, you can tell instantly that it’s like, “It’s important. She shut the door.”

00:23:26:12 – 00:23:27:07
Craig Snell
Like, oh yeah.

00:23:27:08 – 00:23:28:18
Vernon Miles
You wear your emotions.

00:23:28:19 – 00:23:29:05
Rosie Arruda
Yes, yes.

00:23:29:06 – 00:23:34:16
Vernon Miles
Sometimes I just walk by you and I’m like, “Please don’t talk to me today. She looks like she’s gonna kill somebody.”

00:23:34:18 – 00:23:35:20
Rosie Arruda
No, it’s not. It’s not that bad.

00:23:35:22 – 00:23:37:21
Vernon Miles
I hope it’s not me.

00:23:37:23 – 00:24:00:18
Rosie Arruda
But, um, I think that is the biggest thing. I, I, I mean, I’ll be— the first time I met Vern for an interview, um, I, because a lot of Portuguese people are late, and they have that, you know, always late thing, I like to always be on time, so when I met Vern for the interview, he was, like, 5 to, like, 7 minutes late, and he pulls up in his car, you know, all squirrely, getting out of his car.

00:24:00:18 – 00:24:12:10
Rosie Arruda
And I’m just standing outside of my car, and I’m like, “Hi.” And he, and I think you said, “Are you Rosemary Arruda?” I said, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Are you Vernon Miles?” You said, “Yeah.” And I’m like, “You’re late.” And you instantly smiled ear to ear, and I’m like, “This is my place.”

00:24:12:10 – 00:24:13:21
Rosie Arruda
“This is my place.”

00:24:13:23 – 00:24:30:19
Rosie Arruda
And I think if you remember, down at the basement in State Road, I, I told you there’s not many things that come in front of work, it’s family. Um, and I think at that time I still wanted to possibly go back to school or something like that. But, yeah, I think that’s the number one thing. You guys, you guys are my family.

00:24:30:20 – 00:24:31:09
Rosie Arruda
You are.

00:24:31:14 – 00:24:37:12
Vernon Miles
You’re our family too, Rose. We love you. And if it makes you feel any better, I think I was late for Craig’s interview as well, so.

00:24:37:13 – 00:24:37:22
Craig Snell
He was.

00:24:37:22 – 00:24:47:22
Vernon Miles
I do sit here and coach all the time that if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late, and, uh, except for me. Yeah. I’m gonna probably be running 5 to 10 minutes late to just about everything in my life.

00:24:47:23 – 00:25:03:10
Rosie Arruda
But yeah, the moment that you laughed, I was like, “All right, this is gonna work. This is my kind of people.” And then I grew up with boys, so I’m not really, like, that girly girl. I, I get along more with hanging out with men, and I don’t know, I have the similar personalities.

00:25:03:12 – 00:25:13:09
Rosie Arruda
Like, the things that you guys find funny, I usually find just as funny, where another female might be upset, and I’m like, “But why? It’s funny.” I just don’t get it. I just don’t get it. So my brain just works a little different.

00:25:13:14 – 00:25:21:22
Craig Snell
We do have a good, uh, good culture here. Yeah, we do. And a good group of people. Yeah, we do. And I think it’s been cool that we’ve been able to keep it even though we’ve grown so much.

00:25:21:24 – 00:25:37:18
Rosie Arruda
We just gotta make sure the reason, how we felt from the beginning, and keep going with that. I mean, we even have new hires, and they’re, they’re so adorable. You can tell they’re so fresh. They’re so young and cute. They are. They are. They’re so fresh. Um, and I’ll go up to them and be like, “Hi, I’m Rosie.”

00:25:37:20 – 00:25:38:18
Vernon Miles
And they’re like—

00:25:38:20 – 00:25:54:03
Rosie Arruda
“I don’t know if I can give you a hug.” And they’re like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “I’m a hugger. Bring it in.” “Bring it in.” But I think, you know, maybe the first time they get a little awkward by it, but then when they see it’s a common thing that Rosie does. In the morning, I don’t know, I’m happy. I like to go around and give hugs.

00:25:54:03 – 00:26:03:04
Rosie Arruda
You never know who’s having a bad day, and sometimes maybe just that hug will help, even when you don’t want it, Vern. I still, I don’t even ask anymore, I just come over and I’m like, awkward hug, and then go away. But he’s used to it.

00:26:03:04 – 00:26:09:02
Vernon Miles
Rosemary’s the only person who’s allowed to hug me. For everybody in the office, anybody who doesn’t, doesn’t know me—

00:26:09:07 – 00:26:12:15
Craig Snell
I can totally see you and Kevin hugging on a daily basis.

00:26:12:16 – 00:26:31:01
Vernon Miles
Yeah, this is just weird. Like, people have asked me. We’ve had, we’ve had employees who have left, and they’re like, “Vern just goes around fist-bumping everybody.” Yes, he do. No hugs, no anything. And I’m like, “I’m just a fist-bumper. Like, I am not hugging you unless you’re having, like, a really bad day, something’s happening. And even then, it’s still uncomfortable.

00:26:31:01 – 00:26:34:18
Vernon Miles
I’m just sucking it up for the greater good of, of, of the situation.”

00:26:34:19 – 00:26:47:06
Rosie Arruda
Rachel, Rachel used to be so uncomfortable. Like, she used to be, like, when you would hug her. And then now, I think it was maybe about a month or 2 ago, she’s like, “You, you walked by and you didn’t hug me.” And I’m like, “All right, guys. All right, relax.

00:26:47:07 – 00:26:47:16
Craig Snell
I was—

00:26:47:16 – 00:27:03:03
Rosie Arruda
Just— I was in a rush. I had to go to the bathroom. Hi, how are you?” Yeah, but it’s nice. That’s good. I, I don’t know, I just think that that makes us different than other mortgage companies, right? Where it’s all business. No, we need that. It’s like a, a de-stressor in our brains, or if that’s even the word. I don’t—

00:27:03:03 – 00:27:07:11
Rosie Arruda
I’m Portuguese. I don’t speak proper English.

00:27:07:13 – 00:27:09:02
Rosie Arruda
But, uh, yeah.

00:27:09:04 – 00:27:11:03
Vernon Miles
When did you learn English? It was later in life, right?

00:27:11:05 – 00:27:28:13
Rosie Arruda
It was later, yeah, ’cause I stayed at home with my mom. And then I ended up going to PACA school here in the West End of New Bedford. And, uh, yeah, they wanted to keep me back the first year, and my mother’s like, “Absolutely not. She understands English. She just can’t speak it. Give us the summer.” But my siblings had to have gone there as well.

00:27:28:15 – 00:27:50:24
Rosie Arruda
So Mrs. Lazot, which was the principal at the time, I, I don’t even know if she’s still alive, but, um, she was just great with my mom, and she just understood that still good people, but just don’t really speak English. And then I actually became the translator. When there was, like, a kid in trouble, they’d call me down to translate for the parents back and forth with Mrs. Lazot back in the day.

00:27:50:24 – 00:27:53:15
Vernon Miles
And how old, how old were you when you were doing the translating?

00:27:53:16 – 00:27:55:01
Rosie Arruda
I mean, it wasn’t often, but—

00:27:55:06 – 00:27:56:21
Vernon Miles
She’s like 11 years old. Yeah, yeah.

00:27:56:23 – 00:27:58:23
Rosie Arruda
Yeah, she was still in school there.

00:27:59:01 – 00:28:01:24
Rosie Arruda
Like, like, yeah, I, I was still in elementary school. Yeah.

00:28:02:01 – 00:28:10:06
Vernon Miles
That’s wild. How the times have changed. If I walked into a school, didn’t understand the language, and they had an 11-year-old translating for me, I’d be like, “I, I don’t think I understand this.”

00:28:10:08 – 00:28:30:19
Rosie Arruda
Well, listen— “What’s happening?”— you, you’re always learning, right? I started this business even because— uh, uh, I do speak Portuguese, but there are certain words we don’t use, like equity, mortgage. Because now we’re in America, we go mortgage. Like, they know what it is. We build a casa, we explain it, the bill of the house, like, you know what I mean? So it’s like, “All right, Google Translate, you gotta teach me some new words.”

00:28:30:19 – 00:28:38:07
Rosie Arruda
I remember even going home and ask my mom, like, “How do you say equity?” She’s like, “Overlook.” It’s always an explanation, the value you have in your house.

00:28:38:08 – 00:28:39:12
Craig Snell
Because there’s no real word for it.

00:28:39:12 – 00:28:53:22
Rosie Arruda
Equidad. There is, but you just gotta go searching for it. So it’s nice, ’cause I’ve actually even— I, I’ve gotten better with Portuguese and certain words and pronunciations because of it. B— b— because of being in this industry as well. So yeah, I really like it.

00:28:53:23 – 00:29:05:01
Vernon Miles
You’re a rock star. Learning English late, late in the day, learning the mortgage business. God bless you. I couldn’t learn another language. I’ve tried for, like—

00:29:05:03 – 00:29:11:24
Rosie Arruda
It was always English at my house, right? My siblings always spoke to one another in English, but, like, at the dinner table, it was on— whenever my parents were present—

00:29:12:00 – 00:29:15:20
Craig Snell
Do either of your parents speak English?

00:29:15:22 – 00:29:16:08
Vernon Miles
No.

00:29:16:10 – 00:29:39:05
Rosie Arruda
I was about to say some of them Portuguese, but I mean, um, they do, they do. It’s just a little broken, that’s all. My dad worked construction, so he worked with a lot of, mostly Portuguese, but there were some Americans there, uh, English-speaking people. Mm-hmm. And, um, he’s a little bit better than my mom. But my mom, you just gotta use hand motions and, you know.

00:29:39:05 – 00:29:41:24
Rosie Arruda
But she’s just cute. She’ll just nod— she’s a riot— and you would know.

00:29:42:01 – 00:29:46:10
Craig Snell
She is. I love, I love seeing the videos of her in her kitchen with you, making fun of her.

00:29:46:12 – 00:30:01:10
Rosie Arruda
Taking shots. Yelling at her. Taking shots. It’s crazy. Eating bones. It’s just— oh, yeah— it, it’s a different culture, right? They, they grew up having nothing, so they ate the animal from front to back. There was— and sh— they like it now, th— even though they don’t need it, but yeah.

00:30:01:13 – 00:30:02:00
Vernon Miles
It’s awesome.

00:30:02:03 – 00:30:16:21
Rosie Arruda
So I have a question for you guys. Uh-oh. You have been around me for, what? 5, 6 years. Yep. I want 3 Portuguese words from each of you, one by one. So Vern, go first.

00:30:16:23 – 00:30:18:06
Vernon Miles
Paja, relax.

00:30:18:08 – 00:30:23:22
Rosie Arruda
Okay, that was half English and half Portuguese, but I’ll take it. That’s the New Bedford Portuguese right there.

00:30:23:22 – 00:30:25:01
Craig Snell
Right now.

00:30:25:03 – 00:30:28:12
Rosie Arruda
Come on. What’s okay?

00:30:28:14 – 00:30:31:15
Craig Snell
I think I know one, but I think it’s a bad word.

00:30:31:17 – 00:30:43:11
Rosie Arruda
What is it? What is it? Oh, you can say that. It’s not— I mean, it is a bad word in, like, Spanish, but, like, that can also mean, like, my best friend. Oh, puta. Is that right?

00:30:43:13 – 00:30:46:12
Craig Snell
Say it loudly into your mic. I’m afraid of doing something wrong here.

00:30:46:14 – 00:30:50:04
Rosie Arruda
What’s wait? You know wait, Vern. Espera.

00:30:50:04 – 00:30:51:00
Craig Snell
Oh, that’s good. How do you know so much of this?

00:30:51:02 – 00:30:54:15
Rosie Arruda
Do I want coffee? Because, because he worked with my, my goddaughter.

00:30:54:20 – 00:30:59:24
Vernon Miles
I dated a Portuguese girl when I first moved down here, so I, I would just listen to her parents and pick up some of the, the words they— and I’m sure at the bank— yeah— too that you worked at originally.

00:31:00:00 – 00:31:06:12
Rosie Arruda
Back in the day, that was all Portuguese community over there. I mean, this is going back, like, close to 30 years. Yeah.

00:31:06:12 – 00:31:09:16
Craig Snell
So I, I’m done. I don’t have any more.

00:31:09:17 – 00:31:12:21
Rosie Arruda
Tá bom. You know tá bom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sim. Espera.

00:31:12:22 – 00:31:14:10
Craig Snell
Yeah. You say that a lot.

00:31:14:12 – 00:31:17:22
Rosie Arruda
Yeah. Espera. Wait. Wait. Para, stop.

00:31:17:23 – 00:31:23:16
Craig Snell
Yeah. I recognize them when you say them, but as far as me trying to say them, my—

00:31:23:18 – 00:31:26:04
Rosie Arruda
Vern comes out of nowhere, “Queres um café?”

00:31:26:06 – 00:31:27:12
Craig Snell
I am drinking coffee.

00:31:27:14 – 00:31:29:24
Rosie Arruda
That is actually very good. That was very, very, very good.

00:31:30:00 – 00:31:48:22
Craig Snell
My mom’s side’s p— Portuguese. It’s just, it was, like, one more removed though, so— yeah— like my grandmother was born here. My grandfather was kinda raised Portuguese, but he was actually French. But so, like, that whole side. So, like, your whole family reminds me a lot of my mom’s side, but just, like, one kinda generation off.

00:31:48:23 – 00:31:53:05
Rosie Arruda
Yeah, my parents came here when they were in their 20s, so we are technically first generation.

00:31:53:06 – 00:32:14:13
Craig Snell
I think my grandparent, my grandmother’s— she was the youngest— so kinda like you. Mm-hmm. And all of her brothers and sisters, I, I don’t think they were born here, but they might have been. But, like, her parents were, were from Portugal. But she doesn’t really— I was, I was, I grew up in Dartmouth, and 90% of my school was Portuguese. Yeah?

00:32:14:17 – 00:32:15:13
Craig Snell
Like, all Portuguese around there.

00:32:15:14 – 00:32:17:04
Rosie Arruda
We do dominate the area.

00:32:17:08 – 00:32:17:19
Craig Snell
Oh, for sure.

00:32:17:19 – 00:32:18:17
Craig Snell
Yeah.

00:32:18:19 – 00:32:22:15
Rosie Arruda
Power to the people. Vern, you got any Portuguese in you?

00:32:22:15 – 00:32:23:09
Vernon Miles
No.

00:32:23:09 – 00:32:24:21
Rosie Arruda
No? Just a bunch of other stuff?

00:32:24:21 – 00:32:28:06
Vernon Miles
Bunch of mutt going on here. European.

00:32:28:08 – 00:32:30:01
Rosie Arruda
You do the 23andMe?

00:32:30:06 – 00:32:31:07
Vernon Miles
No.

00:32:31:09 – 00:32:32:04
Rosie Arruda
Smart move.

00:32:32:05 – 00:32:42:19
Vernon Miles
No, not till the 23andMe. That’s a whole nother episode. My wife did buy the 23andMe, and I think they sent it in, and mine was still sitting on the table for 3 years.

00:32:42:19 – 00:32:46:12
Craig Snell
Vern took, took his and swabbed the dog’s mouth.

00:32:46:14 – 00:32:47:03
Rosie Arruda
I won’t do it.

00:32:47:03 – 00:32:52:00
Vernon Miles
You came back as a German shepherd. This was— that makes sense. I’m good.

00:32:52:02 – 00:32:55:08
Vernon Miles
Inflation’s crazy. Gas was $5.50 a gallon.

00:32:55:12 – 00:33:00:09
Rosie Arruda
Yeah, no, no, no, no. I think they bought their house for $18,000. Isn’t that crazy?

00:33:00:12 – 00:33:02:15
Craig Snell
I wish. They still live in the same house?

00:33:02:15 – 00:33:05:19
Rosie Arruda
Yes, they do. Yes, they do. Figures, right?

00:33:05:20 – 00:33:06:06
Craig Snell
Yeah.

00:33:06:11 – 00:33:07:11
Vernon Miles
They’re not moving.

00:33:07:12 – 00:33:13:00
Rosie Arruda
No, no, no. I’m trying. Florida would be great, but they won’t do it.

00:33:13:02 – 00:33:22:15
Vernon Miles
Rosie, we’re not letting you go to Florida, okay? So you’re staying here. You got Rachel asking me, she’s gonna go open up the office in Hawaii, and, like, no one’s leaving. Like, get over this. We’ll just hire somebody in that area.

00:33:22:19 – 00:33:24:12
Rosie Arruda
Can I go and visit at least?

00:33:24:14 – 00:33:25:03
Vernon Miles
Yeah, you can go as much—

00:33:25:03 – 00:33:28:08
Rosie Arruda
as you want. I’ll have a satellite office. We’ll just go to—

00:33:28:10 – 00:33:33:05
Vernon Miles
Just keep closing your 8 to 15 loans a month. You’re good. Then we can let you go.

00:33:33:05 – 00:33:35:10
Craig Snell
Sounds good. For a week. For a week. Well, thank you very much for—

00:33:35:10 – 00:33:38:23
Rosie Arruda
coming on— thank you for having me, guys. Thank you for reliving it. I appreciate it. Love you guys.

00:33:38:23 – 00:33:39:18
Craig Snell
Bye, guys.

00:33:39:00 – 00:33:39:18
Vernon Miles
Love you too. Bye, guys.