Business profile: radius financial group inc. Co-Founder & CEO Paving Way For Mortgage Industry

Take one look at radius financial group inc.’s Co-Founder & CEO, Sarah Valentini, and the saying, “there’s more than meets the eye” rings true in on so many levels.  

At first glance, Sarah Valentini is short in stature and cute as a button. Her extraordinarily inviting demeanor may not immediately spell out “mortgage lending savant," yet, her entrepreneurial spirit and personal mantra, "if you're not engaging, you're missing opportunities” has made her a total game changer for radius financial group inc., a firm which employs 98 and had a business volume of $375 million in 2014. 

Valentini, an alumna of Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, VY,  is prominently recognized for rapidly pushing radius financial group, inc. to unprecedented levels of revenue growth, - most recently ranking among “The 100 Most Influential Mortgage Executives in America” by Mortgage Executive Magazine. 

At radius, Valentini and fellow Co-Founder Keith Polaski have changed the way the mortgage lending game is played, as they work exclusively with Millennials – generally first-time homebuyers. Together, Valentini and Polaski have instituted a culture whose mission is to “offer a better mortgage experience" by changing the lending tone from a “dialogue of distrust” to a “dialogue of confidence.”

Valentini’s seismic impact stretches well beyond the walls of radius financial group, as well. This past June, Valentini was named the 2016 Women Build Chairwoman, succeeding HGTV star Taniya Nayak. Just months after being elected, Valentini acquired a $25,000 donation from a fellow women-owned company towards her chair and local MA-based humanitarian non-profit. Immediately following her election to chair, radius financial group inc. announced their new partnership with the Massachusetts South Shore Habitat for Humanity.

When Valentini isn't re-shaping the mortgage lending industry or engaging in her philanthropic endeavors, you can find her on the golf course where she boasts a cool 11-handicap…from the whites. 

I had the privilege of interviewing Sarah.

Faten Abdallah (FA): How can women enter the executive fields of companies? 

Sarah Valentini (SV): It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to “enter” an executive field. You have to earn it. To get on an executive path, one needs to shine in every role they take on so they can move up the ranks. People often get caught in the trap of worrying “what the next step will be” and lose focus on the job at hand – it can be a complete hindrance. You have to stand out and excel in each position in order to be offered a leadership role within a company. Leading up to that, it’s crucial to remember that every position can provide a knowledge base and unique experience that will make for a better leader once given such opportunity.

FA: How did you enter the executive field in your company?

SV: That’s a great question. I entered the executive field with a lot hard work and a little luck along the way, as well. I was promoted to a leadership role in a corporation at a very young age.  Looking back, I might have been too young, too inexperienced and completely over my head. Some would view those as detriments. I, on the other hand, used those as motivators. I was determined to succeed. It took a lot persistence, foresight, and fortitude to get where I am today, but that’s how it’s done these days. Nothing is given to you. You have to earn it.

FA: What are some tips and advice for women to stay competitive in their field?

SV: We live in an era of innovation. It’s important to adapt to change and be willing to learn new things - accept new ideas and take some risks. I’ve also never chosen to dwell on the glass ceiling. Actually, I unconsciously broke through it. Throughout my professional career, I never felt as if I wasn’t worthy enough because I happen to be a woman. That’s the mindset to which any woman in business must adapt.

FA: Let's talk mortgages. What would you like our readers to know about them and how are you impacting the market?

SV: There is no question our industry has been turned upside down and then some. Now, more than ever, it’s critically important for home financers to work with an expert they can trust. At radius financial group inc., we have loan officers working face to face with people in the communities we serve. We walk them through every step of the arduous process of home financing and help them make the right decisions for their future and their families’ future.

FA: What kinds of advice can you give to first time applicants or homebuyers?

SV: Once someone decides to buy a house, they are often inundated with “advice” from family and friends. The problem is their family and friends are generally not mortgage experts and sometimes do not get the best advice. It’s imperative to work with an experienced loan officer who can guide them through the process. No one would take medical advice from a non-medical professional or tax advice from a non-tax professional. Yet, we constantly see people listen to a parent who hasn’t purchased a home since 1975. They should be seeing the advice of an experienced and licensed mortgage professional. 

FA: radius financial group inc. partnered with Habitat for Humanity.  Why?

SV: We could not think of a better fit for our organization to partner with. We’re extremely passionate about promoting home ownership and the mission of Habitat for Humanity aligns succinctly with our core values. All of us at radius are excited to work with Habitat for Humanity on all facets and hope to make a real impact on their footprint within our community. We plan on making a difference, not just talking about it.

FA: Anything else you would like to add?

SV: At radius, our mission is to offer a better lending experience. We are laying the bricks for a better road to honest and straightforward processes within the mortgage lending industry – a sector that remains tarnished with the horrific stigma from the results of the past 10 years. 

In doing so, Keith Polaski (Founder & Principal) and I created the Next Generation Independent Mortgage Banker (NextGenIMB) training course. This course was developed to address the issue of an aging workforce and the needs of future millennial homebuyers by putting recruits through a 12-week course with a core curriculum centered around sales, operations and marketing to teach candidates about the residential mortgage loan business and prepare them to be loan officers, operations managers and sales support technicians. At the end of the program, candidates are tested and the best will be offered employment with radius financial group inc.

Though not all candidates are offered, or accept, a position with radius, we are accomplishing our mission by effectively instilling the skills, core values and moral principles required to succeed in righting the wrongs within our industry. 

Feature Friday: Meet Jennifer Harshman

Every Friday, I plan to feature a woman who has a talent to share with the world.  I would like for you to meet Jennifer Harshman--freelance editor, writer, and writers' coach.

Faten Abdallah (FA):  What inspired you to become a writer?

Jennifer Harshman

Jennifer Harshman (JH): I started writing stories when I was three years old, just after I'd learned to read, because I realized that a person wrote the storybooks I read and that meant that I could write stories, too. Writing was natural to me. Many good writers did not experience an early epiphany or any kind of ease with writing, however, so people shouldn't be discouraged if they aren't "natural writers," or if they experience writer's block.

FA:  How do you avoid writer's block?

JH: Writer's block is usually not caused by a lack of ideas, but too many ideas along with a lack of decisiveness or direction. In between editing clients' books, coaching, and running a homeschooling household, I write a blog post a week, but I have several of my own books in the to-write stack. Part of it is a lack of time—I'm booked solid for 10 months out (for which I am very grateful)—but part of it is indecision, too. Last week I found myself with a spare hour, and a friend suggested I write for myself. I asked which of the eight books I should work on, and I laughed, but it is a serious problem. I ended up taking a much-needed nap, telling myself that within a week I would make a list of the books in the order in which I'm going to write them. (I did it.) 

Writers can avoid or break writer's block in many ways, and I wrote about a number of them here http://www.harshmanservices.com/get-past-writers-block/   and here:

http://www.harshmanservices.com/spark-creativity-writer-block/

FA:  What kinds of things have you written?

JH: ​I've written a wide variety of things, including poetry, grant proposals, articles, website content, radio commercials, ad copy, blog posts, manuals, and books. So far, the books I've written have all been done as a ghostwriter or under a pseudonym. I have a few books that will come out under my own name, but right now I have a list of books to edit for clients, and I keep my commitments.

 FA: Can anyone be a writer? What should a new writer know?

JH: It's so tempting to say that anyone can be a writer, and, with enough commitment to it and with proper help, perhaps it's true. I've seen some writers who were terrible writers, and there's no nice way to pretty-up that fact. I've helped some of those writers improve greatly, and I've helped some book manuscripts go from "Ohmagoodness, this is awful" to five-star reviews. Practice and a good editor and/or writing coach can make all the difference.

A new writer should know that while anyone can be published now (thanks to self-publishing), it is still hard to succeed. It can take years of hard work. There is no guarantee that anyone will buy your books. 

Writing is not a one-shot deal. The book, Write.Publish.Repeat. urges writers to write their book, publish it, and get busy on the next one, learning and improving their books as they go along. 

A new writer should also know that everywhere she turns, right in front of her eyes will be another "how to succeed at writing" book or course. She'll sign up for one newsletter and then will see a dozen more, and she'll buy one book and then Amazon will get in on the conspiracy to get her to spend more money on learning how to be a successful writer, and it will suggest six more books for her to buy. A dollar here, eight dollars there, or, in the case of courses, $300 here, $2,000 there . . . It won't take long before her spouse or accountant has steam coming out his ears and she realizes that she could buy and consume a thousand of those things and they still won't write her book for her.

       ​

FA: Some people think it is not necessary to hire or work with an editor.  What's the point of an editor?

JH: Many people think they don't need an editor. This is caused by one of a few things: 

• They are extremely egotistical and won't admit that they need something that everyone else needs (a little ego can come in handy when it comes to promoting their work, but too much is a bad thing).
• They think readers are stupid and won't notice that a book hasn't been edited. (Readers are smart, and they notice. Don't try to cheat them.) 
• They don't know even the basics, because if they did, they'd know that everyone needs an editor. Everyone. And not just one editor, but often two, because there are two very different types of editing, and it's important to get an editor for each kind.  
• They are lying to themselves and others by saying they don't need an editor. This may be because they don't have the money to hire a good editor, or it may be because they are too egotistical.

​Why is it so important to hire an editor? Any piece of writing is not ready for publication until after it's been edited (and proofread) at least once. Would you sell any other product to a consumer in an unfinished, unprepared state—a wedding cake without frosting, a home without doors and windows? Then don't do it with your writing. 

What if a writer can't afford an editor? Not all editors are expensive, but writers should expect to pay the industry standard rates set forth by the book titled, Writer's Market. Not only should a writer not skip editing, a writer should not have their cousin's neighbor's old-maid aunt who used to be an English teacher "edit" the book for her. With very rare exceptions, English teachers do not make good editors. 

The writer should find a good editor, and then work out a deal. Maybe the writer supplies the editor with 72 quarts of organic apple butter and applesauce made from the trees in his yard, in addition to paying half the editor's rate.​ Maybe a writer makes an arrangement with the editor to make monthly payments until she turns into an old man with a beard. Just about anything would be better than to publish a book without having it edited by a professional first.

Over the years, I've learned that it might take me a while to write something, but that's okay. Sometimes, though, a full book has come pouring out of me over the course of a few days, and I did nothing but write and sleep, and at the end of those few days, I needed to be showered, probably with a garden hose, from a distance. 

FA: What have you learned about yourself as a writer and editor?

JH: I've also learned that four of my strengths combine to make me a good editor who keeps clients coming back for more. 

1) I have a penchant for taking something that already exists and making it better.

2) Helping people say what they're trying to say comes very easily to me. I don't "take over" an author's book like many editors do. It's still the author's story after I edit it, just better.  

3) I have often been the "bridge" between people or groups, and I facilitate connections.

4) Having read 15,764 books now and adding more every day (most people, including editors, read fewer than 1,000 books in their whole lives), I have seen thousands of examples of how it's done, so errors jump out at me.

​When I decided to start editing books as a freelance editor, I drew on not only the libraries full of books I'd read, but on my years of experience editing and proofreading hundreds of papers and all of the writing at the places I'd worked. People sense who the good writer is, who the natural editor in the company is; no matter where I worked, people brought to me the things that needed to be written or edited. 

I started prospecting by emailing major publishing houses to see if they needed a freelance line editor. While doing that, I felt a sudden urge to visit the chat room on a certain website where I was a member. I thought it was weird, because that website was totally unrelated to anything in the world of writing or editing, and I wasn't one to use chat rooms. Why that, why now? I thought. But I listened and did it. Only one other person was in there, and we said hi and chatted a minute. When I said I had to get back to querying publishing companies as a freelance editor, he said his wife needed an editor for her book. Within minutes, I had met my first client. ​We emailed back and forth and came to an agreement, and now I do all of her books, and she sends me referrals. That was 2009, and I've never looked back. I now have clients who swear they'll stick with me for life, and I also have a waiting list 10 months long. Every single day—usually multiple times a day—I give thanks for my clients and the business they bring me. Without them, there would be no HarshmanServices.com. It is my honor and privilege to help writers make their writing better, and to encourage them through the whole process. My best wishes, thoughts, and prayers go out for everyone reading this.