How rising to the task got me where I am today
In 2007, I found myself in a precarious position. I had small kids four and five years of age, and my career in Human Resources made me travel all over the province of Alberta and to Vancouver repeatedly. I was often away from my kids, and my husband at the time was increasingly dependant on drugs and alcohol. My life was spinning out of control and I was unhappy.
I knew I needed to make a change for my kids, and I. That’s when I encountered mortgage brokering. I was great at math and had spent the past ten years working with people – how could I go wrong? Exploding with excitement for my new life, I quit my HR job of ten years and self-studied the mortgage brokering course for one week. I was convinced I could rock this. The passing grade for the exam was 70% and I got 71%. Guess I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was! Nevertheless, I had a bright and shiny mortgage brokering license and was off to the races!
Becoming a mortgage broker turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I had balance in my life, and I was happy. Woking out of my home, I was able to take my kids to and from school and enjoy their evening sporting activities. This career was made for me.
When approaching my ten-year anniversary of mortgage brokering, I concluded that I wanted more. I wanted letters behind my name. Is it just me? When I see letters behind someone’s name, I find that I have a level of respect for them in their profession before I even meet them. So, how do I get letters behind my name?
In mortgage brokering, our professional designation is Accredited Mortgage Professional or AMP, which is administered by the University of British Columbia. When I contacted them, I found out that there are a myriad of courses to be taken, as well as letters of recommendation, plus it requires years of experience. The last two were not a problem, but I did not have time to take all the courses. Think Krista think! What should I do? In true Krista fashion, I made the decision – I was going to challenge the exam for the accreditation. Let’s face it, I had bigger problems if I could not pass this exam after 10 years of mortgage brokering experience!
I found myself sitting inside this huge classroom with hundreds of other people with an exam sitting on the desk in front of me, and three hours on the clock. I was sweating bullets when the timer rang and I was one of the few people left in the room! My exam was collected and I went home. I waited, and waited for the exam results to come in the mail. To my surprise, my phone rang many weeks later with the voice on the other end congratulating me. My mark was 96%. Thank goodness! I had done it. I got those letters behind my name. I am now Krista Lindstrom, AMP.
It’s nice to see I have gotten smarter in the past ten years. Back then, I passed the mortgage brokering exam by the skin of my teeth, and now I almost aced the industry accreditation exam – without taking any of the courses. As I type I’m smiling. I am so grateful for my kids and family, and the life I have been given.
I wonder what’s next?
