Structured strategy.Unfiltered advice.

I was a bank branch manager in Austin when we got the news: effective immediately, we were also responsible for mortgage production. I remember thinking, great — who's my loan officer? They said, you are. I almost quit on the spot.

Instead, they introduced me to Mr. Macy. Old school. Gregarious. The kind of loan officer who sits in the meeting with you, thinks through the file with you, and makes you feel like you can actually do this. I leaned in.

It turns out I'd landed at exactly the right branch at exactly the right time. My new location was full of physicians, surgeons, business owners, and asset-heavy clients. I became part of an internal medical board — sitting alongside private bankers, investment advisers, and senior management — building a real system for serving high-earning clients at the right moments. March for new residents. September for private practice buyins. I was learning faster than I could keep up with. By 2011, I was ranked #2 in total loan production in my region, named Elite Leader for the district, and recognized as a Medical Cabinet member. They put my name on a screen and handed me a trophy on stage. I didn't see that coming.

That's when my mentor told me: if you want to really learn this business, go work for a builder.

So I did. I went to work for a builder's in-house lender and learned the business from the inside: down payment assistance, nonstop pipelines, and zero breathing room. I learned everything. I also learned exactly how I didn't want to work. The moment I realized I had over 70 active loans and couldn't picture one of my own clients, I knew I needed something different.

What followed were years at retail lenders and back in banking. I saw how much a company's structure decides what a borrower gets: one product shelf, one set of rates, one answer per file. When turn times stretched during COVID, I was the one pushing every file across the finish line. That's not the experience I wanted for my clients.

Then I answered a phone call and met Nick.

He introduced me to the broker model. Secure Choice Lending. And everything changed. I finally had real choice in pricing and programs, without a single product shelf deciding the outcome. Just the right lender for the right loan, and a CEO who gives me the autonomy and ongoing education to keep getting better.

Every pipeline, every hard lesson, every file I fought for, I carry all of it into the loans I build now. The difference is, now I get to use it on your behalf. VA loans are where I go deepest, but whether you're a veteran, a first-time buyer, or a seasoned investor, you're getting the same fight.

That's why I built Keys by Shalanda. And that's why I'm not going anywhere.