Don Goettling, a nearly 40-year veteran of the mortgage and real estate industry, announced last week that he’s committing full time to his role as CEO of Momentum Builder, the company he co-founded in 2018.
The organization, which provides resources for housing professionals — including coaching, workshops, events and technology tools — also oversees the Sales Mastery event, founded by Todd Duncan. Momentum Builder bought Sales Mastery late last year and plans to continue its annual sales summit while updating it for future participants.
In an interview with HousingWire, Goettling highlighted the challenges faced by the mortgage industry that he’s witnessed firsthand, including the impact of COVID-19 and rising interest rates, as well as the importance of community and upcoming initiatives by Momentum Builder.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Sarah Wolak: What inspired you to dedicate yourself full time to Momentum Builder after four decades in the industry?
Don Goettling: Basically, it started as a passion project to help more people. I’ve been in the industry for 39 years now and I’ve always had a business coach.
My coach at one point said, “Don, you run a division of 163 people with nine offices doing $1.5 billion in business. I can’t really teach you more about the mortgage business. After so many years in the business, what do you want for your legacy?” And I basically said, “I’d love to provide all the resources that changed my career.” I almost quit the business because I didn’t have those resources, and therefore I was trading hours for dollars and running out of hours.
And fortunately, ironically, somebody introduced me to Todd Duncan and Sales Mastery, and it changed my entire life and career, because now I was aligned with the right coaches, the right tech, the right people, the right inspiration and the right business planning. Todd’s been a mentor of mine for decades now, and I just wanted to give back to the community and provide resources.
I created Momentum Builder to provide that and now I decided that this is my real passion. And to really take it to the next level, I have to dedicate my time, full time, to growing it out and creating more partnerships and more value.
SW: It’s been a year since Momentum Builder bought Sales Mastery. Can you share how you’ve been working to maintain the legacy of Sales Mastery while modernizing the experience of Momentum Builder for industry professionals who might be feeling challenged like you once were?
DG: We’ve just gone through three of the toughest years I’ve seen in the industry in my 40 years. It’s been more challenging than ever, and people are more confused and lost and in need of inspiration, direction and community.
We lost a lot of that community during COVID, of course. Now we’re trying to bring back community for not just for mortgage — we’re leaning into real estate as well.