Conversations with the Inspiring Jessica Onuma

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Onuma.

Jessica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2012, I made the transition from being a Montessori school teacher to working in the wonderful world of home loans. 🙂 While I absolutely loved working with my kids, I knew that (financially) I needed to be able to do more for my family. A good friend of mine had been encouraging me to come and work with her, so after a lot of thinking, I decided to take the leap. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t hard- there were days where I cried from missing my kids and the world of wonder that we shared together. I had questioned many times whether or not I would be able to have any type of meaningful impact on others by doing mortgages. Then, one day, it happened- I spoke with a woman that I had been working with to help get her credit up so that she could buy a home for her and her kids. When I delivered the news to her that she now qualified, she broke down in tears thanking me, telling me that this was something she never really thought that she could do and now what seemed like a far fetched dream was becoming a reality. The light turned on for me at that moment, and I realized the potential to provide deep value within my new career. Ever since that day, I have been very passionate about reaching “everyday people” and educating them on what it would take to have a home of their own.

On a more personal note, my son is my driving force. In 2017, his dad passed away. I knew that from that day forward, I had to show up big each and every day. There is no room for me to fail, so every single day, I work from my heart and do everything I can to provide for him, and to demonstrate that no matter how hard things may seem to get, if we keep our faith and eyes set ahead of us, we can accomplish whatever we dedicate ourselves to.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road by any means. Prior to losing my son’s dad, I had been working on a team, playing a role in operating our manager’s book of business. When I realized that I needed to do more/be more for our little family, I expressed to my manager that it was time for me to go out and build my own book, from the ground up. It was a true leap of faith. I think because I had just experienced the worse thing that could have happened (short of losing my son), the fear of failure went away. There was no blanket of comfort to hide behind any longer- it had been ripped away from me. I had to create a new normal for us. There were months when I was afraid when I had no loans to work on and had to put forth a large amount of effort to not get sucked into a fear-based space.

Advice- for every person who is there to encourage you to go for your dreams, there will be 10 others there to remind you of why you shouldn’t. More often than not, you will be reminded of what could go wrong. From my perspective, there are only two spaces that we exist in- one that is fear-based, and the other love based. Everything else is just an expression of one of those two things. I encourage every woman out there to look within and listen to what is calling- and then to nurture and honor their purpose. Choose love and be the reason why nay-sayers may one day look within and decide for themselves that they can also accomplish what they are called to do.

What should we know about Guild Mortgage Company? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a mortgage loan officer. I educate people on what it would take to achieve their homeownership goals. Some people come to me readily, and many others are not. They need help with fixing credit or paying off debt in order to qualify for the purchase they would like to make. I see my job as being the support system along that path to home ownership. I’ve been told that I have patience and ability to make things understandable that not a lot of people have. I hold myself to a standard where everything I do needs to be genuine. We live in such a fast-paced world with a lot of detachment, so I make it a point to work from my heart with the belief that by doing so, I will attract the right people into my life. 100% of my business is referral based, and that makes me so happy. I understand that in order to keep that going, I need to continuously honor those who allow me to work for them.

Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
I’ve been drawn to Maria Montessori ever since I learned about her. During her time, women were not allowed to go to school, but she went after hours and behind her fathers back. She became the first woman doctor which was a huge accomplishment, but she found a calling to study children and their natural ways of learning. She was an advocate for peace and social justice, such a strong yet graceful woman who has made a huge impact on the lives of children and families over the past 100+ years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://myaccount.guildmortgage.com/officers/jessicaonuma/apply-online/sign-up/
• Phone: 602-410-1808
• Email: jonuma@guildmortgage.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loansweetloanAZ/

Image Credit:
Tammy Zelez Photography

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