Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes Tim Stenovic on Bloomberg Radio. So we had
Speaker 1: some housing data today.
Speaker 2: Sales had previously owned US homes falling in March by
Speaker 2: more than forecasts, really underscoring a housing market that's still
Speaker 2: on shaky footing despite some signs of stabilizing. And then
Speaker 2: we had some data earlier this week that showed single
Speaker 2: family home building climbing to a three month high in March.
Speaker 2: We're just trying to make sense of it all, Maddie.
Speaker 2: And then we had a thirty year fixed rate mortgage
Speaker 2: averaging six point three nine percent out of April twentieth.
Speaker 2: That was some data that came out yesterday from Freddie
Speaker 2: Mac actually today forgive me. And then the thirty year
Speaker 2: rows after dropping for five straight weeks. So I feel
Speaker 2: like there's conflicting stories when it comes to housing and
Speaker 2: what's going on. Our next guest, So has a great
Speaker 2: window and vantage point into the mortgage park market. His
Speaker 2: company worked with fifteen of the top twenty five banks
Speaker 2: and lenders in the US.
Speaker 1: So here to get an update.
Speaker 2: On what they are seeing and what they are doing.
Speaker 1: Is Joe Well you.
Speaker 2: He's founder and CEO of the fintach's fintech software platform,
Speaker 2: Total Expert. Here at our Bloomberg Interactive Broker's studio.
Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, How.
Speaker 3: Are you great? Thanks for having me, appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 2: Well, it's great to have you here, and you do
Speaker 2: come at this from a different point. Remind everybody who's
Speaker 2: listening and watching on Bloomberg what you guys do specifically
Speaker 2: and who you.
Speaker 3: Are sure sure so. Total Expert is a technology company
Speaker 3: that caters specifically to the financial services industry, and at
Speaker 3: a high level, the core of our technology is designed
Speaker 3: to help banks, lenders, modern financial services firms build really
Speaker 3: high quality, long term relationships with customers.
Speaker 1: What does that mean?
Speaker 3: It really means understanding the consumer, using data to ultimately
Speaker 3: understand not just at a transactional level, but really going
Speaker 3: deep to understand holistically all of the financial needs and
Speaker 3: wants of a consumer so they can give higher quality
Speaker 3: advice throughout the entire financial journey, a consumer's entire financial journey.
Speaker 1: Can I ask how you figure that out? Is it
Speaker 1: AI or.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, we do use AI certainly, and it's
Speaker 3: an evolution and ultimately we partner with some amazing firms,
Speaker 3: some of the largest banks, independent mortgage companies, and credit
Speaker 3: unions in the country, and through that partnership, we evolve
Speaker 3: our technology to solve some of the needs they have
Speaker 3: in the business.
Speaker 4: And which type of clients do you mainly work with and.
Speaker 3: Some Yeah, we work with credit unions, banks, independent mortgage banks,
Speaker 3: and insurance firms.
Speaker 1: So like your big big guys that have been reporting
Speaker 1: this week.
Speaker 3: Yes, a few of those. I won't mention any names,
Speaker 3: but we have multiple banks in the top five. And
Speaker 3: then we have if you think of the top couple
Speaker 3: one hundred lenders in the country, we work with a
Speaker 3: large percentage of those.
Speaker 4: So what are you hearing are the biggest concerns then
Speaker 4: from the customers in terms of the data that you have.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I think as a general rule of financial
Speaker 3: services industry, particularly lending, is going through this shift to
Speaker 3: where they really understand it is about long term relationships
Speaker 3: with consumers. And in order to earn the right to
Speaker 3: have those long term relationships, you really have to be
Speaker 3: able to deliver value to those customers in a way
Speaker 3: that treats them as a unique individual human that has
Speaker 3: certain financial goals and it should be about not just
Speaker 3: doing a transaction, but ultimately about financial fitness and really
Speaker 3: holistically helping them achieve their goals over time, such as
Speaker 3: home ownership as an example.
Speaker 2: So did the collapse of three regionals impact that? And
Speaker 2: is that what you're kind of addressing or was that
Speaker 2: going on prior to that?
Speaker 3: So I think that some of that is there's some
Speaker 3: macro things that were happening there certainly that cause those
Speaker 3: and we of course are in the mix all the time,
Speaker 3: and I think there's a lot of there's a lot
Speaker 3: of caution with the regional banks right now and understanding that,
Speaker 3: but ultimately we saw a brief amount of dislocation where
Speaker 3: consumers were concerned, and then ultimately we don't see much
Speaker 3: of that at this point. We ultimately see the banks, lenders,
Speaker 3: credit unions, organizations, we work with, independent mortgage banks well
Speaker 3: really leaning into help their customers kind of navigate. Probably
Speaker 3: the most unstable financial time we've had in fifteen years,
Speaker 3: is any.
Speaker 4: Of the advice that you're giving hitting on increasing savings,
Speaker 4: accounts yields. Because we were just talking about people flying
Speaker 4: from the traditional banks, some of them I imagine.
Speaker 3: You work with to those high Yeah, so there is
Speaker 3: some of that strategy, and ultimately it really goes back
Speaker 3: to understanding at a consumer level. I need to look
Speaker 3: at not just what I want to sell this customer,
Speaker 3: but I need to look at their entire financial picture
Speaker 3: and what's important to them. Right, So, as an example,
Speaker 3: how savings accounts are certainly something that's important to consumers,
Speaker 3: and in the organizations that we partner with are ultimately
Speaker 3: trying to say, you know, how do we become the
Speaker 3: best financial partner to this consumer and serve them in
Speaker 3: the products and services that those institutions Ultimately.
Speaker 2: So, based on the data that you see and the
Speaker 2: companies that you work with, what are you seeing about
Speaker 2: lending activity? And we're coming off just a period where
Speaker 2: we've heard from a lot of the banks, so we
Speaker 2: know a lot, But what are you seeing in terms
Speaker 2: of lending activity, whether it's individuals, whether it's to businesses,
Speaker 2: and signs that maybe things are indeed slowing down.
Speaker 3: So I think there's really two angles you have to
Speaker 3: look at it with. So there, certainly we're in an
Speaker 3: environment where rates have went up at a greater pace
Speaker 3: than at almost any time in modern history. Okay, and
Speaker 3: so that's one side of the equation. The other side
Speaker 3: of the equation is the demand that we're seeing on
Speaker 3: the lending side is actually incredibly high. What's happening, though,
Speaker 3: is there's on the housing market specifically, we do a
Speaker 3: lot of our organizations we work with do lending for
Speaker 3: people purchasing homes, mortgages, and as well as home equity lending.
Speaker 3: We see a lot of appetite for demand for those
Speaker 3: types of loans. Where there's a gap is inventory, there's
Speaker 3: not as many homes on the market. And also you're
Speaker 3: also seeing an adjustment period to where consumers that we're
Speaker 3: looking at, say a five hundred thousand dollars home maybe
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, and they had aspirations of
Speaker 3: being in a five hundred thousand dollars home, Well now
Speaker 3: they have to look at a home that's about three
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty five thousand to have the same level
Speaker 3: of affordability, right, So there's that adjustment period. So the
Speaker 3: data that you're seeing reported only tells part of the story.
Speaker 3: The other part of the story is actually home ownership's
Speaker 3: alive and well, plenty of demand, but there's definitely an
Speaker 3: adjustment period.
Speaker 4: Can you explain that to me because I feel like
Speaker 4: the home owning story is getting very confusing, Like every
Speaker 4: day there's a new data point that tells.
Speaker 3: Me a different story there is and that's so that's
Speaker 3: part of what we feel the industry, the organization of
Speaker 3: the financial services industry, really needs to lean in to
Speaker 3: educating consumers on what's fact and what's ultimately just volatility
Speaker 3: in the market. Right. And so if you think about
Speaker 3: if you look at the last ten years as an example, okay,
Speaker 3: homeowners achieved forty times higher increase in net worth than
Speaker 3: renter's debt. Right, So you don't necessarily see that in
Speaker 3: a lot of the headlines, but for the long term,
Speaker 3: home ownership as a foundational component of financial health and
Speaker 3: fitness is really critical. And so that is how we
Speaker 3: you know, we see organizations addressing that and educating consumers accordingly.
Speaker 1: So I don't understand.
Speaker 2: So institutions are saying, if you want to increase your
Speaker 2: net wealth, here's how you do it.
Speaker 1: You buy a house.
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, So the organization's institutions that we work with,
Speaker 3: for example, they're really leaning into educating consumers, okay, really
Speaker 3: leaning into educating them on debt also what their financial
Speaker 3: goals are and how to build towards those financial goals.
Speaker 3: So homeownership is a part of the story. It's an
Speaker 3: important part of the story, but another part of the story.
Speaker 3: We have a lot of our companies that we work
Speaker 3: with and partner with do other types of consumer lending.
Speaker 3: So as an example, you're also seeing credit card debt
Speaker 3: increase dramatically in the last quarter of the year by
Speaker 3: almost at a trillion dollars I think was the statistic
Speaker 3: that I saw. So the organizations that work with these
Speaker 3: consumers really have to take their really an intentional approach
Speaker 3: to educating those consumers on how to manage their debt levels.
Speaker 3: And then things like home equity, which is a fundamental
Speaker 3: backstop for a lot of Americans. They have that equity
Speaker 3: to fall back on and how they can utilize that
Speaker 3: to maybe offset high, super high interest rate consumer debt.
Speaker 2: Just got about thirty seconds. So net net take away
Speaker 2: from what you were hearing because you're B to B right,
Speaker 2: business to business, Yes, so what you are hearing from
Speaker 2: your clients that you work with, you know, financial institutions,
Speaker 2: big ones, I'm sure smaller ones too. What's the net
Speaker 2: takeaway about the market environment? The economic outlog.
Speaker 3: What would you say The net takeaway is that long term,
Speaker 3: the housing market is going to be an incredibly robust market,
Speaker 3: and home ownership is still an important part of the
Speaker 3: American dream. Short term, have to get really educated and
Speaker 3: smart about how that impacts each individual person's unique financial situation.
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna leave it on that note. Joll,
Speaker 1: thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Well, I've got to say that f Scott Fitzgerald once
Speaker 2: observed that there are no second acts in American lives,
Speaker 2: and our next guest, I'm certain we'll tell you otherwise.
Speaker 2: We are so delighted to have with us Chery and
Speaker 2: Tracy Scifax. They are entrepreneurs, their restaurant tours, their authors.
Speaker 2: They also happen to be husband and wife. Shary's new
Speaker 2: book is Second Act, Living Boldly and Abundantly at every age.
Speaker 2: Tracy two has written a memoir from the Block to
Speaker 2: the Boardroom. And they join us here in our Bloomberg
Speaker 2: Interactive Broker studio, and we're already feeling their energy on
Speaker 2: a Thursday that's been a little busy and I'm feeling
Speaker 2: a little tired from being out late.
Speaker 1: Let's die. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 2: We want to hear your stories, because I do think
Speaker 2: you know, we are living in a world where people
Speaker 2: do have second acts. Our third acts are fourth acts.
Speaker 2: We're living longer, We're able to do if people move around. Sherry,
Speaker 2: I want to start with you. You've got a new
Speaker 2: book out. What was your second act or what is
Speaker 2: your second act?
Speaker 5: It is all encompassing career, love, new place. I moved
Speaker 5: by moved from Oakland to Philadelphia, knowing no one at
Speaker 5: the age of forty five.
Speaker 1: That's a big move.
Speaker 5: People would say, why are you doing that in this
Speaker 5: stage of your life. Left one career in Silicon Valley area,
Speaker 5: coming into medical devices in Philadelphia, then met my husband,
Speaker 5: and now we're restaurant tours. Like you said, we just
Speaker 5: bought a restaurant in Philadelphia. So really, just in every
Speaker 5: aspect of my life, I am living a second act
Speaker 5: because I would have never thought that when I was
Speaker 5: in Oakland. Yeah, I'd be here with you on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: And here you and here you.
Speaker 2: Here I am with Tracy and my husband and with
Speaker 2: your husband.
Speaker 1: So tell us about you've been. I'm just gonna go
Speaker 1: for it.
Speaker 2: You've been incarcerated, you've been a CEO, you've been selected
Speaker 2: as a championship changed by the Obama White House.
Speaker 1: Quite a second act or third act or fourth act.
Speaker 1: Tell us your story.
Speaker 6: Well, as you said, I am forming incarcerated, actually thirty
Speaker 6: years to the day. I was just posted on social
Speaker 6: media that I spent thirty years ago a solitary confirement
Speaker 6: in nineteen ninety two, just to be here now in
Speaker 6: Bloomberg Studio telling my story. It's an awesome story. I
Speaker 6: started out a drug addicted drug dealer, selling drugs to
Speaker 6: support my habit like so many other folks, and got
Speaker 6: caught up in the justices and spent about seven years
Speaker 6: in prison. But one of the things I always felt
Speaker 6: I was I always felt I was an entrepreneur, and
Speaker 6: I always felt that if I just changed the product,
Speaker 6: I could really do something good. So I did that.
Speaker 6: In nineteen ninety five, I started my first business and
Speaker 6: grew into a multimillion dollar business in seven years, and
Speaker 6: just ever since then been off and just being a
Speaker 6: serial entrepreneur, like just like I always thought I could be.
Speaker 4: Well, Shuri, I wonder if you can come back in
Speaker 4: here and we can talk about the entrepreneurship journey.
Speaker 1: You've got to know where you go. I want to
Speaker 1: go to the food, and that I'm going to go
Speaker 1: to the dating. I know, I feel like you were
Speaker 1: going to do dating.
Speaker 4: I mean, I really do want to know about Okay, yeah, fine,
Speaker 4: I'll go to the dating. The match dot Com profile. Yes,
Speaker 4: the way you describe it in your notes is amazing.
Speaker 5: You know. I wanted to make sure that I sat
Speaker 5: tell people who I was so that they could want
Speaker 5: to live in the fabulous life that I was living.
Speaker 5: I had been very satisfied in my single season, but
Speaker 5: I was like, hey, I want a husband, I want
Speaker 5: a life partner, and so I lived this really great life.
Speaker 5: I want to invite someone in. So that's how I
Speaker 5: created my profile. I didn't say anything about I'm looking
Speaker 5: for this, I'm looking for that. I said this is
Speaker 5: who I am. So that invited someone in. And so
Speaker 5: that was what I helped people understand about what they
Speaker 5: want to do with their profiles is invite them in,
Speaker 5: don't exclude them.
Speaker 4: Well, it's a business issue. I know that's so bloombergie
Speaker 4: of me to say.
Speaker 2: But it is.
Speaker 4: It's really important, and we don't talk enough about women
Speaker 4: who are in their second act of life finding love
Speaker 4: and partnership and the financial implications of that, and I
Speaker 4: know that's something you're passionate about as well.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, and at certain ages, right, I mean if people
Speaker 5: tell women at forty or forty five, if you're not married,
Speaker 5: you might as well forget it.
Speaker 1: And there was an anger at CNN. Can I even go, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're not going to go there, but go ahead.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I so people feel isolated. I know, Justin Bateman was
Speaker 5: just talking about women in aging. Sarah Jessica Parker's head
Speaker 5: issues with people commenting on her looks, and so women
Speaker 5: are just really really villainized almost for aging. But there's
Speaker 5: so much more that we know. Financially, we're more stable,
Speaker 5: we know what we want. Intimately, we're more confident and clear.
Speaker 5: So I'm giving women permission to own that, embrace who
Speaker 5: you are, and so that you too can live your
Speaker 5: second life fully abundantly and attract everything that you want
Speaker 5: because now you're real clear on what it is.
Speaker 1: I totally agree. I wish we had more time, Tracy.
Speaker 1: We have a couple of minutes.
Speaker 2: But so why do you think it's so important to
Speaker 2: share kind of what you went through and show people that, yeah,
Speaker 2: you can come back and you kind of have a
Speaker 2: second or third or fourth that act.
Speaker 6: Oh absolutely, And it's just around like that. It's Second
Speaker 6: Chance Month. So we have in this conversation, I say
Speaker 6: all the time. You know, it's seventy million people in
Speaker 6: America touched by the criminal justice system.
Speaker 1: And those are just the.
Speaker 6: Ones that have gotten caught. So we've the Bible teachers
Speaker 6: that we some unfairly incorrectly. Oh absolutely, absolutely, absolutely so,
Speaker 6: I think second chance. And as we look at you know,
Speaker 6: my wife and her second act book, you know, we
Speaker 6: talk about how we are allowed those second and third
Speaker 6: chances in life and what do we do with them?
Speaker 6: And I think that is so important. What do we
Speaker 6: do with our second, third chances? And I've been blessed
Speaker 6: to have been given that, and I just you know,
Speaker 6: we take advantage of it and everything that we do
Speaker 6: in business and community.
Speaker 4: What is your advice for people who are still writing
Speaker 4: their first and second acts that might be listening.
Speaker 5: I'd love to hear from or in their first act
Speaker 5: and don't like it, I say, learn from your mistakes,
Speaker 5: understand where you want to go, be honest with yourself
Speaker 5: about why you're not getting there. A lot of self
Speaker 5: realization about, Hey, what are some things that I can
Speaker 5: tweak or do differently, But then also recognizing that any
Speaker 5: mistakes that you make don't have to define you and
Speaker 5: they don't have to keep you there. You can still learn,
Speaker 5: apply different and catapult from them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we don't value mistakes enough. Tracy last forty.
Speaker 6: I like to say, key turning the pages, Key turning
Speaker 6: the pages, and you'll get to the end, and the
Speaker 6: end there's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 4: We'll come back beginnings your second act.
Speaker 5: Absolutely. I just got a restaurant. Come on down the
Speaker 5: Bookers in West Philly.
Speaker 1: We didn't get to at the stage of our lives.
Speaker 1: Let us things are going. We'd love to have you
Speaker 1: come back.
Speaker 2: Great energy, certainly in an environment where it's kind of
Speaker 2: tough and there's not such great energy around.
Speaker 1: So it's really fun to have some time with both
Speaker 1: of you.
Speaker 6: Appreciated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the sci Fax we're talking about Chery and Tracy,
Speaker 2: as we said, entrepreneurs, restaurant tours, authors, Schari's new book
Speaker 2: Second Act, Living Boldly and Abundantly at Every Age, and
Speaker 2: Tracy's book From the Block to the Boardroom.
Speaker 1: When did you write that?
Speaker 2: Oh, twenty twelve, twenty twelve, so a few years out,
Speaker 2: but pick them both up because has a great summer
Speaker 2: reading and weekend reading. Joining us here in our interactive
Speaker 2: Brokers Studio