1. www.CandysDirt.com | October 20141
Guardian Angel: Jeannie Smith Knows
That the Key to Success is Never Giving Up
Welcome to Guardian Angels by Guardian Mortgage Company. We bring
you profiles of the real people behind Guardian Mortgage’s superior mortgage
lending service.
We love Jeannie Smith and her “can-do” attitude. She’s the kind of
woman that can inspire confidence after just a moment with her, and she
is a dog lover, to boot!
It’s no wonder that Jeannie, a mortgage professional that looks after her
clients like family, is this week’s Guardian Angel. She takes time with
every client to make sure that their needs are met, if not exceeded, which
is a valuable asset in this quick-changing mortgage environment.
“I care about each loan and customer I work with — whether it’s a$ 50K
loan or a $5M loan — and I love providing the white glove treatment,”
Jeannie says. “I approach each loan and customer with a wide open mind
so that I can learn about them, their financial goals, expectations, and
what keeps them up at night when they think about the loan process.”
That’s the kind of personal service that is all too rare these days, but it’s
exactly what you can expect at Guardian Mortgage. Find out more about
Jeannie and how, through her tenacity, she’s made a wonderful career in
the mortgage business.
How did you get into the mortgage industry?
Prior to working at Guardian Mortgage, I was a Senior Account
Executive for Switch Liberate Your Brand. Switch is an experiential
marketing agency headquartered in Saint Louis and I worked remotely
in Dallas. The company changed leadership and wanted all employees
under one roof in Saint Louis, but Mike and I did not desire to sell our
home and relocate to Saint Louis. Seeing the writing on the wall I hired a
Career Coach whom I had met through Switch.
Cool story how I met
the Career Coach:
While prospecting
and walking the halls
of Coca-Cola with
my Switch Executive
Producer, I was
introduced to Coca-
Cola CEO Muhtar
Kent’s speech writer.
His Dad lives in Dallas
and I did them a favor
of connecting one of
their family members
with my JCPenney
client. Through this
connection I met my
Career Coach Lori
Link. We worked
together for several
months before my
job ended at Switch
exploring my
background and my BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). The coaching
she provided was invaluable and a tremendous help when deciding
whether to stay in the Experiential Marketing industry upon receiving
some very nice offers or take a risk and explore something new. Well,
I was a guest at her networking group, and by networking with the
members I met Marcus McCue. The rest is history.
We love Jeannie Smith and her “can-do”
attitude. She’s the kind of woman that can
inspire confidence after just a moment with
her, and she is a dog lover, to boot!
Jeannie Smith with “The Wee Ones”: two of
her pack of miniature dachshunds.

2. www.CandysDirt.com | October 2014 2
How has your finance and marketing background benefited your
work as a successful Mortgage Loan Officer?
Working full-time at Lockheed Martin at a very young age while
going to college full time at time taught me incredible work ethic
and determination to never give up. I had several female mentors at
Lockheed that cut me no slack and taught me invaluable lessons of
teamwork and how to succeed at anything I put my mind to. I was
always raising my hand for special projects and networking within the
organization and when a senior analyst was leaving the company I was
approached to take over her position which meant I’d be the youngest
analyst managing $250 million Depot Repair Contracts during Desert
Storm. This also meant I had to present to the Army/Navy during the
quarterly reviews the profit and loss of those projects right along with the
top executives. Whew that was scary and exciting, but I did all that and
still managed a full-time college load and graduated with a dual major by
the age of 25.
Lockheed was a springboard into business management and experiential
marketing arenas. Starting my career at a young age, performing
financial analysis and forecasting, budget preparation, managing
profit and loss, was an easy transition into experiential and live event
marketing. Managing multiple projects and teams simultaneously, while
prospecting and developing new business opportunities, while presenting
budgets and creative ideas that yielded excellent profit margins for
the companies I worked for and generated revenue for my clients. The
accumulation of this experience has truly helped me have true grit to
take on a new career in mortgage lending and I think I’ve done an OK
job so far.
Working with people at all levels and learning to communicate
effectively — written and verbal — has helped me tremendously in the
mortgage business. I get super excited when I provide financial solutions
that are smart and actually help the customer because the lowest rate
isn’t always the best financial solution. My back ground has helped be
build trust and long lasting deep relationships with referral partners. I
love working with a Realtor who trusts me to take care of their client and
keep them informed all along the process. Here’s a recent quote from a
Realtor I’m working with:
“Love working with you! This has been an incredible process! You are
the expert so whatever you think is best is great with us!”
How do you approach each new loan/customer you work with?
I care about each loan and customer I work with — whether it’s a$ 50K
loan or a $5M loan — and I love providing the white glove treatment.
I approach each loan and customer with a wide open mind so that I can
learn about them, their financial goals, expectations, and what keeps
them up at night when they think about the loan process. I learn about
their past loan experiences and what worked and what didn’t. I like to
educate them so that they make an educated and informed decision. The
years of being a financial analyst and presenting complex and detailed
budgets makes me think about all possible solutions so that my client
can make the smartest decision. This endorsement from a client who was
referred to me really says it all:
“Jeannie was always open to answer questions, she responded timely
to my inquiries. She made me feel like she cared about me and not just
trying to get my business. I really appreciated it.”
Leslie, McKinney, Texas
“Love working with you! This has
been an incredible process! You are the
expert so whatever you think is best is
great with us!”
What trends are you seeing in the housing industry these days?
Rates are expected to rise, so if you are planning to buy you will want
to get pre-approved and act quickly. Even though it’s been a sellers’
market, most buyers are conservative and they don’t want to overpay. We
are expecting to see more inventory come on the market and rates will
eventually rise. Consumers are consciously working on improving their
credit scores and reducing debt to have more purchasing power. With our
economic development teams busy attracting major corporations to the
Metroplex I believe we’ll see more homebuyers preparing to purchase
a new home. Younger people have seen their parents property values go
up and down; therefore, many view a home as a place to live and not so
much a great investment. This has changed their outlook about home
buying and have become more cautious. Finally, if you are trying to time
the market and hoping for rates to fall, don’t ask your lender “if you had
a crystal ball.”

3. www.CandysDirt.com | October 20143
Rates are expected to rise, so if you are
planning to buy you will want to get pre-
approved and act quickly. Even though
it’s been a sellers’market, most buyers
are conservative and they don’t want to
overpay. We are expecting to see more
inventory come on the market and rates
will eventually rise.
Let’s talk puppies! We hear you have an adorable pack of your own.
Tell us about them!
Before my husband and I dated we worked together and I would tease
him that all he did was hang out with his two dogs. I was single and on
the go and only had time for a cat named Maxx that lived 18 long years
and outlived all of my relationships. I think he scared them off. Anyway,
fast forward and now Mike’s two dogs are my two dogs plus we added
two more to the pack. We have 4 adorable girls that bring us so much
joy, laughter, and challenges all at the same time. They range in age of
18 to 4 years old. The oldest is an Australian Shepherd and Greyhound
mix and has the willpower of an OX. She is ancient but she just keeps on
going. Her will and determination to live has taught me so much about
love, kindness and patience.
Beasley was found in a garbage bag and Mike adopted this sweet soul.
She is a big brown potato and has the most ferocious bark but is a big ole
teddy bear that just likes to lean on you and be loved. I’ve seen people
come to the door, turn around and run when they hear her bark. She is
my protector and feet warmer and thank goodness we have a king-sized
bed because she takes up a third of it, which of course we’d have it no
other way.
Our little weenies that we call The Wee Ones are the loves of our lives…
Before adopting Lady Bug and Annabel there was Bela. This sweet little
Dachshund is the reason we love doxys so much.
For years I would tell Mike, “I want a little dog,” and he would always
say “No Little Dogs!” Well, one day I was out working in the yard and
the neighbors walked by with this teeny tiny miniature doxy who was
found in the neighborhood. They had been trying to find the owner, but
after 2 weeks and no one claiming her they were going to take her to
another neighbor’s home who was going to take her to the SPCA in the
morning. I said “NO! I’ll take her to Operation Kindness!” because I
knew “NO LITTLE DOGS” allowed at the Smiths. Well, I just happened
to be too busy to take her to Operation Kindness the next day so that
night I snuck her in bed and 10 years later the rest is history. Funny thing
is she and Mike became inseparable.
That began our love for doxys, and that’s when we found Lady Bug
through All Texas Dachshund Rescue. We drove halfway to Houston to
meet the foster mom and brought her home. She is a sweet senior whose
original owner took her to a kill shelter after she loved him 8 years
unconditionally, because his new girlfriend didn’t like her. Seriously!
She spent 3 years in the foster home until we brought her home. She
was so sick, but we didn’t realize it until a week passed and her face
swelled up. She had a major tooth infection and after surgery and many
teeth extracted she’s a happy camper. She did start having fainting spells
after Bela passed away, so we rushed her to the vet and realized she had
a heart condition. We keep our vet’s business in business! Lady likes to
grunt when she wants something so we find her often grunting in front
of the “magic pantry door” where yummy treats and food come from.
We’ve often though of making a video of her before and after to show
people that adopting a senior can bring you and the baby lots of joy,
love, and laughter for many years.
After Bela passed away suddenly and after the shock and sadness
subsided we decided it was time to adopt again. We called ATDR and
before we knew it we were in the car heading to Waco to bring Annabel
home. She is 4 years old and is so cute and sweet. She is a food monger
so the days of free range feeding for the other girls don’t exist. She is
so funny … every night right when we are shutting down for the night
she goes to her toy box and brings us her toys. She loves to snuggle and
she loves Lady Bug. And, when she wants the “magic door” to open for
treats to appear she dances around in circles and jumps up and down.
We’ve only had her a few months so her personality emerges more and
more each day. All I care about is that she’s happy and she’s found her
safe “forever home.”

4. www.CandysDirt.com | October 2014 4
What drives you to do what you do every day?
Life in general drives me every day. I approach each day with
thankfulness and pray that I’m a blessing to someone each day. I take my
career very seriously, and my husband will tell you that I’m driven and
determined to accomplish and succeed at whatever I put my mind to. I
don’t take myself too seriously and have a good laugh at myself several
times a day. I do like to work hard and play hard. I had to grow up very
fast as a kid because I lost my mom at the age of 4 and my sister was
only 6 months old. I moved out of my Dad and stepmothers home the
day I graduated from high school and figured out very quickly how to
succeed on my own. When my sister was a senior in high school I moved
her out of our stepmother’s home and into my apartment. The rules were
she had to graduate high school, work to pay half the bills, and enroll
in college. Fast forward and she has an MBA and is about to become
partner at the company she works for in FL. What drives me…mentoring
people especially women to become the best they can be, helping young
people make good decisions that will impact their future, donating to
organizations that impact the world. What drives me in the mortgage
business is helping borrowers achieve the dream of homeownership by
providing financial solutions that meet their budget expectations and
doing solid pre-approvals to ensure no surprises during the loan process.
Building trust with referral partners drives me and what drives me to
wake up in the morning…well the truth is my husband’s coffee!!
I approach each day with thankfulness and
pray that I’m a blessing to someone each
day. I take my career very seriously, and
my husband will tell you that I’m driven
and determined to accomplish and succeed
at whatever I put my mind to. I don’t take
myself too seriously and have a good laugh
at myself several times a day.