Epic Entrepreneurs

How A New Mortgage Lender Built Community, Partnerships, And Momentum In Western North Carolina with Haley Gant

• Bill Gilliland

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What if rebuilding your career didn’t start with ads or a perfect website, but with a simple question: who do I need to help first? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with mortgage lender and real estate investor, Haley Gant, who moved from Houston to Western North Carolina, weathered Hurricane Helene’s fallout, and rebuilt by doubling down on people, process, and patience.

We dig into the decisions that matter when money is tight and time is short: why a CRM is the first real investment, how “boots on the ground” weekends at open houses create authentic partnerships, and the difference between being seen and being useful. Haley opens her playbook on local networking in Hendersonville and Asheville—from FABA and the Chamber to Hive—and shares why hosting meetups and classes can change your trajectory faster than buying leads. Along the way, she explains how buying a Brevard cabin as a short-term rental shaped her approach to lending, wealth-building, and advising first-time buyers and investors to ignore headlines and act on their own timelines.

This episode is packed with practical tactics and a clear mindset: commit to the long game, set weekly learning goals to master complex loan products, and plan your entire year so life experiences land on the calendar before everyone else’s priorities do. If you’re launching a local service business, growing a mortgage practice, or trying to restart after a setback, you’ll leave with a simple, repeatable blueprint for momentum built on real relationships.

If this conversation helped you think differently about growth, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s building something, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep bringing you more founder playbooks.

Guest contact info:

Email: hgant@nexamortgage.com

Website: www.EliteMountainMortgage.com 

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!

Bill

SPEAKER_01:

All right, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I'm Cliff McCray, filling in for Bill Gillilan with your local business training and coaching firm, Action Coach Business Growth Partners. I'm excited to have Haley Gant with Elite Mountain Mortgage. That's the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast episode today. So, Haley, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what primary products or services you offer the community.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, Cliff, thanks for having me today. So, um, like Cliff said, my name is Haley Gantt. I am a mortgage lender with Elite Mountain Mortgage. I have been in the mortgage industry uh for somewhat a short time period. I got my license last year, but I've been around real estate and real estate investing for pretty much my entire life. Uh my parents started investing in real estate when I was in kindergarten. So I've seen how being in the real estate industry can be a great avenue to build wealth for yourself. And I'm sure we'll get into this, but I had a big career change after Hurricane Helene uh happened here in Western North Carolina, set me on my new career path of being a mortgage lender. And, you know, I specialize in investment loans, first-time home buyers, uh HELOCs, you name it, I can do it. Um, my company, what makes me unique is I'm backed by a national brokerage. So I can do loans through 250 different lenders, um, which gives me a lot of flexibility in the types of loans that I'm able to offer. So, you know, this year has been a big growth and learning year, starting my business, entrepreneurship is in my blood. So I'm excited to share my story today. And hopefully it resonates with some of you guys out there. If you're new in your business, if you've had a big change in your life in the last couple of years, I am I'm happy to share my story here.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Perfect, perfect. I love the intro. So if you had to start your business from square one, what would you do differently?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, well, considering I just started my business from square one last year, um, this is really fresh information. So, you know, the biggest thing is building your network and your community around you when you're building your new business. I moved to Asheville, North Carolina from Houston, Texas, in July of 2023. So I've lived in this area for all things considered, not a very long time. When I moved out here, I actually started working as a wedding coordinator at Biltmore Estate. I loved that job. And then Helene happened, and that job did not exist anymore, at least for that time period. So not only did I build my business, and I'm still building my business from the ground up, my network in my community was all back in Texas, as far as my real estate community. So a big, big part of my last year as I was, you know, uh starting to grow my business was getting out there. I've become uh a member of a lot of local business groups, Chamber of Commerce. I was co-hosting a real estate investing meetup and I'm in talks of starting up another one this year. Just getting out there, creating genuine friendships in your community with people that you want to do business with, in my opinion, is one of the most important things because I can know all of the technical loan aspects, rates, things like that. But if people in my community don't know what I do, I'm not going to be able to build my business. So really being an active member of the community, building friendships with people that I want to do business with has been a huge focus. And I think that's so important for anyone out there that's also maybe looking to get their business off of the ground.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so actively networking. Do you have any specific networking groups you would recommend in Western North Carolina?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Yes. So um there's several. So Fletcher Area Business Association, also known as FABA, is a great group. It's very affordable. They meet every two weeks. I'm actually on the events committee for FABA. It's a great group. Um, also the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce. I live in Hendersonville. I love Hendersonville. So I really stay kind of focused in my tiny little area of Hendersonville, here about 30 minutes south of Asheville. And I actually want to give a huge shout out to a women's networking group that I'm a part of. It's called Hive, like a beehive, essentially. Um, Hive is a group of female entrepreneurs and business owners all across the Asheville area. I have met some great friends in this group. There's some really great entrepreneurs and business owners in this group. If you're in Asheville and you're a woman looking to connect with other like-minded business owners, Hive, hands down, is probably my favorite group that I'm a part of. And, you know, like I mentioned, I'm in talks of starting up a real estate investor meetup, probably in Q2 of this year. I was a co-host of the AVL meetup uh this past year in 2025. And Zach and Rodrigo, great friends. Uh, they had been running that group for over five years. And, you know, they just kind of decided it was time to step away. So that group, unfortunately, uh, we wrapped it up in October. We had a great last meeting, but I have the opportunity to start up a new group in Q2 of this year. So stay tuned. It's coming soon. You know, I have a background in real estate investing, hosting events, uh, networking events, classes, things like that. I have seen are a huge benefit to no matter what industry you're in, if you can be a part of these local networking groups, and even better, if you can get up on stage and host the event, it's a really great way to kickstart your business and excel things with other people that might be in your industry. That was a long answer.

SPEAKER_01:

No, that was great. That was a lot of really, really good information. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, what would you say are that, you know, and then this is kind of just coming from your perspective. Obviously, everybody's perspective is different, but what would you say are your biggest, the biggest differences between Houston and moving here to Asheville since it's fairly new?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, oh, yes. I love this question. Um, first of all, we have mountains in all four seasons here in Western North Carolina. It's one of the big things that drew us out here. So, um, you know, my spouse and I, we've been together since 20, 2018, 2019. We were both from Houston. We visited out here for the first time in 2021. Um, his mom had passed away, and we had a little bit of money that we were looking to invest in real estate outside of Texas. He is a big mountain biker. So Brevard, North Carolina was high on the list to visit. We visited for the first time out here in 2021, fell in love, and I like to explain this as somehow the universe aligned, and this beautiful little cabin in Brevard went up for sale while we were visiting here for the first time. This was kind of towards the end of summer of 2021. So the housing market had started to heat up. It definitely hadn't hit its peak yet, but you know, somehow the universe aligned. We were able to buy this cabin. We still have it today as a short-term rental Airbnb. And I like to say buying that cabin was the catalyst to us moving out here from Texas. Once we bought that cabin, we would visit several times a year. We had three dogs at the time. Now we have two. Um, but we would drive out from Texas, we would load up the truck with all three dogs, drive out here, stay for two weeks at a time. And I swear that drive back to Houston, every single time we were like, what are we doing? We need to move. So in 2023, it became the goal, it became the goal that year to move to North Carolina. Um, on the map, Hendersonville looked like a great spot. It was about halfway between Brevard and Asheville. There were, you know, houses available out here. And we started house shopping. And it was us and 10 other people competing on every single house we were making offers on. And we finally came back to this one house that had been listed for 90 days, which at that time in 2023 was pretty unheard of. We threw out a low offer, they countered, we said no, they accepted our low offer. And then reality set in and we were like, oh wow, we're moving, it's happening. And, you know, that move, it was stressful, it was expensive, but I have absolutely no regrets. We're so happy with our decision to live out here. Um, you know, we can go outside in the summer and it's not a hundred degrees eight months out of the year. And you know what? That does it for me. It's it's been a great move for us out here.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, okay. So what you know, go back to your business. What have your biggest learnings been as an owner since you started your business? I know it's fairly new, but I'm sure you've got some things you can say that you know learned.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, I'm gonna get granular on a couple of things here because you know, when you start a new business, and for me, you know, I was in the wedding industry, Helene happened, I was out of the job. I was fortunate I had a lot of savings at the time. But when you're starting a business and your finances are pretty finite at the time, it's hard to determine what you invest in to help grow your business because you have to spend money to get your name out there, to grow your business. There's a few things I spent money on up front that, you know, I might have gone a different route. I would say absolutely number one, before you go spend money on like SEO websites, I mean, having a website is important, but get a CRM so you can keep up with your customers. You know, you kind of get to a point when your finances are limited. What do you spend your money on? I think a CRM has a huge value. And CRMs are not cheap, but it's something that I think is really important because as you get leads, as you're reaching out to people, as you want to record your conversations and your conversation history, that is so, so important. I also think boots on the ground getting out there just to meet people in your industry. You know, for example, I'm a mortgage lender. Meeting real estate agents in our area is one of the most important types of people for me to connect with. So on the weekends, instead of sitting at home or, you know, doing extracurriculars to enjoy my weekend, I go to open houses. I, you know, I don't make it out every weekend, but I really make an active effort to go out at least a couple weekends a month. And I get on Zillow before the weekend. I pull all the open houses in my area. I uh use Chat GBT to help me build my route. And I build little goodie bags with my company information, a couple of snacks because real estate agents are at these open houses, you know, for several hours. And a lot of times they forget to eat lunch before. So boots on the ground, getting in front of people to have genuine conversations is so, so important. And that is a really cheap way to go meet people. You know, obviously every industry will have different ways that you can go meet those people. But before you spend a lot of money to buy leads or do website ads or whatever you might be thinking of, figure out how you can economically be boots on the ground, go get in front of people and meet people. And what I always like to say, if I go to 10 open houses in a day, I might not have just a rock star conversation with every agent that I meet. But the goal from those open house visits is to have a good two to three conversations with agents that I meet. And then, you know, if we're having a good conversation, if we build rapport, if we hit it off, I am always in the mindset of when can we meet next? Let's go get coffee. Do you have another open house? I would love to co-host it with you. So this can be applied, you know, no matter what industry you're in. Who are your key referral partners? How can you get in front of them? And again, you know, I'm in this for the long term. I don't want to meet you, use high-pressure sales tactics so we can do one deal together and never talk again. I want to take time to build a friendship because there's a lot of people in our industry. I want to do business, I want to do business with people that I want to be friends with. So that mindset might be a little slower starting out, but I think in the long run, in the next five to 10 years, going this route, building genuine friendships from people that I just connect with is a great way to do long-term business together. And I'm here for the long term, not the short term.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Okay. So what are some common misconceptions about running a business?

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, common misconceptions about running a business. That's a great question. And this is where you might have to take a pause. Um, common misconceptions about running a business. You know, I think some common misconceptions about running a business is that you have to do it on your own. I am a big fan of getting together with like-minded people. I think following in experts' footsteps is so, so valuable. You know, I've been around real estate for a long time in my life. I've gotten the opportunity to meet with a lot of high-level people in our industry. I think if you can find a coach or a mentor or other people that are successful in doing what you want to do, find ways to connect with those people. Um, you know, I'm a part of a really great uh coaching program. I'll give them a shout-out. It's called TLOP, the loan officer podcast. That has been uh pivotal in helping me learn about our industry. Because, you know, when you become a loan officer, you take a 20 hours of pre-licensing education. Um, you learn all this stuff to take a national test. And then you get out into the industry and you're like, how does it actually work from here? So if you're new in business and you're trying to do it on your own, there are people out there that have found success doing exactly what you want to do. They might just be five or 10 years ahead of you. And those are great people to connect with if you want to learn and, you know, follow in their footsteps.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, okay. Now, how do you handle taking vacations while running a business?

SPEAKER_00:

This is exactly why I am self-employed because I don't want to report to someone. I don't want to have my, you know, 40 hours of PTO a year. I, you know, growing up with parents that were entrepreneurs, I saw the sacrifices that they made to grow their business. You know, I was in kindergarten when they quit their corporate job, started investing into real estate. And I'll be honest, growing up, I did not understand why I always had to go to summer camp, why I had to go to the daycare after school. Why couldn't my parents just hang out with me like some of the other kids? As I got older, it was really into high school and college that I realized that those sacrifices that they were making when I was younger really allowed us to build the life that we had at that point. At that point, their business had been around for over 10 years. They were very successful. And we were able to do the things, take time for ourselves, go on fun vacations. Um, and I think as you are growing your business, you know, work-life balance is not just in the day-to-day work-life balance. It's your 10 to 15 to 20 year work-life balance. I would say I am definitely in the trenches right now, growing my business. We're not going on expensive vacations right now. But the goal is, is, you know, if we work hard now, then we will be able to build something that can stand for itself. You know, my goal is to close loans with mortgages, make money so I can invest more money into real estate. So my money that can then make money on itself and I can enjoy my life. So vacations right now, um, you know, my brain's going several different directions with this, but you know, there's a reason we're self-employed. I want to be in charge of my time. I'm paying my dues now so I can have more freedom in the next five to 10 years, as you know, I build up my own personal wealth. But I will also say this with vacations and life experiences, they don't have to be big and expensive. I'm also going to give another shout out right here. Um, I use an annual planning method. It's called, it's the only time I'm gonna cuss on here. It's called the Big Ass Calendar by Jesse Itzler. It is an annual planning method where you plan out your entire year in December or January of, you know, the current year. So you plan everything out a year ahead of time so you can put your own trips, vacations, birthdays, life experiences that are important to you. They go on the calendar first at the beginning of the year. Because as we get pulled in several different directions throughout the year, it's important that you prioritize your own life experiences because how often do we get to the end of the year and we're like, man, I really meant to go visit this friend this year. I really wanted to go do this this year, but life got busy. It never got on the calendar. We never planned it and it never happened. So if you guys are out there, go look and you're interested in this, go look up Jesse Itzler. He's got videos on his YouTube channel. I've got the big calendar hanging on my wall. And it's a great way to ensure that the life experiences that are important to you end up on your calendar first before your calendar gets filled with requests from other people.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So what have you attributed to your growth so far in your business?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I think a couple of different things. Growing up with parents that were entrepreneurs, I've just that's how I grew up. That's, you know, I saw them building things for themselves, making the sacrifices that were necessary to build long-term success. I also think your mindset of if you're new in business, you're probably not going to be making a lot of money your first year or two. You've got to stick with it. You know, we make sacrifices now so we can be really successful in a couple of years. Uh, growth as an entrepreneur is it feels really slow at first. And then all of a sudden, one day you're going to look back and say, wow, it's almost like this all happened overnight, but it didn't. You were just in the trenches learning things for several years. And it takes a couple of years of being in the trenches to become an expert in no matter what you're doing. So I am very comfortable with the fact that I might not know everything yet. I might not have a full book of referral business yet. But as I close loans, as I build connections, and as I just go out there and stick with the process, I know that that will come in the future. I also think being a student and never stop learning is so important. So I actually sit down at the beginning of the week and not only do I put my to-do list together for the week, you know, the people I need to reach out to, the things I want to post on my website, maybe blogs, things like that. I also sit down and think, what do I want to learn about this week? Especially as a mortgage lender, there are so many loan products. There's so many ways to help homeowners or future homeowners that it's not a one size fits all type of industry. So, you know, you have to be okay with where you're at and know that you're on the right path. Always be learning. And um, yeah, I think that's it. That's really where my mind is at right now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. No, and you're And you're absolutely right. I actually have a little bit of a background in mortgage underwriting for a little bit. Um so I know what you mean about learning, especially with the constant changes from Fannie Mae and you know, all of that stuff. There's always changes on, you know, debt to income can only be so high and you know, so on and so forth. So definitely always gotta be willing to learn. Um all right. So yeah, let's go ahead and take this a quick fire round. So basically what I'm going to do here is I'm going to say a word. I'm just I'm going to say one word, and basically, you know, you respond to what that one word means for your business. Now you don't have to respond with one word, but just what that one word means as far as running your business. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00:

All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, perfect. First word is education.

SPEAKER_00:

Education. Gosh, I mean, I just touched on this. It's never ending, and it's so important. You always have to keep your thumb on the pulse of what's going on in your industry in order to be an expert. And I like to be an expert in what I talk about. So education is huge. Whether you're new, seasoned, always be learning.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And you you also kind of touched on this too, but let's get into it a little bit more. Planning.

SPEAKER_00:

Planning, oh, I love planning. Like I just mentioned, I mean, we're here in like the second week of January. I think planning is so important to ensure that the things that are important to you actually happen and you don't get lost in the day-to-day trenches of your business. Planning kind of helps you take a step back and take that bird's eye view. Very, very important.

SPEAKER_01:

Inspiration.

SPEAKER_00:

Hmm. Inspiration. I think inspiration, oh gosh, this is going to sound cheesy. I think it's all around us. I think you have to take time to just enjoy the little things in your life. You know, I enjoy houseplants, I enjoy gardening, I enjoy just getting out in nature and riding my bike. You know, it's really easy to get bogged down in the things of your business. But if your mindset is that, hey, I'm so fortunate to be where I am. Uh, you know, life is inspiring. Um, I think, I think it's just important to always kind of look at the positives in your life because it helps to just build your mind mindset and the framework of how you think that things might be rough, but we have it really good compared to a lot of other people out there. And you always have to remind yourself of that.

SPEAKER_01:

Commitment.

SPEAKER_00:

Commitment, gosh, it's important. If you're growing a business, you have to be committed. I mean, like I just said, some days are going to be rough. Some days you might not feel motivated, but you have to be committed because it takes time. You know, I didn't just start my business yesterday and close 10 loans today. You have to be committed to the process in order to be successful. And it will probably take you a couple of years to get there. And that's okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect, perfect. Yeah, yeah. I appreciate your answers there for the quick fry round.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. What words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow their business?

SPEAKER_00:

Other pieces of advice I would give to other business owners looking to grow their business, you know, again, stick the path. Even if it doesn't excite you every day, if you can go out there and know that in your business you're doing good in the world and helping other people, I think is a huge motivator. You know, yes, I close loans, I look at rates, I look at term sheets, a lot of boring stuff, but I also help people achieve the dream of home ownership. I help them understand how to build equity and wealth in the homes that they're buying. And I think if you can always, you know, know that in your business you're helping others and providing good quality of service in what you do, I think is going to be really fulfilling to you. Besides everything else, we've already discussed on this podcast. You know, go out there, meet people, network, always be learning, but have that mindset that you're helping people and it will help you become an expert in whatever you're doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect. I love that. Love that.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So what's what's the uh next big thing for Elite Mountain Mortgage?

SPEAKER_00:

Gosh, next big thing, honestly, just 2026. I, you know, a little bit of more information about my time frame. I got my business up and running April of last year. I closed my first loan last year. I was really close to closing loan number two and three before the end of the year. They kind of dragged into this year, but that's okay. But I just have a big gut feeling that this year is going to be a good year. You know, it's to be honest, it's been a little rough. You know, I loved my job working as a wedding coordinator. Helene happened. And not only was our whole area dealing with the after effects of Helene, and you know, some areas still are. A lot of us are back to normal, but combine that with, you know, depressing winter of that year, losing my job, figuring out where I was going to go from here. Last year, 2025 was a big year of learning, growth, gaining confidence, and knowing that I am actually knowledgeable in what I'm doing, what I'm promoting, and in the ways that I want to help people. As we move forward from last year into 2026, again, I've just got a gut feeling it's gonna be a good year. I am planning my first class for real estate agents. Uh, it's gonna be in March. It's my big Q1 goal of this year. I strengthening relationships that I've been building over the past year, getting this new real estate investing meetup off of the ground. Because to be honest, when AVL meetup ended last year, it left a huge hole in our market for a good quality uh real estate investing networking event with education where people can meet each other, they can learn about what's going on in our industry. And I have a several years' background of hosting real estate networking events. So I'm so excited to get this one off the ground. Uh follow me, stay tuned. Hopefully it'll be live in Q2 of this year. And yeah, 2026 is the year we're gonna make it happen. We're gonna close loans, build more success, build meaningful relationships, and I'm excited for it.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect. Yeah, it sounds like you got a lot planned. So yeah, definitely hope 2026 turns out exactly the way you're looking for it. So uh, and lastly, what's the best way for someone to find you or get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I oh gosh, another big venture right now. I am making a big active effort to be active on Instagram. My Instagram handle is Haley W N C Lender. If you just search Hayley Gantt, G-A-N-T on Instagram, you can find me there. That's a great way to connect. Um, you can also find my website at eletemountainmortgage.com and reach out. I love to connect with people. I like to say that I'm an open book. Whether you are several years away from buying a home or if you're actively shopping right now to buy a home, let's connect. Um, you know, not only do I come in with the mortgage expertise, but I also come in with the years of real estate experience, you know, with my background growing up in the industry. I think there's always opportunities out there in real estate. There's always going to be headlines of this is great right now. This is terrible right now. That doesn't matter. Ignore the noise. Figure out when is the right time for you to buy a home, not when the market says you should buy a home. And connect with me again, Instagram, Haley WNC Lender. That's a great way to connect. I'm in there every day.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect, perfect. Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you so much for being a part of the community and for all that you're doing. We certainly wish you continued success in 2026 and beyond.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me today. This was fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, thank you so much. It was a really good conversation. I really appreciate your time.