Not many borrowers laugh their way through the process of securing financing for their home purchase, but the likelihood of that actually happening is a bit higher if their lender is Elise Elizalde. With a background in comedy and writing, Elizalde loves making her clients smile. However, her study of improv comedy taught her above all to listen, and she ranks that skill as most important to her home mortgage business.

“Certainly, lending requires me to have an ability to work with numbers and finances, but there is nothing more important than listening to my clients and getting down to the nitty-gritty of what their true needs are,” Elizalde explains. Her goal is to ensure that clients feel heard, understood, educated and empowered. “Plus, if you know me,” she shares, “you know we’re gonna have some good laughs along the way.”

Building relationships is both a business goal and a personal passion. Elizalde works with a business coach to refine her “lead to legacy” process with clients and blocks out time each day to connect with referral sources to ensure she’s best serving them and those they refer to her. As a result, her business comes exclusively from referrals.

With the goal of helping every client make the best possible financial decision, Elizalde educates homebuyers about multiple solutions and has become a specialist in VA financing. She also leans on the experience of teammates and colleagues. “Collaboration over competition is absolutely the name of the game,” she says.

This year, Elizalde welcomed her daughter, Celine, who joins brother, Gus, as their mother’s greatest treasures. The Notre Dame fan and hockey player can often be found practicing her puck-handling skills in her driveway with her husband, children, and two rambunctious rescue pups.