President's Message
By: Tim Pascarella, CMB
2027 MMLA President
Ross Mortgage Corp.
Inaugural Acceptance Speech on 10/5/2026:
Everyone knows I love to have fun, and whenever I speak in front of this many people, I feel the need to start with a funny story.
So let's flash back. It's June 2002. I've just been let go from a sales position with a logistics company, USF Holland. Perfect timing, too, because I was about to leave for South Carolina with my now-amazing wife, Jill, and her family. On that trip, I was going to ask her father if I could marry her. Clearly, with no job, that didn't happen… yet.
When I got back, my now-brother-in-law introduced me to Mark Wiedemann. Mark and I had a couple of interviews, and he told me that, as a formality, I just had to meet with Tim Ross and the job was mine. Well, the story goes that Tim didn't want to hire me. (How'd that work out?)
Anyway, I sent Tim and Mark a thank-you email for the opportunity. In that email, I left the T out of "mortgage." More than once. Honestly, every time I tell that story, I can't for the life of me figure out why they hired me.
So if you ever wonder whether this industry gives people a chance — whether it takes someone who doesn't know what they don't know and turns them into a professional — I'm standing proof. I found the T. Eventually. And I found a career, a company, and a community that I love.
Now, speaking of people who've had to be patient with me — I have to talk about Joanne.
Nine years ago, I joined the board of the MMLA. And I want to be honest with this room, because Joanne certainly would be: I was not a good board member. In fact, I was the worst board member. I showed up late. I showed up unprepared. I'm fairly sure I once showed up to the wrong meeting. And I have never had someone tell me so sweetly, "Maybe this isn't for you." It was exactly the kick in the ass I needed to start my journey toward becoming a real leader.
If you had told Joanne back then that that guy — the one she was quietly wondering how to get off the board — would one day be standing up here being sworn in as president of this association… I think she would have laughed. Then she would have checked to see if you were feeling okay.
Joanne, thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me, and thank you for the nicest kick in the butt a guy could ever get.
Here's what I've learned in twenty-five years: nobody in this room succeeds alone. Not the biggest shop and not the smallest. We all live and die by the same things — the rules written in Lansing and Washington, the reputation of our industry in the eyes of the public, and the quality of the people we bring into it.
The MMLA is where we deal with those things together.
It's our voice when legislation is being written that will land on every one of our desks. It's the place where competitors sit at the same table, because we understand that a healthy market for homeownership in Michigan is bigger than any one company's market share. It's education. It's advocacy. It's relationships — and in this business, relationships are everything.
And I want to say something directly about who belongs here.
For too long, associations like ours have been seen as a place for owners, executives, and top producers. That's not good enough. If you work in operations — this is your association. If you're a processor, an underwriter, a closer, or a post-closer — this is your association. If you're in compliance, secondary, or IT — this is your association. And if you're a loan officer out there knocking on doors every day — this is absolutely your association.
The loan doesn't close because of sales alone. It doesn't close because of ops alone. It closes because a whole team of professionals does their job well. The MMLA should look like that team. Every seat. Every role. Every voice.
So here's my ask — of everyone in this room, and everyone you'll talk to this year: get involved. Come to the events. Serve on a committee. Bring someone from your back office who's never been. Bring the new loan officer who's still trying to figure out where the T goes. That's how we build the next generation of leaders in this industry.
I want to thank the board for their confidence. I want to thank the Ross family and my team at Ross Mortgage for giving me the room to serve.
And there are three people I need to thank by name.
Tim, you taught me how to be a leader. Leadership is about listening first and talking last — I still have some work to do there, but I get it. It's about being generous to the people who help you build what you're building, putting everyone in front of yourself, and believing that when your people get what they want, your dreams get fulfilled too. You taught me to always be learning, because there's so much that goes into this industry and perfection is impossible. And most of all, you taught me to stay humble — because people are counting on you and watching you, so you always do the right thing.
Betsy Corkum When I became the President of Ross, I'll admit I was still finding my footing with a lot of the financial side: the numbers, the mechanics, the "why" behind our business decisions. You have been endlessly patient walking me through all of it. You've explained things clearly, answered every question without ever making me feel like it was a silly one, and helped me understand this business at a level I never could have reached on my own. That kind of generosity doesn't always get noticed in the day-to-day, but it matters enormously. Your guidance hasn't just helped me — it's made our whole leadership team sharper and more aligned. So thank you. Your patience, your expertise, and your willingness to teach have meant more than you probably realize.
And finally, I want to thank my wife, Jill. She has been with me through it all.
We ate lobster from 2002 to 2008. Ramen noodles from 2009 to 2011. Back to filets from 2012 to 2019. Then at the start of 2020, she was stuck at home watching me navigate Ross through COVID, wondering what was going to happen to us — and by June of 2020, we were eating lobster again. And from 2022 through today… we've rediscovered our love of ramen.
Through all of it, her belief in me has never changed. She's the one who pushes me to achieve more. None of this happens without her, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Here's my promise to you: we're going to grow this association. We're going to make it more relevant to more people in more roles. We're going to keep fighting for the borrowers of Michigan and the professionals who serve them. And we're going to have some fun doing it.
I will leave you tonight with a saying I end all my emails with:
Dream. Write the vision. Execute.
Let's go do that — together.
Thank you.
