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Established in 2008 by ex-bankers, Sherwood is one of the first and longest-standing franchises of mortgage architects. Now licensed in seven provinces, its composition is an aggregate of mortgage veterans, newer agents, and a strong, supportive leadership team. Sherwood’s pride continues to be fuelled by their unique family culture they’ve built and managed to maintain over 17 years. At Sherwood, agents are armed with the tools, systems, strategies, processes, ongoing education, and infinite support, as well as a true and tried mortgage playbook, to grow a successful mortgage business! It’s a Sherwood thing!
Founded in 2008 by Joe White, a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience, REMIC is a leader in licensing and professional development. It delivers mortgage agent and broker courses in Ontario and the HLLQP program across Canada (excluding Quebec), supporting thousands of learners. Joe White is a best-selling author of over 29 financial services textbooks widely used by agents and colleges. REMIC’s quality is reflected in thousands of five-star reviews and its 2024 Canadian Mortgage Award for Service Provider of the Year. The organization is committed to innovative, ethics-driven education that promotes consumer protection and high professional standards.
There’s never been more education available to mortgage professionals, yet the gap between theory and practice has arguably never been wider. New agents emerge from licensing well versed in regulations, compliance, and product mechanics but too often lack the practical skills they need as entrepreneurs.
They’re suddenly expected to build and sustain a book of business: find clients, manage a pipeline, survive market cycles, and deliver bad news without losing a referral. Many falter right out of the gate – unprepared to even pick up the phone.
Nobody knows this better than Michele Steko. By the time she finished her mortgage broker course back in 2005, she’d done everything right on paper. But making that first call from her brand-new desk? She was frozen.
“After six weeks of learning the ins and outs, I was still scared to pick up the phone because I didn’t feel like I had all the answers at my fingertips,” Steko, now VP of national broker relations at Sherwood, recalls.
Her experience will sound familiar to many brokers. The licensing does its job, but the leap from classroom to client is where too many careers stall out in the first two years, notes REMIC’s Joe White. His message is blunt: if you see the licence as a finish line instead of a starting gun, you’re already behind.
“The course, by design, ends before the job really begins,” explains White, founder and CEO of REMIC. “It can’t prepare someone for the business of being a broker; it doesn’t provide those skills that determine whether somebody survives the first couple of years.”
Brokers coming in green often underestimate the challenges ahead of them, but both REMIC and Sherwood have dug into the disconnect, doubling down on what they see as moving the needle: structured mentoring buoyed by a proactive, learning-focused culture and access to relevant, on-the- ground education.
From course to career: structured support that sticks REMIC’s driving force doesn’t hang on a static mission statement on its website. The company wanted a mission they believed in that all its activity supports, explains Cain Daniel, REMIC president.
“For us, that mission has always been to transform students into entrepreneurs.”
It’s that clarity of purpose that allows REMIC to design programs that speak directly to the realities of business development. The gap isn’t just technical anymore, White adds. Brokers building durable practices in 2026 “are the ones who figured out how to build a presence before the first conversation happens; a profile precedes the referral, and digital authority educates rather than sells.”
“We saw that pattern clearly, and Cain and I wrote a book about it, Finfluencer, and created a program around it specifically for financial professionals in regulated industries,” White says.
White and Daniel interviewed leaders like Jamie Prickett, CEO and founder of insurance MGA Experior Financial, now with close to 20,000 agents. Prickett told them his definition of success wasn’t the bottom line itself – it was a culture of helping people that mattered.
“That’s the mindset we see in people who grow sustainable brokerages. Mentoring, helping people understand why they’re there and the benefit they bring to consumers – as an industry, that’s the approach we have to take.”
At Sherwood, that kind of mentorship stands at the forefront. A big part of Steko’s role is challenging assumptions about what growth should look like. It should be an intentional sourcing of people who are the right fit, not simply a compensation calculation.
“Asking the right questions is key, as I want like minded people who want to succeed, who want to move in the same direction together,” she explains. “If you haven’t already built out your own business and infrastructure, growing a team is going to hurt you in both time and volume. I help people understand the difference.”
That same mindset first approach underpins Sherwood’s banker to broker program. There’s a dedicated team to help with that transition, as former bankers come in with an employee mindset asking if a cell phone and laptop will be provided. The answer is absolutely not: you’re an entrepreneur now. The goal is to shift thinking from “one brand, one product, one rate to sky’s the limit.”
Daniel acknowledges that the mindset a broker has coming in plays a massive role in their success. They must see themselves as entrepreneurs with a business plan. Do they understand their marketing budget? Do they have ideas on how to get clients or referral partners? Are they willing to adjust and recalibrate as they go?
The ability to develop discipline is critical, as the REMIC team hears time and time again from the several hundred top producers they’ve interviewed on their podcast.
“That’s the number one thing they tell us,” Daniel notes. “Staying motivated and positive when nobody is setting your schedule, when there may be a lack of accountability at the brokerage, is super important. You have to do it. You must find it within yourself and do that consistently over time.”
Steko agrees, noting that a former manager’s message of “fail to plan, plan to fail” stuck with her. She saw it play out across different brokerages when she was on the lending side.
“Those that proactively planned, irrespective of whether the industry was up or in a valley, were always able to pivot and stay the course,” Steko recalls. “On an individual level, asking what someone’s self-talk looks like. What kind of narrative are they caught up in? People always need money and people always need help. Why aren’t some finding opportunities and others are?”
Sherwood’s model is deliberately built on a passion to “make ordinary brokers extraordinary.” The brokerage’s well rounded structure enables it to cater to different groups, “and that’s where we find our differentiation and a lot of success,” she says.
Continuous education that changes the narrative The greatest predictor of success, beyond mentoring, is ongoing education. From a delivery standpoint, White says, it comes down to efficacy over volume. A 30-minute session on how three major lenders change their rental income qualification, for example, is more beneficial that a full-day seminar on something that hasn’t changed in five years.
Mandated continuing education for licence renewal shouldn’t be a tick-the-box exercise. Exploring options brings different insights on what’s trending or that open brokers’ eyes to a market they hadn’t considered before. An ongoing openness to what’s new and now – and a willingness to act on it – is a powerful differentiator.
“Consumers are armed with more information than ever, but also a lot of misinformation,” Steko says. “When they come to you, the professional, they’re expecting accurate information; you’re
responsible for staying on top of changes, becoming the ultimate educator.”
Until brokers are seen as educators who offer solutions the bank cannot – practical, proactive advice – the public will continue to view brokers as an alternative option. Learning how to translate what they learn into guidance and solutions for clients, ultimately assisting them with building financial freedom, is the ultimate goal, notes Steko.
“You can’t hoard the information; you must be seen as the professional, as the subject-matter expert,” she says, pointing to the way reverse mortgages have gained attention as an example.
“We have so much more than rate – the dialogue must change,” Steko adds, and White agrees.
If a broker is on their Instagram story talking about what a person needs to know if they bought a condo in 2021 or 2022 that’s closing this year, that’s content that cuts through generic explanations of how to calculate TDS, for example.
“They’re providing specific, situational advice that meets borrowers where they are and builds trust before they even pick up the phone,” White says.
Daniel says REMIC goes back to the mindset component relentlessly, driving home to brokers the importance of staying curious. What’s happening with marketing, consumer expectations, AI? How are consumers consuming content, and on what platforms? Don’t just meet the continuing education standard – immerse yourself, leverage your learning, and find ways to encourage people to engage with you.
“The opportunity is massive to change the narrative organically,” Daniel says. “My advice is speak to one person: there’s so much generic information out there – covering that again isn’t going to cut it. Directing your content to a specific situation provides immense value today.”
White ties it back to what makes a modern broker, underscoring the ability to step in front of a virtual audience or zero in on a specific corner of the market as a huge asset. Bank reps are constrained by 10 levels of compliance checks, but brokers are free to take that authentic deep dive. And the best part?
“You don’t need multimillion-dollar television ad campaigns or a green chair to do it.”
Published May 4, 2026
About REMIC
Its mortgage textbook has been used by several colleges across Ontario (including Seneca and Humber)
as the industry standard
Top provider for the mortgage
agent course in Ontario
Won Service Provider of the Year award at the Canadian Mortgage Awards
in 2024
Recently named the Diamond Winner for the Toronto Star’s
Best in Adult Education in 2025
18 years
Since doors opened at Toronto Head Office
190+
Mortgage professionals nationwide
About Sherwood
$2 billion+
Mortgage volume funded in 2025
7
Provinces licensed to provide mortgage services
50+
Lenders with which Sherwood has built strong relationships
5+
Prestigious awards – some won over multiple years
“Consumers are armed with more information than ever, but also a lot of misinformation. When they come to you, the professional, they’re expecting accurate information; you’re responsible for staying on top of changes, becoming the ultimate educator”
Michele Steko, Sherwood
“That’s the mindset we see in people who grow sustainable brokerages. Mentoring, helping people understand why they’re there and the benefit they bring to consumers – as an industry, that’s the approach we have to take”
Joe White,
REMIC
“The opportunity is massive to change the narrative … speak to one person: there’s so much generic information out there – covering that again isn’t going to cut it. Directing your content to a specific situation provides immense value today”
Cain Daniel,
REMIC
Joe White
REMIC
Michele Steko
Sherwood
Cain Daniel
REMIC
Industry experts
Licensing teaches regulations and product mechanics, but it doesn’t prepare brokers to build a business in today’s market. Sherwood and REMIC leaders explain how structured mentoring, continuous education, and digital authority can turn new agents into durable entrepreneurs
Mentoring, mindset, and the modern broker
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Joe White is CEO & founder of REMIC, which has trained over 150,000 professionals. A Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame inductee with over 30 years in financial services, he created the first mortgage broker education program in Ontario and has trained more industry professionals than any other educator. Whita has authored over 29 textbooks, including Ontario’s widely used mortgage licensing manual, and has co-authored books with Jack Canfield and Chris Voss. He also co-created Boundless Daily and IMBoundless, focusing on education, content strategy, and building authority in regulated markets. His work has helped shape how financial professionals are trained, licensed, and positioned for long-term success in Canada.
REMIC
Joe White
Michele Steko brings a wealth of knowledge with over 20 years of financial industry experience. Passionately driven, Steko built her career starting as a mortgage broker in 2004 and has since transitioned into several roles, including business development with various lending institutions and VP of sales for mortgage architects. In 2021, she founded RISE Consulting & Communications, where she continued to offer support to brokers individually. As Sherwood’s current VP of national broker relations, Steko continues to support the company’s growth through ongoing coaching, masterminds, business planning, strategizing, and mentorship, making her an integral part of the Sherwood family.
Sherwood
Michele Steko
Cain Daniel is president of REMIC, where he leads the organization’s strategic growth and innovation in mortgage and insurance education. With 15 years in financial services, he has developed a sharp understanding of what drives long-term success in regulated industries. A licensed mortgage broker and two-time best-selling author, Daniel focuses on expanding REMIC’s digital ecosystem, including professional development and content-driven platforms that help professionals build authority and grow their businesses. He co-created the FinFluence framework and co-hosts the Billion Dollar podcast, while leading Boundless Daily, where he shares practical insights on entrepreneurship, performance, and modern influence.
REMIC
Cain Daniel