Austin Niemiec, Hillsdale ‘05, was recently named one of National Mortgage Professional Magazine’s 40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40. Austin, currently living in Detroit, is the executive vice president at Rocket Pro TPO.

In this role, Austin oversees a team based out of Charlotte and Detroit that provides the highest level of service to 6,000-plus partner brokers, regional banks, and credit unions—increasing the efficiency of home financing. His team provides technology, resources, and regular networking opportunities to partners so they can offer the best loan products in the industry.

Our communications team sat down with Brother Niemiec to ask him about this nomination and his time as a Delta Sig.

How did you get into your chosen career?

I graduated from Hillsdale College. I was, of course, a member of Delta Sigma Phi, as well as a member of the football team. And really, I was focused on football and wasn’t thinking a whole lot about what I was going to do after college. But I knew I wanted to stay in the metro Detroit area, I wanted to work for a good organization I could invest in and build a career on, and I wanted to get into business and sales.

Knowing that the more I put into that, the more I get out. And so Quicken Loans, now Rocket Mortgage, was a great fit. It was in Detroit, Metro Detroit – great company, great culture, and I immediately fell in love with it. I mean, it’s a company that is just like Delta Sig – great camaraderie, great mission, very easy to buy into, a great cause.

How would you say that your definition of success has changed over time?

When I first started in business, a lot of it was about building your own personal career. In mortgage, it was how many clients could you help out to either purchase or refinance a home? Then as I progress to now, it’s more about how many leaders can I develop? How can I take the things I’ve learned from incredible leaders and inject that into their mindset or the way they operate? So it went from how do I help consumers get mortgages to how do I grow leaders within our organization to help impact the world at a high level?

I love the quote that people fear what they don’t understand, and then people hate what they fear. So we have a saying here and something I live by: simplicity is genius. A lot of times business people overcomplicate things because it makes them sound smart. The best way to create trust is to keep things simple. I know, it’s a simple concept. But a lot of people don’t get that right in business and life in general. Simplicity is beautiful. Simplicity is genius. Keep things simple, people will understand it and buy into it.

How would you say your experience with Delta Sig helped lead you to where you are today or shape you into who you are today?

Look, life and business are really just working closely with people and figuring out how to get along with all different styles of human beings. Delta Sigma Phi at Hillsdale allowed me to build relationships with all different styles of human beings that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Between football, which was a full-time job, and then going to class, if it wasn’t for the Brotherhood I wouldn’t have met such a diverse group of folks. I’m blessed to have had that opportunity.

Are you still connected to your Delta Sigma Phi chapter at Hillsdale?

It’s great. I mean, we’re on a text chain. Up until an hour ago, we were texting. So we still stay very close. We’ll go to homecoming and visit the house to walk through it. So yeah, I built lifelong relationships. In fact, I work with a few of my brothers here at Rocket Mortgage.

Do you have any advice for the young Delta Sigs to help them be successful in their next steps?

Yeah, we have an “ism” here, which is like our core philosophy, that has impacted my life both in and out of the office: the numbers and money follow, they don’t lead. A lot of times when folks go from college to the real world, they want to try to find a job and sometimes chase the money and focus on numbers. Unfortunately, I see a lot of young business folks just go and chase money around and don’t focus on the relationships or the development and the innovation. If you take a step back, and you focus on all of the things that move the numbers, like your work ethic, learning, chasing new ideas, and innovation, you focus on just becoming a more well-rounded and more diverse human being. You’ll do a lot of cool things, and the numbers and money will follow. Invest in yourself, it’ll pay dividends for sure.

Secondly, ask a lot of questions, and then shut up and listen. A lot of times people think building relationships is talking on and on. The best way to build a relationship is to be genuinely curious and other people by asking a lot of good questions, and then really, really listening. A lot of times people are just listening to talk. However, being genuinely curious and aware are two of the best traits a human being can have.

I’ve had a couple of great mentors early in my career who told me, “you have two ears and one mouth for a reason.” The great leaders in business are incredibly curious. Learn from everybody, no matter who they are, and remember, you can’t learn by talking.

How does one be a good leader?

One thing we always say around here is “a leader’s job isn’t to create a bunch of followers; a leader’s job is to create more leaders.” That’s what I believe in and that, I think, is a good mindset to approach it. If you’re in business and leading people, your job isn’t to get people to like you and follow you. Your job is to ask yourself “how do I duplicate myself and create more leaders?” And I think that Delta Sig embodies that.