A Candid Interview with Philip Tirone

How would you describe yourself?  

I love life and all that it has to offer. I relish every great experience, and am willing to accept the frustrating and unpleasant experiences, as I fundamentally believe that everything that happens to me is happening to me for a reason.  I graciously (and sometimes ungraciously ) accept what life gives me and will take an experience and learn from it, as I believe that I will benefit from it in the future.

What do you want people to know about you? 

I am passionate about looking out for the “little guy.”  When I was growing up, I was very small and constantly picked on.  I remember days of being in junior high school and coming home with bruises on my arms – and I wouldn’t stick up for myself, ever.  I believe it is those experiences that have made me who I am and why I’m very outspoken when I believe something is unfair.

Is there anything significant that happened in your life that has made you the man you are today? 

I am grateful for everything that has happened in my life.  Jennifer Kushell wrote a book, Secrets of the Young and Successful.  In the book, I wrote about my 10 greatest achievements. They are:

1. In my second grade reading improvement class everybody graduated, but me.
2. In grade school I was always bullied and teased about my speech impairment, my height, and my big ears.
3. I struggled studying and received a 1.8 GPA my freshman year of high school.
4. I had a dysfunctional household – my parents divorced at age 8 without any communication within my family.
5. I was humiliated and embarrassed at my high school graduation when in front of 3,000 people I froze at the podium, unable to speak as I was presenting an award to our school principal.
6. I was denied acceptance into all but one university to which I applied; Arizona State University accepted me just under the wire.
7. I was denied admittance into all fraternities during my freshman and sophomore years at Arizona State.
8. The woman I was going to marry left me, went to Colombia, met another man and married him.
9. I was denied acceptance into the Rotary Club of Prescott, AZ.
10. I was named Arizona State University Man of the Year in 1994 – and earned over $1,000,000 in 2001.

As you can see, numbers 1-9 are my most embarrassing moments in my life, however, without those experiences, I would not be where I am today – which is why I call them “achievements.” 

What inspires you? 

I am inspired by leaders that are willing to put themselves at risk.  Leaders that can make difficult decisions  they know they need to make, even when they don’t want to.

Why did you choose your career?

This career just “happened” to me.  I believe that as long as I follow my passions, I will always end up where I am supposed to be.  When I got into the mortgage industry, I had no idea it would lead me to writing 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score and never dreamed that I would have a television show on the airwaves.  I’m excited to see where else I am led. Isn’t life fun this way?

Tell us a little about what you do?

I love what I do, as long as I’m following my “Unique Ability.”  According to Dan Sullivan, one of my coaches, your Unique Ability is something that you never get tired of doing and can always improve on. 

Here is what my typical day looks like:

• Spending time with my family
• Following current events
• Helping people with their mortgage loan applications
• Giving seminars
• Training and coaching
• Inspiring
• Self Development

What is your belief on giving back?

I believe what my mentor Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have anything you want in life, as long as you help enough other people get what they want.” 

My happiness comes from inspiring, interacting, and educating others. 

What do you want people to know about your spirituality?

My spirituality is very, very important to me. In my wife’s eyes, I’m a little “too” Catholic.  I love the culture and the traditions of the Catholic Church.  I express my faith by going to church daily and spending quiet time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Tell us about your family

My wife and I were married in November 2004 and we immediately started a family. Now, almost five years later, we have three beautiful children, all under the age of three years old;  our daughter being the oldest and our two sons.  I am proud to say that all my kids are named after Catholic Saints.

My family is my main focus in my life.  I love having three children, and if it were completely up to me (and not my wife) I would have six more!  I believe that these three little souls have been entrusted to me for the next 18 years, and through these next years my job is to educate, inspre, and motivate them to be respectful and compassionate citizens of the world that contribute to society.

What else would you like to share?

I’d invite anyone that is reading this to have the mind-set that your current situation in life is exactly where you are supposed to be at this moment.  Do not be frustrated (I know that is a lot easier said than done). Do not be worried, rather, embrace this moment and be grateful for this learning experience that you have been given. 

What can you learn at this moment? 

How can you embrace this difficult time, so that you will never experience this again? 

This is the type of empowerment that I believe in and what has worked for me my entire life.