065: "What Happens When a Whole Team Quits Together?" ft. Alan Bell
In one of the most gripping interviews yet, Erik sits down with Alan Bell—mortgage expert, former film lab engineer, and team-builder extraordinaire—to dissect a rare and bold professional move: the collective exit of 14 team members from one company to another. This episode explores leadership, loyalty, team dynamics, and how to know when it’s time to make a leap—not alone, but together.
👤 About the Guest
Alan Bell is the founder of Ring the Bell Home Loans, a mortgage professional with a rich background in high-stakes film post-production, and a systems thinker with a rare blend of grit, empathy, and self-deprecating humor. His leadership style is grounded in loyalty, nuance, and knowing how to build the kind of trust most teams only dream of.
🧭 Conversation Highlights
- How Alan transitioned from a family film lab business into the mortgage world during the refi boom
- What it was like to grow up in a high-pressure, analog, pre-digital business—and how that shaped his leadership
- The subtle art of vetting people you want in your foxhole
- Why personality and presence often matter more than industry experience
- A behind-the-scenes look at how (and why) 14 people left a company… in one coordinated move
💡 Key Takeaways
- Leadership is deeply personal: Alan followed people he admired, not logos he respected.
- Family business breeds detail-orientation: Running payroll with a typewriter at 16 teaches you things you don’t forget.
- Culture shift kills momentum: Poorly executed mergers often lose the talent, not just the vibe.
- Empathy needs a sword: Care deeply, but don’t get steamrolled—that's Alan’s way.
- You can’t fake a good team: If your teammates won’t razz you back, can you trust them when it’s hard?
❓ Questions That Mattered
- What early experiences built your tolerance for chaos and stress?
- How do you know when to leave good people for great ones?
- What signals tell you someone is worth betting on?
- What does it mean to test a teammate’s chemistry before trusting them?
- How do you collectively leave a company without blowing it all up?
🗣️ Notable Quotes
“I can hear you getting fatter.” (Alan’s new teammate’s perfect razz—aka the test passed.)
“It's easy to be friends when you're skipping in the sunshine. What about when you’re starving in a storm?”
“The sticker doesn’t matter. I don’t care what the banner says—I care about who’s in the trench.”
“There’s no mojo if it’s just me giving. I need the loop to feed me back.”
“Most people don’t know they’re running a test to see if they can trust someone. I do.”
🔗 Links & Resources
