Serious is just a state of mind. In mortgage banking, it means a no nonsense and cut-throat attitude combined with the ability to pass yourself off as the principal by borrowing money and then lending it out as if it was yours. You need to be able to keep a serious face while telling everyone you are a direct lender and that you underwrite every loan, when in reality you are just a middleman and simply follow the “actual” investors’ underwriting guidelines - in other words you are a glorified broker but don’t like to admit it.