Five Questions: John Brown

John Brown is a familiar face in southwest Missouri – he spent five years as evening news anchor for KSPR-TV Springfield 33. He is back in the Springfield area working for The Signature Bank after spending two years as co-host of nationally syndicated morning show “The Daily Buzz” in Orlando, Fla. He splits his time between Springfield and the bank’s loan production office in St. Louis. In his spare time, Brown is working on a book, “Famous Faces, Missouri Places,” about Missourians, both famous and relatively unknown, who have had an impact.

Q: Your résumé shows that you have degrees in biology and chemistry … how did you end up in television?

A: Initially, I started working for a radio show in Pennsylvania. For family reasons, we moved to Springfield, and I became a producer at Springfield 33. They decided to start a morning show called “The Morning Scoop.” With my radio and news background, the timing seemed right, and I fell right into the position. We had some good success with it and went from there.

Q: How did you get to mortgage lending?

A: It goes back to family. My wife had another baby, and she got tired of the traveling TV news anchor lifestyle – you’re moving every couple of years to a new market. My wife, who is a mental health counselor, needed to get her career started, and we wanted to move back near the grandmas, who are both in Missouri. … The hours in TV news are never conducive to a family – you’re either up early, like around 2 a.m., or you work late until midnight. So, I said, “This is not right for my family right now.” Because I had done so much real estate and business reporting, it was a good fit. I had a good relationship with The Signature Bank when I was a reporter here, and so they invited me on board.

Q: How does your news background prepare you for your current job?

A: I was able to explore a lot of different businesses in my reporting background, and I kept finding myself drawn to the real estate and mortgage industry. I was able, from an outsider’s perspective, to see exactly how programs worked, and that piqued my interest. Then when this opportunity came up, I felt I would get a better understanding from the inside. I kind of approach it still as an investigator – when someone comes up with a loan scenario, I go out and investigate how it will work, what loan will work best for their circumstances. It’s the best of both worlds – I get to do the business side, and also do the investigating.

Q: Do you miss being on television?

A: I don’t necessarily miss the work. I haven’t missed the industry that much. What I miss more is the access – being able to call the president’s office and get somebody on the phone. As far as the TV itself, I have to say I haven’t missed it much at all. Maybe that’s because I still get to dabble – I’m still doing programs, like a health program I do with Charter Health. So, I don’t really miss it.

Q: What do you think the future holds for the housing market?

A: I think the market is going to get stronger this year, especially in southwest Missouri. From the agents I’m talking to, things are starting to move again. I just left Florida, where houses would be on the market for 18 months without a bite, (but) in southwest Missouri, everything still looks good. (Interest) rates should remain stable, there’s not a lot of subprime lending, people aren’t getting in way over their head, and Springfield is a less expensive market to buy.[[In-content Ad]]