Max Lucas

Mortgage consultant

Community First Bank

Age: 28

Current city of residence: Pasco

Briefly describe your company: 

Community First Bank | HFG Trust is a trusted financial institution committed to providing personalized banking, mortgage lending, wealth management and financial planning services. With a strong community focus, we aim to help individuals, families and businesses achieve their financial goals and secure their futures through reliable guidance, comprehensive services and dedicated support.

How long have you worked there? 

4.5 years

Education: Please list any degrees and professional certifications. 

Bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech.

Briefly describe your job and what you do.

As a mortgage consultant, I help people achieve the dream of homeownership by guiding borrowers through the home financing process. My role involves not only securing financing for their homes but also providing education and resources that set clients up for a stronger financial future. I am the preferred lender for Greenplan Construction, reflecting the trust I’ve built through reliability and expertise. My passion for financial literacy extends beyond my role, demonstrated through my authorship of two finance-focused books and my commitment to community education. I began in wealth management before transitioning into mortgage lending, a career that fully utilizes my passion for financial literacy and personal interaction.

Tell us about your work history. 

I started my professional journey at age 10 as a hockey referee, a role I proudly continue today. 

At 16, I began working at Sonic Drive-In in New Mexico, maintaining both jobs until I left for college at 18. During college, I balanced three jobs to fund my education and living expenses: officiating hockey, managing the college weight room, and working for a local engineering company. Summers brought additional opportunities; after my junior year, I interned with an oil company in Shreveport, Louisiana, further expanding my professional experience. 

Upon graduation, I secured a promising job offshore with Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil field service company. However, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the rescinding of my job offer. Instead of allowing this setback to derail my ambitions, I remained resilient, completing a book I had begun writing in college and taking on various roles, including sanitizing shelves at Walmart and driving for Instacart to sustain myself financially.

 In September 2020, I reached out to my landlord, who worked as a mortgage consultant at Community First Bank, to inquire about potential opportunities. This led to securing an internship in wealth management (HFG Trust) before transitioning into the mortgage division as a junior loan officer. I was promoted in March 2023 to mortgage consultant, responsible for independently developing new business for the bank. 

Beyond my primary career, I have excelled in additional professional avenues. In 2021, I joined the WHL as a linesman, officiating over 100 games across four seasons and earning playoff assignments for three consecutive years. 

I also founded a laser engraving business that successfully generated over $20,000 in revenue in 2023 alone. 

What advice would you give to your younger self about achieving success? 

The best advice I could give my younger self is to understand that success does not come overnight. You can make good decisions, and life can still take unexpected turns. It’s important to recognize that lessons learned from difficult situations become essential building blocks for future success. Embracing these experiences with resilience and patience will ultimately lead you to meaningful achievements.

What would be your top three priorities to make our community a better place? 

• Promoting financial education.
• Fostering respectful environments for hockey officials. I am dedicated to advocating for safer and more respectful environments for sports officials at all levels through awareness campaigns, mentorship programs and policy improvements.
• Supporting local entrepreneurship.

Tell us about your community involvement/community service: 

My community involvement is deeply rooted in two primary areas:

1. Leadership in local hockey: As the president of our local hockey officials association, I dedicate significant time and effort to developing and supporting hockey officials in our community. This role involves mentoring young referees, ensuring safe and respectful environments for officials, and advocating for the overall improvement and growth of local hockey.
2. Founder of Tidy the Tri: I founded and actively participate in Tidy the Tri, a community cleanup initiative. Regularly walking around our local neighborhoods with a wagon to collect trash and litter, I emphasize hands-on involvement to maintain a clean, welcoming and environmentally conscious community.

What’s your dream vacation?

To visit Singapore.

Planner or procrastinator?

I used to be a great procrastinator, but as my commitments and responsibilities have grown, I’ve adapted and embraced a planning-oriented lifestyle.

Introvert or extrovert? 

I am very extroverted. 

First car? 

My first car was a blue Honda Fit, which my parents loved so much that they still own and drive it to this day.

Favorite thing to do in Tri-Cities? 

Spending time at the rink. 

Favorite Tri-City restaurant? 

La Bella Vita. I regularly use them to cater meals for the officials at our quarterly hockey officiating meetings, and their food consistently receives rave reviews from our group.

Favorite day of the week? 

I don’t have a specific favorite day of the week. Each day tends to offer something unique, whether it’s officiating hockey, helping clients secure their dream homes, or working on my business. I genuinely enjoy the variety my schedule brings.

Text, email, phone call? 

Phone call. I strongly believe that the more personal the interaction, the better the connection and communication.

Would you rather travel back in time or to the future? 

While I’m confident the future will be remarkable – likely indistinguishable from magic – and better in many ways we can’t yet imagine, I’d prefer to travel back in time. I have a deep appreciation for history.