Featured Success Story

John Volpe
Nova Home Loans

John Volpe is CEO of Nova Home Loans, an Arizona mortgage firm. He has a very interesting background starting off as an abandoned teen living in a garage with his drug-abusing brother. It was entirely possible that he would end up following in his brother’s footsteps.

Overcoming many obstacles, including physical—at a slightly below average height of 5'7"—he became a three-sport star in high school and eventually made it to Stanford University, where he was leading rusher Pac-10 conference. His lifetime goal was to play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers but after suffering a career-ending injury with the Canadian Football League he returned to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, to rehab his shoulder. That is where he met his now partner, Ray Desmond, who at the time owned a company called Nova Financial & Investments, Inc.

After only six months in the mortgage business, Mr. Volpe decided he wanted to become the top producer at Nova. He immediately set goals for himself and then exceeded them, just as he has done in his sports career. After achieving the number 1 spot as loan originator for Nova for seven consecutive years, he decided to reach higher at a spot in the top 1,000 in the country. He landed in top 100, then top 10, and eventually landed the top number 1 spot in 2001 and again in 2003. In 2003 Mr. Volpe was the number 1 national top producer of the prestigious Mortgage Originator award by originating a total of $411 million.   

Now a millionaire, Mr. Volpe has a reputation as a charitable man who donates six figures to groups such as The Boys & Girls Club of Tucson, Toys for Tots, and his own charity, Miracle on 16th Avenue. He says, “I remember how Jim Click (a local car dealer) would pay so that I could attend football camps in high school. I always said that someday I wanted to be in a position to do the same for others.”