In Episode 18 of Unconventional, host Bill Tessar welcomes Bladimir Mercedes, CEO of American Capital Express, for a wide-ranging conversation about resilience, reinvention, and the belief that access to capital matters more than income alone.
From chess champion to Marine to mortgage broker, Bladimir's journey is proof that an unconventional path, taken with discipline and a commitment to giving value, can build something lasting.
Chess, the Marines, and Finding a Purpose
Bladimir arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1989 with a clear sense of direction. He founded his high school chess team in Providence, Rhode Island, won the national under-1300 championship in 1993, and was accepted to MIT to study theoretical physics.
But financial barriers kept him from attending. It was one of the biggest blows of his life. After a restless year at Rhode Island College, he made a decisive self-correction.
He quit college and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving for six years. Looking back, he calls it one of the best decisions he ever made. When you come from humble beginnings and feel like you are failing your family, you find a way to course-correct. The Marines gave him that.
From Car Sales to Credit Repair to Capital
After leaving the Marines, Bladimir moved to New York to launch a magazine with a close friend. While that got off the ground, he landed a job at an auto dealership and quickly rose through the ranks, from salesperson to finance manager to sales manager.
A failed hardware store partnership and a costly lawsuit sent him back to square one. Rather than return to the car business, he leaned into something he had picked up in automotive finance: credit.
His brother referred a few clients who needed credit repair. Bladimir knew how to help, and he built a company around it. The pivot from credit repair to lending happened organically. Clients whose scores he had improved were securing business loans, and the lenders funding those deals started asking where these well-prepared borrowers were coming from.
His first brokered commission on a merchant cash advance came through, and he was hooked immediately. Credit correction got him into mortgage lending, and he has never looked back.
The Broker's True Value: Preparation, Education, and Options
Bladimir's philosophy as a broker is built on three pillars: prepare the client, educate the client, and present them with the best possible options.
He is candid about the complexity of credit scoring. Most borrowers check their score on a consumer platform and assume that number is what a lender will see. It is not. Different loan types use different scoring models, and the gap between what a consumer sees and what a FICO 08 pull reveals can be significant. Closing that gap, teaching clients how utilization, late payments, and account mix affect their position, is where Bladimir earns his value.
As he put it, a borrower can go directly to the lender. But there is so much they do not know. The broker who invests in education creates clients who are not just funded today, they are set up to build and scale for years.
It Is Not About Income. It Is About Access to Capital.
One of the central themes of the conversation is a distinction that shapes everything Bladimir does: the difference between having money and having access to capital.
Great opportunities in real estate do not wait. An investor who runs out of capital, even temporarily, can lose a deal that would have changed their trajectory. The goal is not just to accumulate income but to maintain the access and leverage needed to move quickly when the right opportunity appears.
That philosophy drives his entire brokerage. He is not just arranging loans. He is helping clients build the financial position and relationships that keep opportunity within reach. Access to capital, at every level of the chain, is what keeps the business alive.
Setting Expectations and Owning Your Mistakes
Asked about his biggest early mistake, Bladimir did not hesitate. Promising a shorter timeline than the deal could actually close in. It is a mistake still being made across the industry today, and it costs brokers their reputations.
Clear communication and honest expectations are not just good manners. They are the foundation of a referral-based business. Clients who trust you come back. Clients who feel misled do not, and they tell others.
Building Through Chaos
Bladimir is not rattled by market uncertainty. His view is simple: there is always something going on. Savings and loan collapses, financial crises, pandemics, geopolitical disruption. The landscape is never perfectly calm.
During COVID, while many businesses froze, American Capital Express thrived. Bladimir and his team were SBA experts. When the EIDL and PPP programs launched, brokers across the country started sending deals their way because they had the knowledge and the relationships. Beyond the transactions, Bladimir focused on something just as important: walking frightened business owners through the uncertainty and letting them know that help was coming.
When you can shine more in times of darkness, you show up. That is the mindset that turns adversity into growth.
Give, Give, Give, Then Give a Little More
The best advice Bladimir ever received came from a mentor named Mike Citron: give value, and then give more. Give before you ask. Give until you think you have given enough, and then give a little extra.
That principle is the foundation of everything Bladimir has built at American Capital Express. It is not a marketing tactic. It is a philosophy of service that turns clients into champions and transactions into long-term relationships.
The Unconventional Mindset
Bladimir Mercedes did not follow a straight line. He came to this country, won a national chess title, joined the Marines, rose through auto sales, lost a business in a lawsuit, started over with a credit repair company, and built a thriving brokerage from the ground up. Every setback became the foundation for the next chapter.
At CV3, we see that same spirit in the partners we work with. The best brokers are not the ones who close the most deals in the easiest markets. They are the ones who show up, prepare their clients, tell the truth, and find a way through when things get hard.
Because being unconventional is not about shortcuts. It is about staying in the game long enough, and giving enough, to build something that lasts.
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