The Mission of More than Mediocre is to inspire everyday people to want to become more than mediocre by helping them to find little daily successes through tips, tricks, and recognition of other people having their own small successes in the day to day
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The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire president Diego Sanchez every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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Beyond the customer: Partnering for progress with Polly's Jesse Decker
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21:06On today’s sponsored episode of Power House, Diego Sanchez sits down with Jesse Decker, the newly appointed Chief Customer Officer at Polly, for a conversation all about innovation and customer success strategies in mortgage tech. Jesse shares her journey from consulting to leading customer experience at Polly, how new tech is sweeping the mortgage…
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UWM is all-in on wholesale with COO Melinda Wilner
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32:21Today on Power House, we have a fantastic conversation between Diego and Melinda Wilner, the COO of United Wholesale Mortgage. Today’s episode is all about what it really takes to thrive in today’s market. Melinda talks about her journey from mortgage broker to UWM executive and how her leadership has supported UWM’s position as the top mortgage or…
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LPT CEO Robert Palmer on how they became a top 10 brokerage in three years
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33:09
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33:09Today on Power House, Tracey Velt sits down in person with Robert Palmer, founder and CEO of LPT Realty, at LPT’s studio in Orlando. Robert and Tracey talk about LPT’s remarkable journey from a simple marketing tool to a top brokerage in just three years. He discusses the importance of self-funding, agent empowerment through dual brokerage models, …
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What it takes to be a “branchpreneur” with Supreme Lending’s Sarah Middleton
37:53
37:53
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37:53This week on Power House, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez sits down with Sarah Middleton, the newly appointed Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Supreme Lending. Sarah walks through her journey to Supreme Lending and what it takes to succeed in mortgage — from strong leadership to Supreme’s tech-forward mindset, AI-driven marketing, and dive…
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Bonus episode: Unpacking housing market uncertainty with Ivy Zelman, Logan Mohtashami and Dale Wettlaufer
56:47
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56:47In this bonus episode, we’re tackling the big question on everyone’s mind: What is happening with the housing market right now? Between tariffs, mortgage rates, jobs data and general uncertainty, it’s hard to understand how to make sense of it all. HousingWire is joined by experts Ivy Zelman, Logan Mohtashami and Dale Wettlaufer to cut through the …
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Data-driven decisions and digital-first solutions with HousingWire’s Clayton Collins
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25:29This week on Power House, Diego Sanchez chats with the CEO of HousingWire and the former host of this very podcast: Clayton Collins! Clayton dives into HousingWire’s journey—from steady organic growth to smart acquisitions—and why in-person events like The Gathering are more essential than ever for the industry. They also talk about the relaunch an…
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Suzy Lindblom: Abandon the “factory line” of brokers to win market share
19:38
19:38
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19:38This week on Power House, Diego Sanchez sits down with Suzy Lindblom, the new COO of Sierra Pacific Mortgage! Suzy stepped out semi-retirement to consult for Sierra Pacific before joining their executive team full time. Suzy and Diego talk about Sierra Pacific’s growth and winning market share strategies, including their entry into the non-QM space…
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The low down on mortgage with industry veteran Dave Lykken
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26:17This week on Power House we are talking to the one and only Dave Lykken! Dave has over 50 years of mortgage industry experience under his belt and is likely a name familiar to many of you. He also hosts his own weekly podcast, Lykken on Lending, where he talks all things mortgage. Diego sits down with Dave to get his take on what’s happening in mor…
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Habitat for Humanity’s building solutions for our housing crisis
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28:00This week on Power House, Diego has the pleasure of being joined by Jonathan Reckford, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. Since its founding, Habitat for Humanity has helped over 62 million people in over 1,000 U.S. communities and 71 countries. Diego and Jonathan dive into Habitat’s complex role in both the federal and local level of t…
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Why M&A will boom in 2025 with Anywhere CEO Ryan Schneider
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34:52This week on Power House, we are welcoming guest host Tracey Velt as she sits down with Ryan Schneider, the CEO of Anywhere Real Estate, formerly known as Realogy. Anywhere is the parent company of many other notable real estate brands, such as Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran Group and Sotheby’s Internati…
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Jason Bressler: UWM levels the playing field with Sphere LOS
24:23
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24:23This week on Power House, Diego sits down with a familiar face to the HousingWire audience — Jason Bressler, the Chief Technology Officer at United Wholesale Mortgage. UWM recently announced its partnership with Sphere LOS, and today’s episode is a behind-the-scenes look at what that means for the UWM team and beyond. Diego and Jason talk about the…
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Fifth Third Bank is all about the (mortgage) lending life
31:57
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31:57This week on Power House, Diego sits down with Jay Plum, a 35-year banking veteran and the EVP of Consumer Lending at Fifth Third Bank. As the 10th largest bank servicer in the country, Fifth Third Bank has over a thousand branches and $200 billion in assets. Today’s conversation is all about mortgage lending. Jay and Diego talk about Basel III and…
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Marketing automation is the future — and Fello wants to help
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38:07This week on Power House, we are bringing you a special sponsored conversation between HousingWire’s Director of the Content Studio, Zebulon Lowe, and the CEO and co-founder of Fello, Ryan Young. Founded in 2022, Fello is a marketing automation and lead-generation CRM attachment that uses public and MLS data to enrich your database and improve enga…
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How daily accountability and coaching is fueling Windsor Mortgage's growth
21:59
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21:59This week on Power House, Diego chats with Windsor Mortgage CEO Chris Vinson. After his company, Journey Mortgage, was acquired by the South Dakota-based Plains Commerce Bank, Chris joined the Plains Commerce team to head their growing mortgage division. He and Diego talk about how Windsor is differentiating itself from other wholesale competition …
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NAR’s plan to build back trust with Sherry Chris
25:27
25:27
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25:27On this week’s episode of Power House, Diego talks to Sherry Chris, the special advisor to National Association of REALTORS CEO, Nykia Wright. Sherry retired from her role as Anywhere Expansion Brands president and CEO in 2023, but now she’s back to offer her unique perspective and advice on some of the current challenges that the industry is facin…
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Discovering non-QM’s potential with Deephaven’s Tom Davis
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27:03This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with Tom Davis, the chief sales officer at Deephaven Mortgage. Deephaven has been a pioneer in the non-QM space since its founding in 2012, and Tom joins us today to talk about all things non-QM and 2025 market growth. Deephaven’s non-QM focus accounted for $70 billion in 2023 and is expected to…
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Newrez’s roadmap for client retention with Baron Silverstein
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31:38This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with Baron Silverstein, the president of Newrez. Baron joined the Newrez team in May of 2020 and has over 30 years of industry experience with senior roles at Bear Stearns, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America Securities. With a total unpaid principal balance of $750 billion, Newr…
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Inside Lower’s landmark year: Dan Snyder reflects on 2024
29:18
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29:18This week on Power House, Diego sits down with Dan Snyder, the CEO of Lower. This past year was a busy year for Lower amid their acquisition of both Neat Labs and Thrive Mortgage. Back in July of 2024, we welcomed Lower’s Chief Strategy officer, Craig Montgomery, to give us the low-down on Lower’s plan to become a top-five mortgage lender. Today, D…
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Varun Krishna shares Rocket’s plan to “become the Apple of homeownership”
30:56
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30:56This week on Power House, Diego sits down with Varun Krishna, the CEO of Rocket Companies. Prior to joining Rocket in 2023, Varun came up on the personal finance and enterprise software side of the tech space, with roles at Intuit and Paypal. Rocket has a growth plan to make home ownership easier, enjoyable, and sustainable for homeowners. Diego an…
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How Prosperity Home Mortgage Became #1 in Customer Satisfaction
30:20
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30:20This week on the Power House podcast, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez sits down with Justin Messer, the CEO of Prosperity Home Mortgage. Prosperity was recently ranked at the top mortgage originator for customer satisfaction by JD Power. Today — with that top ranking in mind — Justin and Diego talk about Prosperity’s strategic shift from refina…
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Happy Holidays from Power House and the entire team at HousingWire! We have some exciting conversations planned for 2025, so we'll see you in the New Year! If you have any feedback or comments about the show, please reach out at [email protected]. The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about ind…
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Frank Martell talks loanDepot’s journey to profitability
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34:05This week on the Power House podcast, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez sits down with loanDepot president and CEO, Frank Martell. Frank, who was a 2016 and 2023 HousingWire Vanguard Awardee, brings to the table over 30 years of mortgage and executive leadership experience. Today’s conversation is all about loanDepot’s return to profitability in …
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Behind the scenes of Guild’s “customer-for-life” strategy
30:41
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30:41This week on the Power House podcast, Diego chats with industry veteran and Guild Mortgage CEO Terry Schmidt. Terry joined Guild in 1985 and she stepped into the CEO role in 2023. Terry and Diego talk about Guild’s proprietary AI system, Guild IQ, and how Guild’s recent acquisitions are a step toward growing their reverse presence. They also talk a…
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Building balance with Mr. Cooper’s Jay Bray
23:35
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23:35This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with Jay Bray, the CEO of Mr. Cooper. Jay joined Nationstar in 2000 and brings over 25 years of mortgage serving and origination experience. They discuss Mr. Cooper’s growth and acquisition strategy, specifically the Flagstar acquisition, which brought Mr. Cooper's servicing book up to $1.5 tril…
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Humans over homes with NextHome CEO James Dwiggins
37:43
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37:43This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with James Dwiggins, the CEO and co-founder of national real estate franchise, NextHome. Guided by a “humans over homes” philosophy, the brand focuses on quality over quantity, with 600 offices and 6,000 agents across the country. James has a lot of experience in the real estate world, and with …
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Real value: How Class Valuation is redefining AMCs
29:04
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29:04Today on the Power House podcast, we are bringing you a special sponsored conversation between Zeb Lowe, the director of HousingWire’s Content Studio, and Andrew Bough, the COO at Class Valuation. Andrew is joining us today to share how Class Valuation is setting new quality standards for appraisals through approaches such as their appraiser scorec…
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This week on Power House, Diego chats with industry veteran Chad Smith, the president and COO of Better, who stepped into the role earlier this year from Mission Loans. Chad and Diego talk about Chad’s decision to join the Better executive team and what they’re working on to help grow Better in 2025, which includes a focus on customer engagement an…
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Daren Blomquist: Rethink your post-pandemic benchmarks
32:14
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32:14This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with Daren Blomquist, VP of Market Economics at Auction.com. Daren is a friendly face to many of you, and was last on the show in early 2023 to discuss his 2023 forecast. He’s joining us again to talk about what he expects to see in the market post-election and into 2025. He and Diego talk about…
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Ginger Bell and Fobby Naghmi’s guide to leading through tough times
30:02
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30:02This week on the Power House podcast, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez sits down with the co-authors of the recently published real estate and mortgage guidebook, “Leadership Matters.” Fobby is also the SVP of Homecomings Mortgage & Equity, and Ginger is the founder of Edumarketing. In today’s episode, they talk about why top performers don’t al…
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Inside FirstTeam’s billion-dollar growth strategy with CEO Michele Harrington
25:04
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25:04This week on the Power House podcast, Diego sits down with Michele Harrington, CEO of FirstTeam Real Estate out of Orange County, California. Michele initially started her career in the Marine Corps, but after being stationed in Orange County, she not only fell in love with the beauty of Southern California, she also got bit by the entrepreneurial …
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Jeff Bell: Four pressing topics as you prepare for MBA Annual
40:57
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40:57This week on the Power House Podcast, HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins sat down with loan originator turned software executive: Jeff Bell, President at Uplist. Jeff joins us to talk about four really pertinent topics in today’s market: leadership, learning, loan monitoring, and recapture. Uplist just launched what it says is a killer new tool that w…
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The art of giving back with Fairway CEO Steve Jacobson
29:36
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29:36This week on the Power House Podcast, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez sits down with Steve Jacobson, CEO of Fairway Independent Mortgage to talk about what it takes to build a company culture centered around humility and loyalty. Diego and Steve also talk about Fairway’s retail growth after their decision to exit wholesale, their plan to sell t…
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Greg Schwartz: A love letter from the salt mines
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50:04This week on the Power House Podcast, Clayton sat down with Tomo CEO and co-founder Greg Schwartz to talk about what’s transpired in his business over the last two years — both the good and the bad. They dive into recovery indicators and the investments they’re making in technology and AI. They also talk about how embracing accountable leadership a…
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Key Themes Emerge at HousingWire IMB Summit
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29:32
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29:32In this episode of Power House, we welcome back Rick Roque, Corporate VP of New Growth at NFM Lending. Clayton Collins and Roque sit down during the HousingWire IMB Summit on October 1, 2024 at the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, TX to discuss key themes from the stage and evaluation of top sessions. Coverage of the event is availabl…
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Post-acquisition tech, capital markets and origination strategies with Rob Pieklo and Adam Carmel
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25:25This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton sat down with Robert Pieklo, COO of American Financial Resources (AFR) and Adam Carmel, Founder & CEO of Polly to talk about current mortgage market dynamics and growth strategies amid changing rates. They also discuss prioritizing the customer experience, effectively scaling your operations, and how to…
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When to compete and when to complement with Marc Trachtenberg
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27:02In this episode, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez interviews Marc Trachtenberg, CEO of Silk Title Co. They explore the dominance of the "Big Four" in the title market and how Silk Title's model complements rather than competes with them. Marc also shares insights from the recent RealEdge conference and discusses adapting to new technologies, fos…
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Sharpening the axe with mortgage education expert Nathan Knottingham
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39:47
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39:47Today we are bringing to your feed a great conversation with an even greater guest: Nathan Knottingham. Nathan wears many hats within the mortgage space, including being the co-founder and CEO of the newly launched mortgage education company, MLO Force, the COO of Vetted VA, and the COO of Be My Neighbor Mortgage. Clayton and Nathan originally sche…
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Mortgage banking strategies and insights with Sarah Wheeler
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12:41If you are a mortgage banking executive or leader, you will want to listen to this episode to hear what Sarah Wheeler has to share. In this episode of Power House, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Sarah Wheeler joins HW Media CEO Clayton Collins to discuss critical themes and knowledge for mortgage banking leaders. Sarah discusses major stories related …
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Austin Allison: Cracking the co-ownership code
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55:49This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Austin Allison, the CEO and co-founder of Pacaso, a co-ownership marketplace for luxury vacation homes with over a billion dollars in transactions across 40 destination markets. In this episode, Austin shares the lessons from building and scaling successful real estate businesses.…
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Randell Gillespie: The Future of Lower and Rise of Authentic Leadership
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47:04This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins speaks with Randell Gillespie, the chief production officer at Lower. With over 30 years of mortgage lending and leadership experience, Randell was named chief production officer in March of this year upon the completion of Lower’s acquisition of Thrive Mortgage. Praised for his leadership style…
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Jason Mitchell: Relentless focus on mortgage partnerships that drive value for agents
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40:38This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Jason Mitchell, founder of the Jason Mitchell Group. With over $4 billion in annual transaction volume, 8,500 sides, and 800 agents, Jason Mitchell leads one of the largest real estate teams in the country according to RealTrends Verified. But it isn’t all about scale. Jason share…
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Joe Tyrrell: Leadership and market innovation and Optimal Blue
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47:13This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Joe Tyrrell, the CEO of Optimal Blue. With over 25 years in mortgage, finance, and technology, Joe shares his wealth of experience about value-driven leadership, innovation, and the mortgage tech space. In their discussion, Joe talks about the significance of capital markets for m…
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Buyer advocacy and beyond with Realtor.com CMO Mickey Neuberger
41:46
41:46
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41:46This week on the Power House Podcast, we are bringing you a sponsored interview between Clayton and Mickey Neuberger, the Chief Marketing Officer at Realtor.com. Before joining Realtor.com, Mickey was VP of Global Marketing at eBay for 9 years, where he built the company’s CRM platform from the ground up. He also has extensive experience in marketi…
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Craig Montgomery on Lower’s journey to becoming a top-five lender
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32:46On today’s episode of Power House, we had the pleasure of speaking with Craig Montgomery, the Chief Strategy Officer at Lower. Craig joined Lower this past June with plans to drive the company towards the goal of becoming a top five national mortgage lender. Today’s conversation is all about Craig’s vision for building Lower’s ambitious plans for g…
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Anthony Lamacchia: Entrepreneurial leadership pumping through his veins
46:29
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46:29Anthony Lamacchia shares his journey from working in his father’s landscaping business to building Lamacchia Realty. He discusses the importance of marketing, branding, and consistent content creation in attracting clients and media attention. Lamacchia emphasizes delegating responsibilities and hiring experienced professionals for growth. He delve…
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The secrets to unlocking data efficiency with Rocktop Technologies’ Jason Pinson
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27:51This week on the Power House podcast, we sat down with Jason Pinson, the founder and CEO of Rocktop Technologies, a suite of fintech applications driven by AI and machine learning designed to manage risk on behalf of its clients and partners. Rocktop — and Jason himself — are on a mission to tackle two significant issues in housing: the influx of p…
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Sierra Interactive CEO Peter Maglathlin talks real estate tech in a post-settlement world
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55:08This week, we welcome Peter Maglathlin to the Power House podcast. Peter is the CEO of Sierra Interactive, an end-to-end real estate platform developing software and services for residential real estate agents, teams and brokers. Originally founded in 2007, it was acquired by Alpine Software Group in 2022. Today’s conversation with Peter is for all…
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Constellation’s Bonnie Wilhelm on their “buy and hold forever” strategy
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33:59On today’s episode, we have an exclusive, behind-the-scenes conversation with a guest who has an amazing perspective and depth of knowledge in investing and business operation strategy, Bonnie Wilhelm. Bonnie is the CEO of the Andromeda Group and COO of Perseus inside of Constellation Software. Constellation acquires and operates Vertical Market So…
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Using AI in all the right places with Rick Roque and Andrew Maas
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42:32Today, we welcome two wonderful guests to the Power House podcast: Rick Roque and Andrew Maas. Rick is the EVP of Retail Growth and Strategy at Sierra Pacific Mortgage with 20+ years in retail mortgage banking, acquiring, managing and growing production volume & market share in companies across the US. Andrew is the Co-Founder & CEO of Pointable, f…
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Phil Defronzo on how to maintain a multi-decade mortgage legacy
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35:29Today we are chatting with Phil DeFronzo, the founder, president and CEO of mortgage wholesaler TPO Go. Phil, who has been in the mortgage business since 1989, was the former CEO of Norcom Mortgage before he sold the retail business to CMG Financial and pursued the wholesale business. Phil and Clayton talk about his career journey over the past thr…
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