Chasing Excellence

Dawn Carter is a VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate (formerly Guaranteed Rate) in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with 32 years in the mortgage industry. Her path into the business started on a vacation to Puerto Vallarta, where she met a woman who worked in mortgages and made the job sound glamorous, then a man at the pool told her it was "a great business for women — no glass ceiling."Weeks later, on a work trip, she walked into a hotel with a banner reading "Welcome Association of Women Mortgage Bankers" — and came home from that same trip to find she'd been laid off along with 11 coworkers. A phone call from a friend in the business connected her to a mentor, and she took her first mortgage job in 1994.In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Dawn joins host Tony Thompson to talk about staying visible in a remote-work world, why she teaches financial literacy to high schoolers, and her advice to new originators: build and own your own client database from day one, independent of any employer.🔑 What You'll Learn:Why a banner at a hotel and a poolside conversation in Puerto Vallarta led Dawn into mortgage lending in 1994How she adapts to today's biggest challenge — getting facetime with realtors who now work from homeWhy she teaches financial literacy classes to high schoolers, and how she's closed a deal directly from one of those talksHer advice to new originators: build and own your own client database from day one, independent of any employerWhy she's most grateful for the layoff that pushed her into a straight-commission mortgage careerConnect with Dawn Carter: https://www.rate.com/loan-officers/dawn-carter-127668 | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-carter-51762a6/Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

Brian Dewald is the President and Senior Loan Officer of Maverick Lending Solutions, a mortgage brokerage he owns in the Denver, Colorado area, ranked in the top 1% of lenders nationally every year since 2015. Brian's path into mortgage started at a bicycle shop, where he worked as a service manager in his late teens and early twenties before a local mortgage broker recruited and mentored him into the industry in the early 2000s — he still uses the same HP 12C calculator that mentor taught him on, two decades later. Today Maverick Lending Solutions is a family business, with his wife Annetta and son Alex both working alongside him. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Brian joins host Tony Thompson to talk about why so many originators have left the business in the past two to three years, and why that's an opening rather than a warning sign for the ones who stay disciplined — plus an underserved market he sees real opportunity in: military personnel who don't realize what home-buying options are available to them.🔑 What You'll Learn:How a chance introduction at a bicycle shop turned into a 20+ year mortgage careerWhy Brian still uses the same HP 12C calculator his first mentor taught him onWhy he believes "the fat are getting fatter" for the originators who stayed disciplined through the shakeoutWhy military buyers are one of the most underserved segments in today's marketHis case for hiring a coach — the same way Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, and Michael Jordan didWhy he credits his wife Annetta as his "greatest cheerleader" throughout his careerConnect with Brian Dewald: https://mavericklendingsolutions.com/brian-dewald/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-dewald-b871ba4/Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

David Brecher is the President and CEO of FM Home Loans, a mortgage banking company he's led since the late 1980s — built on 100% retail, purchase-focused lending across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida, and staying so close to its communities that David says needs can change block to block within Brooklyn alone.That community-rooted approach kept FM Home Loans out of subprime lending entirely, which is a big part of why the company not only survived the 2008 financial crisis but came out of it stronger, under the same ownership and strategy that built it.In this episode of Chasing Excellence, recorded in Brooklyn, David joins host Tony Thompson to talk about FM Home Loans' recent community honor from HCCI, a HUD-certified housing counselor based in Harlem, for its work helping marginalized communities access affordable homeownership — plus how the company thinks about affordability in one of the toughest housing markets in the country, and why David now describes FM Home Loans as being in the housing business, not just the mortgage business.🔑 What You'll Learn:Why FM Home Loans never touched subprime lending — and how that decision helped it survive 2008How partnering with not-for-profits like HCCI opened up affordable mortgage options for underserved buyersWhy David sees today's biggest challenge as high prices stacked on high rates, not either aloneHow FM Home Loans is helping convert renters into owners in select marketsWhy David describes the company's philosophy as "we're not in the mortgage business, we're in the housing business"Connect with David Brecher: https://fmm.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dbrecher/Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

Michael Newmann is a Senior Loan Officer and Branch Manager at CMG Financial, leading The Newmann Group out of Medford, Oregon, near the California border — joining CMG in November 2024 after building the bulk of his nearly 20-year mortgage career at one prior lender.Michael's path into the industry was pure fate: a former collegiate baseball player who studied sports psychology at UC Davis, he was floundering after graduation until a random sales call, pitching advertising to a woman named Mary, turned into a job offer instead. She wasn't buying what he was selling, but offered to hire him into mortgage lending. About a year later he took her up on it, and he's worked with her ever since. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Michael joins host Tony Thompson to talk about why he thinks interest rates are more perception than reality, how his psychology background shapes the way he serves clients, and why he believes AI should amplify human connection in mortgage lending rather than replace it.🔑 What You'll Learn:Why Michael sees the interest rate "challenge" as mostly psychological, not fundamentalHis personal filter for every client: "do they walk out my doors better than how they came in?"Why he's leaning into CMG's All In One Loan as his focus and passionHow he thinks originators should use AI — to offload tasks they don't love, not to replace human connectionWhy he believes the future belongs to originators who understand "the power of connection"Connect with Michael Newmann: https://www.cmghomeloans.com/mysite/mike-newmann | https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelnewmannSubscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.

Cori Angel is a Mortgage Broker at Vantage Mortgage Group, an independent, fiduciary brokerage in Portland, Oregon that works with roughly 40 wholesale lenders rather than being tied to any single company or rate sheet. Cori got her start in the industry in 2005 after asking her retail manager for a promotion into management — he didn't have an opening, but sent her to his wife, who was hiring at a mortgage company down the road. She walked in knowing nothing about lending and learned the business from scratch during an era of 8-10% interest rates, watching some of the ethical shortcuts up close that would later help trigger the 2008 housing crash. Two decades later, Cori still runs her business as a fiduciary and trusted advisor rather than a transaction-based lender, building plans with clients who aren't ready to buy yet and staying close with past clients through calls and check-ins during slower stretches.In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Cori joins host Tony Thompson to talk about growing up in Anchorage, Alaska — moose, buffalo, salmon, and reindeer sausage dogs included — and how that grounded upbringing shaped the fiduciary, relationship-first approach she brings to every client today.🔑 What You'll Learn:Why Vantage Mortgage's fiduciary, 40-lender model keeps them from steering clients toward any one lenderHow a retail manager's referral — not a five-year plan — led Cori into mortgage lending in 2005What she learned watching unethical lending practices firsthand in the run-up to the 2008 crashHer method for coaching clients who aren't ready to buy: build a plan, then walk them through itWhy she splits her time between working "in" the business and working "on" itWhat growing up in Anchorage, Alaska taught herConnect with Cori Angel: https://vantagemortgagegroup.com/about-us/meet-the-team/coriangel/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cori-angel-mortgagespecialist/Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.