The MikedUp Show

Ryan Grant was running a profitable mortgage company when Better came calling. His first answer was no. What changed his mind? Technology that challenged his assumptions about the cost of lending, combined with something he believed technology alone could not provide: a local mortgage advisor who knows the customer and stays involved after closing. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Ryan Grant of NEO Home Loans to explore a difficult leadership question: How do you convince successful people to change a business that is already working? Ryan’s path started far from that question. He planned to become a civil rights attorney, entered mortgages in 2005, and spent his early years working refinance calls. The turning point came when he started building relationships with real estate agents and focusing on purchase loans. Showing up at open houses, meeting people, and earning their trust helped him grow from $11 million in production in his first year of that approach to $100 million in his third. But producing more loans was not the whole ambition. When Ryan and his partners started NEO in 2020, they wanted borrowers to expect more from a mortgage company. Closing the loan was the beginning. Helping someone become a successful homeowner meant continuing to offer education, planning, and support long afterward. The partnership with Better introduced a new way to deliver on that promise. Better brought technology and access to potential buyers. NEO brought local advisors and established relationships. Putting those strengths together also meant asking experienced professionals to learn unfamiliar systems while continuing to serve their clients. Ryan is candid about that challenge. A system built for customers applying directly online does not automatically fit the way a local advisor works. Training, patience, and changes to daily routines were part of the transition. The conversation also looks at who comes next. Through The NEO Way, new team members can learn the business as production partners, observe experienced advisors, and take on more responsibility as their skills develop. Ryan wants a career path that gives people support rather than expecting them to figure everything out alone. For Ryan, the measure of success extends beyond rankings and closing volume. It includes whether advisors can build a sustainable business and whether clients are better informed and better supported years after getting their keys. Listen for a founder’s perspective on changing course before you have to, bringing your team through that change, and making a promise to borrowers that goes beyond closing day. Watch more episodes and find your preferred listening platform at https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand, the real estate media company behind The MikedUp Show:https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand MikedUp Show is powered by TrueworkTruework brings income and employment verification methods into one platform. It helps lending teams manage requests and reduce manual follow up.https://www.truework.com/ FundingShieldFundingShield helps lenders check closing parties, documents, and wiring information before funds move. Its tools support fraud prevention and closing risk management.https://www.fundingshield.com/ Addy AIAddy AI builds AI assistants for mortgage tasks, including document review, guideline checks, and borrower follow up. Its tools help teams spend less time on repetitive work.https://addy.com/ TRUETRUE uses AI to read...

Capital markets touches everything. Pricing.Risk.Investor delivery.Loan officer confidence.Operations.Execution.The final result the borrower feels. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Ashley Puckett, AVP of Capital Markets at Novus Home Mortgage, for a conversation about what it really means to understand the mortgage business from more than one seat. Ashley’s career has been built through curiosity, consistency, and a willingness to learn the parts of the business most people never see. She started in the mortgage industry in 2011 as a loan processor, moved into post closing, and eventually found her lane in secondary marketing and capital markets. She has since earned both her AMP and CMB designations, reflecting a serious commitment to education, growth, and mastery in the industry. Newslink That path matters. Because capital markets is not isolated from the rest of the company. It connects directly to how loans are priced, how files are delivered, how risk is managed, how investors are served, and how loan officers compete in the field. Ashley’s role gives her a view across the entire mortgage machine. That is the center of this episode. Be in All the Lanes is about refusing to stay boxed into one narrow version of mortgage. It is about understanding how the pieces connect. It is about learning the work behind the work. It is about being the person others can call when the file is complicated, the delivery is tight, or the answer is not obvious. Ashley has also been recognized for her leadership and commitment to helping others grow. Her Women in Housing Leadership Award nomination highlighted how she trains, mentors, and supports others with patience and clarity, especially in capital markets roles that can feel intimidating to people early in their careers. The episode also looks at why mentorship matters in mortgage. Ashley’s story is not only about personal achievement. It is about the people who taught her, the designations she pursued, the network she built, and the responsibility she now feels to bring others along. At Novus Home Mortgage, that perspective fits into a company focused on creating a simpler, smoother, and more transparent mortgage experience with a mix of personal guidance and modern technology. Novus describes its approach as combining personalized expert guidance with mortgage technology to help borrowers move forward with confidence. Novus Home Mortgage This conversation is for anyone in mortgage who wants to grow beyond their current role. For loan officers, it is a reminder that pricing and execution matter. For operations teams, it is a reminder that every handoff matters. For capital markets professionals, it is a reminder that your work shapes the business more than people may realize. And for rising leaders, it is a reminder that being in all the lanes does not mean doing everything at once. It means understanding enough to lead with confidence. Watch and listen to the full episode of The MikedUp Show. Visit us at https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand MikedUp Show is powered by TrueworkTruework helps mortgage teams verify income and employment faster. It reduces the back and forth that slows files down and gives lenders a cleaner way to move borrowers through the process.

Some companies grow by chasing volume. Others grow by building something people want to belong to. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Sarah Valentini, Co-Founder and CEO of radius financial group, for a conversation about leadership, culture, community, and what it takes to build an independent mortgage bank that lasts. Sarah started radius financial group in 1999 and has spent more than two decades building a company known not only for production, but for the way it operates. The company’s guiding belief, “better has no finish line,” says a lot about how Sarah leads. Growth is not treated as a destination. It is treated as a standard. That idea sits at the center of this episode. Expand Your Radius is about more than growing a company footprint. It is about expanding what leadership means. Expanding how mortgage companies show up for their teams. Expanding how lenders serve their communities. Expanding what a mortgage brand can stand for beyond rates, units, and closings. Sarah’s journey as a founder and CEO is rooted in building with intention. Since launching radius, she has helped lead an independent mortgage bank through changing markets, different lending cycles, and shifting borrower expectations. That kind of longevity requires more than strategy. It requires culture, consistency, and a clear sense of who you are as a company. This conversation explores how Sarah built a business with culture at the center, why leadership has to be lived daily, and how companies can keep improving without losing the values that made them successful in the first place. Sarah was also recognized as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year New England finalist, a reflection of the entrepreneurial discipline and leadership behind the company she helped build. But her impact extends beyond mortgage banking. Her work with South Shore Habitat for Humanity, including her recognition with the Bravo Award for her role as Outstanding Event Chair at the High Heels and Hard Hats Gala, reflects a deeper commitment to community. As National Women Build Chairwoman, Sarah helped support work focused on building homes and strengthening local communities one project at a time. That connection between mortgage, housing, and community is one of the most important themes in this episode. Mortgage is not just a transaction. It is tied to where families live, how communities grow, and how leaders choose to use their platform. Sarah’s story is a reminder that the best mortgage companies are not built only around products. They are built around people, purpose, and the constant pursuit of getting better. This episode is for mortgage founders, executives, loan officers, operations leaders, and anyone thinking about how to build something that can grow without losing its soul. Because better has no finish line. Watch and listen to the full episode of The MikedUp Show. Visit us at https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand Learn more about radius financial group at https://www.radiusgrp.com MikedUp Show is powered by TrueworkTruework helps mortgage teams verify income and employment faster. It reduces the back and forth that slows files down and gives lenders a cleaner way to move borrowers through the process.https://www.truework.com/ FundingShieldFundingShield helps protect mortgage closings from wire fraud, payoff fraud, and transaction risk. It gives lenders real time checks before money moves.https://www.fundingshield.co...

What if the best recruiting strategy was not a signing bonus? What if it was ownership? In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Ron Mueller of USA Mortgage for a conversation about employee ownership, long term retention, loan officer development, and what it means to build a mortgage company where people have a real stake in the outcome. Ron has spent 25 years in mortgage. He has been a loan officer, a top producer, a branch builder, a regional leader, and now one of the key people helping shape USA Mortgage into a national, employee owned lender. His story is not about jumping from company to company chasing the next comp plan. It is about building inside one organization, growing with the company, and helping others do the same. USA Mortgage is 100 percent employee owned through an ESOP. That means loan officers, processors, support staff, and team members across the company all participate in ownership. No outside investors. No private equity. The work people do every day can compound into something bigger than a paycheck. That idea sits at the center of this episode. The mortgage industry has spent years treating recruiting like a transaction. Bigger signing bonus. Better bps. New platform. New pitch. But Ron makes the case that retention is built differently. It comes from culture, leadership, opportunity, training, ownership, and a company that helps people see a future. USA Mortgage helped 8,000 families buy homes last year. Its executive team averages more than 20 years of tenure. The company has built a training academy to develop the next generation of loan officers instead of relying only on recruiting experienced producers from other companies. That is the difference between hiring people and building people. Ron also talks about the balance between technology and human support. He believes the mortgage process needs to keep evolving and become more digital, but he also understands that mortgages are still personal, complicated, and emotional. Not every borrower has a clean file. Not every document is easy. Not every question can be solved with automation. Technology can create speed and options. People still create trust. The conversation also explores what it means to be mid size on purpose. USA Mortgage is large enough to compete on products, pricing, technology, and national reach, but still close enough to its people that leaders remain accessible. For Ron, that matters. A loan officer should not feel like a number. A team member should not feel disconnected from leadership. This episode is about moving from recruiting to retention. From chasing talent to developing it. From renting production to building ownership. From short term growth to long term alignment. For loan officers, branch managers, mortgage executives, and anyone thinking about where they want to build the next chapter of their career, this conversation offers a different way to look at value. Because in a market where everyone is measured by units and volume, Ron believes the real business is still relationships. Watch and listen to the full episode of The MikedUp Show. Visit us at https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand MikedUp Show is powered by Truework Truework helps mortgage teams verify income and employment faster. It reduces the back and forth that slows files down and gives lenders a cleaner way to move borrowers through the process. https://www.truework.com/ FundingShield FundingShield helps protect mortgage closings from wire fraud, payoff fraud, and transaction risk. It...

Credit unions grow differently because the mission is different. It is not just about getting attention. It is about earning trust. It is about serving members well. It is about using data, marketing, and technology to create better conversations before the loan ever starts. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Malik Wilkes, CMB, Assistant Vice President of Product Marketing Mortgages at Space Coast Credit Union, for a conversation about leadership, member engagement, mortgage marketing, and how credit unions can build growth without losing their purpose. Malik brings more than a decade of mortgage industry experience, a Certified Mortgage Banker designation, and a rare mix of product knowledge, compliance awareness, marketing strategy, and people development. His background gives him the ability to connect the practical realities of mortgage lending with the modern tools lenders need to reach members more effectively. At Space Coast Credit Union, Malik stepped into a mortgage marketing function that had room to grow and helped turn it into a stronger, more modern engine for member engagement. Since joining SCCU in 2025, he has built a multi channel marketing strategy across paid media, automation, AI powered tools, content marketing, member intelligence, and retention campaigns. The results speak to the work. He rebuilt the credit union’s paid search and digital advertising strategy across Google Search, Meta, YouTube, and Performance Max, reaching a blended cost per click of $3.23 across channels. He also introduced mortgage focused social media campaigns, SEO driven content, and automated programs designed to help loan officers stay connected to past members and future opportunities. One of the biggest themes in this conversation is the power of knowing your members. Malik helped implement a homeowner financial intelligence platform that monitors SCCU’s 24,000 member database for refinance and home equity opportunities. That work has helped create stronger engagement and better timing, including a Home Digest email sequence that reached a 71 percent open rate. That is not just marketing. That is connection. The episode also gets into how Malik developed an AI powered loan cost analysis tool that reached full adoption across the loan officer team. The goal was not to chase technology for the sake of technology. It was to help loan officers communicate more clearly, move faster, and serve members with better information. This is where leadership shows up. Not just in a title. Not just in a department. But in the ability to bring people, systems, data, and purpose together so the entire team can perform better. Malik’s leadership approach is also shaped by his background in communication and people development. As a Florida International University graduate with a degree in English, and as a member of the FIU Alumni Association Board of Directors, he brings a strong belief in clear communication, relationship building, and helping people reach their goals. This episode is for credit union leaders, mortgage marketers, loan officers, executives, operations teams, and anyone thinking about how member first lending can grow in today’s market. Because credit union growth is not just about more leads. It is about better relationships. It is about better timing. It is about better service. And it is about cultivating leaders who understand that members are not transactions. They are the reason the work matters. Watch and listen to the full episode of The MikedUp Show. Visit us at https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand