The MikedUp Show

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

Growth inside a credit union looks different. It is not just about volume. It is about members. It is about trust. It is about service. It is about building a mortgage department that can grow without losing the mission that made credit unions matter in the first place. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Christopher Sailus, Director of Mortgage Lending at Oregon State Credit Union, for a conversation about change management, member experience, operational discipline, and how credit unions can build stronger mortgage platforms for the future. Christopher brings more than 20 years of leadership across mortgage production, fulfillment, credit risk, secondary markets, product development, and operational design. His career has included leadership roles at Oregon State Credit Union, WaFd Bank, Alaska USA Mortgage Co., and other regulated financial institutions. At Oregon State Credit Union, Christopher joined a mortgage department already in motion and helped lead a major transformation. The story is not just about improving numbers, although the numbers are clear. Production grew from $102 million to $161 million. Year over year production increased 46 percent. Cycle times dropped 30 percent. The deeper story is how that happened. Christopher led work across credit risk governance, product development, process redesign, and team development while keeping an 18 person team aligned through fast change. That kind of work requires more than strategy. It requires communication, consistency, and the ability to bring people with you. That is the center of this episode. How do you grow a mortgage business inside a credit union without breaking the team? How do you improve speed without sacrificing service? How do you use technology and data without losing the human connection members expect? How do you build products that help members reach real financial goals? Christopher also shares perspective from managing $2 billion in annual mortgage production at WaFd Bank, launching LOS and POS platforms for more than 800 users across 8 states, building wholesale divisions, opening new branches, and supporting special purpose credit programs for low to moderate income borrowers. This episode also touches on AI in mortgage, but from a practical leadership lens. Christopher is making a deliberate investment in AI strategy through Johns Hopkins University’s AI Business Strategy certificate program, building on years of applied AI work around workflow design, loan technology evaluation, training content, and analytics. For credit unions, the opportunity is clear. Mortgage growth cannot only be about competing with banks, IMBs, and brokers. It has to be about using the credit union advantage correctly. Local trust. Member relationships. Clear communication. Better products. Stronger execution. A team that understands why the work matters. This conversation is for credit union leaders, mortgage executives, operations teams, loan officers, compliance professionals, and anyone thinking about how member focused lending can grow in a difficult market. Because the future of credit union mortgage is not just about getting bigger. It is about getting better while staying connected to the people you serve. 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....

Risk is usually treated like something mortgage companies need to avoid. Roy George sees it differently. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Roy George, President of MOR Lending, for a conversation about how risk, compliance, operations, and technology can become the foundation for reinvention. Roy brings a rare combination to the mortgage industry. He has led at the executive level across fintech, compliance, and operations, giving him a view of the business that is both practical and forward looking. He understands the pressure of regulation, the importance of execution, and the need for mortgage companies to evolve without losing control of the customer experience. That is the heart of this episode. Mortgage leaders often talk about innovation, but real innovation has to survive inside the rules of the business. It has to work for operations. It has to make sense for compliance. It has to improve the borrower experience. It has to help teams move faster without creating new problems behind the scenes. Roy’s background makes this conversation different because he does not separate risk from growth. He connects them. The mortgage companies that win the next cycle will not be the ones ignoring risk. They will be the ones that understand it well enough to build smarter systems around it. Roy shares how his operations and compliance experience shaped the way he thinks about leadership, technology, and customer experience. He also talks about why digitizing the mortgage process cannot simply mean adding more tools. It has to mean making the experience easier, clearer, and more useful for the people actually using it. This episode also gets into leadership. Roy is known for an approachable and transparent leadership style, and that shows in the way he thinks about change. Reinvention does not happen because a leader announces a new direction. It happens when teams understand the why, trust the process, and believe the changes will actually make the work better. The conversation covers what it takes to lead through uncertainty, how mortgage companies can rethink their operations, and why compliance should not always be seen as the enemy of progress. Done correctly, compliance can create discipline. Operations can create consistency. Technology can create leverage. Leadership connects all of it. Roy has been recognized as a thought leader in mortgage and fintech, including being featured in Disruptive Fintech: The Coming Wave of Innovation in Financial Services with Thought Leadership Provided by CEOs by James Deitch. His perspective is shaped by years of building, leading, fixing, and improving mortgage organizations from the inside. This episode is for mortgage executives, operations leaders, compliance professionals, fintech builders, loan officers, and anyone trying to understand what responsible reinvention looks like in today’s lending market. Because the future of mortgage will not be built by avoiding risk. It will be built by understanding it, managing it, and using it as a starting point for something better. 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 trans...