COVER STORY

Empowering A New Generation of Female Mortgage Professionals, Laura Brandao and the Associated Independent Mortgage Experts unite to create a new community of powerful women sales professionals, read their inspiring foundational story here in the pages of WWVMag.

Words are powerful change agents that help us transcend to a place where learning and dreaming can occur…

Mark Your Calendar for June 17! It’s a virtual happening…

Written by: Christine Beckwith

The strength of our female communities in the mortgage and banking industry has been growing in recent years, both in numbers and participation. As a female professional having lived and survived in the mortgage finance space for over 30 years, I have watched teary-eyed as these communities emerge and thrive, each bringing more power and confidence to up-and-coming female professionals. Lending our voices to their careers, we have carved a new path and cemented a new future that will help women get the attention we have long deserved.

As a member of many professional communities, like mPower led by Marcia Davies, COO of MBA Direction, and Women in the Housing and Real Estate Ecosystem led by CEO Desiree Patno, I get a bird’s eye view into how each community creates an environment of growth, inclusion, and recognition. My own business school and women’s coaching division, Women With Vision, lends its voice to the community and adds a tactical support system to the power of these advocacy groups.

The message was poignantly clear as each woman held up a sign representing a single word that powerfully articulated an emotion of strength and beauty in themselves. Voices were heard. Words were spoken, shared, and discussed. Power was felt and unleashed.

Suffice it to say, the more the merrier in this realm! Out of the shadows in the past six months, the group I highlight today has risen: Women’s Mortgage Network (WMN). The network was created to provide a needed voice, under the direction of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME). WMN sprang from the mind and heart of Laura Brandao (President of AFR Wholesale) and is managed by AIME senior leader, Katie Sweeney (EVP of Strategy), and her team. The combined efforts of these women have conceptualized the vision and future of this incredibly powerful group. The women at AIME support the vitality and integrity of this new women’s leadership group and the entire independent mortgage broker channel.

Over the past year, I have watched AIME—with the inclusion of their first female executive, Katie Sweeney—take the association to new heights. Katie has added a clear sense of branding and camaraderie that compliments the already powerful organization. She has simply made the entire trade association more polished.

I asked Katie about WMN and she said, “There was a need for a female affinity group in the channel, and Laura Brandao was a champion for it from the start. I am so happy to watch it grow and offer group members a place to find common ground with each other.”

A Vision Becomes Reality

I have had the pleasure of watching Laura speaking on stage in recent years. She is a powerhouse, full of high energy and most importantly, purpose. I have been in the audience of at least six events where she spoke and have shared the podium with Laura on stage on numerous occasions. She is a standout amongst her counterparts, male and female. Laura has proven repeatedly that she can hold her own. She is an experienced, confident, and integral part of our industry who, with WMN, has the platform to show up and help us change the trajectory of our profession by listening to her advice, experiences, and teaching.

A story is told about a time, a few years back, when Laura saw the innate value of an event hosted by women and for women. She requested to sponsor the AIME Women’s Affinity Group, an event to be held the evening before the AIME Fuse National Conference in 2018. The event proved to be the start of a powerful movement in the mortgage industry; one in which women shared, supported, and succeeded amongst their female colleagues.

The group continued to grow over the course of the following year and in 2019, AFR Wholesale again requested to sponsor a women-focused event. This time it was a panel discussion featuring female brokers. The energy, enthusiasm, and authenticity that stemmed from that event made one thing clear to Laura Brandao—that there was a true void in the industry. Women wanted and needed a network of support, education, and mentorship where they could express their challenges and triumphs to other women in the industry. On the plane ride home, Laura excitedly developed the plan for the Women’s Mortgage Network. As soon as she returned home, she called up Anthony Casa, chairman of AIME, explained her idea, and with his whole-hearted support, began building a strategy and call-to-action that would bring this vision to life.

An Event Both Remarkable and Memorable

With many thanks to the ladies on the AIME team for coordinating the event, AIME’s Inaugural WMN event was held on March 4, 2020, in Irvine, CA, the day before the AIME Activate regional conference. Fifty women were hand-selected by AIME to attend and thus invited to become the leaders and mentors of the network moving forward. The event featured a full day’s agenda packed with speakers, panel discussions, and interactive marketing tasks.

One speaker at the event was thought leader and author of Gender Physics, Betty-Ann Heggie. Laura connected with Betty-Ann when she appeared as a guest on Laura’s podcast, Positively Charged. It occurred to Laura then that Betty-Ann would be perfect to speak at the Women’s Mortgage Network event! And she was right. Speaking at the event, Betty-Ann and Laura discussed the subject of gender dynamics and explored the presence of both masculine and feminine energies inside every one of us, and how to freely express our best selves in any situation

During this event, a bond formed through commonalities in women’s everyday battles to run their businesses, earn respect as female business owners and stake their claim in an industry that is predominantly male. This bond was felt and seen by all involved with their newly formed group. Women also found community in their shared experience of having ‘walked the walk’ for years. The day gave way to shared stories and confidential collaboration to create a unity of 50 women leaders pledging that their voices would be heard, that their organization would recognize them, and help them elevate their own voice, advocacy, and community. The message was poignantly clear as each woman held up a sign that represented a single word that powerfully articulated an emotion of strength and beauty in themselves. Voices were heard. Words were spoken, shared, and discussed. Power was felt and unleashed.

…it’s no surprise to find wonderfully powerful women there; leaders without titles, queens without crowns, putting food on their tables, raising children and running their day-to-day businesses… 

The Women’s Mortgage Network embarked on a journey that day that many female professionals can only hope to be a part of; one of self-development, self-discovery, and sought-after self-growth. The unity of these 50 women is the foundation for what could become one of the largest groups of professional women in our space. A network to change the lives of professionals who join them. Women eager to be stronger as a community than any individual can be. They will rely on each other to find their foothold in a forever challenged –and challenging – industry of mortgage finance.

The makeup of this group is diverse and powerful. The greatest minority in our field exists in the sales trenches, so it’s no surprise to find wonderfully powerful women there; leaders without titles, queens without crowns, putting food on their tables, raising children and running their day-to-day businesses, all while bringing tremendous power to the AIME community.

In addition to Laura Brandao, two of AIME’s brokers are the recipients of the prestigious Women With Vision Annual Award, named amongst 50 of the giant female leaders across the country. Both brokers and owners of their own companies, Lisa Lund and Michelle Dugan represent incredible strength to their peers. Having received their awards in person in Tampa last September, these women stepped on stage with some of the biggest executive leaders in the industry to accept the honor of the award. They were surprised by AIME’s president, Marc Summers, who came from behind the stage to walk out and give them their award, showing the commitment of the AIME organization in its quest to help and honor those who serve their communities so well.

As this article hits the airwaves, the women of the newly established Women’s Mortgage Network are out there fighting to hold their own, their business impacted by the Coronavirus global pandemic. They are showing up every day for their families, for their employees, and to make home-buying a reality for their clients.

A Challenge for the Future

Their diligent leader, Chairman Anthony Casa, continues to lend this association his keen insight and direction. As an outsider looking in, and after two years riding along as a journalist and now partner, I can tell you that the members of this organization are loyal. This business channel has a clear purpose and story to tell, and they are telling it each and every day. Despite the hard-hitting impact of the current market volatility, they are rallying and unified and I have no doubt that they will remain united until they ultimately come out on the other side. This trade organization represents members in government lobbying against unfair regulation that stands to hurt the consumer. Once coined the channel that had done the most harm to the industry and falsely blamed for lack of regulation, independent mortgage brokers have emerged in the last decade under the direction of AIME to be a true partner with tremendous power to lend to our quest for consumer excellence. And, in an incredible turn of events, we see them shoulder to shoulder with their competition; the prior state of division set aside for the cause. They are for the first time in history being brought to the table to share their voices in a fight for correction of federal aid that has left the mortgage industry reeling: the impact of mortgage forbearance.

As the months roll on, we all have a battle ahead to regain control and grow market share. We can count on this trade organization to bring that fight in every way they can. We should expect to see more of the Women’s Mortgage Network in meaningful ways. I can’t wait to come back and update everyone on the work that they are doing.

I challenge our mortgage industry to embrace the women of this group and bring them to the broader stages and tables of the industry. Include them in the future of our unified cause and drive for more female professionals. Give them the respect they deserve for being some of the most incredible and strong professionals of our time.

Here is the complete list of Women With Vision award winners for 2019. Please join us in again congratulating these wonderful professionals! Each woman who won this award was invited to an acceptance ceremony at the Vision Summit in Tampa, Florida on September 25th, 2019. Thirty-four women were awarded in person and all 50 plus award winners received a trophy and gift, in addition to a feature article in the Mortgage Women Magazine, a feature in the Vision Unleashed blog, and now this Spotlight Feature in the inaugural WWV Mag, our brand new Women With Vision e-magazine.