Sr Mortgage Broker/Branch Manager, C2 Financial Corp

Allison Thenhaus is a mortgage broker licensed in Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Texas, and California. She focuses on serving clients by providing not only the best product for their specific situation, but also with a level of due diligence, creative problem-solving, and client service that goes beyond expectations. She has specific expertise in complicated transactions, investment properties, rural, agricultural, and equestrian properties, and prides herself on being able to close transactions that other lenders could not complete.

During her four years in the industry, she has risen to being a top broker recognized by Scotsman Guide, and Mortgage Executive Magazine. She has been the top C2 Financial producer in Colorado for three years running and is a consistent top 50 producer nationwide. She has been recognized by United Wholesale Mortgage as a top 1% partner based on loan volume.

She currently mentors a team of seven C2 Financial loan originators, and has been a guest speaker on multiple industry panels. Allison resides in Parker, Colorado with her husband of 18 years, and her 11-year-old daughter. She is an avid equestrian who travels the country with her family showing quarter horses and gives back by volunteering with numerous animal rescue organizations.

Mortgage Advisor, Mortgage Nerds, LLC

Amy Jo has worked in the Mortgage and Real Estate Community since 2002. She lives in Green Bay, WI with her husband Jared who owns an Appraisal and Real Estate Company. Amy Jo and her husband own a busy resort in the Upper Peninsula of MI that she manages along with her mortgage business.

Her family focuses on volunteering and supporting their Downtown Green Bay Community. Amy Jo teaches credit and housing classes at her Neighborhood Shelter, and she and her husband both volunteer with Neighborworks in Green Bay. They are currently focused on breaking down barriers for Section 8 and low-income tenants in their community through a housing shortage.

Sr. Mortgage Loan Officer, Delaware Financial Mortgage

Angela started her career with Delaware Financial Mortgage as a processor in 2015. In 2018, she became a licensed LO and has not looked back. Over the past five years, she has helped over 600 families and closed over $150m in volume. She loves assisting members of her community with the opportunity of homeownership and establishing a stable environment for families. She credits a lot of her success to the AIME community, who has supported her since the BRAWL days.

Managing Producing Branch Manager, Umortgage

Ben Bell has proudly developed and executed strategies to help thousands of clients achieve their homeownership dreams for nearly 10 years. His performance, dedication and implementation of strategic planning has allowed him to remain laser-focused on his customers and business partners. He understands the significance of buying a home, which is why he cherishes the opportunity to empower homebuyers to confidently make life's biggest purchase. With a simple, efficient process, his goal is to deliver superior customer service to both his clients and referral partners through every step of the mortgage journey. "I take a consultative approach," says Bell. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution. I give every client the best mortgage plan to fit their specific financial goals." Building long-term, trusting relationships with his clients and business partners is one of his favorite aspects of working in mortgage lending. His clients range from first-time homebuyers, move-up buyers, refinancers, & anyone in-between. Bell was recognized among the Top 1% loan originators in the country by Mortgage Executive Magazine from 2019 through 2021.

President of Broker Advocacy, AIME

Brendan McKay co-founded McKay Mortgage Company, LLC in 2017, a mortgage brokerage that serves the DC Metropolitan area. Since then, Brendan has originated 850+ units and $350M in volume. In 2020, Brendan was named to the Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators as the #34 Mortgage Broker nationally.

Involvement in the mortgage broker community is a family affair for McKay Mortgage. Brendan’s mother and business partner, Tina McKay, is a former President of the Maryland Mortgage Brokers Association. Brendan also spent the beginning of his career working in Wholesale Mortgage Operations at American Brokers Conduit and Sierra Pacific Mortgage. 

He sits on the Board of Governors for the Maryland Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association (MMBBA) and the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for The Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce. Brendan is also a member of VettedVA, an organization that serves active duty and former military homebuyers.

Brendan has been a proud and active member of AIME since its inception. Continuing in his advocacy for brokers, Brendan’s role at AIME is pivotal in the future of the community’s growth and will amplify the needs of wholesale mortgage professionals from across the country.

Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia, CEO of VeeFriends, and a 5x New York Times bestselling author.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a serial entrepreneur and serves as the Chairman of VaynerX,  the CEO of VaynerMedia, and the Creator & CEO of VeeFriends. Gary is considered one of the leading global minds on what’s next in culture, relevance, and the internet. Known as “GaryVee,” he is described as one of the most forward thinkers in business – he acutely recognizes trends and patterns early to help others understand how these shifts impact markets and consumer behavior. Whether it’s emerging artists, esports, NFT investing, or digital communications, Gary understands how to bring brand relevance to the forefront. He is a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, Snapchat, Coinbase and Uber.

Mortgage Loan Originator, LockIt Lending

Hanh was with Wells Fargo for 2 years. She was consistently on their top producer list for the Houston region. Then she was a partner, and built Loan Factory Houston from 2018-2022. Now with Lock It Lending, Hanh continues to deliver great customer service, great rates, and low fees. To Hanh, customers and clients become friends and family.

COO, Be My Neighbor Mortgage

Isabel is a military veteran, and served in the Army’s 82nd airborne division. Every day, she incorporates the discipline and self-sacrifice she learned into her work with clients and their loan files. She puts all of her clients first and fights for them every step of the way.

VP of Outreach, AIME

Jamie Cavanaugh is the President at Amerifund Home Loans, Inc. 

Jamie’s ability to combine 25 years of industry expertise in operations, sales, business efficiencies, and vendor services through the eyes of an originator makes her a sought-after advisor in the industry. Over the course of her career Jamie has broken through the barriers of many glass ceilings to sit on executive leadership teams and has held executive board positions at companies like Bank of America, Countrywide, Prospect Mortgage and Mortgage Corporation of America, Inc. Her diversified experience includes compliance, origination, credit risk, post- closing and secondary marketing management. 

Jamie was one of 7 inductees into the Inaugural Hall of AIME in recognition of her contributions to the Broker community. She is a Women With Vision award recipient and leads the way for women in business and enjoys being an active member of AIME, the Women’s Mortgage Network and Women With Vision. She has been a guest on numerous industry podcasts including Next Level Loan Officers, Inside Real Estate, Leadership Mastermind and Broker to Broker. She is often invited as a Speaker and Panelist at industry conferences where she speaks passionately about building a sustainable business, effective leadership and empowering others to find their seat at the table.

VP of Impact, AIME

Janine Kempfer has over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in the franchise, real estate and mortgage industries. Ms. Kempfer has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.  Her business ownership career began in residential real estate where she successfully built two independently owned and operated brokerages in both real estate sales and mortgage finance.  Franchise ownership soon followed.

Today, Janine is the President and owner of Prime Mortgage, LLC located in Greenwood Village, CO.  Prime Mortgage is licensed in Colorado, Florida, and Georgia.  Ms. Kempfer’s passion is to make sure everyone who wants to buy a home as a good chance of obtaining one through fair lending and community outreach.

Janine was appointed to the position of VP of Impact with AIME in 2022.  Her job is to make sure underserved and underrepresented communities are acknowledged and served by developing meaningful programs through the national mortgage broker channel. 
 

President, Next Door Lending

With 10 years of finance experience, Jonathon Haddad believes in servant leadership, finding solutions, and developing processes that connect people and push toward a common goal.At 21 years of age, Jonathon started his mortgage banking career at the largest retail lender in the country. In ten short months, Jonathon was promoted to Director at just 22-years-old—making him one of the youngest and fastest promoted leaders in company history.

From there—thanks to proper mentorship, dedication, and conscientiousness—Jonathon was able to build one of the top producing sales teams in the business. In 2016, Jonathon was tasked with developing a chat-based sales team to help clients navigate through the mortgage process online. Jonathon developed sales scripts and focused on improving the technology for this platform. The system grew rapidly over the next several years, leading to multiple years of over $1 billion in company volume. When recruited by Next Door Lending in 2020, Jonathon focused on building the budding brokerage’s purchase business. Taking a marketing-technology approach, Jonathon developed effective strategies for connecting with realtors and clients through a host of both traditional and innovative avenues.

Within his first nine months in the broker channel, Jonathon produced over $50 million in personal volume—placing him in the top one percent of brokers in the country. Now President and owner of Next Door Lending, Jonathon is no longer originating continues to focus on growing the company’s purchase business and prides himself on developing new leaders within the organization. 

CEO of AIME

Katie Sweeney is the CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts. Katie oversees the day-to-day operations of the AIME team by spearheading partnership development, membership growth initiatives, and business analytics. Previously, Katie served as the Senior Vice President at ARIVE where she successfully brought to market a revolutionary portal that provided an all-encompassing technology solution for wholesale brokers. 

After joining AIME as the Executive Vice President of Strategy, she spearheaded partnerships with top wholesale mortgage lenders and industry vendors to provide real-time support and exclusive access to mortgage brokers with the launch of the Brokers Are Better Network.

Katie has strengthened the capabilities of AIME’s Brokers Are Better Network to deliver top-tier products & services for the benefit of the wholesale community along with bringing on nearly 20 vetted Sponsors. This collaborative effort between AIME and industry-leading vendors has grown to over 30 dedicated industry partnerships providing independent mortgage brokers exclusive access to technology and services that mortgage professionals need to compete in a historically crowded marketplace. She has also overseen the development of a best in class member portal, launched mentorship and job placement services, and ushered in a renewed focus on diversity initiatives through AIME’s Spark and Ignite Programs. 

Katie’s contributions to the growth and success of the wholesale channel has been noted by HousingWire who presented Katie as one of 2020’s Women of Influence within the mortgage industry and Mortgage Professional America who named Katie to the 2020 Mortgage Global 100 list.

Sr Vice President, Forbes Tate Partners

Senior government relations professional Kelley Williams has a demonstrated history of working in the financial services advocacy industry. Skilled in coalition building, banking, and insurance issues. Kelley has been instrumental while working with AIME's advocacy, helping to take AIME's advocacy efforts directly to Capitol Hill.

Broker Owner/Loan Office, K2K Mortgage

With over 15 years in the mortgage industry, Kris started in the back end of mortgage and worked her way forward. Kris has done everything from Foreclosures, to Quality Control, to Selling, to the Secondary Market, to Processor, now all the way to Broker Owner. She loves doing the loans others won't or afraid to touch. Structuring loans is her specialty. Kris opened her own Mortgage Brokerage, K2K Mortgage, at end of 2022.

President and CEO, Harris Capital Mortgage Group

Lamont Harris Jr, President and CEO of Harris Capital Mortgage Group, is a devoted husband of eighteen years and father of three children. He is a proven leader and serial entrepreneur whose past accomplishments have included achieving over $880M in real estate and mortgage sales over his 18-year career.

He began as a loan officer in 2005 working for Apex Financial in Maryland. Because he was raised by military parents, Lamont is hyper focused on one thing, that one thing is “service.” Lamont’s motto is servitude first. He says, “servitude begets gratitude and gratitude creates opportunity, but you don’t serve to just create opportunity, you do so because of how it makes you feel.

Today, in addition to HCMG, Lamont is the owner of the Summerlin Red Rocks FC of the UPSL, he chairs a non-profit organization called “FLAG” which provides Financial Literacy and Education for students and collegiate athletes across 4 states currently and he is the founder of Orange Burst Solar a Las Vegas based solar company with install partners in 26 states.

Mortgage Broker, Major Money Matters

Major dedicated 23yrs to the US Navy before becoming a mortgage lender. He consistently originates 100+ VA purchase loans every year and he is one of the top mortgage brokers in the nation. Through his YouTube channel (@majormoneymatters) and social media channels, he seeks to educate veterans and realtors on why the VA loan is the best loan on the planet. He also mentors and supports a team of 20 loan officers. Major makes his home in Arlington, TX with his wife, Cheryl, and his 3 children but does the majority of his business in Hawaii.

President & CEO, United Wholesale Mortgage

Mat Ishbia is the President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage the No. 1 wholesale mortgage lender in the nation for seven years running and the No. 2 mortgage lender in the nation. Under Mat’s leadership, UWM has soared to new heights, becoming one of the most innovative lenders in the industry.

Prior to joining UWM, Mat played for Michigan State University’s basketball team for four years – going to three Final Fours and winning the National Championship in 2000. He also spent a year coaching alongside Tom Izzo.

After graduating from MSU’s Eli Broad College of Business in 2003, Mat left the MSU basketball program to join the company his father founded, United Wholesale Mortgage. Over the next 10 years, Mat’s sports background, leadership style and dedication to a team-focused business approach enabled him to gain record-breaking wholesale market share and rapidly grow UWM into a leading lending operation.

With his focus on supporting independent mortgage brokers across the country and growing the wholesale channel, Mat has taken UWM from a 12-person company to a nearly 8,000 person team working together on one campus in Pontiac, Michigan. In January 2021, Mat took UWM public in what was the largest SPAC deal at the time (NYSE: UWMC), shining a spotlight on the entire wholesale mortgage channel and elevating the status and value of brokers nationwide. At the end of 2021, UWM broke their previous all-time record of wholesale volume in one year with over $226 billion in mortgage originations.

VP of Education, AIME

Mike Cox has been in the wholesale channel for over a year and has quickly gained footing as a reputable brand and brokerage. His eye-catching brand awareness has made Mortgage Nerds a name that is hard to forget.

Mike transitioned to the broker channel to become Broker Owner of the Mortgage Nerds after 20 years in the retail channel at GSF Corporation. Mike then spearheaded outreach efforts to educate the broker community on industry knowledge as Vice President of Education for AIME. Now, Mike helps AIME promote the wholesale channel to future homebuyers.

Branch Manager, UMortgage

Rebecca is no stranger to shifting lending environments and real estate markets. She began her career in 2001 and has since successfully navigated the ever-changing mortgage industry. With a focus on first time and move up buyers, veterans and clients going through separation and divorce, she differentiates herself with sound technical and guideline knowledge balanced with empathetic and proactive service.

She believes in the power of growing personal wealth through real estate and enjoys advising clients on strategies to help them reach their goals. Branding herself as The Mortgage Mentor™ she demystifies the mortgage process and fosters financial literacy on various social media platforms.

She is licensed in over 25 states and enjoys helping clients reach their homeownership goals. Rebecca has over 140,000 followers on Tiktok and over 11,000 followers on Instagram. These communities have allowed her to be a nationally ranked top originator through Scotsman Guide and an industry thought leader.

Sr. Mortgage Planner & Broker Owner, Grow Mortgage

Voted Top 100 People in Finance nationwide for the past two years running, Russell has proven that he offers his clients the best service and care possible. He has founded two mortgage brokerages and helped countless families find their forever homes.

Whether you are a first time buyer or a seasoned investor, he has the best loan program for you. Russell is a leader that takes time for his team whenever they need it. He stands behind a 100% transparent and open line of communication for clients and staff alike.

Sr. Mortgage Broker, EZ Fundings Inc

Tano Kapedani is a renowned broker of EZ Fundings Home Loans, with over two decades of experience in the industry. He has been instrumental in helping 4,500 families with their mortgage needs, and his reputation as an industry-leading professional is well-known.

His dedication to finding solutions to difficult problems and his ability to converse fluently in five languages make him a highly sought-after professional. He truly goes beyond the call of duty to ensure his clients and business partners are satisfied.

President of Growth, AIME

Tom Ahles, Vice President, and Co-Founder of high-volume brokerage Edge Home Finance has 20 years of experience in financial services, including heading his mortgage brokerage. A dynamic entrepreneur and respected industry professional, Tom ranked among the top 100 mortgage brokers by Scotsman Guide in 2021.

Edge Home Finance has grown from $71 million in originations to $2.8 billion in under ten years and has recently achieved a spot in the top ten AIME Broker Rankings, which are based on production in several categories. Within the past year, the brokerage has hired 150 loan officers, totaling 400 to date, and currently works with 42 different lending partners. Tom has personally recruited 20+ of the new hires from the retail mortgage industry.

President of Barrett Financial Group, LLC

Trevor Barrett is the Mortgage Broker and President of Barrett Financial Group, which he opened in 2002. With over two decades of experience in the industry, he has helped thousands of homeowners and homebuyers across the nation navigate the process of obtaining a mortgage.

Under his leadership, his company has become a trusted resource for clients looking for personalized service, expert advice, and competitive mortgage rates. His dedication to his clients and his deep understanding of the mortgage market have made him a respected figure in the industry.

Over the years, his business has grown and he has been able to expand his team of experts to provide a better service to his clients. He is known for his ability to help clients find the best loan options for their unique needs and financial situations. He is dedicated to helping his clients achieve the dream of homeownership, and his commitment to excellence has earned him a reputation as the top mortgage broker in the state of Arizona.