[New] Austin, don’t go brokering heart.

Don’t miss out on the event Texas LOs LOVE the most! The Texas Mortgage Roundup returns to Austin on February 14, 2023, and we’d love for you to join us there. Create long-lasting relationships, and ensure your success in one of the hottest mortgage markets in the nation.

With educational sessions, product showcases, networking opportunities, and more, it’s no wonder the Texas Mortgage Roundup is Texas’s favorite event for mortgage professionals. Not to mention the event is completely free for attendees when you use the code NMPFREE.* And don’t miss the free continuing education class offered the following day, exclusive to conference attendees, our Valentine gift to you!

Twyla Hankins

Executive Vice President of Operations

AMERICAN

FINANCIAL NETWORK INC.

With over 40 years of experience, Twyla Hankins has experienced the good and the bad of the mortgage industry.

On the positive side, “The president of a national mortgage lender who turned off my computer monitor and told me to leave the office to go to my son’s recital when he knew how important it was to my family for me to be present, teaching me an important lesson about work/life balance that I have used in my governance for the last 20 years,” she recalled.

“With a previous employer, a data entry issue was discovered after new software was implemented. It was suggested by the IT director that the data could be mass-updated on a lookback and we could do it correctly going forward. This was a good solution from one angle, but he was not fully aware of the implications.

The erroneous data meant we owed borrowers refunds of daily interest overpaid. I informed the executive team … and checks were cut to hundreds of borrowers. It was a tough pill to swallow, but it was absolutely the right thing to do.”

She even sees the positive in the negative. “Lulls are always followed by fantastic surges.”

Dean Kelker

Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer SINGLESOURCE PROPERTY

Solutions

Dean Kelker saw the writing on the wall. His job in the steel industry had little to any future due to increased steel imports. Kelker saw the growth potential of real estate, specifically in appraisals.

Mentors played a big influence. “Due to the long duration of my career, I have had many mentors and influences. The common thread with my mentors, particularly during the formative stages of my career, was that in every case, my mentors required me to work outside of my comfort zone so that I learned new skills and techniques to accomplish my goals and objectives.

“In addition to providing career and functional challenges, each of my mentors provided a secure environment and active feedback so that in exploring and developing new skills there was always some level of a safety net to prevent a catastrophic failure,” Kelker recalled.

The mentee has become a mentor. “The best advice I can give to mortgage professionals struggling in the current environment is to think outside of the box and find creative solutions to contemporary challenges. During periods of rapid change or negative influences in the market, new opportunities are created that didn’t exist in the recent past.”

Chris Knight Group CEO OPTEON

Chris Knight could be best described as a titan of action. He has steered Opteon through four American acquisitions (Valuation Partners, William Fall Group, Valucentric, Northeastern Appraisal Associates) over the last 12 months. Melding four businesses into one highperforming, well-oiled machine is no easy feat, but Knight has managed to do so without missing a beat and having a laugh. Knight is not only the US team’s director, but as Group CEO, is leading both Opteon’s Australian and New Zealand businesses as well. Regardless of which time zone he’s speaking to, he ensures the team feels his support and availability.

Under Knight’s leadership, Opteon USA is developing technology that will drastically shorten turn times. Bolstering the staff’s confidence in this technology is the fact that

Knight has already brought similarly focused technology to Australian and New Zealand with great success. For over a decade, the brand’s counterparts in AU and NZ have maintained twoday average turn time averages, with a significant percentage of files returned same day.

That’s evident in the advice he offers struggling mortgage professionals. “All markets work in cycles — hold on and stay tough through the difficult times and have a strong belief that the season will change.”