The MikedUp Show

Michael Kelleher, Michael Zau
  • 5.0 (1)
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Every mortgage has a story. We help you write yours. Longest running podcast in mortgage. LIVE every Thursday 2 PM EST.

  1. 3d ago

    From Evidence To Influence ft. Drew Gillett

    Attention is easy to chase. Trust is harder to earn. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Drew Gillett, Vice President of Marketing at Guild Mortgage, for a conversation about what mortgage marketing actually needs to become. Drew leads marketing at one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the country, supporting field marketing, marketing training, retail social media, web and digital, content, design, lead management, sales engagement, and special marketing initiatives. His work touches thousands of employees and millions of consumers, but the heart of his approach is simple: help loan officers show up as trusted experts before the first conversation ever happens. That is the core of this episode. The modern loan officer cannot afford to be invisible. In today’s market, borrowers and referral partners are already forming opinions before they ever pick up the phone. They are searching. Watching. Reading. Comparing. Looking for signs that someone knows what they are doing. Drew explains why personal brand is no longer optional for mortgage professionals. It is not about becoming internet famous. It is about becoming recognizable, reliable, and trusted in the markets you serve. This episode gets into the difference between promotion and proof. Promotion tells people you are good. Proof shows them. That distinction matters. Drew makes the case that the best mortgage content is not built around clever hooks or empty posts. It is built around evidence. Real advice. Clear explanations. Market knowledge. Consistent presence. The kind of content that makes someone say, “This person understands the problem I am trying to solve.” Drew also shares the thinking behind his book, From Post to Close, a practical guide for mortgage professionals who know they need to be visible but do not know what to say, how to start, or how to turn content into real business. His view is clear: your story is your edge, but only if it helps people trust you. The conversation also touches on AI in marketing, but from a practical lens. Drew is not interested in hype. He is interested in whether AI helps teams move faster, test better ideas, remove busy work, and give loan officers more time to do the human parts of the job well. Technology should not replace relationships. It should strengthen them. That theme runs through the entire episode. Marketing does not replace trust. Content does not replace service. AI does not replace judgment. The best mortgage marketing supports the relationship before, during, and after the transaction. Drew also talks about leadership, standards, ownership, and what it takes to run a marketing team that serves both the company and the field. His approach is calm, clear, and focused on execution. Know what good looks like. Own your part. Deliver without drama. This episode is for loan officers, marketing leaders, branch managers, mortgage executives, and anyone trying to build a brand that earns business the right way. Because in this market, being known is not enough. You need to be trusted. 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 gives lenders real time checks before money moves. https://www.fundingshield.com/ ...

    From Evidence To Influence ft. Drew Gillett

  2. Aug 3

    Originator Operating System ft. Max Leaman

    What would a mortgage company look like if it was built around the way top loan officers actually work? In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Max Leaman, CEO of LoanPeople, for a conversation about what it takes to build a platform that helps originators perform at a higher level without losing the parts of the business that matter most. Max brings the rare perspective of someone who has lived the loan officer role at an elite level. Over a 20 plus year originator career, he funded more than $4 billion in loan volume, averaging over $300 million per year during the last decade. Scotsman Guide ranked him as the number one Texas originator by volume. That experience shaped how he thinks about the mortgage business today. LoanPeople was built by a loan officer, for loan officers. That matters because the best originators do not just need a company name behind them. They need an operating system that helps them win. They need pricing that is competitive without weakening service. They need communication that keeps Realtors and business partners confident. They need operations that understand urgency. They need tools that support production instead of slowing it down. They need a company that knows what it feels like to be on the front line with borrowers, agents, deadlines, expectations, and pressure. This episode is about building that kind of environment. Max breaks down the two principles that guide LoanPeople. First, customers deserve great rates without sacrificing service. Second, Realtors and business partners deserve five star communication, real solutions, and on time closings. Simple ideas, but difficult to execute consistently. That is where the operating system comes in. The conversation focuses on what originators actually need in today’s market. Not another vague promise of support. Not another tool that creates more work. Not another platform designed by people who have never carried a pipeline. The modern originator needs a system that connects pricing, process, communication, service, and execution in a way that helps them grow their business and protect their relationships. Max also shares what his own production career taught him about discipline, responsiveness, and building trust with referral partners. When you have personally produced at the highest level, you understand where deals break, where communication fails, and where companies create unnecessary friction for their own sales teams. That perspective now drives how LoanPeople is built. This episode is for loan officers, branch leaders, mortgage executives, Realtors, and anyone thinking about what the next version of mortgage production should look like. Because the future is not just about having better technology. It is about building a better system around the producer. 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 gives lenders real time checks before money moves. https://www.fundingshield.com/ Addy AI Addy AI helps mortgage teams handle rep...

    Originator Operating System ft. Max Leaman

  3. Jul 20

    Leading With Value ft. Kevin Peranio

    Value in mortgage is not just about rate. It is about trust. It is about communication. It is about execution. It is about whether the inside of the company is strong enough to deliver what the outside is promising. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer and partner at PRMG, for a conversation about leadership, customer experience, accountability, and what it really means to lead with value in today’s mortgage market. Kevin oversees all production at PRMG and works closely with both sales and operations. His leadership is centered on improving the full customer experience, from the first conversation to the final closing. That includes better reporting, stronger accountability, modern lending technology, consumer facing tools, and a clear connection between what happens behind the scenes and what the borrower actually feels. As Kevin puts it, the inside drives the outside. That idea sits at the center of this episode. Mortgage companies often talk about better service, better technology, better communication, and better execution. But Kevin explains why none of that matters if the internal structure is weak. If sales and operations are disconnected, if reporting is unclear, if teams do not know where the file stands, or if leadership is not aligned, the borrower experience suffers. Kevin brings the perspective of someone who has seen multiple eras of the mortgage industry. His career began in 2001. He worked at First Magnus Financial across Texas and Florida, seeing firsthand how different markets behaved during a fast changing lending cycle. He later served as Chief Operating Officer at North Star Lending, helping build a local lender after the financial crisis by applying lessons learned from one of the most difficult periods in mortgage history. Since joining PRMG in 2010, Kevin helped lead the Southeast Region to become the number one ranked region in the company, reaching that milestone in record time. That success helped make him one of the youngest partners at PRMG. He is also a four time President’s Cabinet member, an NMP Top 40 Under 40 honoree, a national speaker, and a respected industry voice through his Walk and Talk videos on LinkedIn and KP Talks Dollars and Sense on Instagram. This conversation covers what value actually means in today’s market. Not as a slogan. Not as a sales pitch. As a daily operating standard. Kevin talks about the importance of overcommunication during difficult markets, why accountability has to exist at every layer of the process, and how leaders can use reporting and technology to create clarity instead of noise. The episode also looks back at the industry’s past. Kevin reflects on the expansion of the credit box in the mid 2000s, the rise of independent mortgage bankers, the lessons of the global financial crisis, and why responsible lending still matters today. For loan officers, this episode is a reminder that value is not created by talking louder than the competition. It is created by knowing the product, communicating clearly, solving problems quickly, and making the borrower feel guided through one of the biggest financial decisions of their life. For leaders, it is a reminder that culture shows up in the file. If the team is aligned, the customer feels it. If the team is not aligned, the customer feels that too. 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 reduc...

    Leading With Value ft. Kevin Peranio

  4. Jul 13

    Built For The Moment ft. LaTasha Waddy | S05E04

    Some leaders are prepared for the role before the title arrives. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with LaTasha Waddy, President of NFM Lending, for a conversation about leadership, timing, responsibility, and what it takes to guide a major mortgage organization through a changing market. LaTasha brings more than two decades of experience across legal affairs, corporate finance, contract management, regulatory compliance, and executive leadership. Before becoming President of NFM Lending, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, overseeing legal, compliance, and regulatory matters across the NFM Family of Lenders. That background matters. In a mortgage market where growth, risk, compliance, culture, and customer trust all collide at once, LaTasha brings a leadership style built on clarity, preparation, and accountability. She understands the pressure of the current moment because she has spent her career helping companies make better decisions when the stakes are high. This episode is about what it means to be built for the moment. Not just when the market is easy. Not just when volume is high. But when leadership requires discipline, patience, purpose, and the ability to bring people with you. LaTasha shares how her legal and corporate finance background shaped the way she leads today, how strong governance can support growth instead of slowing it down, and why responsible innovation matters in mortgage banking. She also discusses the importance of building teams that understand both the business and the people behind the business. A major part of the conversation centers on impact. LaTasha has been a key voice in advancing NFM Lending’s mission to create more responsible and accessible paths to homeownership. Her work helped support the launch of NFM’s Special Purpose Credit initiative, designed to help remove barriers to homeownership and expand opportunities for generational wealth in underserved communities. Her leadership was recently recognized by HousingWire, naming her one of the 2025 Women of Influence. But this conversation goes beyond recognition. It focuses on the work behind the award, the responsibility that comes with leadership, and the importance of using influence to create real change. LaTasha also brings a personal passion for financial literacy. As the author of a children’s book series focused on normalizing conversations about money, she believes financial education should start early and should feel accessible to every family. This episode is for mortgage leaders, loan officers, executives, operations teams, compliance professionals, and anyone thinking seriously about the future of housing. Because the next chapter of mortgage will require leaders who understand more than production. It will require leaders who understand people, risk, responsibility, community, and long term impact. LaTasha Waddy is one of those leaders. 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 gives lenders real time checks before money moves. https...

    Built For The Moment ft. LaTasha Waddy | S05E04

  5. Jul 6

    Stop Calling Everything AI ft. Quinton Harris | S05E03

    Not everything with automation is AI. And not every “AI tool” is actually changing the business. In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Quinton Harris, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Texana Bank Mortgage, for a straight conversation about what mortgage leaders are getting right and wrong when it comes to AI, growth, and strategy. Quinton brings more than two decades of mortgage experience to the table. Since entering the business in 2002, he has built and led high performing teams, mentored more than 200 loan officers, and helped drive over $6 billion in purchase and refinance production. His previous team ranked as the top branch company wide for ten straight years and held the number one market share in Northeast Florida from 2020 to 2024. That kind of growth does not happen by chasing trends. It happens by knowing what actually moves the business. This episode gets into one of the biggest problems in mortgage right now. Everyone is talking about AI, but too many people are using the term for anything that feels new, automated, or slightly faster than before. Quinton breaks down why leaders need to stop labeling everything AI and start asking better questions. What problem are we solving? Is this helping the loan officer? Is this improving the borrower experience? Is this creating more trust, more speed, or more clarity? Or is it just another tool that sounds impressive but does not change the outcome? The conversation also covers what it means to lead growth inside a modern mortgage company. Quinton shares lessons from building dominant local market share, developing loan officers, staying connected to customers, and turning strategy into execution. As one of the first 100 Certified Mortgage Advisors in the country and host of the podcast What’s Your 1 More, Quinton brings a practical view of leadership that is rooted in discipline, communication, and doing the next right thing consistently. This episode is for mortgage executives, branch leaders, loan officers, marketers, and technology teams who are tired of buzzwords and want a clearer way to think about what actually matters. AI may be part of the future. But clarity, leadership, and execution still win. 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 gives lenders real time checks before money moves. https://www.fundingshield.com/ Addy AI Addy AI helps mortgage teams handle repetitive work, respond faster, and keep borrower communication moving. It gives teams practical AI tools built around real lending tasks. https://addy.com/ TRUE TRUE helps mortgage companies use AI to clean up loan files, reduce manual work, and improve speed across operations. It is built for lenders that need better execution without adding more complexity. https://true.ai/ Covered Insurance Covered Insurance helps make insurance easier for borrowers, lenders, and real estate partn...

    Stop Calling Everything AI ft. Quinton Harris | S05E03

  6. Jun 22

    The Plug In Producer ft. Brandon Durham | S05E02

    What happens when the loan officer stops waiting for the tech stack and starts building the workflow themselves? In this episode of The MikedUp Show, Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Brandon Durham for a conversation about a major shift happening inside the mortgage industry. The old question was simple. Do you buy the technology or build it yourself? But now there is a third answer. The producer. Top loan officers are no longer just using the tools handed to them. They are starting to create their own websites, campaigns, automations, follow up systems, and daily workflows with the help of AI, low code tools, prompt writing, and new builder platforms. That changes everything. Because when producers can build around the way they actually work, the gap between the company system and the field reality starts to shrink. This conversation is about what happens next. What does leadership do when the best producers start moving faster than the company stack? How should mortgage companies support builders without losing control? What happens when an LO can test ideas, launch campaigns, and create systems without waiting months for approval? And most importantly, how does the industry rethink the role of the modern producer? This episode is not about replacing people with technology. It is about giving the right people better tools. It is about speed, ownership, creativity, and the next version of mortgage production. Catch the full episode on 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 gives lenders real time checks before money moves. https://www.fundingshield.com/ Addy AI Addy AI helps mortgage teams handle repetitive work, respond faster, and keep borrower communication moving. It gives teams practical AI tools built around real lending tasks. https://addy.com/ TRUE TRUE helps mortgage companies use AI to clean up loan files, reduce manual work, and improve speed across operations. It is built for lenders that need better execution without adding more complexity. https://true.ai/ Covered Insurance Covered Insurance helps make insurance easier for borrowers, lenders, and real estate partners. It supports the home buying process by helping customers compare options and secure coverage with less friction. https://itscovered.com/

    The Plug In Producer ft. Brandon Durham | S05E02

  7. Jun 18

    Stop Playing It Safe ft. Rick Roque | S05E01

    Season 5 of The MikedUp Show starts with a conversation that cuts straight into what mortgage leaders need to be thinking about right now. Michael Kelleher and Michael Zau sit down with Rick Roque, CMB of NFM Lending, for a direct conversation about where the mortgage industry is headed, what leaders need to stop ignoring, and why waiting for rates to come down is not a strategy. This is not another episode about AI replacing people. This is about what happens when AI, data, borrower expectations, and broken internal processes all collide at the same time. Rick brings a clear message to the industry. Lower rates may help volume, but they will not fix the deeper issues that have built up across mortgage companies over the last cycle. They will not fix weak borrower engagement. They will not fix slow operations. They will not fix technology that teams do not use. They will not fix leadership teams still making decisions for a market that no longer exists. The borrower relationship has changed. Closing the loan does not mean you own the relationship. Borrowers today are being pulled in every direction by servicers, banks, real estate portals, mobile apps, national lenders, and platforms that already have their attention. If lenders want to keep that customer, the work has to continue after closing. This episode focuses on what that really means. Rick and the Mikes talk about the next version of the mortgage company. Not the one with the biggest vendor list or the loudest AI headline, but the one that can actually move faster, understand its data, keep borrowers engaged, and use technology in places where it creates real leverage. The conversation also gets into the uncomfortable part of AI. AI will not magically clean up a bad process. It will expose it. If the handoff is broken, if the data is messy, if the borrower experience is disconnected, AI will not hide that. It will make it more obvious. The companies that win the next cycle will be the ones willing to look honestly at how they operate. They will know where the borrower relationship is being lost. They will know which parts of the process are slowing people down. They will know where technology helps and where human connection still matters most. They will not wait for the old normal to return. Because the old normal is not coming back. This episode is for mortgage executives, loan officers, operators, technology leaders, and anyone trying to understand what leadership looks like in the next chapter of housing finance. Season 5 is here. The conversation starts now. ALL Episodes:  https://www.mikedupshow.com Follow Adopt The Brand : https://www.linkedin.com/company/adopt-the-brand MikedUp Show is powered by: Truework Truework helps mortgage lenders verify income and employment faster, with less back and forth for borrowers and lending teams. It gives lenders a cleaner way to confirm borrower information and keep files moving. https://www.truework.com/ FundingShield FundingShield helps protect mortgage transactions from wire fraud, payoff fraud, and closing risk. Their tools help lenders verify key parties, documents, and funds before money moves. https://www.fundingshield.com/ Addy AI Addy AI helps mortgage teams respond faster, organize communication, and reduce the manual work that slows down borrower engagement. It gives teams a smarter way to manage conversations and keep deals moving. https...

    Stop Playing It Safe ft. Rick Roque | S05E01

  8. Apr 13

    Human Lending : Beyond The Transaction ft. Darryl Caffee

    Darryl Caffee, Senior Vice President at Webster Five, joins Mike’d Up to discuss what it really takes to build a long-term career in mortgage and why most professionals misunderstand the path early on. With a background spanning law, operations, collections, and executive leadership, Darryl brings a full-cycle perspective on lending that goes beyond production and into performance, policy, and purpose. Key topics in this episode: • Why saying yes early in your career creates more opportunity than planning your path • How speed and quality of execution build reputation faster than experience • The shift from job mindset to career mindset in mortgage • Why understanding the full loan lifecycle matters beyond origination • What loan officers miss about investor expectations and loan performance • The role of collections and loss mitigation in shaping better leaders • Why empathy and communication are critical in borrower relationships • Transitioning from production into leadership and what it actually requires • How community banks approach lending differently than large institutions • The importance of CRA lending in today’s affordability environment • Why products and programs matter more than ever for underserved borrowers • How down payment assistance and grant programs drive real opportunity • Building trust and long-term relationships in local communities • Why advocacy and legislative involvement impact your ability to lend • The importance of understanding policy, compliance, and regulation This episode focuses on perspective over tactics. It highlights the importance of understanding how the entire mortgage ecosystem works, from origination to servicing to policy, and why that knowledge separates strong operators from long-term leaders. Sponsors: TrueWork Income verification simplified into one platform, helping lenders reduce costs, improve completion rates, and close faster with verified data https://www.truework.com/2026-mikedup?utm_source__c=MikedUp&utm_medium__c=Podcast-Sponsorship&utm_campaign__c=Q1-2026-MikedUp FundingShield Real-time transaction verification and wire fraud protection to safeguard mortgage closings and prevent loss of funds https://www.fundingshield.com

    Human Lending : Beyond The Transaction ft. Darryl Caffee
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About

Every mortgage has a story. We help you write yours. Longest running podcast in mortgage. LIVE every Thursday 2 PM EST.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Kelleher, Michael Zau
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    90
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    The MikedUp Show