TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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TH E M R EP O RT | 41 TOP 25 INDUSTRY LEADERS & INFLUENCERS Special Section Rocky Stubbs SVP, HEAD OF DIRECT LENDING, FLAGSTAR BANK YEARS IN INDUSTRY: 15 R ocky Stubbs help lead the industry through one of its darkest hours. Currently with Flagstar, Stubbs helmed JPMorgan Chase's foreclosure prevention group in the country's hardest hit markets during the financial crisis, which successfully helped over 100,000 struggling customers avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes. An innovative and strategic mind, he has an industry reputation as a bold innovator who is highly skilled at leading rapid growth agendas. His passion for design- ing incredible customer experiences using leading edge digital tools is second to none. He is one of the few industry leaders to crack the code on scaling purchase business in a direct lending channel. While most scaled (2Bb+) consumer direct lenders struggle to get over 10 percent purchase mix, Stubbs' team achieved over 40 percent purchase while de- livering industry leading customer and Real- tor satisfaction scores. Stubbs has rapidly put Flagstar Bank on the map as a competitive player in the digital lending arena for both mortgage and the home equity businesses. He continues to be a strong thought leader for the industry in the areas of digital lending, artificial intelligence, digital assistants, and customer experience. He attributes the reason for his success to a group of strong mentors. He always prefers useful feedback to acco- lades in his effort to be continually improv- ing. "I call Rocky 'the maestro'. He's like an orchestra leader pulling all of the instruments into the music at the right time. Everyone is welcome around the table and encouraged to weigh in," shared David Dickey, EVP at Guaranteed Rate Affinity. Cheryl Travis- Johnson EVP AND COO, VRM MORTGAGE SERVICES AND CO-FOUNDER, COUNCIL FOR INCLUSION IN FINANCIAL SERVICES YEARS IN INDUSTRY: 30+ S ince joining VRM in 2008, Cheryl Travis-Johnson has been responsible for developing and rolling out VRMU, one of the leading training vehicles for real estate professionals. She is committed to developing nontraditional services to mitigate losses associated with nonperforming loans. As a director on the board of PCV/VRM Seeds of Hope nonprofit, Travis-Johnson leverages philanthropy to support neighborhood stabi- lization efforts. Immediately prior to joining VRM, Travis-Johnson served as Director of REO Sales Operations for Freddie Mac, during which time she received Freddie Mac's Premier Achievement Award. She is the Co-founder for the Council for Inclusion in Financial Services (CIFS), an industry initiative created to help the financial services industry develop and sustain an inclusive workforce and promote finan- cial literacy so more Americans have access to wealth management tools. The CIFS was initially formed to address the requirements of Section 342 of The Dodd-Frank Act that relate to supplier utilization, women, and minori- ties in senior leadership roles. Travis-Johnson received her bachelor's in Economics from Mills College as well as an MBA and Doctor- ate from Walden University. She was a 2018 nominee for the Five Star Conference Keystone Award—recognizing female leaders in housing and mortgage. VRM has invested more than $90 million in veteran-owned businesses since 2012, a cause Travis-Johnson has championed. "Our support of veterans is about their future and the future of our country," Cheryl Travis- Johnson said. "Engaging veteran-owned, small businesses through our extensive, results-driven network boosts the economic opportunities for veterans year-over-year," she said. Andrea Tromberg OWNER, TROMBERG LAW GROUP YEARS IN INDUSTRY: 13 A ndrea Tromberg began her legal ca- reer as a public defender and then a criminal defense attorney, trying over 100 jury trials. This taught her to think on her feet and exposed her to a broad array of differ ent people, backgrounds, and personalities. These experiences provided many useful lessons, including the ability to deal with differences of opinion by stepping back and considering who is delivering the message, and why. Tromberg has spent the last 10 years in default litigation and runs a mid-size firm in Florida, which also practices in Puerto Rico. She prides herself on her firm's diversity, with management compris- ing primarily women and all ethnicities and races. Her colleagues say that Tromberg leads by example, with patience, ethics, care, brilliance, and dignity, as well as a commit- ment to always doing the right thing. When dealing with an employee who is having a difficult time, Tromberg will attempt to un- derstand the person's issues and the reasons behind that struggle, while also ensuring they understand that she cares. Tromberg consistently promotes her employees and gives them opportunities to grow and make a name for themselves in our industry. Trom- berg is currently serving her second term as the America Legal Financial Network's first female Chairperson of the Board of Direc- tors. She is also dedicated to charitable causes such as the Boys and Girls Club and Breast Cancer Awareness, and she recently attended the Five Star PR18 Summit in Puerto Rico to help find solutions to assist with the island's ongoing recovery. TH Cheryl Travis-Johnson EVP AND COO, VRM MORTGAGE SERVICES Since joining VRM in 2008, Cheryl Travis-Johnson has been responsible for developing and rolling out VRMU, one of the leading training vehicles for real estate professionals. She is com- mitted to developing nontraditional services to mitigate losses associated with nonperforming loans. As a direc- tor on the board of PCV/VRM Seeds of Hope nonprofit, Travis-Johnson leverages philanthropy to support neighborhood stabilization efforts. Immediately prior to joining VRM, Travis-Johnson served as Director of REO Sales Operations for Freddie Mac, during which time she received Freddie Mac's Premier Achievement Award. She is the Co-founder for the Council for Inclusion in Financial Services (CIFS), an industry initiative created to help the financial services industry develop and sustain an inclu- sive workforce and promote financial literacy so more Americans have ac- cess to wealth management tools. The CIFS was initially formed to address the requirements of Section 342 of The Dodd-Frank Act that relate to sup- plier utilization, women, and minorities in senior leadership roles. Rullah Price SVP, COMMUNITY OUTREACH DIRECTOR, WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE Since joining Wells Fargo in 2005, Rullah Price has played an integral role in helping the company fulfill its important commitment to customers and communities. Price leads various Wells Fargo initiatives focusing on homeownership. This includes Home Preservation Events, many in col- laboration with nonprofits, meeting individually with customers seeking options to prevent foreclosure. She developed Wells Fargo's first disaster mobile response unit, an "office on wheels" bringing information directly to customers and communities to help with the recovery process. Price leads the Military Home Donation Program, which has donated more than 350 homes to veterans in all 50 states. A champion of diversity and inclusion, Price is a Region Chair for the compa- ny's Women's Team Member Network. As a colleague said, "Rullah has a man- agement style that promotes growth and challenges those around her to ex- cel at what they do. She is dedicated, genuine, and has a visible passion for developing initiatives." Miriam Moore DIVISION PRESIDENT, SERVICELINK Miriam Moore brings more years' expertise and best in default services operational agement, performance, innovation. In her role at Moore is responsible for management and performance loss mitigation title, preforeclosure tle, REO title and close, ASAP, solutions and field services as well as the expansion products and services to vicers' strategic needs. Moore responsible for ServiceLink Powered by Hudson and Prior to her time at ServiceLink, Moore spent 23 years at Processing Services, most as the Senior Managing Director Default Title and ASAP division, prior to that she was an with Levinson and Lieberman. received her bachelor's from University of California at in economics and sociology Juris Doctorate from the of Southern California. She member of the California and is based in ServiceLink's California office.