TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1285919
M R EP O RT | 35 Alison Orlans President & CEO, Orlans PC & eTITLE Agency Alison Orlans brings a can-do entrepreneurial spirit to the legal services side of the real estate and mortgage servicing industries. In 2009, she formed Atlantic Law Group and in 2017, she led the merger of three law firms to launch Orlans PC. Orlans also leads eTITLE, a highly skilled title agency that has redefined land research and settlement with a tech-enabled, five-star experience. In January, Orlans teamed with her mother, Linda Orlans, to create Revlegal, a legal operations and innovation consultation company. Orlans has built a core-purpose driven organization with strong values and employee engagement at its core. She charted a path to enhance Orlans' culture through a variety of employee-centric programs and committees focused on client service, process improvement, charitable contributions and volunteerism, innovation, employee appreciation, diversity, and wellness initiatives. Employees benefit from enhanced lifestyle benefits, classroom and online training, and programs to celebrate the employee experience and tenure with Orlans. Under her leadership, Orlans PC has been recognized as a Top Workplace, National Best and Brightest in Wellness, and has received USFN's Diamond Award of Excellence 11 consecutive years. Orlans is also active outside of her companies with numerous professional affiliations and she sits on several nonprofit boards. "Our team has worked together to build a special culture, and I'm so honored to be recognized," Orlans said. "I am proud of what our industry-leading team accomplishes every day on behalf of our clients and each other." Ruth Price First VP, Compliance & Oversight, Bayview Loan Servicing LLC "This nomination means so much to me," Price said, "as there are so many strong and talented women in our industry and to be selected to stand alongside the other nominees, makes me very proud." When reflecting on her career path and the strong leaders that mentored her through her 34 years in the mortgage servicing industry, Price said she found coaching and mentoring employees to success to be one of the greatest joys of her job. "A positive culture is critical at all times as we work toward our company's mission and goals. " Price has worked in many areas of mortgage servicing, and said she had loved each of her roles. During her early years at BancPLUS Mortgage in San Antonio, she started as a line-level processor in foreclosure. She said she never turned down an opportunity. "You cannot be afraid to take a step sideways or back to increase your knowledge and grow in your career," she said. Within her current role at Bayview Loan Servicing, managing the Compliance Analysis and Implementation teams and the Customer Support Written Correspondence team, Price has the opportunity to bring business leaders together to solve problems, look for ways to enhance processes, and bridge identified gaps. She strives to lead difficult and complex discussions with a patient and pleasant demeanor, encouraging collaborative conversations. She is extremely proud to have been a part of the mortgage servicing industry through all of these years. "We continue to grow and improve as an industry and work to provide an excellent customer experience, which is our ultimate goal." Tracy Stephan VP Innovation, Fannie Mae Tracy Stephan first gained national attention in 2015 for leading the data effort in Fannie Mae's FUSE program, which implemented a modern enterprise data infrastructure to handle trading, operations, and accounting activities. The program earned Fannie Mae recognition in Information Week's Elite 100 for Innovation. Stephan is responsible for leading Fannie's Enterprise Innovation Team, which researches, tests, and applies new and impactful solutions to make the mortgage process easier and more efficient. Her team joins Fannie Mae's customer- facing business units to build partnerships with emerging technology firms. Her team strengthens the culture of innovation within Fannie Mae by sharing research and insights through internal newsletters, workshops, and podcasts. Tracy's team also created The Pitch, an internal crowdsourcing platform that enables employees to present and vote on innovative ideas. By investing in internal entrepreneurs, new tools like Community First by Fannie Mae™, an online tool that provides nonprofits access to purchase foreclosed homes in their communities, have been brought to life. Tracy spearheaded the creation of The Exchange®, a data and public API platform that provides free access to housing, economic, and finance data. "Building a culture that prioritizes forward thinking and continual learning is incredibly important to me, my team, and the work I lead," Stephan said. "I am honored to be recognized as a woman in the housing industry that's fostering innovative teams and outcomes."