GENERAL SESSION: Grace Under Fire: Turning Workplace Conflict into Opportunity
Conflict is inevitable—and how you handle it defines your impact. In this dynamic and engaging session, executive coach Nicole Provonchee helps you reframe conflict as a normal, necessary part of high-performance workplaces - and navigate it with improved skill. We start by unpacking your earliest conflict frameworks—often formed at home—then build a stronger model: respond, don’t react. Drawing from the groundbreaking work, you’ll explore common conflict triggers, identify your own, and learn how they hijack your responses. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies to navigate conflict with more grace, confidence, and clarity—making you a stronger communicator, a better teammate, and a more effective leader. Sponsored by Cotality.
Speakers
Introductions
Terri has spent over 25 years in the mortgage industry applying technology across different business models and use cases to enable lenders to grow profitably. Prior to Cotality formerly CoreLogic, Terri was a mortgage industry advisory for emerging FinTech and PropTech companies to help them shape and execute their GTM strategies inside the complex mortgage ecosystem. From 2017 to 2021, she served as a vice president at ICE Mortgage Technology (PKA Ellie Mae, Inc), where she led diverse teams to achieve revenue goals and to nurture customer relationships. Her roles included the general manager for AllRegs, an investor guideline and compliance utility, vice president of the account management function encompassing all customer segments and products, and vice president of enterprise sales. Terri has also held leadership roles at Fannie Mae, where she served for nineteen years in diverse roles such as director of research and development for Desktop Underwriter, managing director of eBusiness Sales and Consulting, head of broker sales for Desktop Originator, vice president of Single Family business, and vice president of Multi-Cultural Lending where she built a patented mortgage fulfillment process for broker-originated loans that relieved Fannie Mae lenders of reps and warrants. During her seven-year tenure at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Terri launched the first commercially available AI-based credit underwriting tools in mortgage lending, pmiAURA™ and pmiTERRA™. She also serves on the BOD for the Women of ALICE, a 501c3 organization that champions women in the mortgage finance industry.
Speakers
Nicole Provonchee is an executive coach and speaker who helps senior women leaders navigate the complex realities of leadership with confidence, clarity, and resilience. As the founder of Bright Blue Consulting, she draws on more than 25years of executive and strategic experience — including leadership roles in healthcare, consulting, and communications — to guide high-achieving women at the VP and C-suite levels to amplify their impact and own their power. With a blend of executive insight, coaching rigor, and unflinching honesty, Nicole helps women overcome the inner and external barriers that often stand between them and the next level of success. Her clients include senior leaders at Fortune 50 companies, fast-growing startups, and influential nonprofits. Known for her candid, practical, and research-backed approach, Nicole is a sought-after speaker on topics including strategic influence, managing up, career-limiting behaviors, the art of negotiation, and redefining work/life balance. Her keynotes and workshops deliver both inspiration and immediate takeaways — always tailored to help women lead more effectively and sustainably. In addition to her executive and team coaching and corporate programs, Nicole serves as an Executive Coach at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and as a mentor and strategist at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and the Center for Nonprofit Management. She holds an MBA with a concentration in strategy, executive coach certification, and advanced training in mindfulness and group facilitation.

