MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND OPERATIONS TRACK: Driving Sales in 2026
What does it take to drive sustainable retail sales growth in today’s evolving market? This interactive session reveals how top-performing firms are meeting the moment by adapting their sales strategies. Hear proven strategies to leverage data and identify new market opportunities, refine product offerings products and remain competitive, and to drive high performance by combining the right people with the right technology. Sponsored by FICO.
Speakers
Introductions
Amber Christman serves as a Director responsible for client relationships and strategy within the Scores Mortgage and Capital Markets team. Before joining FICO, she spent two years in management consulting at Alpha FMC, focusing on strategy. Earlier in her career, Amber held various roles in marketing, client operations, product management, and business development in the Asset Management sector at BlackRock, Barclays Global Investors, and AllianceBernstein. She earned a degree in Accounting from Saint Mary’s College of California.
Moderator
Jake Vermillion is the Chief Marketing Officer at Mortgage Champions, where he helps lenders strengthen their sales processes and align marketing with what actually drives results. Rooted in his father Dale Vermillion’s OthersFirst philosophy, the Mortgage Champions team has trained over a million loan officers and partnered with more than 700 organizations to build trust, boost conversion, and create lasting customer relationships. Jake has been recognized as a HousingWire Rising Star, Mortgage Maverick, and Top Voice in Mortgage Marketing, but he’s quick to credit clients for the real success. Seeing them move beyond surface-level tactics to achieve long-term impact is what he considers the most rewarding part of the work. He regularly shares insights on sales, marketing, and the mortgage market with over 10,000 professionals on LinkedIn and welcomes conversations at [email protected].
Speakers
Rose Marie David has been a dedicated mortgage industry professional for nearly four decades. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of roles from her start as an underwriter, to broker/owner, top producer and executive director. As a leading originator in the 2000s, she consistently closed over $100 million in annual volume, reaching 500 units at her peak. In 2010, Rose Marie to transition from the front lines to embrace a path that led her to executive leadership within the mortgage industry. In her current role as SVP, Retail Sales Executive for CMG in the West, she has been a key contributor in securing CMG’s ranking as the Scotsman Guide’s #6 Top Retail Independent Mortgage Lender in 2024. Rose Marie joined CMG in 2023 through the acquisition of Homebridge Financial Services, a former top-25 independent retail mortgage banker, where she served as EVP of Retail Lending and co-led retail sales, operations, training, recruiting, and marketing. Under her leadership, the acquisition achieved an exceptional 98% retention rate – a testament of her ability to foster trust, build strong relationships and maintain continuity during significant change. Rose Marie received a 2018 HousingWire Vanguard Award, in recognition of her outstanding leadership accomplishments. Ms. David is the current WMBA Chair and, in prior years, has served on the national MBA Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) and has also participated in advisory boards for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ellie Mae.
Nora Guerra has joined Guild Mortgage as Senior Vice President of Community Lending Solutions, bringing over 25 years of leadership in the mortgage industry. Formerly Senior Manager of National Affordable Lending at Freddie Mac, she championed initiatives that expanded homeownership opportunities. At Guild, she leads programs to expand access to lending, down payment assistance, financial literacy, and community engagement. A recognized leader in the industry, her advocacy has earned her honors including the 2023 Diversity Journal’s Latino Leadership Award, NAMB Leadership and Partner of the Year, Freddie Mac’s CEO Award, and the Norma Shorrock Award for Education and Innovation. She holds a B.S. in Professional Studies with a concentration in Leadership from Purdue University.
Elizabeth leads the lending team, including mortgage sales, mortgage operations and consumer and commercial operations. Elizabeth leads this team with the core principle of serving and supporting credit union members. Joining as a Mortgage Loan Officer in 2011, Elizabeth was promoted to VP Mortgage Lending in 2012, SVP Mortgage Sales in 2020, SVP Mortgage in 2021, and SVP Lending in 2023. Her leadership has grown the lending team from eight to 125+ employees who thrive with the assurance that everyone, from operations to sales, is valued for their contributions. Before joining Elevations in 2011, Elizabeth enjoyed a multifaceted career in real estate and finance, including running her own appraisal business and serving as a mortgage leader for Fortune 500 companies.
Along with a pulse on the mortgage marketplace, PRMG Chief Lending Officer and partner, Kevin Peranio continues to exemplify what it truly means to be an active executive leader in the mortgage industry. Kevin is responsible for overseeing all production, including working with the sales and operations teams within the loan manufacturing process. His primary goal is to enhance the overall customer experience when doing business with PRMG. This includes creating robust reporting features along with consumer facing activities and modern lending technology to ensure accountability at all layers and levels of the process. In his own words, “the inside drives the outside”. Since joining PRMG in 2010, Kevin led the Southeast Region to become the #1 Ranked Region for PRMG, reaching this milestone in record time. This achievement ultimately propelled Kevin to becoming one of the youngest partners at PRMG. Kevin is also a Four-Time President’s Cabinet Member and was recognized by NMP as a Top 40 Under 40. He is a national speaker within the mortgage industry, and has been interviewed on several podcasts, including speaking at HousingWire’s engage.marketing Summit, AIME Fuse, ICE Technology, and other industry events. Most recently, Kevin has become known on LinkedIn for his insightful ‘Walk and Talk’ video posts, and for his Instagram ’KP Talks Dollars and Sense’ Podcast where he shares his perspective and knowledge on a wide range of subjects. Mr. Peranio received his Bachelor of Science in Advertising Business from the University of Texas at Austin.
WYSIWYG Callout
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