The Insight Interviews - Powered by Rewire

Currently Senior Director of Strategic and Executive Communications for a major U.S. nonprofit, Joel Schwartzberg also teaches communication and presentation skills to clients including American Express, State Farm Insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Comedy Central, and the Brennan Center for Justice. Joel’s books include The Language of Leadership and Get to the Point! and his articles appear in H...

Lindsay Helm is a professional coach and successful entrepreneur driven by a passion for helping others pursue their unknowable potential and face life’s challenges with confidence. After a catastrophic injury left her husband paralyzed, their road through rehab inspired them to create Stand Strong Training Center, a fitness and athletic facility in their hometown, where they train able-bodied adu...

Stanley C. Middleman is the founder and CEO of Freedom Mortgage Corporation, one of the largest and fastest growing full-service mortgage companies in the country. He is a nationally recognized business strategist, investor and philanthropist with over 30 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry. Since founding Freedom Mortgage in 1990, he has grown the company into one of the nation’s...

In this episode Steve, Jason, and previous guests discuss: Bringing up gratitude Gratitude for life and family Career, education and technology Mentors and leaders   Key Takeaways:  People often aren’t prepared to be asked what they’re grateful for and that’s what makes their responses interesting, because it’s genuine. Bringing up gratitude sets up an environment of beauty, joy and peac...

Robert J. Kohlhepp joined Cintas Corporation in July 1967 as controller. Over a span of 50 years with Cintas, he was promoted to positions of general manager, vice president and treasurer, executive vice president, president, and CEO, then served as Vice Chair and Board Chair until retiring in 2016. Additionally, Kohlhepp has served on several association, corporation, nonprofit and university boa...

Timothy M. Franz, Ph. D., is an Organizational Psychologist, Professor of Psychology, and Chair at St. John Fisher College. In addition to his academic role, he also works as an organizational consultant through his firm, Franz Consulting. His new book, with coathor Seth R. Silver, Ed. D., is Meaningful Partnership at Work: How the Workplace Covenant Ensures Mutual Accountability and Success betwe...

About Erica McCurdy: She is absolutely passionate about the potential of people. While she started her career as an executive in the telecom industry, she found her passion in entrepreneurism and in helping others explore their passion. As an ICF Certified Coach, Erica is an expert at helping high-performing people achieve their goals and find their best next step. She has built several companies...

Tony has over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the real estate industry. Before joining Atlas, he was responsible for seven states in the Mountain West for the largest mortgage company in the U.S. Today, Tony leads the overall strategy and direction of Atlas while maintaining a relentless commitment to the firm’s values and culture.   In this episode Steve and Tony discuss: Deve...

Steve is a nationally recognized speaker, motivator, consultant, and coach. He has spoken to over 350,000 professionals at over 750 lending institutions across the US. He has taught accredited continuing education classes for real estate professionals, been adjunct faculty at the Sellinger Business School at Loyola University Maryland and Towson University, spoke as a guest lecturer at the Busines...

Todd is a Sales Entrepreneur with over 5,000,000 students around the globe that he has mentored and taught in real estate, mortgage, banking and financial services. He started as a Real Estate Broker and Licensed Loan Originator, successfully negotiating and financing over 5,000 Real Estate transactions in 12 years. He then took that success and launched The High Trust Company with a vision of...

In this episode Steve and Jason discuss: The gaps in leadership Getting through hardships What togetherness looks like Wholeness and integrity   Key Takeaways:  Humans and humanity in general are just messy. It’s what makes life interesting, finding the gaps and filling them.  Challenges, hardships and tragedies are not anomalies, they’re a part of life and they will happen. Good le...

“Footy” is the enneagram 7, type B personality, along-for-the-adventure kinda guy. One of the best opportunities he’s had is leading all the magicians & technicians at Trick & Mortar, the creative studio that tricks all the right boxes. His creative journey started while crafting promos, trailers, and brand anthems for broadcast networks. Personally, Footy loves building production teams a...

About Steve Lovig: Nicknamed "Captain HR", Steve is a 'different kind of' HR executive, writer and podcast host, and former Adjunct Professor. His expertise includes human capital management, employee relations and engagement, and performance coaching and improvement. An HR pro with an educator's viewpoint, Steve believes in helping others learn by delving into problems and finding impactful solut...

Julie Piepho, CMB is President of Consumer Lending at Adams Bank & Trust in Ft. Collins, CO. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and holds the prestigious Master Certified Mortgage Banker designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Julie has over four decades of experience in the mortgage industry including executive positions with Cornerst...

John Settles is a proven leader known for crafting innovative strategic plans that advance organizational objectives and capabilities. John offers a unique blend of leadership, strategic thinking, team building,and creativity. He is an expert in the areas of real estate finance, real estate development, construction management, sustainability, and community/economic development.   In this epi...

Natalie started working in the mortgage industry over 25 years ago and has enjoyed years as a top originator. Over the course of her career, she has continually shown her strength as a leader in Branch and Regional manager positions. She is now serving as a Divisional SVP over Production at Homebridge Financial Services, leading California, Idaho, Oregon & Washington. She is an accomplished an...

Brian Vieaux's financial services experience includes strategy, business development, sales and marketing, compliance, quality control, and risk management. In building business channels in both large and medium-sized companies, Brian has gained experience in all phases of management and leadership. Brian began his mortgage banking career with Source One Mortgage Services Corporation and was...

J. Tony Thompson, CMB is the Founder & CEO of the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA), an organization dedicated to increasing the engagement of women and minorities with the Mortgage Bankers Association at the local, state and national level. Since its inception in 2016, NAMMBA has grown to over 30 chapters and 4,500 members nationwide. As the Founder/CEO of...

Dr. Bob Nelson is considered the leading advocate for employee recognition and engagement worldwide. He has worked with 80 percent of the Fortune 500 and presented on six continents. He has been featured by the likes of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, MSNBC, and ABC about how best to motivate today’s employees. He has been named  "One of the Most Influential...

LAURA CALANDRELLA is a leadership strategist and consultant. She has spent the past two decades working with organizations from across the environmental community to design collaborative approaches to our most pressing issues. Her career began as a conservation biologist and international development practitioner. These experiences gave Laura firsthand knowledge of the power of collaboration, but...

Steven Plaisance is president of mortgage banking at Gateway First Bank, a national retail and correspondent lender and servicer.  He has nearly 32 years of financial services experience, with nearly 30 devoted to mortgage.  He spent 31 years and 8 months at the same company before making a bold leap to run Gateway's exciting mortgage division in late February 2021.  Steven is activ...

As president of Lenders One® Cooperative, Justin leads its day-to-day operations and strategic execution. With nearly 30 years of mortgage, consulting and business development experience, including roles such as Chief Operating Officer of MLB Residential Lending and President of The Hills Mortgage and Finance Company, Justin brings a plethora of mortgage knowledge and leadership skills to the tabl...

Barry Habib is an American Entrepreneur and frequent Media resource for his mortgage and housing expertise. He appears regularly on television outlets such as CNBC and Fox. Barry is the founder and CEO of MBS Highway – the real estate industry’s most highly regarded and recognized tool for transforming salespeople into advisors.   Barry has won awards such as: • Two-time Crystal Ball Award gi...

Vikas is a Fortune 100 Executive turned Executive Coach and Leadership Development consultant. He is a unique combination of pragmatism and vision given his extensive frontline experience in the corporate world and being a philosopher / systems thinker at heart. He is passionately committed to a transformation in the way of being and doing of leaders, managers and teams, all for the sake of a worl...

In this episode Steve and Jason discuss: What is mindset coaching? How could mindset coaching be useful to somebody?  Why knowing what to do is sometimes not enough Necessities for long-term sustainable change    Key Takeaways:  A lot of people know strategies that increase success, but the mindset makes all the difference.  Let’s not only work on our actions, but think al...