Monthly Archives: December 2017

mpowering you MBA’s Summit for Women in Real Estate Finance

Posted on by NAWRB
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05 Dec

Nothing says inspiring like 340 women in the real estate finance industry joining together at mPowering You! On October 21st in Denver, Colorado, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) presented mPowering You, an event that will go down in history for this powerful and great organization. “It has never happened at the MBA in our 104-year history,” stated Marcia Davies, COO of MBA. “It’s time to be empowered.”

The conversations and ideas generated within this space fostered networking and powerful narratives, and assisted in the creation of decisive branding and career advancements. Featuring sessions like Know and Grow Your Value and Gender and Generations: Driving New Forms of Leadership, the summit strengthened and showcased the value and power of women.

Attendees heard from successful women in the industry, including Mika Brzezinski, New York Times Best-Selling Author and Co-Host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and Ruth Sherman, Executive Speech Coach & Celebrity Media Trainer, who shared the importance of women knowing their value, mastering their message, owning each moment and unleashing their potential.
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Survey: Men and Women are “Basically Similar” in the Workplace

Posted on by NAWRB
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05 Dec

A new study from the Pew Research Center addressed American’s views on the differences between men and women, revealing that notions currently considered antiquated are very much alive today. Study respondents identified that men and women are difference in “the way they express their feelings, their physical abilities, their personal interests and their approach to parenting,” with women generally attributing these differences to societal expectations and men to biological differences.

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Mentoring & Leadership Guiding the Way to Success!

Posted on by Gail Lara
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05 Dec

Thirty-two of the largest U.S. companies by revenue on the Fortune 500 list, including PepsiCo, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Oracle and General Dynamics, are run by women. Although this only accounts for a mere 6.4 percent of Fortune 500 companies, it is the highest proportion of female CEOs in the history of the Fortune 500.

It’s an exciting time to be a female entrepreneur with the abundance of opportunities available, including government contracts and diversity and inclusion programs. However, even with all the support, there are still obstacles facing women in the workplace; from lower pay than their male counterparts to sexual harassment and fewer promotion opportunities.

To get a better understanding of why women are still being held back in the business world, I looked at the most successful businesswomen I’ve known over the years. They have all had mentors, including myself. Over the past eight years, I have led mentoring meetings, training sessions and workshops giving me a clearer understanding of the specialized training and mentoring women need as they develop into successful entrepreneurs.

Change Your Mindset

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie, two-time Nobel Prize Winner in Physics

It starts with your mindset. You need more than just business essentials and marketing to be successful. You need to believe that you can succeed in conquering your fear and embracing your confidence. Interestingly, I find more women have a fear of success than a fear of failure. We reach a certain level, and then we suddenly seize up and get stuck.

When women are ready, willing and able to break through their own glass ceiling and ask for what they’re worth, we will see a huge surge, not only in our economy but also in our community. The key to this and any success is collaboration. Through collaboration, we will change the world for the better.
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Helping Warrior Dogs Transition

Posted on by Laura Dietz

 

 

I was asked to speak about the amazing Warrior Dog Foundation of which I am honored to serve on their Board of Directors at the recent Five Star Conference. We live free because of the sacrifices of those with two feet and the ones with paws.

The Warrior Dog Foundation is dedicated to serving the special operations K-9 community. The K-9’s deployed with these special forces are of the top tier in the working dog world. They are expected to perform in the most austere of environments and face conditions that most humans cannot survive.
The Warrior Dog Foundation was founded by former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland. We believe Special Operation Forces (SOF) and law enforcement K9s deserve the highest level of care in retirement. We bridge the gap between service and retirement for these K9s. Once these retired warriors have completed their service and, for whatever reason, are unable to continue on with their handler, the Warrior Dog Foundation helps transition these K9 heroes from an operational environment into our state-of-the-art kennel facility. We then ensure the care of each individual K9 with dignity and grace, including both mental and physical rehabilitation for the rest of their lives with the goal to rehome, if possible.

The K9 warriors at the Warrior Dog Foundation are the top tier in the working-dog world. They perform in the most austere of environments and face conditions that most human beings cannot imagine. These K9’s are vital to the success of every mission. We strive to educate the public on the importance of K9s in combat and law enforcement, and showcase the level of sacrifice these dogs give in support of our troops and communities.To quote our founder, Mike Ritland, “These dogs are not only our best friends, they embody what’s best about us—the courage, loyalty, and heart of true warriors.”

To learn more about the Warrior Dog Foundation and our retired K9 heroes individual stories, please, visit our website at www.warriordogfoundaiton.org or email any questions to info@warriordogfoundation.org.

Laura Dietz
Broker/Owner
Summit Realty/ Merlin Enterprises, Inc.

Catching the Next Wave of Mortgage Borrowers

Posted on by Doring Lloyd
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05 Dec

Sometimes, a transition calls for a radical change, though some people try to avoid such shifts because they can be jarring. The sudden loss of refinance business has been that way for many lenders, and it will get worse in the future. How lenders respond to this transition into a purchase money market will set the winners apart from the rest.

The approaches loan originators will take to solve this problem will vary. Many will double their efforts to attract new refinance business, as writing that business has become their core competency. Others will seek out more purchase money business, pulling out old playbooks and relearning the rules of building strong business referral networks. A few will look for the radical change and catch the next wave of mortgage borrowers.

Speaking of catching waves, when learning to surf, even when you fail, you still learn something about yourself and become better for it. Mortgage lenders, on the other hand, cannot afford to fail. They must find the next wave of mortgage borrowers or face the threat of losing their businesses, which is all the more reason for them to consider the radical change.

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Women’s Advancement in Real Estate: An Interview with Sara Sutachan

Posted on by NAWRB
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05 Dec

What was the inspiration behind WomanUP!? What motivated you to become involved in the women’s movement?

I’ve actually always been a feminist. My mom is a single mom—my dad has always been around—but my mom was a really strong independent woman and she’s my role model. I came to work for the California Association of Realtors® (CAR) and had another amazing role model in Leslie Appleton-Young. I’ve always been attracted to follow strong women, and read books and articles about the women’s movement and the gender gap.

In my role at CAR, I oversee the industry and broker relations, and part of that is interacting and building relationships with the brokerage community and meeting with them on a regular basis. As I met with CEOs and some of the largest brokerage firms in California, I always wanted a balanced room. What I found was that I was hard-pressed to find that balance because the people who led the larger brokerage firms tended to be male.

I’d been noticing this, and even if it wasn’t a large firm, I would make sure women sat at the table. I thought to myself, “This is crazy. We should do something about this.” I couldn’t really drive it home until I got a call from Gretchen Pearson; she was going to speak at a women’s event and said, “I want to know data. Do you have any data on women leaders?” We really didn’t at that point. I had my own personal experience with not finding those women on the rosters, so then we dug into the data. I had my staff look at the largest brokerage firms in California and Google which leaderswere men and which were women. We found that 36 percent of firms were either run by women or had women at the C-level or in management at the top California brokerage firms with over 100 agents. We analyzed a list of approximately 200 of these firms.
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Driving Collaboration across the Health Care Continuum

Posted on by Mercedes Kerr

We all have those moments when our careers and personal lives converge. As a business leader at the largest health care real estate investment trust (REIT), I focus on investment projects in collaboration with senior living communities, health systems and medical groups to create the real estate infrastructure needed to deliver care for a growing number of aging Americans. As a wife, mother, sister and daughter, I also think about what my parents, aging relatives and even my future 80-year-old self will need when it comes to living well as we age.

The growth of the aging population is the most significant demographic trend impacting the U.S. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of Americans age 65 and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060. In addition, the number of people age 85 and older is projected to more than triple from 6 million today to nearly 20 million by 2060.

This increase in life expectancy is accompanied by an increased prevalence of chronic conditions, including dementia. According to the CDC, in the United States alone, more than a quarter of older Americans are burdened with multiple chronic disease, more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and countless family members spend their days serving as unpaid caregivers. The most expensive and at risk population for the health care system to treat are the physically and cognitively impaired. We need to rethink how to best deliver care for this growing segment of the population.
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Nonprofit Counseling: Protecting and Preserving a Vital Service to American Homeowners and the Finance Community

Posted on by Zeeda Daniele
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05 Dec

The past decade has taught us a great deal about housing loss and preservation. Many of us were personally affected, or know someone affected, by the 2007-08 economic downturn period our country experienced.

There have been several lessons learned. Most of all, we learned that too many U.S residents have too much debt and lack the necessary reserves to weather the slightest bump in their financial lives.

History will argue about what went wrong and who to blame. There were lots of mistakes but there were several good lessons. One was the reminder of the value and need for nonprofit housing advocates, educators and counselors.

We learned that homeowners and homebuyers who took advantage of homeownership, credit and financial literacy counseling fared far better during the housing and economic crisis and avoided foreclosure and delinquency more than homeowners who did not. We learned that pre-purchase education, credit and budgeting courses prevented many homebuyers from buying more than they could afford and taught them to avoid the pitfalls of over leveraging their home and excessive debt.
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4th Annual NAWRB Conference

Posted on by NAWRB
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05 Dec

Scores of executive women and industry leaders came together for women’s economic growth, million-dollar contracting opportunities and invaluable resources at the 2017 NAWRB Nexus Conference: Women’s Collaboration for the Future. From July 16th-19th, 2017, NAWRB’s expert panelists equipped attendees with actionable solutions and specialized forecasts, providing a comprehensive inside look at the near future of the housing ecosystem.

The excitement was palpable as attendees filtered into the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa and settled into their seats next to future strategic partners and collaborators. Desirée Patno, NAWRB CEO and President, kick-started the event by recognizing the hard work that went into making the conference possible and the professionals who made time in their busy schedules to be a part of the diversity and inclusion (D&I) movement.

The Investment Opportunities: Access to Capital Facilitator workshop commenced sessions with Robert Fragoso, Realtor, CEO, Investor, who with over 28 years of experience in real estate investing and flipping homes described the importance of recognizing industry trends when making investments that will maintain profitability in the future.

“I came with the intent to share some of my experiences and knowledge—having been a part of so many homes that have been flipped—and what I see in the marketplace,” stated Fragoso. “Not necessarily what’s going on today, because that’s ever-evolving, but to have attendees learn how to spot the changes and the next opportunity so that they can be not just following the trend, they’re essentially the trendsetter.”

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Addressing the Concerns of American Families

Posted on by Sarah Chamberlain
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05 Dec

Since founding the Women2Women Conversations Tour in 2014, I have joined six of Main Street’s Congresswomen and many state officials across the country to speak with local women business owners and community leaders who are a seeking a greater voice and role in their government.

I wanted the tour to give female members of Congress a chance to talk to women about what is happening on Capitol Hill; however, the most valuable piece has been the interest in legislative priorities and thoughtful, conservative governing from the next generation of female leaders. Together, we have used feedback from women across the country to move legislation on some of our nation’s biggest issues—from addressing the opioid epidemic and providing better mental health care to combating human trafficking.

After three successful years of the Women2Women tour, our mantra has become: “All issues are women’s issues.” Women make up more than 50 percent of our nation’s population and want to see action across a wide breadth of issues like increased job creation, improving access to health care and education, and helping those struggling with addiction to receive the help and resources they need.

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