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Welcome to RGA's ChangeMaker Podcast series. This series of short recordings features some of the brightest executives working in American business today talking about the changes they are working to bring to their industries. These are the leaders that will define the economic future of our country.

American industrialists were among the first to bring consistent innovation to business operations. In fact, the stories about our country's coming of age in the early years of the 20th Century are overflowing with innovative ideas that simply could not be contained.

After we transitioned into an information-based service society, it seemed that innovation became harder to define and therefore more difficult to harness. The fact that innovation, by definition, involves change makes it even more difficult to embrace for a workforce that no longer succeeds or fails on the quality of their work.

And yet, there are those that still believe in the pursuit of innovation and quality, treating them like requisites for success. Since that is also our philosophy at RGA Public Relations, we wanted to offer a platform for these executives to share their thoughts about change and innovation. While some of these executives are our friends and clients, many are not.

If you are passionate about positive change and creating innovation in your industry, we invite you to be a guest on our show. Contact us for more information.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Amy Bergseth, VP Operations, Default Servicing Technologies

Amy Bergseth serves as vice president of Default Servicing Technologies (DST), LLC, where she is responsible for all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations related to software development and helpdesk operations. She started with the firm in 2007 as a quality assurance manager and quickly rose through the ranks to her current position. Today, the head of the software development team, the software quality assurance manager, the chief business analyst and the helpdesk director all report to her.

In addition, Bergseth serves as chief client liaison, working with the company’s clients and the vice president of business development to create change orders that will expand the company’s software tools to meet the changing needs of the company’s customers. Bergseth is a strong leader who possesses superior attention to detail. Her analytical skill set, combined with her strong leadership abilities, have made her an asset to internal teams and DST’s client base.

Previously, Bergseth served Raddon Financial Group as a software quality assurance analyst, where she worked for 6 years. This was her first exposure to the financial services industry, where she helped create software for banks and credit unions. During the financial crash, her experience became significantly more valuable to the industry and she was recruited by DST to head up its QA department.

Before entering the industry, Bergseth majored in animal science and worked in medical research, where she was exposed to a great deal of technology that was required to work with a very low tolerance for error. She brought what she learned there to the financial services industry.

Bergseth is a graduate of the University of Illinois. When she’s not leading at DST, she plays violin in a community orchestra and plays ice hockey in a recreational league.

In this podcast, Amy talks about agile technology development for the mortgage industry.


Related Links:

Default Servicing Technologies

Monday, January 26, 2015

Ron Ahlensdorf, Jr., President, Summit Valuations

Ron Ahlensdorf, Jr. is president of Summit Valuations, LLC, where he is responsible for strategic partnerships, product development and revenue growth. Mr. Ahlensdorf has over 15 years of relevant industry experience, a track record of execution, and a hands-on approach to tailoring to client needs with products, which has earned him the highest respect in the industry.

Mr. Ahlensdorf is a proactive leader, skilled in the arts of client relationship building and negotiation. He is able to facilitate a team approach to achieve organizational objectives, increase productivity and enhance employee morale. His strategic thinking, knowledge and experience will successfully lead Summit to continued growth and profitability.

Mr. Ahlensdorf previously served as Vice President of Business Development for Summit Valuations, where he capitalized on his skills to spot new business opportunities and manage all aspects of daily business operations with a high level of integrity. He left to pursue other opportunities but was recruited back in 2013 to lead the company as president.

Prior to joining Summit Valuations, Mr. Ahlensdorf served as National Sales Vice President for Pro-Teck Services, a firm that provides national collateral valuation services to the mortgage industry.

In this podcast, Ron talks about the flight to quality in the collateral valuation space.



Related Links:

Summit Valuations

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Jeremy Woodson, Strategic Relationship Manager, Cross Media, LLC

After close to a decade as a top-producing loan originator, Jeremy Woodson turned his focus to mortgage technology. His experience in high-producing environments provided him with real-world understanding of the inner workings of various lending models, invaluable experience with a wide range of mortgage software products and key market-need insight.

With a focus on maximizing productivity for a company's chosen lending model, Jeremy’s expertise includes data mining, lead generation and conversion, and up-to-date marketing techniques.

He is an expert at understanding, interpreting, predicting and implementing software systems that help customers comply with shifting regulations such as RESPA, ECOA, HMDA, and TILA.

Familiar with a range of end-to-end mortgage banking solutions from loan origination to secondary marketing and servicing, Jeremy has worked for mortgage technology providers including Calyx, Optimal Blue and MortgageDashboard, and mortgage originators including Countrywide and Wells Fargo.

In this podcast, Jeremy talks about CRM in the mortgage space.



Related Links:

Cross Media, LLC

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Phil Hall, senior editor, National Mortgage Professional

Phil Hall has been a financial services journalist for 25 years.

He is currently a columnist for Progress in Lending and a senior editor for National Mortgage Professional.

He was previously the editor of MortgageOrb.com and the magazines Secondary Marketing Executive and Servicing Management, an associate editor for the ABA Banking Journal, and a marketing columnist for Credit Union News.

In this podcast, Hall talks about the only thing the mortgage industry has to fear now.



Related Links:

Progress in Lending
National Mortgage Professional

Monday, September 16, 2013

Martin Kerr, President, Bestborn Business Solutions

Martin Kerr is President of Bestborn Business Solutions, the company behind Loan Vision, efficient mortgage accounting. Loan Vision, built on one of the leading ERP platforms, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, offers loan level accounting via an extremely useable, scalable and feature rich application.

Martin, co-founded Bestborn business solutions in 2006 to support the growing Microsoft Dynamics NAV market place in and around Pittsburgh, PA but quickly spread to supporting a national customer base across multiple industries. Martin, originally hailing from Glasgow, Scotland; but having resided in Greensburg, PA for the past eight years with his wife and three children is a keen soccer (football) fan, supporting his home town team Glasgow Celtic since he was a young man.

Martins core strength lies in workflow process. He is actively involved in the continued development of the Loan Vision product, developing additional functionality that enables mortgage banks to see returns on investment not only from improved efficiencies but also a compliancy standpoint.

In this podcast, Martin talks about his firm's decision to enter the mortgage business.



Related Links:

Loan Vision Website

Monday, July 15, 2013

John D. Guzzo, Managing Director, Berkery Noyes

John Guzzo is a Managing Director of Berkery Noyes, specializing in the Financial Technology & Services group. He previously spent eleven years in investment banking and financial services at Giuliani Capital Advisors (formerly Ernst & Young Corporate Finance) and Ernst & Young.

In addition to his investment banking background, John has also performed tax due diligence and structuring of merger and acquisitions transactions within the Financial Services industry.

He has worked on over 80 M&A transactions during his career, representing more than $3 billion in value. During his tenure at Berkery Noyes, John has worked on several notable transactions, including:

The sale of Source Technologies to StoneCalibre and Datamax-O'Neil;
The sale of Venture Encoding to Taylor Corporation;
The investment in Mortgage Cadence by Monitor Clipper Partners;
The sale of Tradeware Global to SS&C Technologies;
The acquisition of Need to Know News by the Deutsche Borse Stock Exchange;
The sale of Versa Systems to Iron Data;
The sale of UpToDate to Wolters Kluwer;
The sale of Princeton Media Associates to HMP Communications and NACCME;
The sale of HCPro Holdings, Inc. to Halyard Capital;
The sale of The Gordian Group to The Wicks Group;
The sale of CenterWatch/NEIRB, a division of Thomson Healthcare, to Jobson Medical;
The sale of HMP Communications to Alta Communications;
The recapitalization of Asset Control by Fidelity Ventures;
The sale of Endeavor Information Systems Inc., a division of Reed Elsevier, to Francisco Partners;
The sale of The Teaching Company to Brentwood Associates; and
The divestiture of a division of Standex International sold in three parts, including a publisher, direct marketer and retailer.

In 2012, John was selected as a winner of The M&A Advisor’s 40 under 40 Award, a highly competitive distinction bestowed upon accomplished leaders in the investment banking community. He is also frequently featured in the press and has published articles in leading trade journals such as Mortgage Banking Magazine, HousingWire, and Waters Technology Magazine.

John is a Certified Public Accountant, holds Series 7 and 63 Licenses, and received his MBA from Columbia Business School. John D. Guzzo, Managing Director - See more on the website.

In this podcast, John talks to us about key considerations for selling a business.



Related Links:

Berkery Noyes

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Jorge Sauri, CEO of MortgageDashboard

Jorge Sauri is an entrepreneur and Chief Executive of MortgageDashboard, an end-to-end online loan origination software. With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Jorge has an excellent track record of building successful businesses in Real Estate Finance and Mortgage Banking Software.

Adept at discovering new markets and devising new solutions for existing markets, Jorge’s visionary attitude and strategic thinking skills have been the source of such products as the Lt2k subprime automated underwriting system, NPV calculator, and perhaps most notably, MortgageDashboard.

Jorge enjoys skiing, mountain climbing, and spending time with his wife, Anna, and two children. An avid reader of technology and historical narratives, Jorge also enjoys watching foreign and independent films.

In this podcast, Jorge introduces us to the concept of Mortgage CRM or, as he calls is, Financial Relationship Management (FRM).



Related Links:

MortgageDashboard