A Place for Thought Leaders to Share Insights
Your business success depends upon the ideas you can bring to bear on the challenges your face. Execution is critical, but implementing the wrong tactics is worse than doing nothing at all. Where do you go to get new ideas, to consider options that others might have missed? Welcome to Rick’s Room.
Featured Experts
Audra Agen in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant talks with Audra Agen about Athena’s Council, a growing community of women working across financial services. The organization includes women from lending institutions, fintech companies, servicing organizations, and other parts of the industry. A major part of the conversation focuses on why Athena’s Council appears to be…
Phil Hall in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with longtime journalist, broadcaster, film critic, and actor Phil Hall for a conversation about a career that has taken some unexpected turns.
Matt McCoy in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick speaks with Matt McCoy, a veteran technology entrepreneur, inventor, and president of Lanex.
Barry Owens and Mike Harris in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Barry Owens and Michael Harris, two mortgage industry veterans, join Rick to talk about the industry.
Michael Whitehouse in Rick’s Room
Michael Whitehouse explains that AI is beginning to give entrepreneurs the ability to build tools around their problems instead of around the tools they can afford.
Roberta Pek in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant speaks with Roberta Pek, an experienced mortgage banking, compliance, operations, and process-improvement professional whose career has included major financial institutions.
Pamela Herrmann in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with Pamela Herrmann, a customer experience strategist turned AI healthcare entrepreneur. They discuss how a deeply personal caregiving experience led her to create an innovative platform designed to improve communication between family caregivers and physicians. When Pamela’s parents, both in their 90s, decided they wanted…
Mitch Cohen in Rick’s Room
Mitch Cohen, founder of Clear Line Crisis, joins Rick to discuss why most organizations are dangerously unprepared for a crisis and how artificial intelligence can fundamentally change the way companies prepare for and respond to high-stakes events.
Charlyne McWilliams in Rick’s Room
In this episode, Rick sits down with Charlyne McWilliams for a conversation about communication, media, positivity, and finding ways to use your gifts.
Scott Stucky in Rick’s Room
Scott Stucky of Global Recruiters Network talks about one of the biggest challenges facing mortgage technology companies today: finding qualified AI talent.
Brian Sacks in Rick’s Room
Rick Grant sits down with longtime mortgage industry veteran, entrepreneur, author, and real estate professional Brian Sacks to discuss his latest venture: helping seniors and their families navigate one of life’s most difficult transitions.
Jamie Lasher in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with Jamie Lasher, co-founder and co-owner of Worthy Performance Group, to discuss messaging, business storytelling, and how AI can help professionals communicate more effectively.
Mark Dangelo in Rick’s Room
This time on Rick’s Room, Mark Dangelo discusses a critical issue facing modern organizations: how to effectively access, govern, and use data in the age of AI.
Jen Chapman in Rick’s Room
AI is one of the most urgent and misunderstood topics in the mortgage industry today. We address it in this episode.
Joe Bowerbank in Rick’s Room
In this episode, Rick sits down with longtime industry colleague Joe Bowerbank to explore the discipline of marketing communications.
Deb Gaveglio in Rick’s Room
This episode of Rick’s Room features Deb Gaveglio, a seasoned mortgage capital markets professional whose career spans decades of transformation.
Joe Dahleen in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with mortgage industry veteran Joe Dahleen to explore the evolving role of applied AI in mortgage lending and how lenders can reduce costs through agentic, role-based automation.
Laura Lasher in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Laura Lasher, CEO and Founder of Worthy Performance Group, discusses the launch of her Zero Fallout training program and the philosophy behind it.
Molly Dowdy in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant welcomes longtime mortgage industry leader Molly Dowdy, founder of Athena’s Council.
Brian Vieaux in Rick’s Room
Brian Vieaux joins Rick Grant in this episode to discuss leadership, industry service, and why data standards matter more than ever in an AI-driven mortgage ecosystem.
Barry Owens in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with longtime mortgage and servicing industry veterans Mike Harris and Barry Owens for a wide-ranging, unscripted conversation about the state of housing, mortgage servicing, and where real stress may emerge next in the U.S. market.
Prince Obeng in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with Prince Obeng, founder of Afrodin, a global African fashion marketplace built to connect the African diaspora with authentic designers and artisans across the continent.
Mike and Connor in Rick’s Room
A New View of Leadership In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant welcomes returning guest Michael Harris-known both as a business leader and a longtime youth basketball coach-along with his former player and mentee, Connor Gleason. Connor recently graduated with a degree in finance and is now pursuing his MBA while exploring his…
Bill Corbet in Rick’s Room
Understanding the Current Market In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant sits down with Bill Corbet, Managing Partner at BlackFin Group, to discuss career evolution, market resilience, and the forces shaping the mortgage industry in late 2025. Corbet reflects on his 23-year tenure at Citizens Bank, where he held nearly every role on…
Brian Rieger in Rick’s Room
The Changing PR Business In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant catches up with longtime colleague Brian Rieger, founder of True Impact Communications, to talk about how PR and marketing are evolving in real estate, title, and mortgage. Fresh off the RESPRO conference, Brian explains why the classic playbook—press releases and trade placements…
Doring Lloyd in Rick’s Room
Energy Work for Success In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant reconnects with longtime friend and innovator Doring Lloyd to explore her inspiring career transition from financial services and fintech into holistic wellness. After decades in sales and marketing leadership, Doring followed a calling that began years ago—pursuing formal training in reflexology to…
Brian Sacks in Ricks Room
The New Real Estate Opportunity In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant reconnects with longtime friend and industry veteran Brian Sacks for a candid conversation about reinvention, mindset, and uncovering opportunities in challenging times. With more than 40 years in the mortgage industry and two decades as a nationally recognized coach, Brian has seen…
Lynn Potyen Redefining Retail Leadership
In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant sits down with Lynn Potyen, founder and owner of The GameBoard in Sheboygan. Lynn was recently honored as one of Wisconsin’s Women of Influence in the Business Owner category. She reflects on the ceremony, the inspiring stories of resilience shared by the honorees, and the ongoing…
Melissa Kozicki Mortgage Compliance Update
In this episode of Rick’s Room, host Rick Grant talks with Melissa Kozicki, Director of Compliance at Mortgage Cadence, about the rapidly shifting mortgage compliance landscape and what lenders need to know now. Melissa explains that while there is significant churn—ranging from CFPB staffing changes and state-level activity to FHFA initiatives and speculation around Fannie…
Mike Harris in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant reconnects with longtime friend and industry leader Michael Harris to go beyond the philosophical and get practical about vision-driven leadership. Michael reflects on how successful leaders don’t just talk about culture—they build it from the inside out. Together, Rick and Mike explore: Mike shares his approach to…
Marvin Bantugan in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant catches up with longtime friend and blockchain visionary Marvin Bantugan, CTO of Zventus. Together, they explore the renewed excitement around blockchain and cryptocurrency in the mortgage industry following a recent federal directive encouraging government agencies to consider crypto as an asset in mortgage origination. Marvin, a longtime…
Dave Grundgeiger in Rick’s Room
Rick reconnects with longtime friend and indie film collaborator Dave Grundgeiger, now a seasoned computer programmer and founder of Contextium. Dave introduces his unique approach to artificial intelligence, one that diverges from mainstream large language models (LLMs) by focusing on deterministic, rule-based natural language understanding. This method allows deeper modeling of meaning and could help…
Jamie Burkart in Rick’s Room
In this episode of Rick’s Room, Rick Grant sits down with Jamie Burkart to explore her journey as the founder of Phoenix Tax and Business Services.
Michael Harris on Simplifying Change Management
Michael Harris, a management consultant specializing in process improvement, talks to Rick Grant about simplifying change management.
Charlotte Mueller on Next Generation Leadership
Charlotte Mueller joined Rick Grant in the thought leaders’ lounge to discuss leadership and the next generation of business leaders.
Laura Lasher on Mentoring in the Age of AI
Laura Lasher joins Rick Grant in the RGA PR thought leader’s lounge for a discussion about coaching and mentoring leaders in the age of AI
Michael Harris on Making Business Development
A conversation about where marketing, sales, and public relations fit into the equation in the age of AI.
Brian Boyles talks M&A
Brian Boyles joins Rick Grant in the RGA PR thought leader’s lounge for a discussion about M&A.
Tricia Roberts on Supporting the Arts
Tricia Roberts, Executive Director of the Sheboygan Theatre Company, talks about supporting the arts in your community, on this episode of the Rick’s Room podcast.
Mark Dangelo Talks About AI
Mark Dangelo is an industry expert, educator, and author. He is also a former industry CTO. In this episode, Mark Dangelo joins Rick Grant to discuss how to make AI initiatives pay off.
Mike Harris on Change Management
If there is a single constant in the business world, it’s change. So why are we all so bad at it? Mike Harris visits with Rick about getting over this hurdle through effective change management.
Brian Oram Talks Water Quality
Water Quality expert and professional geologist Brian Oram joins me in Rick’s Room for this discussion of water quality and the new water testing handbook Brian recently published.
New Uses for Six Sigma Strategies
Michael Harris talks about how Six Sigma tools he has been using for years are finding new uses in a wide range of industries.
Building Award-Winning Partnerships
Chris Harrington and John McCrea talk about how to make a good strategic partnership work.
Greg Holmes on the Strategic Targeting Podcast
Greg Holmes, Chief Revenue Officer at Xactus, talks about the timing of your next data purchase.
Michael Harris on the Strategic Targeting Podcast
Michael Harris tal about how mortgage servicers should be thinking about the possibility of increasing delinquency and defaults.
Lester Dominick on the Strategic Targeting Podcast
Mortgage Technology Visionary Lester Dominick explains why having a unified platform is a strategic imperative for mortgage lenders.
John McCrea on the STP Podcast
In a market where lenders need additional revenue to fuel their operations, servicing mortgage loans may be a viable solution.
WYC Podcast: Data Governance
Mark Dangelo and Rick Grant discuss data governance and its impact on cybersecurity for the modern enterprise.
Estie Briggs on Change Management
Change management is never easy, but considering the task only from a tactical perspective is a big mistake, according to Estie Briggs.
Jonathan Kearns and Aaron Davis on STP Podcast
Aaron Davis, CEO of AMD Enterprises, and Jonathan Kearns, Vice-President of Product for MISMO, on the Strategic Targeting Podcast.
Franco Terango on the STP Podcast
Franco Terango, CEO of Certainty Home Lending, talks about the strategic importance of good recruiting for the business enterprise.
Joe Camerieri Talks Tech on the STP Podcast
Experienced industry executive talks about what it takes to find a good technology partner, and what it takes to be one.
WYC Podcast: Data Privacy
Mark Dangelo takes a look at how new technologies might threaten data privacy and how they might also make risk mitigation easier.
Chris Harrington on the Importance of the CRM
Chris Harrington joins us on the Strategic Targeting Podcast to talk about the importance of a Smart CRM.
TrueFocus Automation on RPA in the Title Business
Jimmy Lewis and Sridhar Loganathan of TrueFocusNow talk about robotic process automation for the U.S. Title Industry.
Hoyt Mann on AI in the Title Industry
Hoyt Mann talks to Rick Grant about why AI in the title industry must go beyond ChatGPT.
WYC Podcast: M&A Activity and Drivers
Mark Dangelo and Rick Grant talk about the technologies that are impacting M&A activity in the housing industry and beyond.
Michael Graber on Corporate Shamanism
Michael Graber discusses Corporate Shamanism and the emerging model of Capitalism in America.
WYC Podcast: What’s After Digital
On this episode of the Would You Consider podcast, Mark Dangelo introduces the conversation on what comes after digital.
Jorge Sauri on Treating Mortgage Data like Baseball Data
Jorge Sauri talks about why mortgage lenders might want to apply data analytics tools used by professional baseball teams on this episode of the Strategic Targeting podcast.
Would You Consider Podcast
Mark Dangelo and Rick Grant introduce you to a new kind of technology podcast. Would You Consider looks at topics in bite-sized episodes.
Scott Schang on AI in Mortgage Lending
Scott Schang talks about AI in the mortgage lending industry in this episode of the Strategic Targeting podcast.
Thom Walters on Workplace Wellness
Thom Walters joins us on the podcast to talk about workplace wellness and how companies can provide it to their employees.
