Laura Brandao: Sam, the CEO and major shareholder of MLB, I worked for him in 2005 as a young operations leader, and that was where I learned a lot. For example, I had worked in retail before that point, so I only knew retail.
There was a lot of subprime lending going on at that time, and in 2007 when everything started to collapse, I got really nervous about the amount of subprime lending that everyone was doing. I mean, we were all very nervous about it.
So I contacted an account manager and asked if there was somewhere safe. That’s how I became employee number 1 and the person who built wholesale at American financial resources (AFR). But I learned wholesale from Sam Lamparello.
After AFR I went into consultancy. One day I was in California working for a client and my cell phone rang. It was Sam and he said, “Laura, you’ve obviously grown up a lot in twenty years. You’ve certainly learned a lot and done some good things, and I see you’re discussing, how would you like to have a conversation?’ We called right away and he said, ‘Listen, my heart is in wholesale… and I’d like you to come and tell us how we can make things better, create systems and make sure we’re a well-oiled machine.’
So I joined. After a few months, Sam said, “Laura, maybe we should make this something bigger.” And I said, ‘Honestly, I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. I would like us to be really ready for it. I really want us to have a strong foundation. I want operations dialed in.”
I wanted to have a CRM that uses AI and helps the account managers work smart instead of hard. I want to make sure my marketing works well. I want to make sure that I have programs that set us apart, that make us unique. So we worked towards that and made my position official on January 5, 2026.
Wolak: I know this is a tough question, but how did your role shift from consultant and governance advisor, as they called you, to what you do now? What are your responsibilities?
Brandao: It’s completely different – and it’s a different perspective. As a consultant you look at it from the outside. If you’re president of a company, or whatever position you hold, you have an inside view.
One of the first things I did on Monday was send a message to the entire company. I said, “Guys, I want to tell you that I believe in the highest level of communication transparency, and I’m going to over-communicate with all of you about the fact that you see an email from me every morning.” That email tells you where we are, how many loans we got yesterday, how many families we helped and of course our goal to reach by December 31, 2026.
I also said that my emails will have a reflection. We look back on yesterday. When team members do something, we need to share it with the entire company. I created something called “notable awards” so we can nominate people internally every day.
Some things that have changed now that I’ve been president is that I’ve set ground rules: cameras always on, effective meetings, and if you don’t come to the meeting prepared, you’ll be asked to leave. Time is money. Time is valuable. Time must be efficient and effective. These are the rules we will all adhere to.
Wolak: Given that you have set lofty goals to achieve by 2026, what strategies are you and the company using to attract top talent and retain top producers who will carry out MLB’s mission?
Brandao: I have had the pleasure of working in this industry for a long time. When I started my first wholesale lender, I knew nothing. I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants trying to figure out how to put out fires.
Things aren’t like that anymore. And I learned a lot that who you do business with is much more valuable than how you do business. I know the kind of people who fit into our mission of ‘Making Lives Better’. And I can tell you that there are a lot of people in the industry who fit, but also a lot of people who don’t fit.
For me it’s really important to make sure it’s not about the resume, it’s not necessarily about the level of experience, it’s about your attitude, your heart and leading with a servant mentality. I can teach you how to process a loan or close a loan, but I can’t teach you the sense of wanting to serve our customers, our brokers, our correspondent lenders, and understand their families.
I believe in lifting up at all times. Everyone is different. When I hire you as an account manager, I say to you, ‘Where do you want to go next?’ If you tell me you want to be a VA insurer because you’re a veteran, I say, “Okay, we’re going to get a roadmap of what you need to get to the next level.” If you are a salesperson, I want you to far exceed any income level you have ever reached. Let’s go higher.
Wolak: You mentioned that you wanted to get a better CRM and technology for loan officers before joining the MLB team. What are these creative strategies and technologies that you use to impact growth in the wholesale channel and improve your team?
Brandao: CRM was definitely number 1 on my list because as soon as I arrived the team told me they didn’t have a CRM. So I reached out LinkedIn to one of my former brokerage clients who started his own business and built a CRM. I asked if he could help me build something in the wholesale space.
In six months he had built a CRM from scratch. Not only did they tailor the CRM specifically for the wholesale space, but they also created a custom broker approval portal. The second thing I did on the insurance side was partner with a tech company to run every new file through AI so that the insurer has it after it has already been reviewed.
Additionally, condo reviews were one of the issues we had at one point. They were very cumbersome; the system just didn’t flow properly and it was very choppy. We found a great partner who has a beautiful AI system that has again accelerated things, made them efficient and cost-effective, and now we have a nice, streamlined process flow.
We’ve introduced, I think, five or six new products. Some of them are exclusives because of my contacts in the industry, and some of them were just things we expanded on. For example, VA renovation loans. MLB didn’t do VA renovations before, but now we do.
Wolak: What are you most excited about for this role and the year ahead?
Brandao: I have been doing wholesale for years. I’ve seen many, many cycles of wholesaling – from subprime crashes and the virtual disappearance of brokers to the rise of the broker.
I think wholesale lending will become a whole new emerging industry in 2026 and beyond. I absolutely believe it is a beautiful space to be in. I think the agents are so resilient and they know what they are doing. They understand the value of partnership. They understand the value of having options, independence and the ability to make the best choices for the families they serve and the partners they work with.
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