PhoenixTeam_ Within the Area

Genuine human connection and empathy are the keys to constructing nice expertise merchandise. That is the core perception of PhoenixTeam, a expertise firm that specializes completely within the design, supply, and care of mortgage expertise options within the federal authorities and industrial areas.

“PhoenixTeam is within the enterprise of individuals. We have a good time the facility of relationships, empathy, and mental curiosity,” says Tanya Brennan, Managing Accomplice and CEO of PhoenixTeam. “Nice groups make nice software program.”

PhoenixTeam refers to every of its crew members as practitioners, an ode to the continual journey of observe and studying that’s required to create pleasant merchandise. PhoenixTeam’s practitioners type and lead empowered groups to develop a deep understanding of their consumer’s issues and uncover the optimum options. Brennan says that as practitioners we all know one of the best ways to beat a problem is to roll up our sleeves, ask questions, and study by doing the work.

Typically referencing a preferred Theodore Roosevelt quote (see under) to encourage practitioners to take probabilities, PhoenixTeam encourages its crew members to study via failure and to pursue

formidable targets on behalf of its purchasers. As Roosevelt stated, “…The credit score belongs to the (individual) who is definitely within the area, whose face is marred by mud and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly…” Brennan says, “That’s PhoenixTeam, via and thru.”

Within the Proper Place, On the Proper Time

The founders of PhoenixTeam—Tanya Brennan, Tela Mathias, and Tom Westerlind—first met in 2001, contemporary out of faculty working as entry-level administration consultants who aspired to make

a distinction. Tela, Tom, and Tanya, who collectively confer with themselves as “T3,” had been every assigned to a multi-year challenge to assist Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) Mortgage Warranty Service (LGY) via its main redesign of the LGY program to incorporate regulatory, operational, and expertise adjustments.

From the start, T3 knew that at some point they might begin their very own firm.

“The purpose was to construct an organization we’d need to be part of,” says Tela Mathias, Managing Accomplice and COO of PhoenixTeam. “We needed to create an amazing place for the gifted folks we already knew within the subject, those who had been with us for years and years, whereas making an actual distinction for the mortgage trade, each on the federal and the industrial aspect.”

PhoenixTeam formally launched as a minority, woman-owned small enterprise in 2015, simply because the trade was implementing the brand new TILA-RESPA Built-in Disclosure (TRID) Rule.

“Trying again, it was an opportune time to begin,” says Tom Westerlind, Managing Accomplice and CFO of PhoenixTeam. “We had been within the area with our clients, working aspect by aspect to implement TRID on a decent timeline. We had been in a position to assist our clients achieve success throughout a tough time, and phrase unfold from there.”

With extra work coming in, PhoenixTeam employed its first two practitioners, Lindsay Bennett and Melanie Lewis. Each shortly took on consumer engagement management roles and went on to guide two of PhoenixTeam’s largest industrial accounts. In 2019, they turned the primary two crew members invited to affix the PhoenixTeam possession group as Companions. Since then, the corporate has grown from a crew of 5 to over 130 passionate, dynamic, and inventive people.

“They are saying you turn into who you encompass your self with, and I first joined PhoenixTeam due to the chance to reunite with a exceptional group of people who had left a long-lasting affect

on me, each personally and professionally,” says Chase Carpenter, Managing Practitioner.

So far, PhoenixTeam’s progress has been natural and 100% by way of private referrals from its purchasers and practitioners. Brennan notes that the corporate has by no means relied on exterior funding and has by no means employed a enterprise improvement or gross sales crew. “At PhoenixTeam,” Brennan explains, “each associate is a practitioner, and we promote by phrase of mouth and our excellent efficiency.”

It’s not the critic who counts; not the (individual) who factors out how the robust (individual) stumbles, or the place the doer of deeds may have finished them higher. The credit score belongs to the (individual) who is definitely within the area, whose face is marred by mud and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes quick time and again, as a result of there is no such thing as a effort with out error and shortcoming; however who does really try to do the deeds; who is aware of nice enthusiasms, the nice devotions; who spends (themselves) in a worthy trigger; who at the very best is aware of ultimately the triumph of excessive achievement, and who on the worst, if fails, at the very least fails whereas daring tremendously, in order that (their) place shall by no means be with these chilly and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

A Dedication to Folks

PhoenixTeam’s emphasis on authenticity and human connection harkens again to when T3 (the founders) first met. The lead Accomplice on that unique LGY account backin 2001 was Ann Hopkins, Tela’s mom. Ann was a administration guide extraordinaire and civil rights advocate. “She taught by instance to be a frontrunner, care for one another, and to problem the established order,” says Mathias. In her landmark U.S. Supreme Courtroom case, Value Waterhouse v. Hopkins, the Supreme Courtroom acknowledged that Value Waterhouse had denied her partnership and discriminated towards her based mostly on intercourse stereotypes.

Inside her observe, Ann taught 5 guiding rules: have enjoyable, study just a few issues, ship a top quality product that’s perceived as a top quality product, educate just a few issues, and earn a living. PhoenixTeam has taken these guiding rules as its basis and continues to evolve them.

“We’re dedicated to folks, lifelong studying, service, range, and wellness,” says Mathias. Within the spirit of that philosophy, in 2018, Phoenix began overlaying 100% of healthcare for its crew members and their households, and now additionally pays for psychological well being providers.

“Our crew members deserve to come back to work with much less stress and we all know healthcare is on the high of the listing. Our need is to do what we are able to, what’s in our management, to scale back exterior stress so our

crew members have fewer issues to fret about and get up able to crush the day,” says Melanie Lewis, PhoenixTeam Accomplice.

When requested what qualities of PhoenixTeam enable it to draw and retain top-tier trade expertise, Peter Learn, Managing Practitioner, places it merely: “Management…I do know darn effectively I can textual content or chilly name any of the companions or managing companions to speak personally and professionally. They’ve helped me flourish into a robust chief and have put me in positions the place I’m able to succeed based mostly on my expertise. They proceed to spend money on folks each emotionally and financially. You’ll not get that wherever else.”

The PhoenixTeam Distinction

PhoenixTeam’s recipe for fulfillment is straightforward: top-tier mortgage expertise expertise, pleasure and objective at work and residential, and relentless concentrate on consumer outcomes. They imagine this recipe permits their crew members to turn into trusted advisors and ship higher outcomes for purchasers.

High-Tier Mortgage Expertise Expertise: PhoenixTeam’s roots are mortgage and expertise excellence. The corporate recruits mortgage expertise expertise with a few years—usually many years—of expertise operating mortgage lending and servicing operations. While you mix that with deep product and software program improvement lifecycle experience, you find yourself with an organization of individuals like Becky Griswold.

In her 29-year profession previous to coming to PhoenixTeam, Becky held a number of management roles at a top-10 mortgage financial institution main product, expertise, and enterprise providers groups. At present, she

leads the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) and Mortgage Business Requirements Upkeep Group (MISMO) accounts for PhoenixTeam. Earlier this 12 months, Becky turned PhoenixTeam’s latest Accomplice.

“I had been with Phoenix for a few 12 months and was given a possibility to guide a key initiative for United States Division of Agriculture (USDA),” recounts Becky. “The catch was that we wanted a crew (like yesterday) … This started the journey to search out the precise expertise in my community who would ship high-quality worth for USDA. I shortly assembled a crew of 12 who hit the bottom operating in lower than three weeks. Every continues to be a part of the Phoenix village right now, executing with ardour.”

Pleasure and Objective

“One of many nice joys in life is discovering your objective, excelling at it, and discovering that your affect issues to one thing bigger than your self.”

— Maxime Lagacé

Early on in its formation, PhoenixTeam locked in on a imaginative and prescient to deliver “pleasure and objective” again to software program improvement whereas bridging the hole between expertise and enterprise groups. PhoenixTeam believes fiercely that people who’ve a transparent objective, who’re related to their teammates and purchasers, and who know that every of their colleagues and leaders have their

again, will discover larger happiness, dedication, and focus to the outcomes they drive. That may be a robust factor.

Paul Weakley, a PhoenixTeam Accomplice and sensible technologist, says he at all times seeks out tough, enigmatic conditions the place the street to success should at all times be found. “I pursue the issues I like…creativity, creativeness, and problem-solving to assist a mission that leads to a optimistic affect on the world whereas working with buddies who actually take care of one another,” says Weakley. “Paul’s pleasure and objective with purchasers is infectious,” says Brennan, recalling when he was nominated for Technologist of the 12 months by a mortgage consumer he supported regardless that, in the end, he was dominated ineligible given he was not an worker.

Shopper Outcomes: Change is inevitable. PhoenixTeam management buildings its contracts, software program improvement strategy, and administration strategy to count on change and adapt accordingly. They measure success by fixing the enterprise’s wants and attaining the outcomes set out by the consumer, at the same time as these issues change.

PhoenixTeam’s practitioners are consultants at reworking legacy programs into modernized platforms that drive larger efficiencies. As a Salesforce Accomplice, PhoenixTeam is effectively often known as an organization comprised of “craft masters” who develop a transparent understanding of every consumer’s imaginative and prescient and create customized strategic plans for discovery, improvement, and implementation of the brand new stack. PhoenixTeam’s consultants work to interrupt down each requirement thoughtfully, specializing in the “artwork of the attainable” and serving to to open purchasers’ eyes to course of enhancements and efficiencies

that beforehand appeared out of attain.

Lindsay Bennett, Accomplice, sums it up greatest: “Delivering higher outcomes comes from embedding with our purchasers, internalizing their scenario, and dealing collectively as one crew. We’re not fascinated by exhibiting up, ticking off a set of deliverables, and going house. We’re right here to ship worth. Full cease.”

PhoenixTeam’s file aligns to this mindset. When a high mortgage FinTech engaged Phoenix to remodel its lending course of after greater than a 12 months of attempting to implement Salesforce, PhoenixTeam wasted no time. Inside a matter of weeks, the crew reimagined the product imaginative and prescient, mission, and scope. They outlined the primary container of speedy worth and 12 weeks later, onboarded the consumer’s first customers. “Velocity to worth realization is the secret,” says Mathias.

When Jacki Frazer, Managing Practitioner, joined PhoenixTeam six years in the past, her resolution was based mostly on quite a lot of elements, however primarily due to the confirmed management of “T3.” Frazer recollects, “I knew that this firm can be a serious participant within the mortgage trade, staffed with premium expertise and a laser concentrate on our mission and objective. In my six years with PhoenixTeam, these beliefs had been confirmed. PhoenixTeam has been wildly profitable attributable to its high expertise, deep information of the mortgage trade, and unwavering dedication to our purchasers. It’s this successful

mixture that may maintain PhoenixTeam on the forefront of expertise supply and guarantee its continued success.”

“PhoenixTeam has supported USDA RD on a number of key initiatives over the previous 5 years. They supplied enterprise advisory assist providers for GUS 2.0 to launch the brand new URLA; helped us develop the Enterprise to Authorities mortgage and underwriting specs leveraging MISMO requirements; and, most lately, [are] main the event of the Direct Mortgage Program mortgage origination alternative answer.”

—Dean Daetwyler, Director, System Implementation and Administration Division, USDA SFH

Our Impression

At PhoenixTeam, the corporate’s management tells MortgagePoint that the phrase “affect” is just not thrown round calmly or loosely. PhoenixTeam earned its status as a corporation that “walks

the speak” due to the continual affect it strives to ship for its purchasers, group, and crew members.

With its mission to allow homeownership via expertise, PhoenixTeam initially supported mortgage banks and mortgage expertise distributors to supply a greater expertise for debtors and owners. PhoenixTeam then sought to associate with our nation’s largest federal housing businesses to assist them obtain their respective missions to allow reasonably priced and accessible homeownership for all People. Whereas it took a number of years to perform this purpose, PhoenixTeam is honored to now assist Housing and City Improvement (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA), United States Division of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) Mortgage Warranty Service.

“Neighborhood” is described by the PhoenixTeam management as a significant element to PhoenixTeam’s tradition, and the corporate prides itself on supporting quite a few causes close to and pricey to the hearts of its crew members. As a corporation that emphasizes inclusion, range, fairness, and entry (I.D.E.A.) in its day-to-day, PhoenixTeam helps, companions, and sponsors causes that improve consciousness, affordability, and equal alternative for minority and underprivileged communities, like Hazelden Betty Ford Basis, the Down Syndrome Affiliation, and the Florida Division of Blind Providers. PhoenixTeam embraces its crew members’ ardour for group assist too, advertising and matching funds raised for causes they care about.

A New Enterprise: Blue Phoenix

In mid-2023, PhoenixTeam partnered with Blue Bay Options, LLC, to type Blue Phoenix, a mentor-protégé three way partnership (MPJV) dedicated to serving those that serve by delivering expertise

excellence for federal businesses. Whereas PhoenixTeam’s area of interest is mortgage expertise, Blue Phoenix serves all industries throughout the federal sector.

Blue Bay, a U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) Middle for Verification and Analysis (CVE)-certified service-disabled veteran-owned small enterprise (SDVOSB), was shaped in 2022 by John Trodden who was on a mission to supply a pathway for servicemembers as they reintegrated into civilian life and workforce.

“Veterans contribute technical and interpersonal expertise, self-discipline, management, loyalty, dedication, and lots of different attributes to an organization’s workforce—all of which enhance the group and the underside line,” says Trodden, a disabled veteran who tirelessly served our nation for over 25 years. John retired from the US Marine Corps after serving 15 years as an enlisted member incomes his fee to Second Lieutenant after which went on to serve a further 10 years as a Commissioned Officer. Deployed abroad a number of instances, John led troops into and

via battle, receiving quite a few meritorious, commendation, and achievement awards for management excellence.

John says his resolution to retire from the Marine Corps was not straightforward, however he was assured that he may apply his expertise, navy mindset, and fervour to an trade additionally hungry for mission success and outcomes. He joined PhoenixTeam as a part of its Division of Protection (DOD) SkillBridge Program, the place he was in a position to study and grasp the basics of designing and creating software program.

Inside just a few months, John began to attach the dots and convey to life the parallels between his navy and civilian experiences which can be so relevant to all industries. “I shortly got here to appreciate that these younger women and men are making a dwelling, work laborious, are sensible, and are dealing in initiatives which can be intricate with many ranges,” notes Trodden. “Drawing upon my navy management expertise, I had 400 folks from totally different walks of life, religions, backgrounds, and ethnicities beneath my command. However all of us shared one driving drive and mission, as we actually took care of each other. Troop welfare was enormous, and we had one another’s backs. We had been extra than simply brothers and sisters in arms. I believed, effectively, let me deliver that mentality into this trade and see if we are able to make it work.”

Trying Forward

Final month, PhoenixTeam and Blue Bay celebrated the launch of Blue Phoenix with their purchasers and companions in our nation’s capital. The founders mirrored on their journey that night time and the longer term state imaginative and prescient for PhoenixTeam, Blue Bay, and Blue Phoenix.

“Every of those firms put folks first and seeks to ship impactful and significant outcomes,” says Brennan. With PhoenixTeam’s lengthy historical past serving industrial and federal businesses, and Blue Bay’s mission to assist veterans transition to civilian life, Blue Phoenix is within the area to resolve powerful issues and ship outcomes for federal businesses.

Genuine human connection and empathy are the keys to constructing nice expertise merchandise. That is the core perception of PhoenixTeam, a expertise firm that specializes completely within the design, supply, and care of mortgage expertise options within the federal authorities and industrial areas. “PhoenixTeam is within the enterprise of individuals. We have a good time…