NMP
MORTGAGE
Laura Lawson
NationalMortgageProfessional.com
36
OCTOBER 2015 n National Mortgage Professional Magazine n
PROFES
Chief People Officer United Wholesale Mortgage BY PHIL HALL
aura Lawson holds the title of chief people officer at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). Admittedly, it is not the type of title that one would find in most mortgage companies. But Laura Lawson is not the type of person you find in most mortgage companies—nor, for that matter, is UWM your runof-the-mill mortgage company. National Mortgage Professional Magazine traveled to UWM’s headquarters in Troy, Mich. to learn more about this fascinating individual and her distinctive company.
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Where did your career begin? I am a graduate of Michigan State University, with a major in advertising. After graduation, I
“My hope is that UWM continues to gain market share as the number one wholesale lender in the country and are known beyond the mortgage industry for always putting our people first.”
thought that I would do what a lot of professionals do in the metroDetroit area—work with one of the big three auto companies. I tried it, working for Chrysler in marketing and advertising, but I had a bigger dream and vision for myself. I loved entertainment, television and the music industry, and I had a sister living out in Los Angeles. So, I thought “Well, why not? Now’s the time!”
I moved out to Los Angeles to pursue my dream, and I got connected with an executive producer that had an overall producing deal with Fox Television Studios. After working there for nearly three years, I moved with this producer over to Warner Brothers, which was looking to start some talk shows. Warner Brothers was launching a talk show with Sharon Osbourne
and another show with Ellen DeGeneres. Neither one had ever done a talk show—Sharon was really in the spotlight with The Osbournes reality show, while Ellen was just kind of starting to reclaim her fame. We made the wise choice of structuring a deal where we had the option to choose which of those shows to work on—and went towards Ellen DeGeneres. I was the first staff member that joined The Ellen DeGeneres Show, along with an executive producer, and we hand-picked and grew the staff for Ellen’s show. What year was that approximately? It was 2003. At first, there were the test shows, and then from the test shows, of course, it was greenlight. The nature of The Ellen