Issue link: http://dsnews.uberflip.com/i/1297945
37 Five Star Virtual Conference 2020 over the cubicle wall when they need a little bit of help. ere's also the camaraderie that comes from working in close-knit teams, particularly when you're a company like Shellpoint where a very small percentage of our folks pre–COVID-19 were working from home—maybe 10%, probably close to 5%." Stanley Middleman, CEO of Freedom Mortgage, recalled how his company transitioned from "a ursday when we were working in our office and business was as usual [to a] Tuesday the following week [when] we woke up and 98% of our population is working from home." He believed the nimbleness of mortgage companies to take on this abrupt shift is the year's most important story. "e big takeaway was that not only could we survive and succeed and do our jobs, but we could actually thrive," he said. "Out of all this, we've become boundless in our opportunity. We've been breaking record after record every month in originations, and all the while we were supporting over 100,000 requests for forbearance, generating huge volumes of originations, and hiring 1,000 and 1,200 people a month through each of the last three or four months. e lessons learned here are multifaceted." Terry Smith, CEO of Rushmore Loan Management Services, went even further in praising the industry's ability to meet and overcome pandemic-era challenges. "We were able to turn the switch off from being in the office on one day and five days later we were up and running," he said of the industry's remote workforce. "I think we've done a great job. All of our employees are really the frontline heroes of the industry." "As a collective body, we are an industry that is the heart and soul of America, We make home possible, and we stand at the ready to protect and defend that dream each and every day, for this industry was built to overcome challenges." —Chairman Emeritus of Five Star Global, Ed Delgado 1. Brig. Gen. John I. Pray, CEO and President, Operation Homefront, during the military veteran donation presentation sponsored by Auction.com. 2. Lindsey Pryor, Senior Manager of Business Development, Altisource Field Services, speaking during the "Loss Mitigation Update" panel. 3. Ali Haralson, Chief Business Development Officer, Auction.com, during the military veteran donation presentation sponsored by Auction.com. 4. Jeff Tennyson, CEO, Lima One Capital, speaking during the "Emerging Markets" panel. 4. 3.