Award recognizes 85 operational industry leaders behind the housing success
DALLAS, TX—August 3, 2026— HousingWire proudly announced the 2026 class of Insiders, recognizing 85 operational leaders whose expertise, execution, and leadership are helping shape the future of the housing industry. Total Expert’s Amanda Kinney, Senior Director, Professional Services, and Eric Rollinger, Senior Director, Sales Engineering & Solutions Consulting, earned a place on this year’s list.
Now in its 11th year, the Insiders award honors the professionals whose behind-the-scenes contributions fuel innovation, strengthen organizations, and deliver meaningful business results. While they may not always be the public face of their organizations, these leaders are trusted problem-solvers, strategic operators, and collaborative partners who turn ambitious goals into measurable outcomes.
"The HousingWire Insiders award recognizes the operational leaders whose expertise and execution help their organizations thrive," said HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. "For more than a decade, we've celebrated the professionals who solve complex challenges, lead critical initiatives and make a lasting impact behind the scenes. Their work is essential not only to their companies, but to the continued advancement of the housing industry."
Amanda has revolutionized professional services operations by combining strategic process redesign with innovative technology integration. Her leadership at Total Expert delivered a 14% increase in customer expansion projects and 34 successful onboardings, while introducing AI-enabled solutions that expanded team capacity without proportional staffing increases—including an AI video creation system that produces customer-facing content 160 times faster and an automated escalation system that eliminated hours of manual document review. Beyond these metrics, Kinney has built a department known for exceptional talent retention and has mentored multiple team members into leadership roles, embodying how operational excellence and people development drive sustainable growth.
Eric has transformed how professional services scale by fundamentally reimagining the customer engagement model. By embedding sales engineering and solutions consulting teams directly into the sales process, Rollinger shifted professional services from a transactional handoff to a true partnership model—reducing implementation surprises, accelerating time-to-value, and becoming a market differentiator for his organization. His work standardizing onboarding packages, designing recurring service models, and launching dozens of value-added programs has generated nearly 200% revenue growth in professional services in less than a year. Through a combination of deep product expertise, hands-on leadership, and strategic use of AI-enabled customization, Rollinger has positioned his organization as a true partner to customers rather than simply a software vendor.
The 2026 honorees were selected by HousingWire's selection committee based on the significance of their contributions, their leadership in execution, and the measurable impact they have made within their organizations and across the industry.
"The best strategies in mortgage and real estate don't execute themselves — Insiders make them real. These are the professionals who build the systems, run the processes, and carry the weight of organizational performance every single day. This year's class is exceptional, and HousingWire is proud to recognize the people who quietly power this industry."
Visit HousingWire.com for a complete list of the 2026 Insiders.
About Total Expert
Total Expert is the Customer Operating System for financial services. Our purpose-built platform combines a system of context with a system of action that enables humans and AI Assistants to engage in the moments that matter and earn customers for life. Since 2016, Total Expert has enabled more than seven trillion dollars of funded loan volume.
