MGIC

The 2025 Gala was a tremendous success, and we are planning an even bigger event in 2026. If you support residential lending in Massachusetts this is a must attend event! Thanks to Sarah Blake, AMP and Digital Federal Credit Union for their continued support and service to assisting Massachusetts borrowers attain the benefits of sustainable homeownership.

Hear from industry experts as they share real-world insights and practical strategies to help you better serve first-time and low-to-moderate-income borrowers while growing your community lending opportunities. Explore their stories at https://lnkd.in/ekmYVb-b

When I first started looking at Kubernetes, I found it a bit intimidating. There seemed to be a whole new vocabulary to learn: Deployments, ReplicaSets, Services, rollouts, rollbacks. At first, it felt like a completely different world. What gave me confidence was realising that the underlying ideas were not actually new. A couple of weeks ago, I built a small blue/green deployment lab using Docker Compose and Nginx. The idea was simple: run two versions of the same application side by side, test the new version, and then switch traffic by changing the Nginx upstream configuration and reloading Nginx. When I recreated the same scenario in Kubernetes, many things started to make much more sense. A Deployment describes the desired state. ReplicaSets keep track of the different versions. A Service provides a stable endpoint. Rolling updates replace pods gradually. And if something goes wrong, kubectl rollout undo brings the application back to the previous working version. So Kubernetes was not introducing completely new concepts. It was automating a process I had already carried out manually. For this lab I: - built and pushed versioned Docker images to GitHub Container Registry; - deployed them to a local k3s cluster; - upgraded the application from v1 to v2; - inspected the rollout history; - rolled back to v1; - visualised everything in Lens Desktop. One practical lesson that really stayed with me was understanding why a container registry matters. A rollback only works if Kubernetes can still access the previous image version. That sounds obvious, but seeing it fail in practice made the point much more memorable. Moments like this are what make learning enjoyable. Something that initially feels complicated becomes much easier once you connect it to ideas and experiences you already understand. Repository: https://lnkd.in/eeAqKGc3 #Kubernetes #DevOps #Linux #Docker #CloudNative #Infrastructure #LearningInPublic #OpenToWork

This week I attended the Mortgage Bankers Association annual National Advocacy Conference. Representing the Residential Lending Industry and advocating for our Representatives and Senators to support legislation aimed at strengthening housing for all Americans. * 21st Century “Road to Housing” *Mortgage Regulatory Reform *Tax Policies to Improve Hosuing Affordability and Supply *Secondary Market/GSE Policies Were some of the topics we discussed with our elected officials. Thanks to the over 600 professionals from around the country that flew in to Washington to represent the mortgage industry. Special thanks to the NH Delegation who attended with me. Kurt W. Strandson, CMP Bill Gaudet andrea lefebvre Suzanne Riel Matthew Gallant CMP, CCL David Holding, CMB®

I recently revisited one of my favorite books, The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle, and it reinforced something I see play out every day in leadership: Culture isn’t a statement. It’s a system of behaviors. What makes this book stand out is how specific and evidence-based it is. Coyle studied high-performing groups—from the San Antonio Spurs to Pixar to U.S. Navy SEALs—and distilled their success into three repeatable skills: 1. Build Safety This isn’t just about being “nice.” It’s about creating an environment where people feel seen and valued. Small, consistent signals—listening fully, inviting input, acknowledging contributions—compound into trust. Without this, nothing else works. 2. Share Vulnerability This was the most impactful takeaway for me. The best teams aren’t led by invulnerability—they’re led by leaders who go first in admitting gaps, asking for help, and creating space for others to do the same. That’s what unlocks real collaboration. 3. Establish Purpose High-performing teams are obsessive about clarity. They over-communicate priorities and connect daily work to a bigger mission. It’s not just “what we do,” but “why it matters.” What I found especially relevant as a technology leader: none of this requires a reorg, a new strategy deck, or a massive investment. It’s built in the micro-moments—how you run meetings, how you respond to failure, how you recognize progress. My biggest takeaway: 👉 Culture is what your team experiences in 1:1 conversations. If you’re driving execution in 2026, this is the lever that scales everything else. Talent gets you in the game—culture determines how far you go. #Leadership #Culture #TeamPerformance #Execution #TechnologyLeadership