2022 CreditCon Speakers
Sarano Kelly
Life Coach and Motivational Speaker
Sarano Kelly
Life Coach and Motivational Speaker
Number #1 rated speaker, a best-selling author, renowned top performance coach, White Housemedia skills trainer, television personality and now the creator of a one of a kind omni channelmedia brand, High Net Worth TV, Sarano Kelley is an industry leader,business icon and globalphilanthropist.
Sarano grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood, yet despite that, he entered Vassar College at age16. By age 23, he was working on Wall Street earning over $400,000 a year in the early 80’s as afinancial professional at Lehman Brothers.
A million-dollar producer before he was 30 years old, Sarano went on to become a renownedFortune 500 communication skills trainer. With offices on Park Ave in New York City, he was theNumber #1 trainer for the nation’s oldest and largest communications training company.
At the launch of his own business, now known nationally and internationally as The Kelley Group,he appeared on “Good Morning America” and many other television shows where his landmark book
“The Game: Win Your Life in 90 Days” was featured. That book now defines the field of personalperformance coaching. Since then, Sarano has had several television shows made about theincredible results produced by his widely recognized coaching process called the “90 Day Game.”
Sarano went on to become the Number #1 rated speaker in the financial services industry by theSecurities Industry Association at the Wharton School of Business, and he was a media skills coachto the White House.
Mark Calabria
Former Director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority
Mark Calabria
Former Director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority
Mark was the director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority from April 2019 to June 2021. From February 2017 to April 2019 Mark was the Chief Economist to Vice President Mike Pence. Prior to that Mark was Director of Financial Regulation Studies for the Cato Institute which is a top think tank in the world. Mark spent six years as a member of the senior professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. In that position, Calabria handled issues related to housing, mortgage finance, economics, banking and insurance for Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL). Prior to his service on Capitol Hill, Calabria served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and also held a variety of positions at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors. Calabria has also been a Research Associate with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies. He has extensive experience evaluating the impacts of legislative and regulatory proposals on financial and real estate markets, with particular emphasis on how policy changes in Washington affect low and moderate income households. He holds a doctorate in economics from George Mason University.
Julie Wooding
Senior Director – FICO
Julie Wooding
Senior Director – FICO
Ms. Julie Wooding, FICO Director, works with clients, consumer advocates and regulators to help them better understand the power of credit scoring technology and its benefits to the financial industry. As a key subject matter expert in the FICO Scores group, Julie works with top-tier lenders in the U.S. to help them evaluate and implement FICO scoring solutions. She delivers in-depth credit scoring training to regulators and lenders, most recently in the U.S., Canada, Russia, Mexico, Romania, the Philippines, and Qatar. Julie has experience in behavior, bankruptcy, revenue and risk score development, implementation and validation, and previously worked on the development of FICO® Scores for U.S. and Canada. Julie holds a B.S. in Finance, and an M.B.A.
John Ulzheimer
Credit Expert
John Ulzheimer
Credit Expert
John Ulzheimer is a nationally recognized expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft, and has worked in the credit industry since 1991. Formerly of FICO, Equifax, Credit.com, and a contractor for VantageScore Solutions for 8 years, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has served as an expert witness in more than 650 credit related lawsuits, has provided sworn testimony over 110 times, and has been qualified to testify in both Federal and State courts on the topic of consumer credit. John is the author of four books and thousands of articles about credit, and has been quoted thousands of times by national and regional media on credit related topics. John has presented at every CreditCon since the inception of the event
Francis Creighton
President & CEO CDIA – Consumer Data Industry Association
Francis Creighton
President & CEO CDIA – Consumer Data Industry Association
Francis Creighton was named President & CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) in May 2017.
Before joining CDIA, Francis was Executive Vice President of Government Affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable. A long-time veteran of Capitol Hill, he previously served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. Prior to that he was Vice President and Chief Lobbyist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where he worked on affordable housing and other issues important to the real estate finance industry.
Recognized as a “Top Lobbyist” by The Hill newspaper, Francis has made appearances in several trade, national and international print, television and radio outlets, such as American Banker magazine, PBS’s NewsHour and Fox Business.
Francis holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, where he is an adjunct faculty member. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from the University at Albany, State University of New York.
Mike Cardoza Esq.
The Cardoza Law Corporation
Mike Cardoza Esq.
The Cardoza Law Corporation
Mike Cardoza was trained as a trial attorney in the U.S. Marine Corps and has tried countless cases in federal and state courtrooms. Mike is a Consumer Financial Protection Attorney with two young daughters and an avid student of behavioral psychology. He is also the author of “The Secret World of Debt Collection: Beat Collectors at Their Own Game.”
Steve Reger
Senior VP | Consumer Direct and SmartCredit
Steve Reger
Senior VP | Consumer Direct and SmartCredit
After 26 years with TransUnion, Steve retired as Trans Union’s Senior Director for Consumer Services and Fraud Victim Assistance in 2015, overseeing 200+ agents and support staff. Steve is a leading authority on credit reporting, financial crimes, identity theft, synthetic identities and credit repair. He is regularly called upon by law enforcement and bank investigators to assist with investigations. In 2012 he was recognized by the Director of the FBI for his invaluable contributions to a multi-year investigation of complex synthetic identity fraud. Steve is a P.O.S.T. certified trainer for the State of California and has led hundreds of presentations to consumers, banks, law enforcement and other government agencies on the subject of credit reporting, credit monitoring & financial crimes. At TransUnion Steve was responsible for the oversight of consumer initiated FCRA litigation brought against TransUnion and most expert witness testimony. Steve has testified or been deposed in more than 600 court cases throughout the United States. Steve has been interviewed by numerous leading newspaper, magazine and electronic print media including MSNBC, Reader’s Digest, Money Magazine, Kiplinger, New York Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune. He has appeared in both television and radio segments.
Robert Sigman
Credzu Founder
Robert Sigman
Credzu Founder
After serving his country as a Special Agent with U.S Army Counterintelligence, Robert returned home from a deployment to Iraq in 2007 to face credit issues that prevented him from obtaining lending. Through his efforts to resolve the issues he was experiencing, he discovered a way to help others just like him. He established a credit repair organization in the tradeline space, which subsequently became one of the largest tradeline companies in the country for over a decade.
Concerned with a credit repair organization’s ability to comply with credit repair laws and rules, Robert began the process of pivoting out of the industry by selling his company and starting a third party escrow platform specifically designed for CROA and TSR compliance.
Mark Clayborne
Founder of Client Dispute Manager
Mark Clayborne
Founder of Client Dispute Manager
Mark Clayborne is the founder of Client Dispute Manager, a Credit Repair Business software. He is the author of the one-time best-selling book, “Hidden Credit Repair Secrets,” and “How to Start a Credit Repair Business.” To further educate consumers, he has designed several platforms, Lead Generation academy, Credit Repair Marketing Event, Credit Repair Mastery Class, Credit Repair Business Mastery Class, and seven Facebook Groups. A widely-respected professional, his expertise has also been highly sought-after as a speaker for many Credit-related events such as Credit Repair Marketing Event, Credit Repair University, Credit Con, and Credit Fest. Mark is dedicated to finding solutions for his clients and continues to keep abreast of the latest industry trends and tech to personalize his services further. Mark is a proven industry leader, and he makes assisting clients an utmost priority.
Michelle Ellwood Peoples
Founder of LCS Coaching & Consulting
Michelle Ellwood Peoples
Founder of LCS Coaching & Consulting
Michelle Ellwood Peoples deploys her 25 years of experience in the medical field and her Master’s Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology to fulfill her life’s mission to promote financial literacy throughout the country by consulting, educating, and motivating her clients. After serving her country in the Navy, she continues to serve as a driven and passionate advocate in her Downtown Economics and Education Representative role. There, she helps improve access to care amongst immigrant populations in community housing and facilitates training for income-restricted populations. Michelle is the founder of LCS Coaching & Consulting as well as MDC911 through which she educates credit repair organizations from compliance to medical debt collections.
Charles Parker
Founder of Az Credit Medix
Charles Parker
Founder of Az Credit Medix
Charles has over 19 years working with various universities, to also include the department of education. Charles began working with Apollo Financial Services in 2003. Apollo Financial Service managed all the financial services for the University of Phoenix, Axia University and WIU University. After over 5 years with Apollo, Charles transitioned to EDMC. EDMC managed the financial aid for The Art Instituted of Pittsburgh, Argosy University, Brown Mackie College, and South University. Charles decided to start AZ Credit Medix in 2011, so that he could bring his wealth of knowledge in the student loan industry and educate the credit repair industry.
James Wilhite
Founder of Pre-Arbitration Academy
James Wilhite
Founder of Pre-Arbitration Academy
James has been in the credit industry for 11 years as CEO of Meta Credit USA. In the last two years James has developed a niche in the credit space – the Pre-Arbitration method. James has worked closely with attorneys for the past 2 years to develop a road map for credit repair companies to follow when helping consumers navigate Arbitration. In 2022, James is launching the Pre-Arbitration Academy at CreditCon to help companies navigate this process. Most companies do not know that you do NOT need to be an attorney to represent a consumer in Arbitration. Almost all major bank cardholder agreements have an Arbitration clause. James is working within the industry to help consumers with this new tactic. The Pre-Arbitration Academy will level the playing field between the average consumer in need of a fair shake and the large companies who might be taking them for granted or conducting business out of compliance with respect to consumer rights.
Jason Steele
CardCon Event and Freelance Credit Card Writer
Jason Steele
CardCon Event and Freelance Credit Card Writer
Jason Steele a full-time freelance writer and consultant and an expert in credit cards, travel, and general personal finance. Jason has been writing about credit and credit cards since 2008 and is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in this industry. Jason also produces CardCon, which is The Conference for Credit Card and Consumer Credit Media.
Matt Liistro
Credit Admiral Software
Matt Liistro
Credit Admiral Software
Matt Liistro is Co-Founder of Credit Admiral Software and a 28 year veteran of the Credit Repair Industry. Matt is the organizer of the annual CreditCon Event. Matt is a published author appearing in numerous publications including The New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Dow Jones Marketplace, and The Washington Business Journal. Matt has served with NACSO (National Association of Credit Service Organizations) and is currently a Director with AACCP (American Association of Consumer Credit Professionals. Matt has been active in credit repair legislative efforts in both Georgia and Illinois. Matt currently has authored a petition with the Federal Trade Commission to change the Telephone Sales Rule. Matt currently has a petition pending with the CFPB to modify the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Matt’s expertise lies in the credit disputing process. Matt is passionate about uniting credit industry professionals and the sharing of credit knowledge.
Ari Marcus
Managing Partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC
Ari Marcus
Managing Partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC
Ari H. Marcus, Esq. is the managing partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC. Mr. Marcus attended Brooklyn Law School where he graduated cum laude in 2010. Since then, Mr. Marcus has built a law firm recognized as a leader in the world of plaintiff’s consumer advocacy work.
With experience litigating consumer protection claims on both an individual and class action basis, Mr. Marcus has set himself apart as a zealous and effective consumer rights advocate, helping thousands of clients reach favorable resolutions of their claims. Mr. Marcus and his partner Yitchak Zelman are experts in the litigation of consumer credit cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. From identifying actionable errors to the dispute process to successful actions against both major institutions and consumer reporting agencies, Marcus & Zelman has successfully guided consumers on the path to secure the protection of their rights.
Mr. Marcus is licensed in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, The United States District Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as well as countless district courts nationwide, including the United States District Court of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
Yitzchak Zelman
Partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC
Yitzchak Zelman
Partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC
Yitzchak Zelman, Esq. is a partner at Marcus Zelman, LLC. Mr. Zelman graduated from Cardozo Law School in 2012, and has consistently been at the forefront of many emerging consumer protection issues ever since. Mr. Zelman has successfully litigated a host of complex matters ranging from personal injury claims and commercial litigation to the protection of employment rights, while his practice focuses on individual and class action consumer protection litigation, specifically including the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Mr. Zelman’s expertise has been recognized nationally by his fellow attorneys, in addition to his frequent appearances as a speaker on consumer protection issues.
Mr. Zelman is licensed in New Jersey, New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third and Ninth Circuits, as well as countless district courts nationwide, including the United States District Courts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Indiana and Illinois.
Flame Newton
Founder of The School of Credit, Access The Money, and Flame Newton Corp.
Flame Newton
Founder of The School of Credit, Access The Money, and Flame Newton Corp.
Flame Newton who is known for his vast knowledge in the credit system built by the United States. He wrote the book THE SCHOOL OF CREDIT “Learn and Master the 12 Levels of the American Credit System” and La Escuela De Credito:(Spanish Edition) also has The School of Credit Learn and Master the 8 levels of the Business Credit System which(permitted) him to become the ONLY author in American history to have two books recognized by the Library of Congress. He is a true “Renaissance Man”. He resides in Phoenix, Arizona and is a proud college graduate of North Carolina A&T State University. His energetic personality, broad knowledge, and agile intelligence allow Mr. Newton to successfully fill many roles for different people.
Nationally recognized as America’s # 1 credit educator. Flame has first-hand knowledge of the inner workings with banks, collection agencies, credit bureaus, mortgage companies, law firms, medical providers, insurance companies, credit card companies, car dealerships and any other institutions that deals with credit. he is also an expert in LAW as it is interpreted by the Federal Trade Commission, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. He teaches primarily how to leverage your personal credit to tie it to business credit and attach to these banking institutions to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions to grow our businesses in America.
His determination has repositioned and set him apart from everyone else in the credit field. He has a strong desire for teaching with passion that gets you excited about learning about credit. He wanted to share a never seen before type method that has shaken up the credit world. Flame Newton reputation as the man to call when you want to understand this complicated credit system.
Merrill Chandler
CEO – GetFundable.com
Merrill Chandler
CEO – GetFundable.com
Former Co-Founder of Lexington Law Firm. Merrill is a compelling, knowledgeable, and internationally-renown keynote speaker. In 2016, after a meeting with FICO CEO Will Lansing, Merrill signed an NDA and was authorized to meet with personal and business FICO score data scientists, and ask 100 optimized questions to better his ability to help borrowers accomplish their funding goals. Using Merrill’s knowledge of borrower behavior profiles, FICO scoring metrics, and lender underwriting requirements he developed a process to “optimize” a consumer’s credit profile and borrower behaviors to improve their “fundability”. GetFundable.com utilizes this revolutionary technology, Fundability Optimization™, to help thousands of borrowers become more fundable and access the capital they need to grow their businesses.
Jeremiah Davis
CEO & Founder of Davis Thorpe & Associates
Jeremiah Davis
CEO & Founder of Davis Thorpe & Associates
Jeremiah Cromwell Davis II: Jeremiah has held sales and management positions with advertising agencies, retail stores, and telecommunications companies, giving him experience-based insight into a wide range of industries. He went from an outside sales rep to VP of Sales and Business Development, in less than 8 years with a bank card processing company. Here he fine-toned his consulting and coaching skills, which led him to start his business consulting firm in 2015. Jeremiah has a master’s degree in theology and holds Business Consulting, Business Coaching, Business Credit, and Personal Credit Certifications. Jeremiah is the Founder and CEO of 4 Businesses, Davis Thorpe & Associates, Black Label CRM, Business Funding Now, and Custom Executives.
Michael Thurman
Founder of Thurman Legal
Michael Thurman
Founder of Thurman Legal
Michael Thurman is a regulatory defense attorney who represents businesses, executives and employees in lawsuits, arbitrations and regulatory actions. He regularly defends business clients in consumer protection class actions and government regulatory actions and investigations brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state regulators, and counsels clients in various industries on advertising and marketing issues.
Mr. Thurman also counsels businesses and makes presentations regarding compliance and risk management issues, including supervisory and enforcement developments associated with the Consumer Financial Protection Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule and other state and federal laws that apply to the debt settlement industry.
John Jonas
Onlinejobs.ph
John Jonas
Onlinejobs.ph
John has helped thousands of entrepreneurs succeed in their businesses by doing outsourcing differently. He created and runs OnlineJobs.ph, the largest website for finding Filipino virtual workers, with over 250,000 Filipino resumes and over 100,000 employers from around the world using it. He works about 17 hours per week, choosing to spend his time with his family rather than working.
Haziq Ali
NovaeMoney
Haziq Ali
NovaeMoney
Haziq Ali has been an entrepreneur for the majority of his life, beginning with a feature on an episode of 60 minutes profiling his first business in junior high school. After huge learning experiences that left him bankrupt, foreclosed, and homeless in his later business years; he applied the life-changing lessons he teaches today and within 18 months fought his way to opening 5 different businesses, generating in excess of a half million dollars in revenue and most importantly – falling deeply in love with his life again.
As a Novae Founding Member, Haziq was instrumental in the inception phase of the company. After inception, Haziq consistently maintained the companywide #1 recruiter position on the direct sales side of the business for years which led to his transition and promotion to Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions. After 18 months of leading Novae to the most profitable partnerships and affiliate relationships in company history, Haziq was named Chief Marketing Officer. Haziq largely is responsible for the growth of Novae’s Affiliate and Franchise Programs.
In addition to his day to day activities serving through Novae, Haziq is in extremely high demand as an award winning speaker, trainer and TV/radio show guest. Blessed to have been trained by the best and personally mentored by the great Les Brown, the greatest motivational speaker to ever live, Haziq is also an author and self-esteem development expert. Haziq attended Florida A & M University – School of Business and Industry; since that time he has elevated his studies in the real world that has benefited not only him but thousands of entrepreneurs across the country.
Tammy Smith
Founder of SHEro Venture
Tammy Smith
Founder of SHEro Venture
It all starts by helping others. Tammy has spent the past 30 years in sales and marketing. Dedicated from the heart, Tammy created SHEro-Ventures, designed to help business owners become heroes to their clients. Like most of us in life, Tammy encountered major adversities that she overcame with inspiration and passion. Through life-threatening health issues, divorce, abuse, and losing it all, Tammy came back powerful and enthusiastic. She dedicated her business to providing solutions as a business strategist with a passion to help others achieve their dreams. From the age of 18, she owned a retail clothing store, worked in the travel industry, was the Vice-President of a video production company, started Pro Player Sports which operated a Woman’s Pro-Football Team from NWFL to NWFA. Starting in the credit industry in 2008, Tammy became an ultimate resource for real estate investors in both residential and commercial properties.
Tal Tepper
Upsell Nation CEO
Tal Tepper
Upsell Nation CEO
Tal Tepper is the CEO and Founder of UpSellNation.com, the industry’s top auxiliary Products and Services provider. Mr. Tepper is a sought-after speaker, trainer, and business strategist.
On the heels of the mortgage bubble burst of 2008, Mr. Tepper, a veteran owner and operator of Mortgage and Automobile Financial Entities, entered the Credit Repair arena. He hoped to assist the many Americans who were suffering from the fallout of the aforementioned financial crisis.
Although credit monitoring and credit building products are integral to operating a credit repair business, very few suitable options were available at the time. Those available did not want to work with credit repair organizations [CROs] and/or had a very lengthy approval process. It was also difficult to track and keep accounting of sales and, worst of all, they often sold their data to the likes of Lexington Law.
Mr. Tepper looked for a solution where CROs could gain access to reliable, CRO friendly and easily trackable products. Not finding such a solution Mr. Tepper decided to combine his decades of experience with credit, finance, technology, and marketing to assist his fellow CROs. This is how UpSellNation.com was born!
UpsellNation is an innovative platform that took extensive resources and more than five years to develop. It can best be described as One-Stop-Shop for all CRO Products and Services.
With a single registration at UpSellNation.com, a CRO is automatically approved for all top auxiliary Products and Services needed to start, grow, and scale a Credit Repair business.
UpSellNation.com is a direct partner, broker and/or exclusive vendor for the credit repair industry’s main monetizable products and services: Dozens of Credit Monitoring Options [both RevShare and Bounty, including IDIQ, MyScoreIQ, ExtraCredit, FreeScore360…], Self, ExtraCard, Luxury Card, Prime and Subprime Credit Cards, Rent Reporting, Biz Credit Monitoring, Biz Credit Building and hundreds of other products and services.
UpSellNation.com offers an extremely user-friendly experience, providing each affiliate with live 360 transparent view of all their auxiliary products and earnings.
With Upsell, an affiliate deals with One Vendor, One Online Portal, and will receive One Monthly Cumulative Payout. The Upsell experience is simple, quick, and seamless.
UpSellNation.com allows a CRO to focus on running and growing their business while Upsell and its’ support staff provide and manage all their auxiliary revenue streams.
UpSellNation.com presently services and assists thousands of companies worldwide.
Mr. Tepper lives in NY with his wife and four children. He is an avid mountain biker, volleyball enthusiast and a 35-year veteran Martial Artist, proudly holding multiple black belts.