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Skylar Welch is a seasoned mortgage professional and National Director of Strategic Growth at Fusion Home Loans, known for her relationship-driven approach, dynamic leadership, and unwavering commitment to creating a memorable client experience.
With 15 years in the mortgage industry, Skylar has built her career around one core principle: relationships are the foundation of lasting success. A purchase-focused originator from the start, she has consistently ranked in the top 1% of loan originators nationwide for more than a decade and has been recognized by Scotsman Guide as one of the Top 100 Loan Originators in the country. Her business has been built primarily through strong referral partnerships and repeat clients, a testament to her consistency, communication, and ability to deliver results in any market environment.
In addition to her personal production success, Skylar recently stepped into the role of National Director of Strategic Growth at Fusion Home Loans. In this capacity, she focuses on expanding strategic partnerships, developing high-performing originators, and helping build scalable, referral-based growth across the organization. She is known for combining big-picture vision with hands-on execution, empowering others to grow sustainable businesses rooted in service and trust.
Beyond production and leadership, Skylar has become a respected voice within the industry. She has served as a keynote speaker on stages across the country, sharing insights on growth, branding, and relationship-building, and has shared stages with influential leaders including Tony Robbins. Her message consistently centers on mindset, consistency, and the power of creating an exceptional client journey.
A Maine native, Skylar grew up on the small coastal island community of Eastport before settling in Falmouth, Maine, where she lives with her husband and three children. Outside of lending, she is a wedding venue owner and an active real estate investor, holding both short-term and long-term rental properties. She spends much of her time supporting her children’s sports, giving back to her community, and hosting gatherings that bring people together — a reflection of the same relationship-first philosophy that defines her professional life.
Colleagues value Skylar for her energy, authenticity, and strategic mindset. Clients and partners know her as someone who shows up, follows through, and treats every transaction and relationship with intention. That consistency has made her a trusted leader within Fusion and a respected name in the mortgage industry nationwide.
After Graduating from the University of Georgia with a BBA in Economics and Georgia College and State University with an MBA in Business Administration, Derek has spent over 30 years in the Mortgage Industry. Derek has led Mortgage divisions at several large regional banks in Georgia and was a top producer recognized by the Georgia Mortgage Bankers Association, where he later became President of the Atlanta Chapter. Derek has a long history of leading mortgage divisions to be significant revenue generators for the banks he worked.
Most Recently, Derek started a new region of Manufactured Housing focused Lending in the Southeast for Planet Home Lending. Derek grew that division from $0 to over $30 Million in less than two years. Derek remains committed to the Manufactured Housing space and is a member of the Georgia and Florida Manufactured Housing Associations. He is also VP of the new North Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Manufactured Housing Association. Derek was recently quoted in an article for Realtor.com speaking on the viability of Manufactured Housing financing.
Derek is a student of Leadership and strives to be a servant leader and mentor. He has mentored many loan officers through his career with several starting from scratch and who are still in the mortgage industry today.
Nick Long is a seasoned mortgage professional and co-founder of Fusion Home Loans, known for his disciplined execution, steady leadership, and commitment to delivering an exceptional client experience.
With nearly two decades in the industry, Nick has built his career around one core principle: consistent performance creates lasting relationships. A purchase-focused originator from day one, he has personally guided hundreds of families through the home financing process while helping lead teams responsible for more than $750 million in annual production. His business has been built almost entirely through repeat clients and trusted Realtor and builder partnerships, a reflection of his reliability and results-driven approach.
Before launching Fusion, Nick held a producing leadership role at one of the country’s largest independent mortgage banks, where he earned recognition as a top producer and trusted mentor to both new and experienced loan officers. He became known internally as the person who could bring clarity to complexity, streamlining processes, strengthening accountability, and helping teams operate at a consistently high level regardless of market conditions.
At Fusion, Nick oversees sales performance, coaching, and operational execution across the platform. He works closely with loan officers to refine their systems, improve efficiency, and build sustainable, referral-based businesses. His leadership style is practical and hands-on, grounded in preparation, responsiveness, and doing the small things right every day.
Nick earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Florida, where he developed the financial and analytical foundation that continues to guide his disciplined, detail-oriented approach to lending and team management.
Colleagues value Nick for his integrity, calm demeanor, and dependability. Clients and partners know him as someone who follows through, communicates clearly, and treats every transaction with care. That consistency has helped establish Fusion as a trusted, long-term lending partner throughout Central Florida.
Outside the office, Nick enjoys spending time with family and friends and investing in the relationships that matter most, the same relationship-first mindset that shapes how he approaches business.
Chris Hardiman co-founded Fusion Home Loans with a simple conviction: mortgage banking should be built on relationships, not transactions.
Over the course of his career, Chris has become known as both a high-performing originator and a builder of teams. He has personally helped hundreds of families finance their homes while leading production teams that have generated more than $750 million in annual volume. His approach blends elite execution, operational discipline, and a long-term partnership mindset that prioritizes trust over short-term wins.
Before launching Fusion, Chris served as a Producing Area Manager at one of the nation’s largest independent mortgage banks, where he consistently ranked among the company’s top performers. He built and mentored a team of loan officers and operational professionals focused almost exclusively on purchase business, developing a repeatable, referral-driven model centered on Realtors, builders, and client experience. That foundation now shapes Fusion’s culture today.
At Fusion, Chris leads growth strategy, recruiting, and partner development while remaining deeply involved in day-to-day production. He is passionate about creating a modern mortgage platform where originators can build lasting enterprise value, clients receive exceptional service, and technology strengthens, rather than replaces, human relationships. His leadership philosophy is simple: take care of people first and performance follows.
Chris’s analytical mindset is grounded in education as well as experience. He earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees from Florida State University in Finance & Real Estate and Accounting, giving him a strong foundation in capital markets, risk management, and operational strategy that continues to inform how Fusion scales sustainably.
Outside of work, Chris is a devoted husband and father who values fitness, travel, and creating meaningful experiences with his wife and two children, the same intentionality he brings to the business he’s building. He serves on the Board of the Winter Park Rotary Club and is a member of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.
Nick Long and Chris Hardiman bring a wealth of experience and a strong partnership to the company’s sales leadership. With a formal educational background in finance as well as a deep breadth of professional experience in sales, the two have been friends since childhood and began their professional journey together in 2018 at Amerifirst Home Mortgage. Prior to that they had both held separate roles at other independent mortgage banks. Their partnership has since flourished, spanning multiple companies, and they now serve as Producing Area Managers at the 2nd largest direct independent mortgage bank in the U.S., where they have been for the past two years. Prior to their current roles, they were ranked as the #1 and #2 MLOs, nationally, at Amerifirst Home Mortgage.
Together, Nick and Chris lead a high-performing team of 11 MLOs and 11 operational support staff, achieving a combined team production of over $1.5B.
Individually, both have surpassed $250M in career production, earning recognition as President’s Club producers consistently over the past five years, along with other industry accolades. With Nick and Chris’s collective 30+ years of experience in mortgage banking, they have developed a sales approach centered around purchase mortgage business, focusing on building and maintaining relationships with key referral partners including Realtors, home builders, CPAs, and wealth managers. Their strategy has always emphasized cultivating long-term relationships rather than direct-to consumer marketing, except during refinance booms when they prioritize engaging their existing client base. Their combined expertise, proven track record, and commitment to relationship-driven sales make them integral to driving the company’s growth and expanding its market presence.
Lee Gross brings over 35 years of distinguished experience in the mortgage industry, specializing in financial strategy, operational excellence, and transformative leadership. Most recently, Mr. Gross served as President and CEO of Platinum Home Mortgage, where he navigated complex market challenges and played a pivotal role in a successful merger and acquisition with Planet Home Lending, ensuring a seamless integration that preserved client relationships and operational stability.
In his decade-long tenure as CFO of American City Mortgage, Mr. Gross demonstrated exceptional expertise in financial restructuring, optimizing cash flow, and improving liquidity positions. He successfully guided the company through multiple economic cycles, deploying effective risk management strategies and establishing robust compliance frameworks in alignment with shifting regulatory landscapes.
His prior roles at Irwin Mortgage and Pinnacle Financial showcased a forward-thinking approach to capital management, enabling strategic partnerships and operational transformations.
Mr. Gross also led technology-driven innovations, enhancing underwriting efficiency and streamlining mortgage servicing processes. A Certified Public Accountant with degrees in Finance and Accounting, Mr. Gross began his career at a top-tier CPA firm, focusing on structured finance, asset liquidation, and complex financial modeling for large-scale real estate portfolios. His extensive background in finance, combined with his strategic vision and leadership capabilities, has earned him a reputation as a trusted advisor and industry innovator.
Committed to building and mentoring high performing teams, Mr. Gross’s leadership philosophy centers on transparency, data-driven decision-making, and a focus on sustainable growth and community-focused initiatives.
Doug Long is a transformative force in mortgage lending, with over 40 years turning bold ideas into billion-dollar realities across finance, real estate, and technology. As CEO and co-founder of Pinnacle Financial, Doug took the company from a first-year production of $68 million in 1988 to $7 billion by 2006, establishing Pinnacle as a top 50 lender with a reputation for dynamic, customer centered solutions.
At Prospect Mortgage, LLC, where Doug served as President of National Lending from 2012 to 2017, he propelled annual growth by 30% and implemented strategic pricing models that took the company’s profit margins from 4 basis points to an average of 100 basis points. During his tenure as Executive Vice President at HomeBridge® Financial Services he guided his team effectively through a significant transition period.
Most recently, as Senior Vice President at Amerifirst, he opened a new southeast region leading growth from zero production in 2018 to $1.2 billion by 2021, showcasing his ability to build substantial value in short timeframes.
Doug is an active investor of innovative startups including Daily Human, Liteforge, Finding Floridians, Comply Hub. Doug serves as Chairman and advisor for Crittora, a cyber security startup creating data security solutions for a postquantum computing environment. In 2022, he founded WUTIF, a tech accelerator lab focused on AI solutions to revolutionize business operations.
A University of Central Florida alumnus and Hall of Fame member, Doug lives by the philosophy, “The future is now.” He remains dedicated to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and is known for transforming challenges into opportunities for growth and success.
