Nearly 200 mortgage professionals gathered for the NEXT conference underway in Dallas, TX.

The NEXT conference is the first of its kind and focuses on women who are C-suite and senior execs in mortgage lending.

The show kicked off to a promising start, despite cold temperatures and a much-rowdier conference being hosted by Whole Foods across the hall.

“People are loving NEXT,” said NEXT co-host Jeri Yoshida, who put the entire event together with help of fellow mortgage veteran Molly Dowdy. HousingWire is a media sponsor of the event.

“We’ve gotten great feedback from attendees about the quality of the content and caliber of executives in attendance,” Yoshida added. “It feels great to give women mortgage executives and experience this meaningful.”

Exhibitors included tech innovators such as Ellie Mae, Pavaso and BombBomb, as well as popular mortgage lending podcast veteran David Lykken, host of the popular Lykken on Lending, who drove up from Austin early in the morning to participate.

“The number one reason I’m here is, I believe, we as an industry must come behind and support the unsung heroes of the industry,” Lykken said. “Guys walk away with too many accolades without enough honor for those who work equally hard to make our industry a success.”