Previous In a new conversation with HousingWire President Diego Sanchez, Rocket Pro leaders Dan Sogorka, GM, and Katie Sweeney, EVP of Strategy and Broker Advocacy, reflected on a year of growth, acquisitions, and renewed focus on brokers’ voices.
“Time flies, man,” Sogorka said. “We did our PX event, we’ve been at broker conferences across the country, and Rocket went on a little shopping spree — we bought Redfin and Mr. Cooper. We’re really working hard to figure out how to bring that entire ecosystem to bear for our partners’ benefit.”
Sweeney joined the team earlier this year and said the first step has been listening — really listening — to the broker community. “We made a concerted effort and a decision back when I first joined to say that we need to do a lot more listening before we can do the kind of leading that we want to do for the channel,” she said. “We’re not building things that we think they want. We’re building things that we’ve heard people ask for.”
That approach, she added, is helping Rocket Pro foster a sense of belonging across the industry. “There’s a lot of talk about who Rocket was and who we are now,” she said. “At the end of the day, we just want to help people do more business, close more loans, and create a sense of community that we can work right alongside them with.”
Inclusivity is a cornerstone of that effort. “We have an ISM at Rocket — every client, every time,” Sogorka said. “You treat everybody the same, whether they’re doing three loans a month with you or 300. You have to have a business that can support different entrepreneurs and styles of working.”
That philosophy inspired the company’s newly launched Broker Manifesto. “It goes hand in hand with our broker promises,” Sogorka explained. “We wanted to say, ‘These are the things we stand for, these are the things we fight for every day.’ And then just show up and do it.”
Sweeney said the manifesto was designed to ensure brokers see themselves represented. “Every consumer needs to see themselves in the industry they’re getting a service from,” she said. “We wanted to spotlight people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, experience levels, and production totals. Everybody needs to feel like they’re part of the story — because they are.”
Sogorka agreed. “We can’t operate without brokers, and they can’t operate without us,” he said. “It’s so symbiotic. Once that alignment is there, the manifesto is about saying, ‘We see you, and we’re not afraid to show it.’”
Technology plays a critical role in that vision. “My goal has always been to make every broker the best broker in the U.S.,” Sogorka said. “We’ve built tools so that a small entrepreneur can have the same power as someone with 20 IT people. The future of real estate is hyperlocal — and the American dream is both homeownership and small business ownership.”
For Sweeney, it’s about democratizing access. “I’ve been on a mission to democratize the mortgage industry for seven years,” she said. “For too long, technology investment was limited to enterprise solutions. We’re changing that. Local originators are the heartbeat of trust in this industry, and our job is to give them the flexibility and tools to run their businesses their way.”
Looking ahead, Sogorka said the next year will be about adoption and integration. “When we talk again a year from now,” he said, “we’ll be talking about thousands of hours saved, thousands of leads delivered, and all these stories that show what happens when you bring Redfin, Rocket, and Mr. Cooper together — for the benefit of brokers everywhere.”
