2025 Insider Award: Shawna Adams-Johnson

From HousingWire:

Shawna Adams-Johnson has played a pivotal role in building Tidalwave’s Professional Services function, bringing over 15 years of enterprise mortgage technology experience to a fast-growing AI startup. Since joining the company, she has led the creation of a scalable implementation model that dramatically reduces the time and complexity of onboarding lenders to Tidalwave’s AI-powered point-of-sale platform. Drawing on her background with firms like nCino, Indecomm and EllieMae, Adams-Johnson combines technical depth with a strong understanding of client operations, enabling her to anticipate challenges and design efficient, reliable deployment workflows.

Over the past year, she has automated several steps in the implementation process and introduced structured protocols that support Tidalwave’s goal of completing lender onboarding in 30 days — far shorter than the industry average. Her work has had measurable impact, accelerating time to value for new clients and directly supporting the company’s market expansion. As a hands-on leader, she has built a high-performing team and fostered collaboration across Product, Engineering and Sales, ensuring alignment and clarity from the start of each client engagement.

Adams-Johnson’s ability to align complex technical systems with client goals makes her central to Tidalwave’s mission. She works closely with lenders to customize integrations with systems like DU and LPA, ensuring the platform delivers on its promise to streamline origination and reduce loan cycle times. Her approach balances precision, accountability and empathy — delivering high-impact results without losing sight of the human side of the mortgage experience.