Building Enterprise Growth: Chelsea Wagner On Partnership Strategy And The Future Of Housing Leadership

Leadership in housing rarely stands still. The pace of change across technology, capital markets and consumer expectations demands leaders who can evolve quickly while still building long-term value.

For Chelsea Wagner, executive vice president at Lower and a 2025 HousingWire Rising Star honoree, the past year has been defined by that evolution. What began as scaling and optimizing a high-growth revenue channel has expanded into shaping enterprise-level partnerships and unlocking new paths for strategic growth.

As the industry continues to navigate complexity and opportunity — and as the 2026 nomination deadline approaches — Wagner shares how her role has broadened, what’s fueling her momentum, and why adaptability, empathy and a strong will to win will define the next generation of Rising Stars.

HousingWire: Since being named a Rising Star, how has your role or career evolved?

Chelsea Wagner: My role has evolved from leading and scaling a high-growth direct-to-consumer channel to focusing more broadly on strategic partnerships and enterprise growth.

I’ve shifted from primarily building and optimizing revenue within a channel to architecting partnerships that drive large-scale, incremental revenue and expand our footprint in new ways. Building real, long-term value for Lower and our strategic partners has been both challenging and energizing. Most importantly, it keeps me doing what I love most: doing good business with good people.

HousingWire: What project, initiative or achievement are you most excited about right now?

CW: I’m most excited about building partner-driven growth channels that create meaningful value for both consumers and enterprise partners. Mortgage is capital intensive, highly regulated and operationally complex to stand up and scale.

We’re combining our distribution, technology and operational platform to unlock new customer experiences and acquisition paths, allowing any business to power mortgage transactions using Lower’s infrastructure, which we’ve spent years optimizing across the right blend of human expertise, tech, products and capital markets. 

We enable our partners to plug into that foundation to better serve their customers and participate in incremental revenue without having to have the machine themselves. As technology continues to accelerate, it allows us to innovate and launch new features faster while still leveraging the human expertise and operational discipline we’ve developed over time.

HousingWire: What skills or experiences have been most critical to your growth in the housing industry?

CW: Given the last five years in housing, two immediately come to mind: adaptability and a strong will to win. Housing is cyclical and constantly evolving, so the ability to pivot quickly, stay on offense when markets shift and make sound strategic decisions without perfect information is essential.

There is no playbook. It’s about building the right team, focusing on what you can control, staying level-headed in new situations, and aligning every move to company goals and core values.  In an ever-changing external environment, the leaders who can navigate uncertainty, find the angle and adjust quickly are the ones who will win.

Equally important is that when you get it wrong — because we all do — you acknowledge it, learn from it and keep moving forward.

HousingWire: What advice would you give to professionals early in their careers who aspire to make an impact in mortgage, real estate or homebuilding?

CW: First, define what impact means to you. Once you’ve defined it, chase it relentlessly. Clarity becomes your compass — it guides decisions when challenges arise and allows you to evaluate whether your actions are aligned with the impact you want to make on others, your organization and the industry. 

Get comfortable not having all the answers. Get deeply curious. Become a student of your business. Understand how a P&L works, how revenue is generated, what motivates your sales teams, how risk is managed and what the customer truly experiences. Find the edge unique to your skills and your company, then lean in hard.

HousingWire: When you think about the next generation of Rising Stars, what qualities or traits do you think set future leaders apart?

CW: The next generation will need to master the balance of evolving technology, operational efficiency and human empathy more than ever before. Customer expectations are only rising — and exceeding them is no longer optional if we want to stay relevant. 

The leaders who stand out will lean into change rather than resist it while keeping long-term differentiation at the forefront. Despite the rate of innovation in tech and products, the best leaders will always be the ones who genuinely care — about their teams, their partners and their customers — and who do the work for the right reasons. It all starts there.

Click here to nominate a 2026 Rising Star before Feb. 28.