Who is United First Financial®?
In 1997, childhood friends Skyler Witman and John Washenko founded Accelerated Equity & Development in the Salt Lake City, Utah area and it became one of the fastest growing mortgage brokerages in a three-year period. Both Skyler and John had the unfortunate childhood experience of losing their family’s home to foreclosure when their fathers lost their income. Their approach with Accelerated Equity & Development has always been to assist clients in accelerating the pay-off of their mortgages. After a few years they began to notice that many clients would return to them wanting to refinance their mortgages in order to pay off consumer debt. Many mortgage brokers would look upon this as an ideal situation, because they would earn commission on the refinancing. Skyler & John, however, realized that by helping their clients to refinance they were actually helping them to become deeper in debt. They knew there had to be another way! And thus, the search began.
In 2005, after millions of dollars and years of research, the Money Merge Account® program was launched and test marketed in Denver, Colorado with astounding results.
United First Financial was founded in 2006. In just 24 months, UFirst® grew from 10 agents to tens of thousands of agents, affecting tens of thousands of consumers’ financial situations and, inevitably, their lives.
The Founders of United First Financial win the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2008 Utah Region Award
No longer a question of “Is this too be good to be true?” Ernst & Young settled that once and for all! They don’t just look at a product and a company and say, “Wow. That’s a nice idea. Let’s give them an award for that.” Ernst & Young is known for intensive due diligence. They look at the financials of the company. They look at the longevity potential of the company. They look at customer retention. They look at customer service. They look at the product itself for its viability in the marketplace. They want to know that the companies they give this highly prestigious award to are well established with a good, strong business model to project future longevity and future positive impact on consumers.
After doing research and thorough due diligence, Ernst & Young recognized that these five gentlemen fit their criteria and awarded them the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for 2008 in the Utah Region.
What the Experts Are Saying
United First Financial and the Money Merge Account program were recently featured in Mortgage Planner Magazine and Broker Banker Magazine. United First Financial has also been featured in True Wealth Magazine and Personal Real Estate Investor, which honored them with the Editors Choice award.
These magazines are the industry standards, leaders in the mortgage and investment arenas. Professionals look to these magazines for their quality articles so they can educate themselves as to what is effective and viable in today's market. These respected editors and writers found it important to bring United First Financial and the Money Merge Account program to their subscribers and their readers letting them know the powerful impact we are having on consumers not only in the United States, but Canada as well.
Jody Heckenlively has worked with her husband Guy, for over 25 years in raising two beautiful children and owning and operating several successful business. They have owned retail stores and built large network marketing teams, always with a win-win attitude. Guy and Jody love to inspire and support others, knowing that success in any venture requires personal growth and inner work.
They live in Sonoma County, CA and are Branch Managers with United First Financial. They currently have clients and agents all over the United States and Canada. Flow Your Money and Bank Like The Banks is their dedicated choice of service.