marie adler

In 2001, with a small team of seven employees and big vision, she took over and quickly filled a 5000 square foot office. Under her innovative leadership AFL had similar offices nationwide. AFL became a formidable player in the lending industry within its first year generating an impressive loan volume of $272 million. Three short years later the company would have an astounding total volume of $56 billion and employed nearly five hundred people. She held the AFL until 2010, having successfully transformed the company from a simple mortgage lender to a proper mortgage bank. With the paperwork in hand Marie was ready to take AFL public, but the turbulent market forced her to make some tough decisions. As a privately held mortgage bank there were no government bailouts, and so she bailed the company out herself, determined to keep afloat and weather the storm with the last five banks. Ultimately realizing that she had to abandon that hope, she knew it was time to conquer her ultimate dream: Hollywood. While dealing with the heartbreaking task of dissolving AFL she began opening the doors for Adler & Associates Entertainment, Inc. Learning the differences between the two businesses was a simple task for a hands-on CEO like Ms. Adler. “I needed to learn from the ground up like I did with my prior businesses.” Her previous experience would prove to be universal: “Having a firm grip on what was different was most important to me. I needed to be a sponge for the logistics of the entertainment industry and I still am. I was pretty certain that business is business and managing people is managing people.” Like she did with AFL she strategically planned and built a firm foundation in a short time. What is next for Marie Adler? “Forget the bailout, I’m taking Hollywood by storm!”