Earvin “Magic” Johnson headlined United Wholesale Mortgage’s company rally today to help the Troy, Michigan-based top workplace celebrate its achievement in becoming the nation’s No. 1 wholesale lender. He spoke at the company’s hour-long outdoors rally, delivering an impactful motivational speech to more than 1,700 team members.

“Winners win and losers lose, and I’m looking at 1,700 winners right now,” Johnson said to the audience. “You have a great group of hard-working people and I can tell this is a special place to be. You’re the best in the country, but like in basketball, you can only take a few minutes to celebrate the win and then you’ve got to get back to work.”

Johnson’s speech complemented the message delivered initially by UWM President and CEO Mat Ishbia, who expressed appreciation for the company’s hard work – and a challenge to become even better. Despite UWM being the No. 1 wholesale lender in the nation in 2015 and continuing to achieve several record-setting months throughout 2016, Ishbia encouraged his team to “never relax” and to continue to widen the gap between UWM and the field.

“We have a huge lead on the competition, but we can’t let up,” Ishbia said during the rally. “Now we’re the industry leader and have a target on our back. The focus is on getting better every single day – keep bringing your ideas, strong work ethic and positive attitude every day and we’ll continue to set the tone, as a top workplace and the best wholesale lender in the nation.”

UWM produced $9.22 Billion in loan volume during the first six months of 2016, nearly doubling the second-place competitor.

One of the fastest-growing lenders in America, UWM has hired nearly 600 people thus far in 2016 and will surpass 1,800 team members by year end.

UWM’s parent company, United Shore, was recently named by Fortune magazine as one the nation’s 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials and one of the 30 Best Workplaces in Financial Services.