1.How many years have you been in Private Lending and why did you enter this field?

I have been in private lending for almost 10 years. I entered the field in 2015 after receiving an opportunity from an old colleague to join the residential investment space, which is something I’ve always had my eye on. Growing up, I saw my grandfather, a first generation American, investing in rental properties and it’s always been inspiring to me. Since joining the industry, I’ve become a real estate investor myself, which gives me a unique and personal understanding of the needs and challenges facing Kiavi’s customers.

2. Where did you get your start?

My background is in hospitality. I went to the Hotel School at Cornell University and spent the first half of my career focused on the hotel asset class and equity side of real estate finance. During the financial crisis, I was at a small advisory shop helping community and regional banks work through their troubled real estate portfolios. That’s how I was first exposed to consumer lending.

The industry as it is today, with access to institutional capital for residential investors, did not really exist before the 2008 financial crisis. It grew out of the private equity and hedge fund space, buying foreclosures initially intended to become rentals. As large buyers like Blackstone and Colony Capital started lending arms, a colleague reached out to see if I was interested in running a bridge lending business. He felt that I had the right combination of operational mindset and the ability to interact with customers on a meaningful level to lead the burgeoning business. 

At that time, there were only a couple of us lending for fix-and-flip properties and rental portfolios. While these assets had been around for a while, bridge and fix-and-flip lending at an institutional level didn’t exist, so it was an exciting opportunity to be part of the birth of our industry.

3. What is your current role and how does that affect your company at large?

As the Chief Revenue Officer at Kiavi, I am responsible for all revenue-driving functions, including all sales, marketing, and partnership teams, as well as overseeing our data science function to anticipate the needs of our customers and identify creative ways to solve their challenges. Since I joined in early 2020, Kiavi has seen significant revenue and market share growth. In fact, we funded a record $4 billion in fix-and-flip volume to more than 5,600 customers last year alone!

4. How have you seen your company grow in spite of – or because of – current market conditions?

Despite the challenging market and flipped home transactions being down about 30% year-over-year, 2023 was a banner year for Kiavi. We did $4 billion in fix-and-flip loan volume, a 7% year-over-year volume increase, and closed more than 13,000 loans to 5,800 real estate investors. A lot of new borrowers turned to Kiavi last year because the challenging market conditions limited funding capacity from other lenders, which was not an issue for us because of our reliable stable of institutional capital via our securitizations. While other lenders’ volumes were impacted by a fix-and-flip market that was down by roughly 30% last year, Kiavi captured market share via new customer acquisition and by enabling our existing customers to scale their businesses. 

There have been a few key factors in our success. First and foremost, Kiavi’s unique technology platform provides real estate investors with a clear, seamless, easy, and near-instant financing experience. Based on the customer’s input on a property, they can get immediate feedback on what they would likely get from a leverage and pricing perspective. Very few, if any, lenders in our space have that functionality. In fact, most other lenders are still living in Excel spreadsheets!

Another way we’ve seen success in this market is by building credibility as a reliable, consistent partner to real estate investors via our capital strategy and structure. We sell bonds to the bond investor markets that are collateralized and secured by our bridge and fix-and-flip loans via securitizations. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these securitizations enabled us to continue lending despite many other lenders not having capital to lend. Since we had reliable, available capital while most other lenders didn’t, we earned a lot of loyal customers – most of whom are still with us today.

5. What are some of your goals for 2024 and beyond?

As a company, Kiavi’s goal for 2024 is to continue growing. And as Chief Revenue Officer, I’m laser-focused on increasing our market share, launching new products, and leveraging our data and technology platform as a competitive advantage. Over the past 10 years, we’ve used our machine-learning models to support our operations processes – but we also see an opportunity to make these models more visible to our customers. For example, our after-repair valuation model statistically does a better job at predicting an exit price than a third-party valuation. So, if we explain what the model is assessing and why that matters to our customers, we can create an unmatched customer experience paired with our already-leading processes and execution. 

We also have a customer risk model that considers factors beyond credit score. While other lenders rely solely on FICO scores to assess a borrower’s risk level, we’ve built a model that’s wildly more accurate than FICO scores alone. And this model allows us to offer higher leverage and better terms to more borrowers. A goal of mine in 2024 is to push the limits of these models so we can offer customers the best terms possible while maintaining our risk profile. 

5. What does success look like for you?

My definition of success has evolved over time. Early in my career it was about titles, moving up the ladder, and making more money. But, now that I am established in my career, I see success a little differently. I more clearly see the value of relationships, downtime where you can truly unwind, and the ability to give back in some way. The more senior I have become in my career, the more satisfaction I get from seeing my teams develop and grow. Helping my team become more confident and successful is now how I define success for me. 

6. What is something most people don’t know about you or your company?

Part of the reason we have such a strong understanding of our customers and their needs is that many Kiavi employeesare investors themselves. My husband and I have six rental properties with a total of eight units, so we’re investors just like the customers we serve. This enables me to better understand what Kiavi customers are going through and to help tailor the investing experience to their needs.

Despite what you might see in the news, rental property investing is much more dominated by mom-and-pop landlords than by giant management companies. About 80% of rental properties are owned by people who own fewer than 10 properties. This space is very much focused on small investors who typically view real estate investing as a retirement plan. They buy a property, rent it out, and use those proceeds to pay the mortgage and property taxes. Once it’s paid off, they have a straight cash-flowing property. It’s just a different way of saving and generating income than putting your money in a savings account or 401K. The fact that so many members of the Kiavi team are putting this retirement strategy into action helps us shape our products and meet the unique needs of our customers. 

7. What steps are you or your company taking today to make an impact on the industry?

Are you familiar with the quote from Ratatouille, “Anybody can cook?” At Kiavi, we believe “Anybody can invest.” We make residential real estate investing accessible by focusing on each property’s unique traits to help point investors in the right direction: what a project should look like, what they should be spending money on, and what they need to be successful. I don’t see other lenders doing that. We love empowering first-time investors and want to set them up for success. Lending for this product type is not well-known, so we’re helping people live the American Dream by providing the capital they need to invest in real estate. 

Over 65% of the U.S. housing stock is more than 30 years old – with a median age of 39 years old – and is worth an estimated $25 trillion. The average homebuyer doesn’t have the skillset or the capital to update a property of that age to today’s standards. So, we have a huge housing shortage in this country that can’t be solved by traditional homebuyers. Flippers, on the other hand, have the resources, skills, capital, and patience to upgrade older homes, reposition them to today’s standards, and sell them at a first-time homebuyer’s price point. They are transforming this enormous segment of the housing stock to provide modern, move-in ready housing for millions of Americans.

8. What piece of advice did you personally receive early in your career that has helped shape decisions you’ve made?

When I was 22, my boss gave me the best piece of advice that I’ve continued to reiterate as I’ve moved up in my career: “Of course we’re going to make mistakes. We all mess up. Just don’t hide it from me. Come to me first and I will always support you and work to find a solution – but if I hear about it from someone else, I won’t.” As a young person fresh out of school, that advice gave me the space to not be so afraid of failing and to take some calculated risks. It also showed me how important transparency and managerial support is to someone’s ability to grow. This sentiment is something I took to heart and always try to instill in my teams. It’s okay to try and fail, just be honest with your team when doing so. 

9. Tell us about a person or organization you admire. How have they made an important impact on you, the industry, or the world?

Brene Brown is who first comes to mind. She is recognized as having a dramatic impact on the national conversation around connection, empathy, and vulnerability. Her research and relatable, personal approach to the subject matter are so applicable – not only in our personal lives but also to how we lead as leaders for our communities, teams, and companies. What I have learned from her books, TED talks, and podcasts is that demonstrating vulnerability, as scary as that can feel, is the key to connecting with others and feeling as though you belong. As a leader, being willing to show your humanity is how we give our people the space and confidence to develop and grow in their roles. Her message resonated with me the moment I watched her TED talk in 2010 on the Power of Vulnerability. If you haven’t seen it, stop what you are doing and watch it right now! 

10. Are you involved in any associations, networking groups, or the like that have influenced your career path?

My college alumni association has had a big impact on my career. The Cornell Hotel Society is jokingly referred to as “the hotel mafia” because it’s a tight knit, supportive group with an instant connection. All of my roles prior to Kiavi came through word-of-mouth relationships built in that alumni association because of someone I worked with or went to school with. In any industry, but especially real estate, relationships make or break your career trajectory. 

11. If you had a clean slate to start over and do anything you wanted to do, what would that be?

I would be a teacher. Both of my parents were high school teachers and so were all their friends. In my romanticized view of teaching, I feel it must be so rewarding to have such an impact on young people. Sometimes it’s hard in the business world to fully get your arms around the impact you’re making. Teaching seems to be a tangible way to do that. I didn’t become one because I have a very expensive shoe habit and I was adamant about not pursuing a traditional female-led career path; I wanted to prove that I could be successful in a man’s world and defy gender norms.

12. What is the best advice you could give someone thinking about making a leap into Private Lending?

For me, this industry isless about being a private lender and more about enabling real estate investors. It’s rewarding because it makes investing tangible and accessible. There didn’t used to be this broadly available financing to the investors in our space, but today almost anyone can scrape up the money to buy a small investment property. It’s exciting to see.

My advice for young people – especially young women – who want to be in this space is to know your stuff and go for what you want. There’s immense value in diversity, but you need to make sure you show up every day. Acknowledge that you will naturally stand out in an industry dominated by men, but if you know your stuff and show up each and every day, you can shine in the spotlight.