I appreciate the camaraderie and collaboration among other leaders in our industry. I have great respect for my peers and value their perspectives and experience. Despite being competitors, we all have a vested interest in the private lending space and a fiduciary responsibility to make it a best of class asset space.  We are stronger together.

Several of our leadership team are AAPL members and we love attending the annual conference, networking with colleagues, participating in webinars and the certification programs.

A rising tide lifts all boats. I felt it both my privilege and responsibility to support and contribute to the organization whose sole purpose is to elevate, educate and advocate for those in the private lending space. Through AAPL, I meet people who share similar challenges and opportunities, and we learn from each other and help grow and strengthen our industry.

Taking the stage with Eddie Wilson at the 2022 AAPL Conference – We were coming out of COVID times, and the general mood was somewhat negative, with an abundance of uncertainty and concern.

Eddie and I shared a like-minded optimistic outlook on the real estate investment market, continued home price appreciation and growing capital markets interest in the BPL space. This change of perspective seemed to resonate with the audience, and set a refreshing, more positive tone for the future.

As I look back on that moment, it’s somewhat ironic. I obviously had no idea about the crazy turn of events that was about to hit my past company and flip our world upside down. Even so, I have never lost my excitement and optimism for the private lending space. So, when we launched CV3 Financial, one of the first things we did was become members of AAPL.

I bought my first property at 18 with proceeds from a drunk driving accident insurance settlement. After college I got into lending and founded my first mortgage company. Through mergers, acquisitions and organic growth, we grew that company into one of the top 20 lenders in the nation.

Never content to sit comfortably, I left the conventional space to take the helm at CIVIC Financial Services in 2017. Then in 2023, along with the former leadership team of CIVIC and 154 of our fellow employees, we set off on an aspirational mission to build CV3 Financial (which stands for Core Team Version 3).

It was exciting to build CV3 from the ground up in just six months. I look back at our first year of operation and funding over $1 billion. But what I am most grateful for is the 154 past employees who joined me in this endeavor. They passed up other job opportunities. They waited for months for our vision to become a reality. And when we opened our doors, it was like a family reunion.

You spend a lifetime investing in people and there comes a time where that lifelong investment either pays dividends or it doesn’t… and in my case, it did.

“The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. The title would lead one to believe it’s all about warfare, yet the lessons can be applied to relationships, friendships, leadership, family and, oh yeah, battle.