Modern leaders have to inculcate several important qualities to thrive in the competitive business marketplace. The ability to inspire and transform other leaders under their helm is one such essential quality. Those who lead by example and have the willingness to share their knowledge and know-how with their team often succeed in developing trustworthy leaders. 

Rhett Roberts is a prime example of an inspiring business leader setting an example to follow for generations to come. A graduate from the University of Utah, Rhett is a FinTech serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in product, compliance, consumer lending, B2B lending, and software development. Besides his professional prowess, he’s also an outdoor adventurer and competitive swimmer who has participated in 20+ triathlons. Currently, Rhett spearheads LoanPro as the Co-founder and CEO and plays an integral role in the company’s success. 

 

An Ambitious Establishment

 

LoanPro was founded in 2016 by Rhett and his two brothers, Ben and Lloyd. The trio was running a used car lot and started lending in their operations. However, they were frustrated to discover that most loan servicing software on the market either looked like they were from the 1980s or did not have the features that were needed. Unsatisfied with the options, the brothers decided to build their own loan servicing software. 

Other lenders were blown away by the simplicity and functionality of the software and asked to use it for their loan servicing needs as well, leading to the inception of LoanPro. Rhett’s parents provided great opportunities to learn how to work hard, see the world you want, and create it. He mentions that the combination of hard work and not being satisfied with the current solutions allowed for the creation of LoanPro. 

 

Distinguished Services and Solutions

 

LoanPro is a lending core built on the company’s own API. It specializes in the servicing of a loan, as well as acts as a central hub for all events in the loan lifecycle—from origination to closure. Unlike others in the industry that offer end-to-end solutions that confine leaders to the shackles of what their software can and cannot do, LoanPro utilizes its API to seamlessly fit into a lender’s existing operations. This is beneficial for the lenders as they may have a preferred origination software. With LoanPro, they can integrate their origination software into LoanPro via the API and keep all their loan data in one single source of truth. 

 

Ideal Organizational Culture

 

“Whatever the mind of a man can conceive, believe it can be achieved,” says Rhett. LoanPro has put in considerable work and efforts to ensure a flat organizational structure where ideas win regardless of the title of the person. The company values honesty, integrity, efficiency, productivity, creativity, and loyalty. Moreover, LoanPro has a very low attrition rate, i.e. when it finds the right fit for the employees, they turn into LoanPro family members. 

Being at the helm of the company operations, Rhett makes sure that the company is working towards its vision and mission, as well as is responsible for developing the company’s strategy. Talking about his leadership philosophy, Rhett asserts that he likes humble leaders who lead by example. “There is always a respect that is created when you as a leader show credibility through service to your team,” he adds. 

 

Encountering Challenges

 

Challenges are a part and parcel of every successful business. LoanPro has also witnessed its own set of challenges. The company aimed to build the best loan servicing software in the US and Canadian marketplace before moving into growth mode. After countless business, design, and development hours spent building a better mousetrap, LoanPro came up with a product that gave its clients a competitive advantage. Although this limited the company’s revenue in the short term—early 2020—the company officially entered the growth mode. 

Different business leaders have different approaches to tackle challenges. According to Rhett, the most effective way to manage stress and challenges is to have clear goals, think about the specific challenge, write out the components of the challenge, and break down the challenge into its elements. He further recommends doing a brief analysis of the range of outcomes and prioritizing the challenges based on the analysis. 

Being a swimmer, Rhett finds it helpful to exercise regularly. Before he starts swimming, he takes a few minutes to study challenges that he’s working on and then jumps into the pool and swims. During the time, he uses his watch to track the distance so that his mind can focus on the challenge. More often than not, he leaves the pool with a new insight or idea of tackling the challenges. 

 

The Positive Side

 

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was detrimental for business leaders around the world. While some leaders were unprepared for the new normal of working and as a result faced severe losses in their business, those who were able to quickly pivot and adapt to the market conditions managed to survive during that period. 

According to Rhett, a long-lasting positive from the pandemic will be the willingness of companies to switch up their operations to provide a more cohesive online solution and modern tech stack that is capable of pivoting when the need arises. The pandemic has also highlighted the importance of technology in all sectors. Expressing his views on this, Rhett mentions, “Fintech innovation at its core is consumer-focused providing better user experiences, financial products, less expensive to the target audience. It is thrilling to see an idea become reality and to be the one driving that change.”

 

Completing the Bucket List

 

Besides their professional life, Rhett and his wife are big on achieving the life bucket list items. The duo is creating a foundation to support people in defining what is on their bucket list and then achieving those things. “I think this is so important because I have found that if you take time to think about what you’d like to do in life and then you spend time working towards that, you become a better person,” he adds. 

Rhett also believes that serving other people can make people happier and more satisfied. For instance, one of Rhett’s bucket list items was to swim across an international border. A few years ago, he was able to swim from Monaco to France. Although it was a short swim, it had a significant effect on him due to the purposefulness, planning, and effort he had put into it. 

 

The Pursuit of Improvement 

 

When asked about his personal highlight from 2021, Rhett mentions that it was swimming 250 miles in a year. He finished it 3 days earlier to be able to celebrate his son’s birthday. He attributes this success to the family members who supported him achieve the goal. 

On the other hand, the professional highlight was the process of working with FTV capital to secure LoanPro a $100 series A funding round. At the time, this tied the record in Utah and is among the largest series A raises in U.S. history.  

In the near future, LoanPro plans to continue to focus on providing the best core lending software in the marketplace, expanding brand awareness, and continuing to partner with lenders searching for lending solutions to streamline their lending technology. 

 

Quote:

 

“Iterations take time and significant investment. However, there is no better way than to have the learnings that come with getting started where you are and building the best, then iterating with what you learn.”

 

Read Full Magazine: 20 Most Inspiring Business Leaders to watch in 2022