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Everett Sands transforms the lending landscape for underserved entrepreneurs through innovation, vision, and a deeply personal mission. Drawing from his grandfather's tailoring business experience—which thrived with five locations but ultimately suffered due to poor financial advice—Sands built Lendistry to provide the responsible capital small businesses desperately need.

With remarkable transparency, Sands reveals how watching his family lose their home to foreclosure planted the seeds for his future work. "I grew up with a what-if story," he shares, explaining how this childhood experience drove him to create better financial options for minority, women-owned, and rural businesses that traditional banks often overlook.

Under Sands' leadership, Lendistry has deployed over $10 billion in capital and processed nearly 1.9 million applications in less than a decade. His approach combines technological innovation with human-centered design, recognizing that many business owners can only apply for financing outside traditional banking hours. The data proves him right—Lendistry discovered many clients were uploading documents between 10pm and 2am when they finally had time.

The conversation illuminates Sands' leadership philosophy of "adding a zero" to goals, challenging the limited thinking minorities are often taught to accept. He builds his organization with leaders who have experience beyond the company's current stage, strategically preparing for future growth. His team structure—leaders managing no more than 8-10 people before adding another leader—creates clear pathways for scaling.

Particularly fascinating is Lendistry's approach to risk management through technology, developing virtual wallets that function like traditional bank lockboxes but with greater efficiency and lower costs. These innovations allow Lendistry to secure loan collateral while providing business owners real-time insights about their financial health.

Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking capital, a business leader looking to scale your organization, or simply interested in how financial innovation can create positive community impact, this conversation offers invaluable wisdom from someone who's built a mission-driven financial powerhouse from the ground up.

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