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Hey everyone.

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Alison Berger here.

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I'm at the B2B Finance Expo in Las Vegas now joined

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with Sean Smith of Dedicated Financial.

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How's it going? It's

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Going good. Nice to

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officially meet you as well.

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So it's been a great conference already.

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It's second day, but very exciting.

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How, what's been exciting you? So the most,

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I think with this being the first year launching this

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event and seeing the large attendance, um,

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and I've been interacting with a lot of people from a lot

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of different, um, industry types

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and just getting positive feedback, uh,

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that people are excited and glad it went really well.

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So, you know, it's just you,

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there's a vibe and it's a good vibe.

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So it, it, this is a good launching pad, I think,

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for what's to come. So

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We love the good vibes.

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Tell me about how dedicated financial

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fits into the B2B space.

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So, uh, we service the portfolios

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of all the funders in the space, as well

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as doing backup servicing, uh, for those

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who provide their lines.

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So we have first party servicing, uh,

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which is actually our reps in Minneapolis, uh,

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for the funder servicing, uh, their portfolios as well

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as the backup servicing.

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Then we do third party, uh, commercial collections.

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Uh, we do asset management

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for any equipment leasing companies, uh,

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full service asset management,

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and then, uh, host of legal services from litigation

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to bankruptcy servicing.

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So kind of cradle to grave servicing.

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We're based in, uh, Minneapolis

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and, uh, I think

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what separates us is we're 1600 plus five star reviews,

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a five star Google rating.

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We don't use overly aggressive tactics.

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We're hyper-focused on compliance.

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We're a part of, uh,

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all three main trade associations in this space.

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So we ensure we know what's going on in the state

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and federal level, and we donate over 20% of our profit

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to nonprofits locally, nationally, and globally.

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Uh, so every aspect of

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what we do in business is tied back to giving.

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We love that. It's all about giving back.

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You know, in the end of the day, I think part

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of our secret sauce is every one

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of our team members back in Minneapolis knows

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that the excellence

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that they bring every day directly impacts

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how much we're able to give.

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Uh, because we tie those metrics all the way down granular

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to each person so they know the impact they're having.

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So that's the person I dedicated

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that you have servicing your portfolio,

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working your debt, handling your assets.

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'cause they know it's gonna help American gold star mothers.

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It's gonna help feed my starving children.

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It's gonna help free slaves in Haiti, uh, et cetera. Right.

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So you have a different level of level

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of motivation to do the job.

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Uh, much the same as I do as a CEO here.

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Um, I understand

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that growing the company means growing our giving, right?

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So yeah, it's, and that's the stuff

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where the giver's always more blessed than the receiver.

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You're the fulfilling side of life, right. Is in the giving.

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So it's, it's a core of what we do.

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That's lovely. And

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how do you see yourself growing for the rest of this year?

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Um, we're in a major growth cycle, which is great for us.

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Uh, there, um, defaults are up,

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not nothing alarming,

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I would say very much back in the pre COVI era where

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more than enough margin, uh, for everyone to operate.

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Well, um, trucking has been hit hard over the last year.

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Um, and that seems to be leveling out.

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Uh, still not without its challenges.

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There's a residual tail on these things.

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Um, and, you know, you gotta be looking at specific markets,

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but for the most part, but just in general, the percentages

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of accounts that are going to default is up.

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And so therefore that just is like automatic growth for us.

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We've also, uh, kind of grown into the largest in our space

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and we have really focused on compliance on a state

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and federal level and best practices,

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which has attracted a lot of, uh, clients and,

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and of that size that really care about those things.

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Where that,

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that's the first filter is we wanna make sure we're in

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compliance on a state and federal level with

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what we're doing and we're doing best practices.

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So, um, that's just led to a larger clientele

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that is more focused on that first, uh,

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before the almighty dollar.

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Not that we don't need to make sure we have top performance,

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but it only takes one bad deal, one lawsuit,

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one bad press thing to make

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overly aggressive tactics not worth it.

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And unfortunately, the, there's a reason why the collection

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space has its reputation

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and dedicated really goes in the face of that.

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And it's not through just what we say

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or putting flashy words on a website.

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It shows up in what other people say about us.

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The proof is in the pudding there. Right. So,

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And it sounds like it's a, it's a very good pudding.

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Yeah. Well, you know, um, yes, I like tapioca. Yeah.

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I'll keep that in mind for the next expo.

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And how's it been for you so far this week?

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It's been great. It's, I, I mean,

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I've been in this space since 2010, which makes me,

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but there's crazy, 'cause I mean, I was just talking

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with David Golden, uh, who had started Cabify, like,

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you know, been in the space longer than me, right?

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So, uh, I'm not even an OG in the

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space in comparison, some of these guys.

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But at the same time, there's so many new folks.

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And so it's this combination of seeing people that I,

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I'm truly good friends with.

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I mean, I, I, I just tell my wife, there's some people

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that I see on the road at these things

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and I spend more quality time.

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Uh, we were talking about Austin Moss earlier.

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We went out to a show last night. We went out to dinner.

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I said, heck, I feel like I've spent more time with Austin

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between the DR trip

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and everything else than I have with my

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best friend back in Minnesota.

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So these are real relationships.

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They're not just servicey level business,

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they're real friendships, right?

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So part of this is getting to connect

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with these people I've been seeing for over a

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decade at the same rate.

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It's exciting to meet so many new people

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and have people like, yes,

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I'm looking for someone in your space.

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I need help. So it's, it's kind of both,

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but it's, it's just been great.

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I I, I was bummed I couldn't come in Sunday.

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I came in really early on Monday morning,

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but next year I'll for sure be in for the entire thing. Uh,

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I will hold that to you.

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Hey, I, I, I was, uh, I made it

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to final table at the last poker tournament I was in, so,

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uh, let's go, you know? So yeah, it's been good.

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I'm so happy to hear that.

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So thank you for spending some time with me.

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And there's still more to come from the B2B Finance Expo.