1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.070 Mariela Loarte: Thank you so much. So let's go ahead and talk 2 00:00:02.070 --> 00:00:04.620 about business. I mean, this year, kind of walk us through 3 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:06.300 how business has been for you guys. 4 00:00:06.930 --> 00:00:09.930 Well, obviously, we've all been affected by COVID. But ever 5 00:00:09.930 --> 00:00:14.070 since we opened up the doors back to MCA, it's been busy, 6 00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:16.560 we've gotten the high influx of deals. So it's been really 7 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:16.920 great. 8 00:00:17.110 --> 00:00:19.660 So what do you expect out of coming here to Miami, I mean, 9 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:23.290 this is pretty much the event to be at if you're in the space. So 10 00:00:23.290 --> 00:00:25.780 kind of talk to me a little bit about your expectations for 11 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:26.290 today. 12 00:00:26.710 --> 00:00:29.680 I think just to further our relationships, to build more ISO 13 00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:32.650 relations, and also get some more brokers on boarded and just 14 00:00:32.650 --> 00:00:33.490 grow as a unit. 15 00:00:33.550 --> 00:00:36.820 Yeah. So is there any specific focus that you guys have this 16 00:00:36.820 --> 00:00:37.180 year? 17 00:00:38.110 --> 00:00:40.900 Just to really build the MCA part of our industry. Because we 18 00:00:40.900 --> 00:00:42.580 also do the FDA lending as well. 19 00:00:42.690 --> 00:00:45.240 Okay. And then kind of go ahead and talk to me if people are 20 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:49.260 interested in working with you? How can they do that? And kind 21 00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:50.850 of just the whole process for that? 22 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:53.930 Absolutely. All they need to do is email funding, and like 23 00:00:53.930 --> 00:00:58.040 Capital Funding, and requests an onboarding ISOs. And I handle 24 00:00:58.040 --> 00:00:58.610 the rest. 25 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:01.880 So let's talk a little bit about business last year and compare 26 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:03.680 it to this year, obviously, we're still in the start of the 27 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:06.770 year. So kind of go ahead and talk to me about how business 28 00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:09.860 was for you guys last year. And then what do you guys expect for 29 00:01:09.860 --> 00:01:10.250 this year? 30 00:01:10.960 --> 00:01:14.260 Business last year was difficult because you know, we had the 31 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:18.670 PPPs, and basically, a lot of business owners got used to that 32 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:22.540 low rates and free money. So it was kind of more of how do we 33 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:25.570 change the mindset of merchants having that free money to pay a 34 00:01:25.570 --> 00:01:28.120 little more, but further their business with an MCA loan? 35 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:30.910 And then how have you guys been able to kind of accomplish that 36 00:01:30.910 --> 00:01:34.030 and kind of shift the mindset of the business owners when it 37 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:37.960 comes to no longer relying on like the low interest rates to 38 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:40.210 something like, you know, kind of getting things back to normal 39 00:01:40.240 --> 00:01:40.990 for you guys? 40 00:01:41.020 --> 00:01:43.930 Well, basically, we always, we're very direct with our 41 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:47.110 merchants, there's no hiding things. So we offer that 42 00:01:47.110 --> 00:01:49.510 relationship, and then we constantly follow up with them 43 00:01:49.510 --> 00:01:52.210 on a monthly basis, hey, how you going? How's your business 44 00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:55.330 growing? Do you need more money? And build it further. 45 00:01:55.810 --> 00:01:58.270 And then for people that are new, that are watching this, 46 00:01:58.270 --> 00:02:00.790 that I've never been to this event? Kind of go ahead and talk 47 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:03.700 to them? And tell them? What, what should they expect? And why 48 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:05.350 should they come to an event like this? 49 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:07.760 They should definitely come to an event like this. Because 50 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.400 there's a lot of direct lenders, there's a lot of shops, there's 51 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:14.390 a lot of networking involved. And if you're small and starting 52 00:02:14.390 --> 00:02:16.850 out, it's a great way to get your name out there and kind of 53 00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:18.050 get known in the industry. 54 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:19.610 Johny Fernandez: And then how long have you guys been in 55 00:02:19.610 --> 00:02:20.330 business for? 56 00:02:21.170 --> 00:02:22.970 Mariela Loarte: Knight has been in business for seven years. 57 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:26.060 So in those seven years, have you been with them, for all 58 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:26.690 those seven years? 59 00:02:26.700 --> 00:02:29.130 I've been I make four years now in August, I've been known for 60 00:02:29.130 --> 00:02:30.690 three and this is my second deBanked. 61 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:34.110 So in that year, in the whole time that you've been with them, 62 00:02:34.110 --> 00:02:36.900 what differences have you noticed from when you started 63 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:37.410 till now? 64 00:02:38.040 --> 00:02:41.760 I would definitely see like coming here the difference. You 65 00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:43.800 get to know your brokers more you get to know the people who 66 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.500 you're working with in person, it's not just a screen, it's not 67 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.330 just an email, it's not a phone call, it's a direct 68 00:02:48.330 --> 00:02:51.090 communication. So they trust you more with their files, they 69 00:02:51.090 --> 00:02:53.250 trust you more with their merchants, and it just furthers 70 00:02:53.250 --> 00:02:54.090 that rapport with them. 71 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:57.030 Johny Fernandez: So I've met a lot of new people that this is 72 00:02:57.030 --> 00:02:59.550 their first deBanked event or Broker Fair, New York was their 73 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:02.490 first deBanked event. They're new, they they're working by 74 00:03:02.490 --> 00:03:05.070 themselves, and they were hesitant to come. So a lot of 75 00:03:05.070 --> 00:03:07.170 people they're like, I don't know if I should go, tell them 76 00:03:07.170 --> 00:03:10.200 why they should go, why they should attend and also talk to 77 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:13.860 them regarding the importance of building that relationship. 78 00:03:14.880 --> 00:03:17.400 Mariela Loarte: Basically, you really need to get out of that 79 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.400 comfort zone. Because this is a very fast paced industry. This 80 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.250 is a very aggressive industry and you can't be behind closed 81 00:03:23.250 --> 00:03:26.010 doors, you can't be shy, you have to approach, you have to 82 00:03:26.010 --> 00:03:28.320 introduce yourself and you have to get known out there because 83 00:03:28.440 --> 00:03:30.750 you're not going to make it if you don't so this is definitely 84 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:32.040 the event to come to for that. 85 00:03:32.070 --> 00:03:33.480 Johny Fernandez: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. 86 00:03:33.510 --> 00:03:34.170 Mariela Loarte: Thank you for having me. 87 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:36.451 Johny Fernandez: No problem. All right, you guys. So again, this 88 00:03:36.499 --> 00:03:39.516 is Mariela with Knight Funding Capital, Knight Capital Funding, 89 00:03:39.564 --> 00:03:42.055 excuse me, Knight Capital Funding so again, she just 90 00:03:42.103 --> 00:03:44.977 talked to us a little bit about the business, how she's been 91 00:03:45.025 --> 00:03:47.612 seeing it here, and the importance of joining an event 92 00:03:47.660 --> 00:03:50.581 like this. So of course, we're gonna go to a quick commercial 93 00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:53.551 break. And you definitely gonna want to tune in because we're 94 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.665 going to highlight Sean Murray's recap of the opening statements 95 00:03:56.713 --> 00:03:59.635 and also meet the rest of the cast of Equipping The Dream, so 96 00:03:59.683 --> 00:04:00.210 stay tuned.