Surprising paths to rewarding careers in equipment finance
The U.S. equipment finance sector, estimated at $1 trillion, continuously demonstrates resiliency and creativity in every economic cycle. Equally impressive are equipment leasing and finance professionals, the men and women behind the scenes at bank-owned finance companies, captives and independents.
With diverse backgrounds and very different entry points to this industry, these professionals have compelling stories to tell about their lives and career paths. Some common traits, however, are a deep involvement in the industry along with a commitment to promoting it and to serving businesses that need financing to operate and grow.
Here, we take a look at five ELFA members who began their careers in various other lines of work. And although they initially were unfamiliar with the equipment leasing industry, each in a unique way discovered it unexpectedly and they’ve never looked back.
Matthew Hand
His mother wasn’t too thrilled by the job he took after college graduation, but Matthew Hand says the skills he developed as a lighting roadie (aka lightening technician) for popular rock bands in the 1980s helped prepare him for a career in equipment finance that has spanned 43 years.
That experience of transporting and setting up equipment before live shows around the country taught him the importance of communication, presentation, and attention to detail, not to mention “The show must go on” mentality to overcome any obstacles.
“I was home on a break between shows and my mom was like, ‘When are you going to get a real job?’ ” laughed Hand, vice president and regional sales manager for equipment finance at U.S. Bank.
No matter that he was meeting big names such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Prince and Joan Jett, and sharing concert-venue meals with the Rolling Stones, The Police, Cheap Trick and the Talking Heads. What got her attention was when her son landed a job in credit collections at General Electric Credit Corp.
“She was ecstatic,” said Hand, a Chicago native and graduate of Illinois State University, where he earned degrees in marketing and economics.
The extensive training he received in credit analysis and sales helped him to move up the ranks at GE and sparked his interest in equipment finance.
“Once I got into it and saw the whole picture, I knew that sales was the direction that I wanted to go,” he said. “I wanted to get outside and meet customers and decision-makers.”
He spent the next few decades in various roles with GE Capital Corp., including regional sales manager of commercial equipment finance and, later, vice president of marketing for GE Real Estate. Then in 2009, he joined Bank of America as vice president of sales for the equipment leasing division, Midwest Region.
In late 2015, U.S. Bank came calling and he’s been there ever since. Hand is currently based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
After four decades in the industry, he still enjoys the challenge of equipment finance transactions.
“No two deals are the same,” he said. “We get to work on any type of asset and across all industries. We can do corporate aircraft, marine, rail, manufacturing equipment, IT, etc. There aren’t many industries we can’t touch. So, if manufacturing is down in one sector, we can go into service industries and do their furniture and fixtures and IT – those types of things.
“I have learned so much in-depth about sales, credit, legal and documentation from getting immersed in all these industries. I learn something new every day,” he added. “I traveled all over the country and internationally, visiting with clients in different industries. And when you go out to visit a client, especially if they are in manufacturing and you tour the plant, it is just amazing what's going on in these facilities that you take for granted. You go to a store and it's like, wow, I know how they make that thing. You have this whole different appreciation for it.”
He compared sales to baseball: “You know you’re not going to bat 1,000; you’re going to have a lot of losses. But, boy, if you can hit 300+, you’re doing pretty good.”
Hand has witnessed the industry’s evolution as it adapted to changing bank regulations and products, compared to non-bank lenders. Post-COVID challenges, meanwhile, include a shift from primarily in-person sales to more virtual meetings and the consolidation of office space as remote work increases. And he warns of the need to train new talent as veteran employees approach retirement.
Married and with three adult children, Hand is active in ELFA where he serves on the Bank Council Steering Committee and attends annual ELFA events such as Capitol Connections and the Convention.
But he hasn’t forgotten his roots: He still listens to the same rock and roll from his days as a lighting roadie.
Beverly Brinkley
Beverly Brinkley’s first ambition after high school was to become a lawyer, but that came to an abrupt halt during her paralegal studies at the Pennsylvania Business Institute. Her first visit to a law library was such a reality check that she dropped out of the program and took a job with a title company in her hometown while she re-examined her career goals.
One thing was for sure: She had a knack for computers, as evidenced by the top grades she had earned over a few semesters leading up to that fateful day at the law library.
“The first classes that I took were computer classes, which I absolutely loved and aced,” Brinkley said. “I was really into them.”
Pivoting to that proved to be a smart move: Brinkley became an IT professional who found the work to be fulfilling and exciting as she advanced in the field to her current position as Vice President and Senior Business Systems Administrator for First Commonwealth Bank.
Her journey wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t a straight shot: Brinkley did some soul-searching as a young, single mother when she moved back in with her parents after a breakup.
“In my head, I'm saying, ‘Not only am I moving home, but I have this beautiful child who I need to be a role model for and be a provider for and just do right by.’ I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?’ ”
The first step was completing an Associate's Degree in Computer Applications and Networking Administration. She then went to work on the helpdesk for a real estate firm, moving up the ranks to lead and then helpdesk manager within two years.
“I started moving over into being an analyst and an administrator,” she said. “That's kind of been my path ever since.”
She points to 2008 as a pivotal year. That’s when she got a job as Systems Analyst with CoActiv Capital Partners, which later was acquired by Element Financial Corp. With a rock-solid technical background, she was intrigued by the challenge of “how it works in the equipment finance world,” she said. “I started right after Easter in 2008 and have been in equipment finance ever since. I couldn’t have asked for a better career.”
Seeing small businesses secure the financing they need to grow is a powerful motivator for her and her team because they recognize the wider economic and community impact. A recent example was when the owner of a small construction company in South Carolina sought financing for equipment needed to help clear areas affected by Hurricane Helene in late September.
“He was credit-approved, contract documents signed, quality control reviewed, and we were able to fund the dealer within hours,” Brinkley said. “Later that night, he had the equipment, and he was out there helping hurricane victims. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me feel proud when I talk to people about what we do. To know that the systems we support and administer allow for that to happen so quickly, it’s an awesome feeling.”
She’s also encouraged by what she sees as industry efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). As a member of the Equity Committee of ELFA, she helped plan the third annual ELFA Equity Forum this past July in Philadelphia.
“ELFA embraces it,” Brinkley said. “They have this whole committee and spend a lot of time and money to bring us all together in a Forum. That makes me know even more that I landed in the right place, career-wise.”
Jacquie Cripe
Jacquie Cripe is well-known in the finance industry as the group lead for capital markets at Mitsubishi HC Capital America Inc., but what some may not know is that she’s a former college athlete and a lifelong equestrian who once ran her own horse-training business.
Indeed, it’s a unique background for a finance executive who brings the same passion to her job at Mitsubishi HC Capital America that she displayed on the volleyball court at Idaho State University in the early 1980s and later in her training company.
Her initial career plans, however, failed to stir any passion in Cripe as she looked to the future.
“After college I went back to the Los Angeles area to be part of my family’s insurance business. I got into insurance sales but decided that it was not for me,” she said.
Thus began a series of jobs in various fields, as she married and relocated to Virginia, then Maryland and, finally, to Minnesota.
“I had to do a few other jobs along the way before I ended up in equipment finance,” said Cripe, whose past positions ranged from teacher’s aide to accounting assistant. “Interestingly enough, my husband has been in equipment finance for over 30 years as a credit analyst. It’s ironic that we both ended up in the same industry.”
It was at one of those jobs that she fielded a call from a headhunter looking to fill a position at Hitachi Capital America, which in 2021 rebranded to Mitsubishi HC Capital America. She soon joined the company as office manager in the Vendor Service division.
“I was in that role for six months, and then a co-worker recommended that I apply for an open position in documentation/program management,” she said. “I literally knew nothing about equipment finance, but one of the beauties of the job was that I was allowed to learn and grow and make mistakes and then have success. I basically dove into the deep end, but I had a great manager and mentors who taught me the ropes. I think I advanced in my field based on my mentors and by treating people with kindness and being positive. And that’s basically how I live my life.”
These days, Cripe holds the designation of CLFP (Certified Lease & Finance Professional) and manages a small team that oversees the full processing cycle of the capital markets vertical including application entry to credit through reviewing and processing funding requests.
“We process a lot of business,” she said. “We are processing portfolios; we’re doing some broker business where we send out documents to customers on behalf of our brokers. You get a lot of variety during the day. It keeps the work fresh.”
Cripe also is a member of ELFA’s Women’s Council, which hosted the 2024 Women’s Leadership Forum on Feb. 8-9 in Nashville.
Her early passions helped to develop valuable skills such as proactiveness, a keen sense for negotiating, and the ability to understand nonverbal cues.
“I learned a lot from working with horses and competing as an athlete, more so than any 9-to-5 job could have ever provided me,” she said. “You always have to be thinking one step ahead. Otherwise, you’ll get stepped on — literally.”
James Currier
To say that James Currier is a people person would be an understatement.
He connects with customers and colleagues alike and impresses them with the energy and enthusiasm of a man who truly enjoys what he does for a living.
“It's been 13 years for me in the equipment leasing and finance industry in a variety of roles,” said Currier, who joined Finloc USA Inc. in 2021 and currently serves as chief revenue officer. “My primary role today is to drive business development in the U.S. for our company, so that allows me to travel often and to a diverse range of places -- everywhere from middle America to the largest cities. I get to meet people from all walks of life, most of them extremely hardworking folks. I enjoy seeing their operations, getting to know them and the people they work with. Helping them to achieve their goals is my ultimate measure of success.”
Equipment finance wasn’t always his focus, however. As a young man, he joined the Canadian Army Reserve and started college with hopes of having a career in law enforcement. But an accident at age 22 changed his life trajectory.
“I was rollerblading and bicycling to and from work every day. One night on my way home, I was struck from behind by a motorcycle, and that changed everything,” Currier said. “I was severely incapacitated for months. My father sat me down and said, plainly and simply, ‘You're likely not going to be a police officer. It's probably time to look at other avenues in your life and figure out what you want to do.’ ”
He went on to earn an Honors degree in business administration from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and spent the next two years working as a business analyst.“ Although I learned a lot and worked with some phenomenally smart people, I knew I didn't want to be chained to a desk for the rest of my career,” Currier said. “I have way too much energy to sit down for eight or nine hours a day. I needed to be out in front of people. That's really what I enjoy doing.”
Thus began a series of sales positions at such companies as Xerox and Canadian Equipment Finance & Leasing Inc. He was national sales manager for TIP Canada before joining Finloc, an independent direct lender specializing in transportation equipment finance. “In mid-2012, I entered the equipment leasing space. It has been a tremendous ride ever since. I've never looked back,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoy it. No two days are alike, and no two clients are alike. Every day brings a new challenge.” Currier, who is based in Ontario and holds the designation of CLFP, believes in giving back to the industry. And one way he does that is by being active in ELFA. Last year he served on the Steering Committee of the Independent Business Council, which represents non-bank-owned organizations that provide financing through lines of credit, discounting relationships or other funding vehicles. This year, he is chairman of ELFA’s Independent Business Council. He also holds board positions on the Toronto Trucking Association and A-Way Express, a local courier company dedicated to hiring those with lived experiences and mental health issues.
“Like everything else in life, you get back what you put in. It's no different in education or your family or your career,” Currier said. “If you dedicate yourself to the equipment leasing and finance industry, it will pay you back tenfold.”
Kristi Schon
Kristi Schon envisioned herself as the next Katie Couric when she started journalism school at the University of Minnesota.
“Obviously, that didn’t happen,” said Schon, now chief marketing officer for Channel and based in the Minneapolis area.
She has zero regrets about altering course and shifting to public relations and marketing, which ultimately led to her current position. In fact, she relishes the diverse experience she gained and the interesting opportunities that came her way after college graduation in 2000. And although she never expected to land in the equipment finance sector, several years ago it grabbed her attention just like it did for countless other professionals.
“I think very quickly I knew this was the place I wanted to be, the place I wanted to stay,” Schon said. “It’s really because of the people -- not just here at Channel, but across all my peer sets. It’s an incredible group of people and industry to be part of. I feel challenged. I feel supported. And there’s a ton of opportunity.”
Her background includes six years with the Air National Guard, serving in the public affairs department as part of the 133rd Airlift Wing in Minnesota. And although she joined the military with an eye on getting college tuition assistance, she quickly developed an appreciation for public service.
“I applied what I was studying and what I ultimately wanted to do,” Schon said. “It was a challenging experience, but it also shaped me and prepared me to build a career and have a work ethic.”
She spent the next 20 years carving out a successful marketing career and gaining expertise in the agency world, including print and digital advertising, investor relations, performance analytics, public relations and social media. She led marketing teams for Fortune 500 companies focused on consumer-packaged goods and helped to elevate brands for such heavy-hitters as Target, Hormel Foods, Nestle and Campbell Soup Company.
Now her focus is on delivering solid results for Channel, a nationwide portfolio lender that partners with equipment finance companies and independent brokers to provide solutions for their small-business customers. She joined the company in early 2021 as vice president of marketing and two years later was promoted to chief marketing officer.
“I enjoy the people here so much. I like their vision,” Schon said. “We put a lot of emphasis on giving back to the industry (through) knowledge-sharing and thought leadership, encouraging and nominating our team members to join associations and participate on panels or write articles. That helps professional growth internally for our team, but also allows us to help advance the industry together and be partners in that.”
A member of the Communications Committee of ELFA, she uses the words “community” and “innovative” when discussing the industry.
“Community both for ourselves and for everyone we serve. When I interact with partners and competitors, they really care about not just lending for lending’s sake and for profits -- but that we are truly thinking about the entrepreneurs we work with and how are we taking care of them,” Schon said. “Innovative, too, in the sense that we are constantly thinking about different product lines and ways to answer entrepreneurs' needs to help them build their businesses.”