Interview with National Advisory Committee member - Cathy Bennett
February 01, 2022
Watch Cathy's video below
The Leading Lenders' team had the chance to sit down and chat with Cathy Bennet, Founder and General Partner at Sandpiper Ventures. An entrepreneur herself, Cathy is a true leader in the business world, constantly seeking ways to help women entrepreneurs throughout their journeys. In this interview, Cathy answers questions about the Leading Lenders' initiative and related topics. (A written version of the interview is also available below.)
Question #1: In your opinion, what is a leading lender?
I think a leading lender is someone who really takes the time to understand the perspective of the person who is looking for the loan. Someone who is passionate about the entrepreneur’s ideas and who really listens to the challenges that the entrepreneur may be leaving unsaid when they get a chance to meet them.
Question #2: What inspires you about the Leading Lenders project?
I think what inspires me about the project is that I have a really deep appreciation and understanding of the essentialness of financial inclusion. If we don’t figure out ways of giving women access to capital, then they are not going to be able to have their ideas in the marketplace, whether it’s in the consumer marketplace or business marketplace and we really leave a lot of great ideas left unexploited and I think that is why the Leading Lenders' project is so exciting for me.
Question #3: In your experience, what are the most significant barriers women entrepreneurs face when trying to access business financing?
I think one of the most significant barriers that women face sometime is their own risk aversion to financing. I think, as a lender, that’s something that is really important to understand. Women typically don’t like to take risks, they can be financially frugal, they want to take care of the day-to-day operation and they want to make sure that they don’t leave themselves short. Taking on financing for growth is something that they are very cautious about doing. Lenders need to be aware of that in their discussion with women.
Question#4: What tips would you offer to lenders who are looking to support a woman entrepreneur during her journey?
I think the best tip for lenders is to accentuate and build on women’s confidence when they are approaching financial institutions to borrow. We (women) are very risk averse, we don’t like to take on debt and often time we undervalue the success we have shown to date. So as a lender, I think if you can boost our confidence and encourage us to take on that capital, that is going to allow us to grow and increase firepower. I think that’s a really important role of a lender when they are interfacing with the female entrepreneur.
Cathy Bennett is a member of the Leading Lenders’ National Advisory Committee. We invite you to learn more about Cathy by visiting her page on our website.
The Leading Lenders' team had the chance to sit down and chat with Cathy Bennet, Founder and General Partner at Sandpiper Ventures. An entrepreneur herself, Cathy is a true leader in the business world, constantly seeking ways to help women entrepreneurs throughout their journeys. In this interview, Cathy answers questions about the Leading Lenders' initiative and related topics. (A written version of the interview is also available below.)
Question #1: In your opinion, what is a leading lender?
I think a leading lender is someone who really takes the time to understand the perspective of the person who is looking for the loan. Someone who is passionate about the entrepreneur’s ideas and who really listens to the challenges that the entrepreneur may be leaving unsaid when they get a chance to meet them.
Question #2: What inspires you about the Leading Lenders project?
I think what inspires me about the project is that I have a really deep appreciation and understanding of the essentialness of financial inclusion. If we don’t figure out ways of giving women access to capital, then they are not going to be able to have their ideas in the marketplace, whether it’s in the consumer marketplace or business marketplace and we really leave a lot of great ideas left unexploited and I think that is why the Leading Lenders' project is so exciting for me.
Question #3: In your experience, what are the most significant barriers women entrepreneurs face when trying to access business financing?
I think one of the most significant barriers that women face sometime is their own risk aversion to financing. I think, as a lender, that’s something that is really important to understand. Women typically don’t like to take risks, they can be financially frugal, they want to take care of the day-to-day operation and they want to make sure that they don’t leave themselves short. Taking on financing for growth is something that they are very cautious about doing. Lenders need to be aware of that in their discussion with women.
Question#4: What tips would you offer to lenders who are looking to support a woman entrepreneur during her journey?
I think the best tip for lenders is to accentuate and build on women’s confidence when they are approaching financial institutions to borrow. We (women) are very risk averse, we don’t like to take on debt and often time we undervalue the success we have shown to date. So as a lender, I think if you can boost our confidence and encourage us to take on that capital, that is going to allow us to grow and increase firepower. I think that’s a really important role of a lender when they are interfacing with the female entrepreneur.
Cathy Bennett is a member of the Leading Lenders’ National Advisory Committee. We invite you to learn more about Cathy by visiting her page on our website.
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