Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Rodney Williams of SoLo Funds Is Helping To Change Our World

Improve infrastructure in financial desert communities to provide individuals with access to quality financial care. Whether that is improving public transit so those without a car can easily get to a bank miles away from home or building a bank in a community that doesn’t have one, taking a good look at the communities with no adequate financial resources and filling in those gaps is key.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rodney Willliams.

Rodney Williams is the President and Co-founder of SoLo Funds, the largest community fintech platform for everyday Americans, providing the opportunity to access and grow capital and establish financial independence. Rodney grew up witnessing his loved ones struggling to survive paycheck to paycheck, and has dedicated his career to bringing quality financial services to underserved communities. Prior to co-funding SoLo Funds, Rodney founded LISNR (Visa Backed Fintech) and led the company to over $40M in funding, numerous awards, and partnerships across retail and financial services, and currently serves as the company’s Chairman.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’m from the kind of place where payday lending spots outnumber McDonald’s two to one. I became best friends with my co-founder, Travis Holoway, and he came from a similar background. We shared stories about how even though we were fortunate to be in a better financial position, too many of our family and friends were still struggling financially in our neighborhoods. We remembered being kids when our parents had bills due on Friday but didn’t get paid until Monday, so the lights would be shut off when we didn’t pay on time. That kind of experience is sadly very common for many Americans, so we wanted to create a solution that gave people a chance and didn’t punish them for being cash-strapped like almost everyone experiences at some point in their lives.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

One of the most interesting things that I’ve experienced since starting SoLo Funds is actually a story of someone we have helped. A woman who is now a very successful entrepreneur, but started out bootstrapping. She confided in me once that although she was college educated and responsible, she was going down to the wire to achieve her dream and didn’t have many options for financial help. She found SoLo and used the platform to start building her financial health. Since then, she has raised a few million dollars for her startup and is now highly successful in what she does, and credits SoLo for helping her start. When you’re an entrepreneur, you pay your business expenses over everything else. Before you pay your rent, before you pay for gas, each and every cent goes towards achieving your dream. I really believe that entrepreneurs are the fabric of America so it was great to hear that SoLo made such a difference in this woman’s journey. It’s one of many stories from real people we have helped along the way and it means so much to hear the positive impact we’ve had.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Of course, there are many mistakes made when you’re first starting out. Something that might seem funny now but definitely was not funny at the time is how many times I’ve accidentally emailed the wrong thing to the wrong person. That happened far too many times when I was early in the journey and I’ve had to learn from those mistakes. It taught me the significance of paying attention to the little things. Every small detail matters. Today, I double and triple-check things significantly to avoid any small miscommunications or mistakes.

Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?

Our company believes in investing in communities, and not just people. That’s why we launched SoLo Causes and Amplify Fund, two initiatives that allow us to galvanize corporate, philanthropic, and community stakeholders to support programs that help people. With Amplify Fund, we’ve made it so companies can actually track and see the impact that funds they contribute has on people’s lives. For SoLo Causes, we work with United Way and Habitat for Humanity to put potential profits back into communities that need it, helping people escape the perpetuity of financial challenges.

SoLo Funds is doing work that is impacting the underserved communities across America. Financial deserts are a topic not many people discuss — or even know about — and we are not only calling attention to this problem, but working to solve it. SoLo Funds is a community finance platform that provides small, short-term loans from other users of the app willing to lend. So many Americans are limited to the options provided to them by financial institutions, instead of having the opportunity to choose how to manage their own financial independence.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

So many people have been impacted by SoLo Funds. One story in particular comes from a woman who suffered financial hardship due to Covid-19. She was laid off from her job and pregnant, with each cent she had going toward bills, gas, and her children. Knowing she could reach out to her community for money for groceries and other necessities through SoLo Funds helped relieve the financial stress she was under until she returned to work.There are so many people with stories like hers and it is because of them we continue to drive awareness and provide a platform where people can get the help they need when they need it.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

There are so many things community leaders and politicians can do to solve the financial problems in the United States, but I’ll try to narrow it down to three:

1 — Improve infrastructure in financial desert communities to provide individuals with access to quality financial care. Whether that is improving public transit so those without a car can easily get to a bank miles away from home or building a bank in a community that doesn’t have one, taking a good look at the communities with no adequate financial resources and filling in those gaps is key.

2 — Support financial literacy education efforts. So many people — whether they live in an underserved area or not — aren’t taught the basics of financial literacy. Schools don’t teach their students how to get a loan or pay taxes, and going into a bank with no knowledge of the system is intimidating and overwhelming. Making sure individuals know about the basics of the financial system would greatly improve their chances of building and maintaining financial health.

3 — Update regulation for modern times. So many of the rules in place are based on a financial system invented years before we had access to entire financial markets, billions of people, and everything on the other side of the world. We could innovate to everyone’s benefit if more governments partnered with the fintech community to think of nimble solutions and standardize them to make rolling them out to more people easier.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

A leader is someone who takes all stakeholders into account when making decisions. He or she is ultimately responsible for the direction of the team, but during that process, an effective leader is someone who seeks counsel and leads with empathy. They put the customer in their inner circle and build teams reflective of their customer. In order to be a successful leader, you need to take all stakeholders into consideration so you can make the most informed decisions.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1 — Go hard, but rest up

2 — Take care of yourself

3 — Appreciate people

4 — Say thank you all the time

5 — Inspiring people starts with yourself

I think that coming from where I come from, working hard is the only way I could have ever achieved my success. I’ve grown up in an environment where you work through everything, but sometimes you forget that you need to take care of yourself. If you don’t, it will either drive you empty or it will drive you to failure. I had to learn that the hard way — you start to lose your passion and happiness when you’re overworked. I also believe that taking care of yourself and appreciating people are very related. I used to focus on performance over everything, but I have shifted to appreciate balance and people — no matter what they bring to the table. I believe effort is not equal — meaning it doesn’t matter if it’s a little effort or a lot of effort. It’s still an effort and it should be appreciated, which leads to saying thank you. I believe in saying thank you to those who put in effort because they are dedicating their time and energy to helping you achieve your dream and that is no small task. Lastly, inspiring people starts with yourself. This circles back to taking care of yourself and resting, because if you are overworked and drained, you won’t have the strength or passion to inspire others. You have to start with yourself in order to inspire passion in others.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Exactly what I’m doing with SoLo Funds. I really believe financial services need real innovation and not just a bunch of buzzwords. When we started SoLo, we went straight to the problem we were most intimate with, which was access to short-term capital. There’s a lot of money that leaves underserved communities and never makes its way back. We wanted to really fix those two things. Conceptually, we are helping shift more power to the people. It’s very disruptive. Each and every day, I really think we’re really making a difference in those communities.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ― Maya Angelou

It is a quote that perfectly describes how I would like to live life. It sums me up better than I can sum up myself.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I think I’ll have to name three — Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. I think SoLo is going against a massive industry, and although we are doing the right thing and approaching our mission the right way, we ultimately may lose because of who we are going against. I look at Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris as people who could help me understand how changing the status quo of the financial system could be possible in any capacity.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can follow me on Twitter at @rodneybwilliams and SoLo Funds at @solofunds.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!