I am Sheila Holt, founder of Sapphire Lending, a finance business which is unique in the financial sector as it specialises in building lifelong relationships, trust, and communication.
A long time ago I recognised that I am both an outlier and a disruptor. This means that the standard career path has never suited me.
Family members guided me along the academic route with the aim of entering a secure profession. After quite a few years of trying, and failing, to fit in to a corporate role, I made a break for freedom. I left my job without any idea of what I was going to do next.
Attending a neuro-linguistic programming course in Hawaii reopened my mind to entrepreneurship. It gave me a completely different direction and purpose in life. From a young age I have been fascinated by how people think and mentally programme themselves. I developed a coaching practice to help entrepreneurs achieve clarity, focus and ultimately, success. During this time, I was also investing in property and learned that the property industry needs money to flow. This was the first step in my entrepreneur journey.
As a result of the financial crash in 2007 I re-mortgaged some of my portfolio and found myself in the fortunate position of suddenly having a substantial sum of money in my bank account. I loaned a portion of that money to a property developer, who in return paid me monthly interest. The drive to make my capital work hard was the impetus.
Almost three years later I had a chance meeting with an entrepreneur whom I respect, and we discussed what I was doing. He suggested I could help others earn a good rate of interest with their money. It was at the time when alternative lending was starting to develop and a brand-new financial sector was emerging, which I was becoming part of. What began as a hobby became my business. Sapphire Lending was born.
Typically, I have a lightness and brightness of character and together with my high energy, drive and passion I aim to take the serious, and often overcomplicated, business of finance and turn it into something that flows with simplicity, ease and clarity.
I revel in being an entrepreneur and see it as one of the greatest personal development journeys I have ever been on.
