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Katapult is a financial technology company that provides retailers with point-of-sale financing solutions to capture the non-prime consumer segment. Its eCommerce-focused platform offers lease-purchase options for consumers that do not have access to traditional financing but need access to everyday durable goods like furniture, electronics, tires, etc. The company’s end-to-end technology platform enables seamless integration with eCommerce sites giving its retail partners across the US the opportunity to expand their customer base, increase sales and grow revenue. Katapult has a consumer-centric focus to ensure a quick application and approval process, transparent terms, and tailored payment plans.

An Influential Leader

Orlando Zayas, CEO of Katapult is a business executive specializing in strategic direction that accelerates company growth. He joined Katapult in 2017 with a vision of creating the best point of sale payment platform in the eCommerce space while most providers were focused on brick & mortar. With Orlando’s vision and leadership, Katapult quickly became a leader in the financial technology space through quick-turn integrations, best-in-class decision engines, and merchant support teams. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston and an MBA with a focus in Business from Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Orlando’s thought leadership has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Thrive Global, and many more.

Continuous Learning from Real-Life Experiences and Peers

Orlando has been tasked with opening and closing call centers across the U.S. The challenge of staffing hundreds, ensuring their training is best-in-class, and then hiring the right leaders to maintain culture and productivity gives a leader the foundation they need, to identify talent in individuals and quickly determine if they are the right fit for the company or role. In addition, the least desirable part of his role, laying people off, also gave Orlando an opportunity to truly get to know and have the chance to help some of the individuals who were as ambitious as he was in his early career. It was helpful to him to be able to later offer them a better position or connect them with an opportunity to learn something that would help them long-term.

Dedication: Road to Success

Orlando had to work extremely hard to get where he is today. Coming from a blue-collar town and being the only person in his family to graduate from college, he had to put in extra time and dedication to achieve the goals for which he aimed. It was imperative to his career path to meet and work with people who not only cared about Orlando’s growth trajectory but also helped him find the tools to continue forward. It isn’t always easy to meet those individuals, but he leaned on the traits he remembers most about his father, “To continue to build your network and pick up the phone when someone needs you”. That brought Orlando the people who gave him the drive to overcome the hurdles in front of him.

Factors Forming Leaders of Tomorrow

Orlando believes every leader should be open to providing their team members opportunities for growth and the ability to develop their career. Whether it is through additional education, new roles, or even leaving for new opportunities, being open to the team’s growth will benefit an individual as a leader for many years. It also helps build a strong network of individuals who genuinely want to see each other succeed. “Be an open communicator and stay honest with your employees. And most importantly, help other people make something of themselves. There are employees out there striving for more- one must help them achieve their goals as much as possible,” he said.

Path Leading to Growth and Success

According to Orlando, there are many ups and downs to getting to where one wants to be and achieving growth and success. Hence, it is crucial to be mentally ready to handle the wins and the losses. One must celebrate the wins and learn from the losses and view the disappointments as a chance for continuous improvement and innovation.

Overcoming the Challenges with Communication and Solution

When asked about challenges Orlando said Katapult approached them initially one at a time and then as a team. The company’s team listened to the employees and did their best to quickly adapt to the unforeseen challenges. Orlando ensured that the team was provided with everything they needed to quickly adjust to a virtual environment and successfully keep the organization safe and operating at optimal levels. The team implemented more frequent communication and opportunities to meet virtually to stay connected during difficult and uncertain times. The company provided new ways to communicate quickly, voice concerns, and provide solutions to continue on their path forward. They had a strong and detailed plan as to what they wanted to accomplish in 2020 and stayed the course. Thus, it was seen from a new more virtual perspective.

Radiating Key Advice to Emerging Leaders

On advising to emerging business leaders, Orlando asks them to:

  • Be a leader who communicates openly with the team.
  • Engage in face-to-face communication.
  • Share the overarching business goals to continue to build a collaborative environment.
  • Take ownership of your career and put yourself in an organization with the cultural and environmental fit to aid your success.

The Future Ahead

Katapult is well-positioned as 2020 brought many changes to the traditional consumer purchasing behaviors. The shift to eCommerce solidified Katapult’s positioning across multiple paths to access and ownership is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. “Retailers need to partner with more than just a prime financing partner to serve the variety of customer segments now shopping online. All consumers are looking for ways to obtain what they need when they need it and failing to serve the non-prime customer segment will result in abandoned carts and lower average order values (AOV),” Orlando said.