VP of Syndications
Oakmont Capital Services
“Kayla has always strived for more, driven by opportunities to enhance her learning and knowledge while helping our company. We appreciate her striving for perfection, and we are grateful to have her on our leadership team!” — Daryn Lecy, CLFP, SVP and Chief Operating Officer, Oakmont Capital Services
Equipment finance found Kayla Perlinger upon her graduation from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. After earning a degree in economics, she was eager to kickstart her career in finance, economics or business. It just so happened that a local bank was looking for a credit analyst, which led Perlinger to join the equipment finance division of Stearns Bank in Albany, MN.
TOUCHING ALL AREAS OF BUSINESS
Starting as a credit analyst allowed Perlinger to gain insights into various areas of the business. Before long, she was underwriting deals and volunteering for any project she could find. Although her formal title was “credit analyst,” she also took on data work, reporting and ad hoc projects, which she believes had a strong influence on her career.
Perlinger soon ventured into syndications, securing a role as syndications manager at Oakmont Capital Services in 2018. Since then, she has been promoted to vice president of syndications. In under five years, Perlinger spearheaded the operational process buildout of portfolio sales, expanding the portfolio sell desk from under $20 million annually to over $350 million.
Despite her title, Perlinger is involved in multiple areas of the business, including operations, data analysis and AI projects.
Beyond her full-time role with Oakmont, Perlinger is also a member of its technology team and philanthropy committee. She is an active industry participant, currently involved with ELFA, NEFA and the Monitor’s board for Suite.
WHERE ADVANCEMENT AND CURIOSITY OVERLAP
Perlinger has an insatiable curiosity and a strong desire to learn and grow. She constantly shifts her own goalposts, moving on to the next project as soon as she completes an initiative.
Perlinger has dedicated herself to implementing and understanding new technologies that will benefit her team and company. When Microsoft’s Power BI hit the scene, Perlinger, having seen the software in a LinkedIn article, taught herself how to use it. With her help, Perlinger’s sales team used the tool to view reports and dive into data more thoroughly. Perlinger considers this to be one of her most memorable accomplishments, as she took initiative, independently learned the software and successfully implemented it into the business.
Perlinger also played a key role on the team that worked with Leasepath to implement a new front-end system. This project involved revamping the entire front-end process to make it more efficient, customer-focused and futuristic. Every person on the team was filled with motivation and passion to get the job done, Perlinger says, and this ultimately resulted in both project success and the 2023
Operations and Technology Excellence Award from the ELFA.
“Kayla loves data — and clean data especially,” Daryn Lecy, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Oakmont, says. “She has made it her mission to contribute to the data analytics and reporting we perform regularly and do her part to ensure it is 100% accurate.”
Currently, Perlinger is working on a technology project with her team in collaboration with Tamarack Technology to enhance underwriting capabilities using data and AI.
HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE
Though technology is currently at the center of projects on Perlinger’s plate, she remains eager to learn about the broader equipment finance industry. She regularly engages in discussions about the sector with fellow practitioners, from her colleagues at Oakmont to peers and veterans she meets at conferences and committee meetings.
Mentorship also feeds Perlinger’s hunger for knowledge. She says she has received guidance from Lecy, who encourages her to follow her passions and explore new ideas. Joe Leonard, CEO of Oakmont, has also been an impactful leader and mentor for Perlinger. “I’ve always had people around me who have allowed me to be who I am, share my ideas and pursue my passions,” Perlinger says.
Regarding the future of equipment finance, Perlinger hopes the curiosity and commitment to technology continues, as she would like to see a full adoption of technology across business, supporting a completely paperless environment. She acknowledges that leaders will continue to experience bumps in the road as they learn, understand and implement new technologies, but she is confident in the
industry’s ability to adapt and innovate.
Having observed the lack of women at conferences at the beginning of her career, Perlinger is excited about the improvements in diversity within equipment finance. “Our industry is doing a better job at intentionally encouraging different people to work together,” she says. “We’re also doing a great job at not letting people passively exist in the industry, but to actually grow with the industry.”
For Perlinger, diversity of thought is imperative. “If you surround yourself with the same people who share the same ideas, you will never grow or adapt,” she says. •
