Membership Spotlight September 2021
Friday, Sep 17, 2021
Rachel Li | District Director, Roynat Capital
As a Director and District Lead from Roynat Capital, Rachel’s passion has always been around commercial lending. She enjoys meeting business owners from various industries and listening to their unique journeys. Being a commercial lender, Rachel works with companies across Canada and the United States on M & A financing, Management buyouts and Commercial Real Estate financing for asset types including industrial warehouses, offices, and hotels, etc. Through using creative and customized structures, Rachel has helped her clients succeed at different stages of their business cycle.
Rachel, thank you for being our New Member Spotlight. Can you share what made you decide to join this network?
I started going to CREW events three years ago and I’m grateful that there is an association like CREW to support women in commercial real estate. It is such an awesome platform for women in the same industry to meet and connect. Scotiabank and Roynat have always been promoting female entrepreneurs and we recently fulfilled the commitment to deploy $3 Billion in capital to women-owned and women-led businesses in Canada. We are looking at a whole different industry compared to 10 years ago. I believe CREW is a great place for me to give back to the community. I would love to mentor women who are setting foot in commercial real estate or who are just interested in the industry in general.
You have worked at Scotiabank and Roynat for many years now during which time you have held a few different roles, can you share more about your current role as the District Director at Roynat?
I transitioned from a business development role to a leadership role in 2019. Right now, I lead a team of talented and driven commercial lending associates. My goal is to create a culture of success for them and foster their individual growth and the team’s overall growth. By providing leadership and support, I want each of my team members to carry the Roynat brand name in the commercial lending space as a knowledgeable, reliable, and creative consultant for business owners. We are not just lenders, but someone who really understands our clients’ businesses and provides the best advice.
Was your career transition planned or did it happen unexpectedly and what would be your best piece of advice for someone seeking career advancement?
I think we always need a bit of both. While I was working under the main umbrella of Scotiabank as a commercial banker, I had a great foundation to learn all kinds of lending programs. On the job, I tried to understand my own organization’s risk appetite, and also that of my competitors and my lending partners. I explored the best options to work with my lending partner which was Roynat at that time. As a result, I was able to win a lot of deals by offering unique solutions to our clients. This led to an opportunity to join Roynat later on as my career advanced. My advice for someone along a similar path would be to keep learning and always challenge yourself. Never get comfortable!
What drew you to the finance sector and what do you enjoy most about working in this industry?
I chose finance, specifically banking because it has a great balance between client-facing opportunities and internal deal structuring expertise. The reason I picked commercial lending is that every transaction is unique and every client has individual requirements and company needs. I have learned a lot from my peers and my clients from all types of industries, which keeps the job fresh and interesting.
Outside of work, what are some of your hobbies/passions and what would you say is your favorite thing to do when trying to unwind after a particularly long work week?
I play quite a bit of tennis during the week. It helps me shift my focus away from work. I also enjoy scuba diving and surfing, but they are definitely more fun in warmer water. White Cliff isn’t really the same as Hawaii.