 Magazine Feature
Story
Cameo: Penny Hulbert,
Links Financial LLC
By Jay Winchester
Published: January 2009
In the mid-1950’s, there was
a fictional television program, entitled The
Millionaire, that followed this basic premise: every
week, the incredibly wealthy industrialist John
Beresford Tipton- never seen, but heard- would hand over
a million dollar cashier’s check to his personal
secretary, Michael Anthony (played by veteran character
actor Marvin Miller). Anthony’s instructions were
simple: deliver the check to specified people without
revealing where it came from, and then step out of their
lives, leaving them to decide how the money could best
be used. As one might guess, some used it to great
effect; others, less so. Over the course of the show’s
six-year run, Tipton gave away $188,000,000, in addition
to paying the requisite taxes.
Penny Hulbert, Founder and
President of Tampa-based Links Financial LLC, can
actually top Tipton’s total. She has given over
$1,000,000,000. Lest readers mistake her for either a
rampant philanthropist or an eccentric billionaire and
bombard her with calls, realize that Hulbert’s giving
comes with its own twist: She has directly loaned that
amount to various businesses and real estate entities
over the course of her financial services career.
In fact, her company, Links
Financial, assists business owners, real estate
developers and investors in finding and securing the
appropriate financing program to meet their needs.
“Having worked for several different banks gives me
inside knowledge that is useful for my clients, and an
appreciation for the lenders since I used to be one,”
says Hulbert, a 20-year veteran of the banking industry
with tenures at Bank of America, Northern Trust and
Royal Bank of Canada’s U.S. subsidiary. “I have always
been in the business of helping companies obtain
financing.”
The bug to build a career in
banking was one that bit Hulbert early in life. “As a
high school student, I read the Arthur Hailey book, The
Moneychangers, deciding then and there that I wanted to
be a banker,” recalls the aptly named Penny. So after
graduating from Wake Forest University, it was off to
the world of high finance. Then, two-and-a-half years
ago, another bug bit, and she came down with a permanent
case of the entrepreneurial flu, saying, “I finally gave
in to the entrepreneurial bug and started my own
business. I decided it was time to make money for myself
instead of someone else.”
Links Financial specializes
in helping business owners safely steer their way
through the sometimes confusing and turbulent waters of
commercial and investment lending. “As a business owner,
how would you know if your lending institution is a good
fit for your company?” she asks. “How would you know if
your bank likes your industry, or even your business
model? You wouldn’t. My ideal client is a business owner
who needs help navigating through the credit markets."
It is a mission and a
business that excites her, although she has seen her own
share of the pitfalls and successes of the
entrepreneurial lifestyle. “There is never a ‘best time’
to start a new business,” she says matter-of-factly. “If
every entrepreneur waited for the best time to start
one, they never would.” Aside from the desire to be
one’s own boss, that life-on-the-highwire feeling is
another factor driving many e-spirited people, including
Hulbert. “When I first got started, I had an opportunity
to visit with a business-of-the-year award winner,” she
says. “He was very supportive of me and my new business.
I told him that starting my business was both
frightening and exhilarating all at the same time. He
replied that he had owned his business for 15 years, and
it was still that way for him.”
Many entrepreneurs owning
businesses realize quickly that there are certain things
you have to do to be successful. But it can also seem
that entrepreneurial success is really the by-product of
artful alchemy, at least when you’re starting out. “One
of my first clients told me that sometimes it’s just
smoke and mirrors,” she says. “When you get started, you
just do what you need to do to be successful. You make
those phone calls, you contact the people that you need
to and you keep your word.”
These current fiscally crazy
times in which we live and work have their share of
frustrations and challenges for every business owner,
Hulbert included. “Proceeding with major growth plans
for my business when everyone else is sitting on the
sidelines – that’s my biggest challenge,” she says.
Penny overcomes this frustration with an unyielding
passion for helping people turn their dreams into
achievable goals. It’s the quality that drives her
company’s success and keeps her motor running in
overdrive. “I can’t wait to get up in the morning and
get started each day,” says Hulbert. “I am passionate
about helping people. I get excited about seeing
businesses grow and thrive and serving as a catalyst for
making that happen. I really wish that I had started my
business sooner!
You may now proceed to
bombard her with calls.
To find out more about how the lending solutions offered
by Penny Hulbert and Links Financial LLC can help your
business grow, visit them on the Web at
www.links-financial.com, or call 813.341.1250.
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