VitalMind - Customer Story

Meet Trev Erickson, owner of Trev’s Tire & Repair in St. George, Utah. Trev is an old-school mechanic who likes helping people. After 20 years in the trade, he does fabrication, auto repair, hot rods, and whatever else rolls through the door. If you want airplane wings on your truck, he’s sure he can figure it out. If your fridge breaks, he’ll come to your house and fix that too!

Trev is dedicated to his customers, his family, and a shop he took a leap to build. Watch his story and find out how Lendio helped Trev find financing that fit the way he does business.

Trev’s Tire & Repair: The story

Trev spent about 12 years working in another shop in town, and he’d wanted a shop of his own from the beginning. After a lot of talking it over at home, his wife told him to go for it. At the time, he had a month’s worth of savings in the bank and five kids at home. “It was a gamble,” said Trev. “Still is, but I’m glad I took the risk.”

Running a shop means being all in, and Trev absolutely is. Between all-nighters and seven-day weeks, he does whatever it takes to keep the business going. But when it comes to financing, the traditional route didn’t work. Trev went to banks and was turned down because he didn’t follow their template. "I'm not trying to fit the mold," he reflected. "I'm trying to break the mold."

That’s where Lendio came in. Trev went online and started searching, and found Lendio. “At first I thought Lendio was just like any other finance company,” said Trev. “I’m not the sales pitch guy, but I was very pleased with how it went. Process was real easy. Working with Lendio was great. It had a personal touch to it, and wow, pretty quick.” The experience gave him a little peace of mind. With five kids, a grandbaby, and people depending on him, and some months running tight, that made all the difference.

Trev’s advice for other small business owners is simple: “Don’t let the fear hold you back. Go for it. That’s how people build wealth.” In his view, debt can work in your favor when it’s used as a tool.

For Trev it comes back to the work. He believes the automotive industry lost its way somewhere along the line, and he wants to help change that. “I’m not trying to get rich doing it,” said Trev. “I’m just trying to provide for my family and leave a lasting legacy that people remember.”

Meet Jeff Walt, owner-operator of Canduit Construction. Jeff is not a suit-and-tie guy. He’s a hands-on builder who has always lived for the before-and-afters, and he’s never been one to back down from a new challenge. When customers asked if he could take on something he’d never done, his answer was usually that if they’d work with him, he’d give them a really good deal. That willingness to say yes, and then deliver, has earned him repeat customers who have stayed with him for 10 to 20 years, and it’s taken his work from small remodels to custom home builds to heavy-duty commercial and industrial buildings. Behind the work is a business that depends on getting paid on time. Watch his story and find out how Lendio helped Jeff bridge the gap between doing the work and getting paid for it.

Canduit Construction’s Story

For Jeff, the biggest milestone isn’t a project. It’s having his family work alongside him. Two of his three sons are as invested in the company as he is, and Jeff calls going into business with them “one of the greatest, most meaningful things that a dad could ever hope and want for.”

As is true of many small businesses in the construction industry, the work was there, but the cash flow wasn’t. Jeff’s invoices carry net 30 terms, but his biggest client regularly carries a balance for 60 to 75 days. He’s far from alone: a 2024 construction payments report from Rabbet found that contractors wait an average of 90 days to get paid. “Without cash flow you’re kind of dead in the water,” said Jeff. With workdays that often run from 5 AM to 10 PM, the stress was affecting his health and his family.

Traditional financing wasn’t built for the way construction gets paid. Jeff looked at 15 to 20 different SBA loans and didn’t qualify for any of them. That search for construction business financing led him to Lendio. Lendio gave him a chance, starting with two small $10,000 loans. The amounts grew from there, to $30,000 on his next round and, most recently, to more than $100,000.

Today, Jeff has advice for other tradespeople who are where he once was. “I would say step outside of your fears of taking a loan, go for it,” said Jeff. “The simplicity that Lendio provides, hands down the best. It is far worth it to take the plunge and try than to sit and stress, which is what I did for years.”

With the cash flow to keep projects moving, Jeff can keep doing what he loves: building things he can point to and say, “I created that.”

Meet Justin Hire, the owner of Porky’s Kauai. In 2013, Justin began his business on the island of Kauai after leaving a job he disliked. His new idea? Selling hot dogs from a cart on the beach. What started with a hot dog cart on the beach transformed into a food trailer, then a food truck, and finally, multiple brick-and-mortar locations. Watch his story and find out how Lendio helped Porky’s Kauai thrive in the midst of the COVID-19 shutdown and beyond.

Porky’s Story

Justin Hire has no formal culinary experience, but he credits the school of hard knocks for his success. In 2013, he bought a hot dog cart from Craigslist and had it shipped to the island with the vision of selling hot dogs by the beach. If it was a success, he and his family would stay in Kauai. If not, they would move back to the mainland.

The hot dog success story was rocky at first. The first night Porky’s opened, sales totaled to about $37. Luckily, a close friend made a suggestion that unlocked the secret to success: add Kalua pork to the hot dogs.

Sales took off, carrying Porky’s Kauai from a humble hot dog cart, to a food truck, a first restaurant location in Waimea before a final relocation to Koloa Village. Each evolution of the business gave Justin more and more confidence, inspiring his move in 2019 to Utah to open a store location in Lehi. On March 7th, Porky’s Kauai opened in Lehi, Utah. On March 13, the governor ordered all restaurants to do takeout only in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s where Lendio came in.

Justin admits he has trouble asking for help, but he approached Lendio to find out his options. The financing assistance he was able to get through Lendio meant Porky’s Kauai was able to keep their doors open, keep supplies stocked, and serve the food they loved. 

“Without that money, we would have been out of luck,” Justin admits.

Meet Misha Anuhea Laney, the owner of Aloha Aina Juice Cafe and E Ala Cafe on Kaua’i, Hawaii. 

Born and raised in Hanalei on the island of Kaua’i, Misha initially took the risk to open Aloha Aina Juice in the back of a market, with only a single blender and a countertop. A young, single mother, she had no way to envision what the future held: outgrowing her first location in 2 years, and expanding her business to four locations with her eye on another. Watch her story and find out how Lendio helped Misha expand and establish E Ala Cafe.

E Ala Cafe’s Story

Where Aloha Aina Juice Cafe’s model includes smoothies, bowls, and to-go wraps, Misha saw the opportunity for a slower experience, and found herself with the opportunity to buy a choice location in Kapa’a.

Even with a high credit score, Misha was denied for a traditional bank loan. Looking around for options, she came across Lendio. 

Rather than drawing from her savings, Misha obtained financing through Lendio to cover the working capital costs and purchase of her new location. In April 2025, the doors to E Ala Cafe opened, serving happy patrons with coffee, smoothies, and seasonal breakfast and lunch menu items made with locally-sourced ingredients. 

"Lendio was right there with me, helping me every single step of the way," said Misha. “I would not have been able to buy this location without that.”

E Ala E is a call to awaken both literally and figuratively. The phrase can be used to greet the sun, encourage self reflection, or inspire action, and Misha has successfully created a space where her community can do just that.