Employee Highlight: Stevie Wilson
Akiptan is proud to introduce our team that is helping make positive changes in agriculture finance across Indian country. Please meet our Loan Officer, Stevie Wilson. Stevie is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She grew up in Martin, SD and currently resides just North of Martin where she runs a cow/calf operation with her husband, Joe, and their three children. Stevie enjoys working at Akiptan and helping Native agriculture producers meet their lending needs. Knowing firsthand the challenges faced, helping new producers overcome initial hurdles and achieve success in their ranching businesses has been the highlight of her job.
Stevie has always been interested in agricultural lending and like all of Akiptan’s client-facing staff, she is a producer herself and does the books for her family ranch. Her grandma had a ranch while she was growing up and Stevie attended her brandings and learned the in’s and out’s of the ranch. Stevie began her role at Akiptan as the Loan Administrator in 2024 and has recently been promoted to a Loan Officer; in both roles she is eager to assist producers. Stevie appreciates Akiptan’s patient capital model and thinks that it’s a great product for emerging producers; it gives them an opportunity to get their ranch started with a firm foundation. She appreciates that the Interest-Only loan option allows producers to retain heifers and build their herd, then invest their profits back into their operation. Stevie is always excited for others to read about our clients' operations through the success stories that Akiptan publishes throughout the year. In her role, she offers her feedback on how processes could be updated to make things smoother internally so the focus can be placed on the clients. As a team member in the Akiptan Loan Department, Stevie is proud to be able to support producers not only with lending but with the additional initiatives that we have. She understands the importance of a friendly, knowledgeable first interaction for a producer in the lending space.
“Working with the loan officers on staff has been great, they are all flexible and knowledgeable, and are willing to go the extra mile to support one another in their jobs at Akiptan.” - Stevie Wilson, Loan Officer
Stevie feels very passionate about helping clients and enjoys being able to see their success first hand. What makes the work great for her is that Akiptan is always trying to get loan applicants to a “yes”. There’s a lot of relationship building in the initial intake phase and in her role as the first point of contact, she is helping them submit the correct documents and to be prepared from the start. Stevie begins by getting to know the producers, by supplying them with financial templates like balance sheets and cash flow sheets that Akiptan has created to help producers feel confident in knowing their numbers.
“Knowing that Akiptan is helping producers is eye opening and one thing I enjoy the most is being able to see the younger beginning farmers and ranchers starting out and getting their operations going. I wish that Akiptan was around when my family started out because I truly appreciate the lending options available at Akiptan.” - Stevie Wilson, Loan Officer
Working as a Loan Officer was one of Stevie’s goals while working with the team and she’s excited to learn more about the loan underwriting process. She is eager to do cattle underwriting and would eventually like to learn other agricultural industry underwriting as well. Stevie would like for folks to know that her job is fun and that she wears a lot of hats. She doesn't just process the applications, she files liens, manages the pipeline, and is helping clients gather documents when they apply. The other day, she was on a 45 minute call with an applicant, walking them through the loan process and this felt like success for Stevie. As for being a team member with Akiptan, Stevie says that she is beyond grateful, to be working with Akiptan, she loves the work she does to help producers.
Akiptan is excited about our growing team, as we continue to support producers across Indian country. To learn more about the team at Akiptan, please visit our blogs at: https://www.akiptan.org/akiptanblogsuccessstories.
