308. Interview with Glenn Stearns, Founder of Kind Lending: From Failing Fourth Grade to “Undercover Billionaire”

Susan Sly June 13, 2023 June 14th, 2023

Introducing Glenn Stearns’ latest book, InteGRITy, filled with captivating tales from his unpredictable journey to success. Learn how to overcome setbacks and break barriers, no matter your beginnings, monetary constraints, or past mistakes. Join Glenn on a relentless pursuit of greatness and unlock your own potential to fulfill your dreams.

—Glenn Stearns

Topics covered in the interview

Glenn’s background

Unlimited ability

How to think about your competitors

The importance of surrounding yourself with challenging people

Glenn Stearns’ Bio

Glenn’s childhood and young adulthood years were fraught with pain and adversity. He was born to alcoholic parents, diagnosed as dyslexic, fathered a child at 14, and graduated high school in the bottom ten percent of his class. Although many of his friends ended up on the fast track to jail or tragic deaths, Glenn was able to build a better future with the encouragement of supportive mentors.

Glenn became the first person in his family to attend college and graduated with a degree in economics from Towson University. Inspired by stories of people who took risks and achieved their grandest ambitions, he then moved to California, where he slept on the kitchen floor of a one-bedroom apartment he shared with five other recent grads. While waiting tables, Glenn searched for new opportunities to rise above his humble beginnings.

At 25, after working as a loan officer for ten months, Glenn formed his own mortgage company, Stearns Lending. By 2010, Stearns Lending reached nearly $1 billion a month in funding while experiencing record growth. Stearns not only survived the 2007 mortgage-lending crisis but also emerged as one of the top lenders in the country.

Glenn attributes his resilience to putting “people before profit” and having transparent integrity in lending standards. Since 2010, Stearns Lending has funded over 150 billion dollars in loans, making them corporate America’s #1 Wholesale Lender in 2013. The company has helped nearly 1,000,000 families achieve home ownership. In 2014, Blackstone purchased the majority share of Stearns Lending for an undisclosed sum.

Mr. Stearns is also the founder of Anivive Life Science, Stearns Wholesale, Stearns Holdings, Stearns Ventures, Artemis Holdings, TriVerify, TriMavin, United Housing Services, Inc., and Mortgage Services Providers Holdings. He is an investor in Indi.com and Lender Price and the largest shareholder of California-based Infinity bank.

In 2011, Mr. Stearns was inducted into The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. The Award is given to individuals in recognition of personal and professional success despite humble and challenging beginnings, in addition to personal initiatives and accomplishments in giving back to others. In 2013, he became the youngest Member elected to the Horatio Alger Association’s prestigious Board of Directors.

Mr. Stearns and his wife Mindy are very active in the community, having been honored for their dedication to community service and philanthropy with Muhammad Ali’s Parkinson’s Foundation “Couple of the Year” Award, Starkey Hearing Foundation’s “American Couple of the Year,” Orange County’s “Giving is Living Award” and the Orangewood Children’s Foundation’s “Golden Heart Award.”