The Liberty Bell: 36 Hours

Chad Lashbrook, Senior Commercial Lender in Lexington

Winter 2025 Edition 

Tuesday, August 12

6:00 A.M. 

It’s a very late start to the day as I’m struggling to adjust to what will be a new schedule for me over the next two months. I’m coaching high school girls’ soccer (Head Coach of JV and Assistant of Varsity) at Frederick Douglass High School, which means our game nights on Mondays and Wednesdays will be late nights for a few months. I’ve coached club soccer for the last five years, but this is my first season in the high school game. Our first regular season matches took place last night, and it was close to 10:30 P.M. by the time I got home. I realize this seems completely normal to most people, but I routinely go to bed when it’s still light outside during the summer.

7:30 A.M. 

Arrive at the office. I have just enough time to check my email and read through my small daily dose of what’s going on in the world from a daily newsletter called Morning Brew before heading off to my first meeting of the day.

8:00 A.M.

Client meeting at Manchester Coffee with an old friend. We went to Georgetown together decades ago, and we reconnected a few years ago around the time I started with Independence Bank. He is an active residential realtor in the Lexington market. He is also a real estate investor with a small residential rental portfolio. We financed a flip project my friend turned around successfully a couple years ago. Soon after that, interest rates spiked, and he failed to find any attractive investment opportunities. He’s now looking to expand his rental portfolio with the cash he’s been able to set aside over the last two years and we discuss some options on next steps.

9:00 A.M. 

Lexington Lender and Pipeline and Maturities meeting. Our lending team gets together weekly to coordinate the workload on upcoming loan renewals and discuss strategies and calling efforts on prospects and details in the pipeline.

10:00 A.M.

Lexington Market team meeting. Our entire team gets together bi-weekly to discuss financial results, community engagement, team calendars and time-off, etc. Though we are a close team, organization is key to make sure we are making an impact in the community.

11:30 A.M.

Review a deal with Rob. As the Senior Commercial Lender for our market, I work closely with our commercial lenders on active deals in the pipeline and their prospecting efforts.

12:15 P.M.

Step out to get a quick lunch. Followed by routine items, catching up with emails missed during the morning meetings and following up with prospects on a few live deals.

2:00 P.M.

Discuss loan reporting project with Brandy. Brandy is our Loan Assistant (among many other roles), and we are always working together to try and make the loan renewal process more efficient. She’s been exploring various tools in our software to help provide our lenders with data that’s helpful to include in our credit approvals.

3:00 P.M.

Reviewing another deal with Rob – great prospect, a new doctor in town looking to acquire some rental property. We make some tweaks to the structure and covenants, but this is a deal we can do and a relationship we should be able to grow significantly in the years to come.

4:30 P.M.

More catching up on emails and getting some work done on a few active deals of my own.

6:00 P.M.

Dinner at home with my family and our daughter, Stella, 14, son, Lincoln, 11, and my wife, Jenalee. I cherish these opportunities as they are few and far between during the busy high school soccer season. Conversation mostly revolves around the first day of school coming tomorrow.

7:00 P.M.

Watching the game film. The girls have the day off from training today as the boys’ team has a game tonight, so there is no field availability. Film study is a great tool for coaches and players alike. The bird’s eye view we get with our Veo camera allows you to pick up on a few things you didn’t notice during the game. Film holds players accountable as well – the tape never lies. Last night’s game against Lafayette was a slight step up in competition over what we’ve faced in our two pre-season matches, but doesn’t come close to what we’ll face against Dunbar tomorrow night.

9:00 P.M.

Bedtime, much more in line with my usual schedule.

Wednesday, August 13

3:45 A.M.

Much better starting time today. I use this time in the morning for prayer – reading scripture, reviewing study guides in the Bible app and just trying to listen to where and how the Lord is guiding me. After prayer time, I catch up on personal emails, and my wife and I discuss schedules to make sure we have all of our bases covered on the first day of school.

5:00 A.M.

Keeping some semblance of fitness during the soccer season is difficult with the frequent late nights, but it’s a necessity for me. Neither my body nor mind function optimally without consistent exercise. This morning is an easy workout to help keep me on track.

6:30 A.M.

Rise and shine, kids, time to get ready for the first day of school. It’s a big one for our household. Our son, Lincoln, is in 6th grade, and we’re very fortunate he’ll be attending Fayette County’s brand new middle school, Mary Britton. Stella, our daughter, is a freshman at Frederick Douglass. Two of her teammates, girls that I’ve coached for most of the last five years in club and now JV, are coming over to ride to school and tackle day one together. Lincoln and I grab breakfast together, and I get him to school.

8:30 A.M.

Arrive at the office, Morning Brew educates me on how the markets have responded to the latest inflation data. I catch up on emails and check in with the rest of the team on first day of school drop-offs and morning commute stories.

9:30 A.M.

One of our new customers is local to Lexington at a commercial Thoroughbred breeding operation with an enviable broodmare band. I’m catching up with our customer on the magnificent yearling sale they had last week at Fasig-Tipton in Saratoga Springs, NY. He has done an exceptional job prepping yearlings for sale in his two years with the farm. He has ample discretionary income and is looking to acquire some rental property. We discuss the pros and cons, analyze his cash flow and overall financial situation and set a budget for his proposed investment.

11:00 A.M.

Conversation with our County President, Stacy. Stacy is a very inclusive leader. We talk intently at least once or twice a week about what each of us is working on and the overall plans for the direction of our Lexington market.

12:00 P.M.

The second Wednesday of each month marks the Commercial Property Association of Lexington lunch. CPAL has been a great resource for me for years now – all of Lexington’s highest profile developers, property managers and CRE investors are in the same room. Today, Jeremy Delk, an entrepreneur and investor, is sharing with the group about his downtown office building to residential condo renovation, the Vine.

2:30 P.M.

Lengthy conversation with a former client at a prior financial institution. He is a highly successful Thoroughbred breeder (he’s bred two Eclipse champions in the last five years) and real estate investor that currently lives in Atlanta. He is planning to move to Lexington soon to be near his horses and his son, and we are discussing moving his primary banking relationship to Independence Bank.

3:45 P.M.

Impromptu prospect call with Stinson Miller, our newest team member in Lexington. Stinson knows of a service owner that is looking for a new bank. We discuss our capabilities, lending limits and service model.

5:00 P.M.

It’s game night, and I’m off to Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School where my JV girls will kick off at 6:15 followed by the Varsity match at 8:00 p.m. This will be the sternest test to date for both teams, by a considerable margin. I’m concerned about our ability to adjust to the pace of play that comes from higher quality competition. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll grow and improve from the experience.