Finding your niche isn’t just about strategy — it’s about authenticity, leadership, and turning experience into opportunity. In Private Lender Perspectives, our COO John Santilli shares how the principles that shaped his own journey continue to guide Unitas Funding’s mission to help every client build success with integrity, focus, and purpose.
Finding Your Niche in Private Lending: Lessons from Our COO, John Santilli
At Unitas Funding, lending is about more than driving business growth — it’s about sharing knowledge, leading and inspiring others, and strengthening the private lending community while continuing to support our clients at the highest level. With that premise in mind, we’re proud to celebrate our chief operating officer, John Santilli, for his contribution to the new book Private Lender Perspectives: Leadership Stories from Professionals Shaping the Industry (American Association of Private Lenders, October 2025).
This important anthology features voices from across the private lending landscape — individuals who have navigated change, built integrity-driven businesses, and helped define the future of real estate finance. John’s chapter, “Finding Your Niche,” reflects not only his personal journey but also the leadership values guiding the work of the Unitas team every day.
Discovering Your Niche — Personally and Professionally
John’s contribution explores one of the most universal challenges in a business career – finding your niche. As John writes, “Be true to yourself—your passions, skills, and your awareness of what you can or cannot control. Know your audience. Don’t fear change. Use your experiences to identify opportunities or solve problems. Above all, understand your unique selling proposition.” This authenticity and outlook, as John notes, are key to “bringing out your superpower and living your best life.”
This philosophy mirrors how we operate at Unitas. Every borrower, investor, and partner has a unique path. Our role is to uncover and understand their niche, aligning our lending capital and expertise with their goals rather than forcing them into a one-size-fits-all model.
Using a History of Hard Work and Vision to Build a Career
John’s story recounts his path from modest beginnings to executive leadership. Early experiences — from delivering brochures, working at a hotel 60 hours per week, and delivering pizza to assist his father in managing the family’s home equity lending company — taught him the values of hard work, accountability, and integrity. As John moved forward through his career, these values have served as the foundation for navigating the ups and downs of his early work and life experiences. As John shares, “Thanks to those who influenced my personal and professional life, I succeeded in my own right. I wasn’t just a manager, I was a leader with followers.”
These lessons have shaped how we lead and lend at Unitas Funding. Whether evaluating a fix-and-flip loan, structuring a bridge deal, or helping an investor scale their business, our focus remains on values driving integrity, discipline, and clear communication. We’re committed to doing what’s right, even when the right path is not the easiest one.
Repurposing Rather Than Reinventing
One of the most powerful lessons from John shares revolves around repurposing experience, taking what you’ve learned from past challenges and applying it in new ways.
“Fear kills creativity, success, and progress. Select the best person for the job, trust your choice, empower autonomy, and inspect what you expect.”
This principle drives innovation from the ground up at Unitas. As market conditions shift, we continuously refine our lending strategies, technologies, and clients’ experiences. We believe in progress through refinement, not reinvention—adapting what works and building even stronger systems to serve our borrowers and investors.
Leveraging Mentorship and Leadership in Private Lending
At its core, Private Lender Perspectives is about mentorship — sharing lessons that strengthen our entire industry, and John’s contribution underscores a simple truth:
“Earning trust and integrity starts with you. They are earned privileges. Never abuse them. A leader cannot be a leader without followers.”
At Unitas, we embrace that philosophy by mentoring investors entering private lending for the first time and collaborating with seasoned professionals who are seeking strategic and/or innovative capital solutions. We measure success not just by returns, but just as importantly by the relationships and reputations we have built along the way.
Realizing Riches Are in the Niches
One of John’s favorite sayings captures both entrepreneurial focus and lending wisdom – riches are in the niches.
Regarding private lending, this means understanding your market and remaining committed to your strengths, be it short-term bridge financing, rental portfolio growth, or fix-and-flip opportunities.
At Unitas we help clients do exactly that. We identify where your goals align with market opportunities, structure flexible capital to help you scale, and stay by your side as a trusted partner and adviser.
Importantly, John’s perspective isn’t just inspiring, it’s actionable. The same principles that shaped his career continue to guide how we serve our borrowers and investors.
Our mission is to help every client find their niche — in real estate, business and financial independence.
Sharing a Message from Unitas Funding
Unitas is honored to have John's story included as part of Private Lender Perspectives, and as the sector continues to evolve, we remain committed to shaping the future of this important industry through leadership, collaboration, and shared wisdom.
As John so aptly states, “True happiness comes from sticking to what you do best, not being an actor in someone else’s movie … My prescription to you — as a private lender or as someone new in the space as an employee, investor, or manager — is to identify your unique area, refine it, and use it to your advantage.”
This is the spirit behind Unitas Funding. We know exactly “who and what” we are and remain focused on helping our clients do what they do best while we deliver the lending solutions to make it possible.
Moving into Your Niche
Whether you’re a first-time investor or a seasoned real estate developer, Unitas Funding can help you find your niche and accelerate your growth.