Robyn Barrett is the SVP, managing director of Oxford Commercial Finance (“OCF”). OCF offers factoring and asset-based lending lines of credit to small to mid-sized to access the capital needed to grow. 

Robyn Barrett began her career at Restaura, Inc. in Phoenix, a food contract management company [subsidiary of the Greyhound Corporation], where she was responsible for monthly close and analysis as well as external reporting of payroll information. Ms. Barrett left The Dial Corporation to enter the world of corporate finance at FINOVA Capital Corporation, a Phoenix-based publicly traded commercial lender. Over the course of five years, her talents for financial budgeting and forecasting, marketing analysis, customer relations, business development and financial negotiations were recognized with a series of promotions.

In 2001, Barrett founded Phoenix-based FSW Funding. In April 2022, Barrett sold FSW Funding to Oxford Bank and was retained to manage the OCF Working Capital Group. Here, Angela Fiorentino, president of AmeriFactors and a member of SFNet’s Women in Secured Finance Committee, discusses Barrett’s journey.

Robyn Barrett’s beginnings in the financial industry began humbly enough. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Arizona State, her MBA from Grand Canyon University, and her CPA license, Barrett worked as a financial analyst for a consumer products company. While the consumer products company really valued the brand side of the business, it did not support the fi nancial side of the business. According to Barrett, “we were treated like secondclass citizens.” She knew she deserved better; a place where her skills, strengths, and passions were valued. So, she set about changing her career trajectory. Four personal attributes defined her efforts: her desire to take control of her own destiny, her willingness to fail, her ability to utilize personal connections, and overarchingly, her optimism.

Barrett understood early on that her career path would not be linear and that she might have to take a metaphorical step back to get to a better place. She knew she wanted to work for a financial company where her skills in financial analysis would be valued. So, she identified an alternative financing company in the same building where she worked for the consumer products company and set about making personal connections at the alternative finance company. She leveraged those connections to fi nd out about, and apply for, jobs.

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