July 5, 2026

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Sahar Maknouni on Building Maknouni Family Law Firm, APC Around Compassion and Legal Strategy

Kivo Daily Staff on June 2, 2026

Family law became deeply personal for Sahar Maknouni long before it became her profession. Having lived through divorce herself, Sahar experienced firsthand how emotionally consuming family transitions can become and how difficult it can feel to navigate legal systems during moments when life already feels fragile. That awareness became central to the way she practices law today.

When Personal Experience Changes the Way You Practice Law

Before Sahar fully understood family law as an attorney, she understood it as someone living through it herself. She experienced how divorce can slowly erode a person’s sense of certainty, affecting both emotional well-being and everyday routines.

That experience changed the way she approached advocacy altogether. Sahar realized clients are often carrying emotional exhaustion long before legal proceedings begin, which is why she built her practice around more than legal precision alone. She built it around humanity, steadiness, and emotional awareness.

The Emotional Fog Most Clients Enter With

One of the things Sahar noticed early in her career was how emotionally disoriented many clients feel by the time they seek legal help. Family law does not arrive during calm seasons of life. It arrives during sleepless nights, emotionally charged conversations, financial stress, and uncertainty about what comes next.

To Sahar, legal support should never intensify the emotional weight people are already carrying. During divorce and custody disputes, clients are often trying to think clearly while their personal lives feel emotionally overwhelming. What they need is someone capable of helping them move through the noise with greater clarity and steadiness.

Building a Family Law Practice That Feels Human

When Sahar founded Maknouni Family Law Firm, APC, she was intentional about building something that felt different from the traditional image many people associate with law firms. Accessibility became part of the culture she wanted clients to experience from the beginning.

She emphasizes responsive communication and systems, such as a centralized client portal, to remove unnecessary friction in situations that are already emotionally difficult. Sahar cares about these details because when someone feels overwhelmed or uncertain, access to information and communication can help restore a sense of stability and clarity.

Calmness Can Be Its Own Form of Strength

Family law often places people in survival mode. When emotions are tied to children, stability, finances, and the future, even small conflicts can escalate quickly. Fear begins influencing choices, conversations lose balance, and tension quietly takes over the room.

Sahar understands that family law requires more than legal knowledge. It requires emotional steadiness under pressure. Known for her composed advocacy and detailed preparation, she helps clients move through emotionally difficult disputes without feeling unsupported inside the process. Her focus remains on protecting people while guiding them through difficult legal transitions with care and clarity.

Learning That Real Life Continues After Courtrooms Empty

Law school taught Sahar how to navigate systems, build arguments, and advocate under pressure. But family law taught her something no textbook fully can: legal decisions continue affecting people’s lives long after hearings end.

Her background in Business Law and Management from California State University, Northridge, followed by her Juris Doctor from Chapman University Fowler School of Law, gave her a strong analytical foundation. Over time, however, she realized family law requires more than technical precision. It requires understanding the emotional realities people face while rebuilding their lives after major transitions.

The Work That Reminds Her Why Humanity Matters

Through the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law, Sahar regularly works with people living through circumstances that cannot simply be summarized through legal language. Behind many cases are individuals trying to leave unsafe environments, regain financial stability, and protect their children while emotionally holding themselves together at the same time.

For Sahar, providing legal support in those moments is about far more than paperwork or representation. It is about helping people move from fear toward safety, from instability toward possibility. At the center of her work is a belief that no one should feel invisible while trying to rebuild their life.

In many ways, that philosophy defines everything about Sahar Maknouni’s approach to family law. She is not trying to remove emotion from the legal process. She is working to ensure people do not lose themselves inside it.

The Almond Dip That Became a Snacking Platform

Kivo Daily Staff on May 30, 2026

Most food brands that hit $56M in revenue are selling one thing in one category. Bitchin’ Sauce founder Starr Edwards decided to do something riskier: take the clean-label constraints that made the original product expensive to manufacture and apply them to an entirely new lineup of chips, salsas, and bean dips. Same rules, new categories, more complexity. On purpose.

One Recipe, Twenty-Plus Flavors

The original almond dip is still the anchor. The same original base recipe: almonds, lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, oil. Nothing synthetic, nothing added to make the production process easier. Starr started selling that same recipe at a San Diego farmers market in 2010 and hasn’t touched it since. What has changed is the flavor count. It’s past twenty now, and the range covers territory most single-base products can’t touch. Chipotle on one end, Pumpkin Pie somewhere near the other, and flavors like Cilantro Chili and Salted Caramel scattered in between.

The USDA puts almonds at about six grams of protein per ounce, plus vitamin E and mostly monounsaturated fats. That’s a lot of nutritional density from one ingredient, which is part of why the base holds together across twenty very different flavor directions without needing additives to compensate. But the bigger story is that every flavor ships with zero synthetic additives. That’s twenty production lines all following the same uncompromising rules.

The New Categories

In 2026, the company is expanding beyond dips. Bitchin’ Chips are almond-oil-based tortilla chips. Salsacados™ combine salsa with avocado chunks. There are two refrigerated bean dip flavors. And the Snacker is a collaboration with The Good Crisp Company. Each one gets made under the same rules as the original dip. No gums, no stabilizers, nothing synthetic anywhere in the lineup.

The retail math changes when you go from one product to a full lineup. One SKU earns a single facing in the dip section. Dips, chips, and salsas from the same brand start occupying real shelf real estate, especially at Costco, Target, Kroger, then add Whole Foods and Sprouts and you’re past 15,000 locations. Internationally, the product is now moving through Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China, and Mexico.

Why the People Matter

Bitchin’ Kids started from a simple belief: no parent should have to choose between providing for their child and raising them. Starr built the program around that.

It began as free, on-site childcare at the facility, a loving and educational environment where parents could drop in during breaks or lunch. Kids grew up together, parents became real friends, and the workplace built a community that didn’t need a team-building budget to exist.

As the team shifted remote, the program shifted with it, becoming an annual non-taxable reimbursement of $7,500 per employee. Over $1.6M offered since 2019.

Voluntary turnover is at 16.4%. The industry norm hovers around 28%. The people who’ve been running the same process for four-plus years know things that don’t transfer in an onboarding doc. That’s what the program protects.

Where the Platform Goes

$56M in peak annual revenue with the product lineup still expanding. The original dip now has more than twenty flavors. New categories are launching. International markets are growing. And the company is still family-owned, still in Carlsbad, still producing without a single preservative in any product.

The question isn’t whether a snacking platform can be built on clean-label principles. That’s already happened. The question is whether anyone else in the industry is willing to try it without cutting corners first?

About Bitchin’ Sauce

Bitchin’ Sauce is a family-owned, Carlsbad, California-based brand founded in 2010 by Starr and Luke Edwards. The company pioneered the almond-based dip category and has grown from local farmers markets to national distribution in 15,000+ retail locations including Costco, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, and Kroger. Committed to clean-label manufacturing and industry-leading employee benefits, Bitchin’ Sauce remains a plant-based, better-for-you leader in the snacking category. Learn more at bitchinsauce.com.

She Led Ohio’s Deaf Community for Years. Then She Sat Down and Finally Told Her Own Story.

Kivo Daily Staff on May 30, 2026

Most people who dedicate their lives to serving others are very good at one thing and not so good at another. They know how to show up for everyone around them. They are much less practiced at showing up for themselves. Irene Tunanidas spent the better part of her adult life in service to other people. Her students, her community, her mother, her organization. When her term as president of the Ohio Association of the Deaf ended in 2024, she did something she had not done in a very long time. She asked herself what she needed. The answer was a book she had started writing thirteen years earlier and never finished.

A Life Spent Showing Up for Others

Irene did not arrive at community leadership by accident. She had been building toward it her whole career.

She spent more than thirty years teaching deaf children in Ohio public schools, first in Youngstown and then in Poland. Every year brought a new group of students who needed someone in their corner, and she was consistently that person. Outside the classroom, she gave her time to her community through volunteer work and fundraising, joining organizations that served the deaf and hard of hearing population in her area and putting in the hours those organizations required to function.

When she took on the presidency of the Ohio Association of the Deaf, she brought the same commitment to that role that she had brought to everything before it. The position demanded her time, her focus, and her energy. She gave all three without reservation. It was what the role needed, and she understood that.

What she set aside during those years was the manuscript she had started writing in 2011. The book had begun as a personal project, a way of processing the grief and exhaustion that had followed three years of caring for her mother. When the demands of leadership took over, the pages went into a drawer and stayed there. There was always something more urgent, something that needed her attention more than her own story did.

What Happens When the Term Ends

When Irene’s presidency of the Ohio Association of the Deaf concluded in 2024, she did not immediately look for the next position or the next responsibility to take on. She made a different choice. She went back to the manuscript.

That decision is quieter than it sounds. For someone who had spent decades defining herself through what she did for others, choosing to finish a book that was entirely about her own experience was not a small thing. It required a shift in thinking that most people in her position find genuinely difficult. The instinct after a life of service is to keep serving, to find the next role, the next committee, the next place where you are needed. Sitting down to finish your own story asks you to resist that instinct and trust that your story is worth the time.

Irene trusted it. She went back to the pages, picked up where she had left off, and committed to finishing what she had started.

It Was Not an Easy Return

Going back to the manuscript after more than a decade away was harder than starting it had been.

Her body had changed. Arthritic pain in her joints made long stretches at the keyboard difficult. Some days she could only write for a short time before she had to stop and rest. The physical side of finishing the book required its own kind of patience, separate from everything else the writing demanded.

The material itself was not easy to return to either. Writing about the years she had spent caring for her mother brought memories back in ways she had not fully anticipated. There were days when the writing got too heavy and she had to step away, clear her head, and come back when she was ready. The manuscript did not come together quickly or cleanly. It came together the same way most honest things do, slowly, with interruptions, and only because she kept returning to it.

She finished it anyway. That matters more than how long it took.

What Her Choice Can Tell You About Your Own

There is something in Irene’s story that goes beyond the details of her specific life. It speaks to a pattern that shows up in a lot of people who are wired to put others first.

At some point, the service has to include yourself. Not instead of everything else, but alongside it. The story you have been carrying, the one you keep setting aside because something more pressing always comes up, does not go away just because you are busy. It waits. And when you finally make room for it, you often find that it is more important than you had allowed yourself to believe.

Irene started writing in 2011 because she needed to. She finished in 2024 because she chose to. That gap between need and choice, thirteen years of other people’s needs coming first, is something a lot of people will recognize. The question her story asks is a simple one. What have you been putting off that deserves your attention now?

The Book That Finally Got Written

Rising From the Abyss of Grief is the result of Irene giving herself permission to finish something that was entirely hers. It is part memoir and part 30-day devotional, written for anyone who has been through a loss that did not resolve on its own schedule and needed something practical to hold onto in the meantime.

The book is not about having the answers. It is about what it looks like to keep going when you do not have them. That is the kind of honesty that only comes from someone who has actually been there, who sat in the grief long enough to understand what it does to a person and what it takes to start moving again. Irene did not write this book from a comfortable distance. She wrote it from the middle of the experience, even if finishing it took fourteen years. For anyone who has ever wondered whether their story is worth telling, Irene’s answer is already on the page. It is.

Photo Courtesy: Living Dayton / WBDT-TV Dayton’s CW

A Larger Stage for a Long-Overdue Story

This year, Irene Tunanidas was featured on WDTN-TV’s Living Dayton segment, sharing her story with a regional television audience through a sign language interpreter. For someone who spent most of her career working behind the scenes, in classrooms and meeting rooms and hospital rooms, the appearance represented something new. Her story, the one she had spent decades setting aside in favor of everyone else’s, was finally getting the kind of attention it had always deserved.

Photo Courtesy: Living Dayton / WBDT-TV Dayton’s CW

The response from viewers reflected what her book already shows. People recognized her experience. They saw their own lives in parts of her story. That is what happens when someone tells the truth without dressing it up. It reaches people in the places where they are actually living.

Irene did not spend her life chasing that kind of recognition. But she earned it, one quiet year of service at a time.

Irene Tunanidas spent decades making sure other people had what they needed. Rising From the Abyss of Grief is what she wrote when she finally decided she deserved the same.

Rising From the Abyss of Grief – Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FT24VXTB

Website: https://risingfromtheabyssofgrief.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/irenetunanidas/

Richard Pestell’s Business Leadership Strategies for Healthcare Professionals

Kivo Daily Staff on May 29, 2026

Healthcare organizations rely on effective leadership at every level to navigate a landscape defined by constant changes. Leaders in these backdrops guide teams through complex situations, ensuring clear communication and swift decision-making during critical moments. Strong leadership can boost team morale and foster a positive workplace culture, which leads to higher staff retention and better collaboration.

When leaders prioritize operational efficiency and patient-centered care, healthcare organizations often see improved outcomes and greater trust from both staff and patients. In high-pressure settings, Richard Pestell says that the ability to maintain focus and motivate others can make all the difference in the results.

Essential Leadership Skills for Healthcare Professionals

Strong communication stands at the heart of effective healthcare leadership, allowing professionals to convey vital information across multidisciplinary teams. Leaders who listen actively and articulate expectations clearly create workplaces where mistakes are minimized, and collaboration thrives. Adaptability is equally vital, as healthcare settings often change rapidly and leaders must guide their teams through uncertainty with confidence and clarity.

Decision-making skills are another cornerstone, especially when lives may hinge on timely and well-informed choices. Leaders with emotional intelligence are adept at managing stress, both their own and their colleagues’, fostering empathy and resilience within their teams. In busy hospital wards or outpatient clinics, these traits can be seen in leaders who support staff through tough shifts, helping them cope with the emotional demands of patient care.

Leadership Styles in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations benefit from a variety of leadership styles, each offering unique strengths. Transformational leaders inspire others by setting a vision and encouraging innovation, which can spark positive changes in patient care processes. On the other hand, collaborative leaders focus on teamwork and shared decision-making, building consensus among clinicians, nurses, and support staff to enhance problem-solving.

Autocratic approaches, while less common today, may still emerge in emergency situations where swift decisions are necessary. Each of these styles has its challenges, whether it’s maintaining motivation under transformational leadership or ensuring accountability in highly collaborative environments. Choosing the right approach often depends on the specific needs and culture of the healthcare organization. Sometimes, hybrid styles emerge, adapting components of different approaches to suit dynamic clinical scenarios.

Building Leadership Skills

Developing leadership within healthcare requires a deliberate focus on professional development. Experienced mentors often play a critical role in guiding emerging leaders, sharing their wisdom gained from years on the front lines. Participation in structured training programs and interdisciplinary projects provides practical exposure, helping individuals strengthen their skills in real-world scenarios. Ongoing learning ensures that leaders stay current with the best practices and are better equipped to guide their teams through change.

Applying Leadership Strategies in Everyday Practice

Effective leaders in healthcare do more than manage—they set the standard through their actions. By demonstrating accountability and supporting open communication, leaders encourage their teams to do the same. In daily routines, integrating leadership means being approachable, listening to concerns, and motivating others to achieve shared goals. Whether it’s resolving conflicts or celebrating successes, these everyday actions reinforce a culture of trust and cooperation within the organization.

Addressing Challenges and Embracing Future Trends

Modern healthcare leaders face an array of challenges, from managing limited resources to adopting new technologies. Navigating these obstacles requires adaptability and a forward-thinking mindset. Solutions often involve embracing innovation while maintaining high standards of care. As the healthcare landscape evolves, leaders who anticipate trends—such as the integration of artificial intelligence or the shift toward patient-centered models—position their organizations to thrive in an increasingly complex sector.

How Growing Businesses Use Repeated Funding Cycles to Build Momentum

Kivo Daily Staff on May 28, 2026

The business owners who get the most from business funding are not always the ones who access the largest single round of capital. They are often the ones who use funding cycles strategically across multiple rounds, building a track record that informs how a lender views each subsequent application. In 2026, the availability of small business loans through platforms that consider prior history has made repeated funding cycles a practical growth tool for many small businesses.

Understanding how to use repeated funding cycles strategically starts with understanding how modern business funding solutions evaluate businesses with a prior funding history, how each round informs the next, and what a business owner should focus on within each cycle.

How the Track Record Develops

AI-powered evaluation systems behind modern direct lending platforms are not designed to assess each application in isolation. They incorporate a business’s full history with the platform into each successive review. A business that has managed a prior funding round well, deploying the capital as indicated at application, maintaining the cash flow performance that supported the original evaluation, and meeting the agreed repayment terms, has built the kind of operating history that contributes to subsequent evaluations.

When a business has performed well in round one, the evaluation in round two has more data to draw on. The AI system has direct evidence of how the business manages capital under real operating conditions. The resulting offer can reflect that demonstrated history rather than depending on third-party indicators alone. This is a specific change in how the business is evaluated, not a theoretical benefit.

What to Focus on in Each Cycle

The foundation of a useful track record with a direct lender is straightforward. Deploy the capital in the way the business indicated it would at the time of application. Maintain the cash flow performance that supported the evaluation. Meet the agreed repayment terms. Business owners who do these three things consistently across multiple funding cycles develop a working relationship with their capital partner over time.

A business owner who has completed several funding cycles with a single platform is in a different position than one applying for the first time, and the evaluation considers that history. For business owners who want access to working capital that reflects their actual operating record rather than starting from a blank slate each time, the long-term relationship model has practical merits.

Aligning Each Cycle With a Growth Investment

The most useful repeated funding cycle approach aligns each round with a specific growth investment that moves the business from its current stage toward the next. AI-powered underwriting reads each business’s performance at the time of application and produces an offer that reflects the capacity the business has demonstrated to that point. Business owners who connect their funding requests to specific, well-supported investment plans tend to receive evaluations that take both the quality of their planning and the quality of their performance into account.

Business owners who apply for a business loan through Fundivi for a second or third round will find that the evaluation considers their performance in prior rounds. The AI system reads account data from the full relationship period and produces an offer that takes that history into account.

The Long-Term Capital Partner Approach

Fundivi’s lending platform for repeated funding cycles is designed to serve as a long-term capital partner for growing small businesses. As the business grows, the platform can grow with it, with capital access on terms that consider the developed track record. For small business capital strategy across multiple years and growth stages, choosing a lender that considers the borrower’s history can be a meaningful factor.

The market for business loans for small businesses now includes platforms that have built their evaluation infrastructure around this kind of compounding relationship. Fundivi is a direct lender that has structured its platform around a long-term capital relationship model, where the lender’s understanding of the business develops with each successful funding cycle.

Businesses that build strong capital positions through repeated funding cycles tend to approach each round with a clear thesis about how the capital will be deployed and what it is intended to support. An AI evaluation system that reads current performance data also reads the coherence of the business owner’s capital deployment history across prior rounds. A business that has used each prior round to fund a specific investment tied to measurable operating activity is developing the kind of track record that informs subsequent evaluations.

Business owners planning their second or third funding round with Fundivi should also be thinking about how the data from their current operating period reflects the impact of capital they have previously deployed. Equipment funded in an earlier round may show up in current operating activity. Team members hired with prior capital may be contributing to current operations. Marketing investment from prior rounds may be visible in current customer acquisition patterns. The AI evaluation reads all of this in context and forms a picture of the business that reflects both current performance and the history of how funded capital has been used.

This context is a meaningful factor in the evaluation of businesses that have completed multiple funding rounds with a single platform. An evaluation system that has observed a business deploy capital across multiple cycles has evidence of how the business owner uses capital, and that evidence informs the size and structure of subsequent offers. The compounding value of this context is one reason why building a long-term relationship with a single lending platform can be different from accessing capital opportunistically from multiple sources without establishing a track record anywhere.

Business owners who approach each funding round with the same strategic clarity they bring to other major decisions tend to know what the capital will fund before they apply, have a clear view of what the investment is intended to support, and choose a lending partner that evaluates their business with care and considers their track record across each round.

For a business owner building a multi-round capital relationship with Fundivi, the relationship is a connection to a capital source that understands the business, evaluates its performance with relevant context, and considers the borrower’s track record across each cycle. The work required to develop this relationship is the same work required to manage the business well, with consistent performance, clean banking, and thoughtful capital deployment. The businesses building strong capital positions in 2026 are doing it one well-managed funding cycle at a time through platforms that consider each cycle in the context of the next.

Are Stay-at-Home Parents at Greater Risk in a Divorce?

Kivo Daily Staff on May 28, 2026

Divorce can create serious financial stress for any parent. However, stay-at-home parents may face special risks. They may not have current income, recent job experience, or equal access to funds. They may worry about housing, health insurance, child custody, and how they will support themselves while caring for their children.

This does not mean a stay-at-home parent is powerless. Family courts across the United States can consider a parent’s unpaid work, caregiving roles, financial needs, and ability to become self-supporting during divorce cases. Still, the divorce process can feel frightening when one spouse has earned most or all of the household income. For many stay-at-home parents, divorce represents an urgent need to rebuild financial independence.

How Common Are Stay-at-Home Parents?

Stay-at-home parents are more common than many people realize. Capita reports that about one-third of U.S. families with at least one child under age 12 have a stay-at-home parent. This represents nearly 7.5 million families. Capita defines a stay-at-home parent as a parent or legal guardian who provides primary daytime care for at least one child under age 12. Its definition can include parents who do some paid work, as long as they are regularly providing substantial daytime child care when the child would otherwise need another caregiver.

A stay-at-home parent may handle school pickups, doctor visits, meals, homework, discipline, laundry, transportation, household shopping, emotional support, and daily routines. For young children, the parent may provide full-time care from morning to night. For older children, the parent may manage schedules, after-school activities, sick days, and school communication.

This work has real value, even if no paycheck is attached to it. A parent who stays home may make it possible for the other parent to work longer hours, travel for work, build a career, or avoid paying for full-time child care.

Stay-at-Home Parents and Alimony Rights Across the U.S.

Spousal support laws vary from state to state. The details can differ, but courts often look at similar issues when determining whether a person is eligible to receive alimony. These issues may include the length of the marriage, each spouse’s income, each spouse’s earning ability, the family’s standard of living, child care duties, and the time a spouse may need to get training or return to work.

A stay-at-home parent may have a strong reason to request support. This is especially true after a long marriage or years away from the workforce. A parent who left a career to raise children may need time to update their skills, finish school, get a professional license, or find work that fits within their children’s needs.

Alimony is not granted automatically. Courts usually look at both need and ability to pay. A judge may award temporary support while the divorce is pending. In some cases, support may continue after the divorce for a set period. In longer marriages, support may last much longer. The goal is often to prevent one spouse from falling into a financial crisis while the other leaves the marriage with far greater earning power.

Are Stay-at-Home Parents Favored in Custody Disputes?

Stay-at-home parents are not automatically favored in custody disputes. Courts generally focus on the child’s best interests. A parent’s history as the main caregiver can matter in custody decisions, but it may only be one part of the larger picture.

Judges may consider who has handled daily care, school routines, medical appointments, meals, bedtimes, emotional support, and discipline. If one parent has been the child’s primary caregiver for years, that history may help show that they can provide stability. Children often benefit from consistent routines, especially during divorce.

However, courts also tend to value a child’s relationship with both parents when both parents are capable and active participants. A working parent should not be punished simply for having a job. Likewise, a stay-at-home parent should not be rewarded just for staying home. The real question is usually which arrangement will protect the child’s health, safety, emotional needs, school life, and relationship with each parent.

How Can a Stay-at-Home Parent Strengthen Their Position in a Child Custody Case?

During a custody dispute, a stay-at-home parent should be prepared to show how the child’s daily life works and why their proposed parenting schedule supports stability for the child. Helpful records may include school calendars, medical records, messages with teachers, activity schedules, proof of doctor visits, and notes about daily routines. A parent can also document who attends appointments, helps with homework, prepares meals, handles transportation, and responds when the child is sick or upset.

Financial preparation is just as important. A stay-at-home parent can collect bank records, tax returns, pay stubs, retirement account information, mortgage statements, credit card statements, and child-related expense records. Strong documentation can show how the stay-at-home parent can effectively manage money for the benefit of the household.

Divorce involves both emotional and practical issues. The more organized a parent is, the easier it may be to protect their child’s routine and request fair financial support. With preparation, documentation, and legal guidance, a stay-at-home parent can take meaningful steps to protect both their child and their future.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal, financial, or family law advice. Divorce laws, alimony rules, custody standards, and court procedures vary by state and depend on the facts of each case. Readers facing divorce or custody concerns should consult a qualified family law attorney or other appropriate professional for guidance based on their specific situation.

Are Title Companies Investing in the Right Automation Tech

Kivo Daily Staff on May 27, 2026

The title insurance industry is under pressure to modernize, and vendors are lining up to offer solutions. Some pitch pure RPA (robotic process automation, which uses software to execute repetitive, rule-based tasks). Others say AI has made RPA obsolete. The result is that many title companies end up choosing the wrong tool for the wrong job, spending real money, and wondering why they are not getting the results they expected.

The team at TrueFocus Automation has been building automation for title insurance, mortgage, and real estate operations for more than seven years. What they have learned is that the question is not RPA or AI. It is understanding which one belongs in each part of your workflow, and why relying on only one of them is where automation projects quietly fall apart.

What RPA Actually Does Well in a Title Operation

Robotic process automation is purpose-built for processes that are rules-based and repetitive. In title insurance, that covers a significant portion of daily work. Searching county assessor and tax websites, running names through recorder indexes, pulling lien and judgment records, opening new orders in a production system, these are structured, predictable sequences of steps. A well-built bot can execute them consistently, without fatigue, at a pace no manual team can match.

TrueFocus built its Title Hunter® solution on this foundation. The bots go out to county websites, log in, navigate through records, and retrieve the documents a title examiner needs. That part of the workflow is almost entirely RPA. The rules are clear, the steps repeat, and automation handles them reliably.

The limitation appears the moment the process requires judgment. Not every document a bot retrieves is relevant. A name search might return records for five different people who share that name. Deciding what belongs in the package and what does not requires something RPA cannot provide on its own.

Where AI Has to Step In

Once TrueFocus bots have gathered the documents, the workflow hands off to AI for analysis and categorization. Sridhar Loganathan, COO of TrueFocus Automation, explains that out of ten documents downloaded, AI identifies which five are a direct match on the subject property and which three are tied to a different individual or parcel entirely. Those decisions previously required a human examiner to review every document by hand. Now AI handles the triage, and the examiner reviews the AI’s output rather than starting from scratch.

The same logic applies to document understanding and data extraction. Early on, TrueFocus used intelligent OCR tools, software that reads and pulls data from scanned documents, to extract information from contracts and title documents. Those tools required extensive training for each document format and struggled when formats changed even slightly. When TrueFocus was working on a Florida contract automation project, they began with seven or eight contract variations. Over time, that grew to more than twenty. Under a pure RPA approach, each variation essentially required its own bot flow. After integrating AI into the front end of that workflow, the variation problem largely disappeared. AI reads the contract, identifies it as a residential purchase agreement, and extracts the relevant fields regardless of which version it encounters.

The same project that once would have required twenty or more separate bot configurations now runs through a single flow, with AI handling document variability at the start.

The Result When You Combine Them Correctly

The combined approach produces outcomes that neither tool achieves alone. In the Title Hunter workflow, a title search that previously required significant manual time can be completed considerably faster, allowing an examiner to take on additional files during the same shift rather than being slowed by repetitive lookups. The productivity gain is achieved without removing the human from the process.

That last point matters in a regulated industry where errors carry genuine risk. TrueFocus intentionally keeps a human in the loop at the review stage. The bots and AI handle gathering, retrieval, and categorization. The examiner makes the final call. The goal is not distrust of the technology. It is matching each tool to what it is actually good at and reserving human expertise for decisions that require it.

Jimmy Lewis, co-founder of TrueFocus Automation, puts it plainly: the goal is not to replace the examiner, but to ensure that the examiner spends their time examining rather than clicking through county websites and sorting documents by hand.

What This Means for Companies Evaluating Automation Vendors

For title companies assessing their options, the technology choice matters less than understanding where each tool belongs in the workflow.

Pure RPA vendors will struggle when documents vary or when decisions require interpretation. AI-first vendors may underestimate how much of a title operation consists of straightforward, rules-based work that does not need AI and is more reliably handled without it. Vendors who have worked directly in title operations, not just in software development, tend to understand this distinction because they have seen what breaks when the line between the two tools is drawn in the wrong place.

TrueFocus Automation offers an ROI Calculator on its website that helps quantify what a given process is worth automating before any commitment is made, a practical first step for companies that want to move past vendor pitches and evaluate their own workflows on concrete terms.

Jimmy Lewis is the co-founder of TrueFocus Automation, a specialist in RPA and AI-driven workflow automation for the title insurance, mortgage, and real estate industries. TrueFocus has developed 840+ automation bots supporting more than 2,500 workflows and has returned over 1.3 million production hours to clients.

Disclaimer: This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.

What to Know About Business Funding Before Applying in 2026

Kivo Daily Staff on May 27, 2026

The decision to seek business funding is one of the most consequential a small business owner can make, and like most consequential decisions, it is best made with accurate information rather than with assumptions inherited from a lending environment that has changed significantly over the past several years. The market for small business loans 2026 looks materially different from what it looked like even three years ago, and business owners who enter the funding process with an outdated understanding of what is available to them will systematically make worse decisions than those who understand the current market accurately.

This guide covers the most important things a business owner should understand before applying for funding in 2026. It examines what types of business funding solutions are available, how modern evaluation criteria differ from traditional ones, what the application and decision timeline should look like at a well-designed platform, and how to identify the difference between a lender that has genuinely built its process around the business owner’s success and one that has simply added a digital interface to a legacy model.

What Types of Funding Are Available

The business funding market in 2026 offers a range of options for working capital for small business needs. Traditional bank loans remain available but carry the well-documented disadvantages of long timelines, high documentation requirements, and evaluation criteria that systematically underserve small businesses. SBA loans offer favorable terms but involve a process that can take months and are not suitable for capital needs that require a fast response. Lines of credit provide flexibility but typically require strong credit history and established banking relationships to access on favorable terms.

Revenue-based financing and short-term business funding through direct lending platforms have emerged as widely used options for small businesses that need capital on a timeline that matches their operations. These products are evaluated based on the business’s current performance rather than its historical record, which makes them accessible to a broader range of businesses and deliverable on a timeline often measured in hours rather than weeks.

How Modern Evaluation Works

The key distinction between traditional and modern lending evaluation is the type of data each uses and how quickly that data can be processed. A traditional bank evaluation relies primarily on historical documents, including tax returns, financial statements, and credit histories that may be months or years old. The review process is human-led and moves at the pace of a review queue, which produces timelines measured in weeks.

A modern direct lender uses an AI-powered evaluation system that reads real-time business performance data, including current revenue patterns, cash flow consistency, and account activity. This data is more current and in many ways more predictive of a business’s present capacity than historical documents, and it can be processed in minutes rather than days. The result is a faster decision that is also better calibrated to what the business can actually support at the time of the application.

The ability to access same day business funding at a modern direct lending platform is a direct consequence of this evaluation infrastructure. When the evaluation system processes applications in real time rather than routing them through a human review queue, the timeline shifts from weeks to hours. This is not a risk trade-off. It is a process design improvement that benefits both the lender and the business owner.

What to Expect From a Modern Application

A well-designed modern lending application should be complete in minutes. If an application requires more than fifteen or twenty minutes to complete, including document gathering and upload, it is asking for more information than is genuinely necessary for an initial evaluation. Well-designed direct lending platforms have identified what information an underwriting evaluation requires and have designed their applications to capture only that information, nothing more.

Obtaining access to working capital should not require a business owner to spend hours or days preparing an application package. Modern platforms have addressed this by using real-time data connectivity to reduce the manual document preparation step, allowing the business owner to connect their financial accounts directly and let the evaluation system read what it needs without manual preparation.

The decision timeline at modern platforms is often measured in hours rather than days. If a lender cannot produce a personalized funding offer within a reasonable timeframe after application submission, the evaluation infrastructure it is using may not reflect current market capabilities. AI-powered underwriting platforms are designed to deliver decisions on faster timelines than traditional manual review processes. Business owners should expect this standard and should treat a longer timeline as a signal that the platform they are evaluating may not be using the evaluation infrastructure that the current market offers.

Where Fundivi Fits

Business owners who apply for a business loan through fundivi will find the elements of the modern lending model in place. The application is designed to be completed in minutes. The AI underwriting evaluation begins after submission and is structured to produce a personalized offer on a fast timeline. Offers are delivered to a secure portal where the terms are visible and acceptance is handled within the platform. The process is structured to reduce the broker calls, loan officer conversations, and follow-up documentation requests that have historically defined the lending experience.

fundivi’s business lending platform has been covered by national business and financial publications in connection with its direct lending model and its approach to the business owner experience. The company is also BBB accredited.

The Right Questions to Ask

For small business capital strategy in 2026, the right questions to ask before applying are direct and specific. How long will the evaluation take, and what triggers that timeline? Is the evaluation based on current data or historical documents? Will you have real-time visibility into your application status, or will you be waiting for a loan officer to call? Can you review and accept an offer entirely online, or does the process require mandatory broker conversations?

The market for business loans for small businesses now offers solutions designed to address many of these questions in the way a business owner should expect. A direct lender that has built its platform around these expectations will operate differently from one that has simply added a digital interface to a legacy model. Business owners who want to learn more about Fundivi’s approach can begin at fundivi.com.

The application process at a well-designed modern platform should also offer visibility into the evaluation status from submission through the decision. A business owner should be able to see the current status of their application without having to call to find out where it stands. The portal should display the current status and make the actions available at each stage accessible directly within the platform.

Business owners who approach the funding process with this standard clearly in mind will find it easier to evaluate the platforms they consider. The ones that operate this way will be apparent from the moment the application is submitted. fundivi.com serves business owners across all 50 states.

The funding process available in 2026 is one that a business owner can complete in a single session, receive a decision on within a short timeframe, and accept through their own portal. That direction reflects how the direct lending market has evolved. Platforms that do not yet operate this way may not be using the current evaluation infrastructure. The right capital partner for a growing business in 2026 is one that aligns its process with how the business actually operates. Visit fundivi.com to learn more.

Preparing for a business loan application in 2026 is also less labor-intensive than it used to be, as modern platforms have streamlined many of the steps that made traditional applications time-consuming. The business owner’s primary preparation is to ensure that their business banking is through a dedicated account that accurately reflects the business’s actual performance. Beyond that, the platform handles much of the rest. The documentation gathering, the statement review, and the evaluation itself happen within the platform using real-time data that requires limited additional input from the business owner beyond their initial application.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice, nor does it replace professional financial advice, investment advice, or any other type of advice. You should seek the advice of a qualified financial advisor or other professional before making any financial decisions.

Gavin Kelly Colorado Guides Buyers Through New Home Construction

Kivo Daily Staff on May 24, 2026

By: Umair Malik

Understanding the Value of New Construction Real Estate

Purchasing a home represents one of the most significant financial decisions many families will make. Buyers must consider financing, location, long-term value, and the overall quality of the property. For individuals exploring new construction homes, the process can introduce additional decisions that require clear guidance.

Professionals who specialize in this area often serve as the connection between builders and buyers. They help clients understand the construction process, evaluate property options, and review contracts tied to newly built homes. In the Colorado housing market, advisors who understand both construction and buyer priorities play an important role.

Gavin Kelly Colorado, has built his professional approach around this connection between construction knowledge and client service. Through his work with a new home builder, he helps guide buyers through the process of purchasing newly constructed homes while keeping their financial goals in focus.

His experience working with tenants and buyers shaped his belief that home ownership remains one of the most reliable paths toward long-term stability.

The transition from assisting tenants to working with buyers was a natural step in his career. By helping individuals move from renting to ownership, he participates directly in a process that many clients view as life changing.

For many buyers, especially those purchasing their first home, that transition comes with uncertainty. Kelly’s role is to provide clarity and structure during each stage of the process.

From Leasing Experience to Real Estate Expertise

Before working closely with new construction buyers, Kelly spent years assisting tenants with housing solutions. Over time, he worked with hundreds of renters while gaining insight into how housing decisions influence long-term financial outcomes.

According to his professional background, he has leased more than 574 homes and assisted more than 52 buyers and sellers with real estate transactions.

These experiences exposed him to multiple sides of the housing market and helped him understand the challenges renters face when they begin considering home ownership.

For Kelly, the shift toward new home construction work was influenced by a belief in the long-term value of owning property.

He has explained that working with tenants reinforced his view that purchasing a home can build financial stability over time. Helping individuals reach that goal became a central focus of his career.

New home construction offers a distinct opportunity for buyers who want a property without the maintenance concerns that can accompany older homes. In many cases, buyers are purchasing a residence that has never been lived in and includes modern building standards.

Kelly works directly with builders throughout the development process and has the opportunity to see homes move from construction sites to completed residences.

Watching buyers move into homes that were recently built often provides a clear reminder of the impact that real estate professionals can have on families and communities.

Working Within the New Home Building Process

The process of purchasing a newly built home differs from buying an existing property. Buyers often interact with builders, construction teams, and development representatives in addition to their real estate advisor.

Kelly’s role involves maintaining communication between these parties while helping buyers understand what to expect during each stage of the transaction.

He regularly works with builders to provide feedback during the development process while observing homes as they move through construction. This collaboration allows him to stay informed about the details that matter most to buyers.

For many clients, seeing the construction process firsthand can be both exciting and unfamiliar.

Kelly helps translate construction details into practical considerations that buyers can understand. His goal is to ensure clients feel informed rather than overwhelmed.

Gavin Kelly frequently works with buyers who are purchasing their first home. These clients often arrive with questions about financing, timelines, and what separates new construction from traditional real estate purchases.

One of the main advantages of new homes is that buyers receive a property that does not require immediate repairs or deferred maintenance. New construction typically provides a finished home that is ready for occupancy from the beginning.

For buyers who want simplicity and reliability, this type of purchase can offer a sense of confidence.

Helping Buyers Make Important Decisions

While new homes simplify some aspects of ownership, buyers still face several decisions when selecting a property.

Lot size, layout, and construction quality can all influence the long-term value of a home. Buyers must also consider lifestyle needs and how those needs may evolve over time.

Kelly encourages clients to look closely at these factors before committing to a purchase.

For example, he often advises buyers to evaluate the size and location of the lot associated with a property. Larger lots can offer additional flexibility and accommodate a wider range of lifestyle preferences.

Home layout is another key factor.

Some buyers prefer two-story homes that separate living areas and bedrooms. Others may prioritize single-level homes that offer accessibility advantages as homeowners age.

Kelly works through these decisions with clients so they can weigh both short-term preferences and long-term practicality.

He also emphasizes the importance of construction quality. Buyers should understand the materials and standards used by a builder before completing a purchase.

Through his work with a builder that produces spec homes, Kelly often helps clients benefit from simplified purchasing structures.

Spec homes are built with predetermined design features and upgrades already included. This approach allows buyers to avoid unexpected costs associated with extensive customization options.

For many clients, this structure makes the process easier to understand.

Supporting Clients Through High-Value Transactions

Real estate transactions involving new homes can represent significant financial commitments.

Clients rely on experienced professionals to guide them through contracts, builder timelines, and financing considerations. Kelly focuses on helping buyers remain confident in their decisions during these transactions.

Clear communication is one of the foundations of his approach.

He emphasizes responsiveness and careful follow-through in each stage of the process. (no-follow) Clients often need reassurance as they move through the purchasing timeline, particularly when construction schedules extend over several months.

His professional record reflects this focus on client experience.

Kelly has received consistent positive feedback from clients who worked with him during their housing searches and real estate transactions. This feedback often highlights the communication and reliability that buyers expect during high-value purchases.

The role of a real estate advisor does not end once a contract is signed.

Kelly remains engaged with clients as they move through construction updates, builder communications, and closing procedures.

This continued involvement helps buyers feel supported from the moment they begin exploring homes through the day they receive the keys.

Trends Shaping the Colorado New Home Market

Housing markets change in response to economic conditions, buyer demand, and financing trends.

In Colorado, new home construction has become attractive for buyers seeking predictable housing costs and modern property features.

Builders, in many cases, are offering financing incentives that help buyers manage mortgage payments. Rate buy-down programs can lower monthly costs and make new construction homes more accessible.

These programs have increased interest among buyers who may otherwise delay purchasing.

New construction also appeals to buyers because it provides a finished home without immediate repair concerns. For individuals who want a property that is ready for occupancy, newly built homes can provide a straightforward option.

Gavin Kelly Colorado works with clients who are evaluating these market conditions while deciding whether new construction aligns with their financial plans.

His role involves helping buyers understand both the advantages and the responsibilities associated with purchasing newly built homes.

By discussing factors such as construction quality, neighborhood location, and long-term value, he helps clients approach the decision with a balanced perspective.

Building Long-Term Client Relationships

Real estate transactions often lead to long-term relationships between professionals and the clients they serve.

Kelly has observed that many buyers return years later when they are ready to purchase another property or recommend his services to family members.

This pattern reflects the generational nature of real estate decisions.

Families who experience a positive purchasing process frequently return to the same advisor when new opportunities arise.

Kelly’s focus on communication and transparency helps maintain these relationships beyond the closing process.

For him, the real estate profession is not limited to completing transactions.

It also involves helping individuals understand how housing decisions influence financial stability and long-term planning.

Guiding buyers through new construction purchases provides an opportunity to participate in those decisions.

Helping Buyers Turn New Construction Opportunities Into Lasting Homes

For many buyers, purchasing a newly built home marks both a personal milestone and a major financial decision. Through his experience in leasing, real estate transactions, and collaboration with builders, Gavin Kelly continues to guide clients through the process with clear communication and practical insight.

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