Sasha Lockley is a fintech founder, social entrepreneur, and systems thinker working to redesign how we do debt in Aotearoa. After years working inside the financial system, she saw how quickly good people could be labelled "high risk" for missing a payment, going through a relationship breakdown or caring for whānau. She co-founded Money Sweetspot to do it differently. It's a fintech social enterprise that helps people move through debt with dignity by combining responsible lending, behavioural insights and financial education. Sasha partners with businesses, iwi, fintechs and investors to build financial products that reflect real lives, not rigid rules.
Before the Rent Stops
By the time someone misses the rent, their financial difficulties have often been developing for months but the earlier warning signs do not always look like money problems.
Drawing on the founding journey of Money Sweetspot and the thousands of financial stories we have heard, Sasha explores what financial pressure does to people’s choices, communication and behaviour. This practical and encouraging session will help property managers recognise when something has changed, approach difficult conversations with both clarity and humanity, and understand how they can support a better next step without becoming responsible for solving the problem themselves.
Sasha will also share the entrepreneurial lessons she has learned from trying to build a different kind of financial business and why progress rarely follows the tidy path we expect.