Banking on Integrity

Hazem sits down with Integrity Bank CFO Betsy Reese to unpack what makes a bank financially strong and how small business owners can read the signals. Betsy shares her journey from first‑generation immigrant and deposit ops clerk to lender, CPA‑track accountant, and Rice MBA graduate leading the bank’s financial health and safety.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Booms can make you careless. Busts can teach you how you never want to run a business again.
Hazem and Mack sit down with Wade Comeaux, CEO of Catalyst Funding, a Houston-based lender focused on real estate investors, to talk about what he learned from the pre‑crisis mortgage world and why he built his company to behave differently. Wade shares how government pressure, exotic loan products, and easy money contributed to the...

Dreams can stay on the track. Or they can turn into something you stand on every day.
Hazem and Mack speak with Tyler Strothman, collegiate distance runner and founder of Veloci, a performance running shoe company he started while at Rice University. Tyler shares how small town miles, sport management classes, and a simple desire to keep people comfortable and pain free led him to launch a brand focused on helping runners and ev...

Risk can sink a bank. Or it can push you to get radically clear about what you say yes to, and why.

Hazem and Mack unpack how they actually look at loan requests at Integrity Bank, sharing stories that span decades of community banking, from a borrower whose partner emptied the account to a wealthy client who hadn’t paid down principal in three years. They talk through the tension between grace and discipline, why character s...

Grief can break you. Or it can show you exactly what you were always meant to do.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Jackie Pham, founder of the CEO Foundation, a Houston nonprofit named after her three children, Colette, Edison, and Olivia, who were lost along with her mother in a tragic accident five and a half years ago. Jackie shares how a career in corporate finance and an MBA from Rice gave her the tools to rebuild with purpose, ho...

Hazem and Mack sit down with Integrity Bank Chief Credit Officer Chris Favre, who once left a consulting career at Ernst and Young for an industry he barely understood at the time. What followed was a front-row seat to the 2008 recession, years of overseeing foreclosures, and a pivot from lender to the person who stress-tests every deal before it goes to committee. This episode covers what a chief credit officer actually does, how ...

Hazem and Mack sit down with Mark Danford, Managing Director of Waterstone and a 14-year veteran of SBA lending. Waterstone is a full-service outsourced SBA division serving 34 community banks across the country, and Mark is the person who knows how it all works. In this episode they cover how the SBA loan guarantee program actually functions, why Houston did $1.1 billion in guaranteed loans in 2025, the 504 versus 7A distinction, ...

The best defense against fraud is the person who already knows your name.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Integrity Bank Chief Risk Officer Christy Bussey, just steps from her office, to unpack what it really means to manage risk inside a community bank, covering the evolution of fraud from card skimming to AI voice cloning, why seniors and lonely individuals are the most targeted, how social media oversharing fuels scams, and what sm...

The best bankers don't just lend money. They help build lives.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Integrity Bank Chief Lending Officer and founding team member Judy Budnik to trace a 40-year banking career that began next door to a small-town Louisiana bank president, wound through Frost Bank, a wedding-day job offer, and Houston National Bank, and ultimately came full circle at Integrity Bank, exploring real estate lending, community ba...

Justice is built one relationship at a time.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Houston immigration attorney and Mendez Law Office founder Matthew Mendez. They trace how a middle-class upbringing, a mentor-driven pivot into immigration law, and an entrepreneurial spark ignited by his father-in-law led to building a 41-person firm in one of the country's most competitive legal markets, exploring faith in clients, the complexity of immigra...

Second acts can redefine a family.

Hazem and Mack sit with Houston native and El Tiempo Cantina Executive Chef and President Domenic Laurenzo, grandson of Mama Ninfa, to trace how a Tex‑Mex legacy, bankruptcy, and a detour into professional golf led to building El Tiempo, exploring faith, design, risk, and what it takes to lead a thousand‑person restaurant family in Houston today.

Learn more about El Tiempo Cantina here.

To learn m...

Legacy starts at the table.

Hazem and Mack walk with longtime Houston restaurateur Phyllis Mandola, daughter of Tex‑Mex pioneer Mama Ninfa, through their family’s journey from political exile and a tortilla and pizza factory to Ninfa’s, seafood concepts, and El Tiempo, exploring neighborhood change, grief, generosity, and how hospitality and education continue her mother’s impact on Houston across generations.

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Family changes everything.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Bryan Hucke and his daughter Reagan to trace an 18 year run of a Huynh Restaurant in EaDo, the shock of eminent domain, the realities of Houston’s restaurant economics, and how ownership, education, and hospitality shape the next chapter for their business and their lives.

Learn more about Huynh Restaurant here.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Relationships outlast trends.

Hazem and Mack talk with Jayne Edison of OFI about growing a furniture business on loyalty and referrals, a 27‑year banking relationship that started on day one, navigating the Stanford Financial collapse, and how Houston’s “big city, small town” feel shapes her approach to risk, giving back, and big opportunities.

Learn more about Office Furniture Innovations here.

To learn more abou...

Banking is changing.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Banpay Group’s Fernando Ibarra to explore how a Mexico‑born digital bank serves global small and mid‑sized businesses, why Banpay treats payments as seriously as lending, and how focus, culture, and 24/7 access help it compete with the world’s largest financial institutions.

Learn more about Banpay here.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Entrepreneurship takes time.

Hazem and Mack talk with David Hatcher about turning a high school dream into a major chemical company, why he left engineering to learn sales and finance, and how Houston rewards integrity, grit, and steady, decades‑long effort more than quick wins or flashy ideas.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Hazem Ahmed and Mack Neff sit down with longtime friend and mentor Paul Nick to trace an extraordinary life spanning wartime service, aviation, and a distinguished insurance career. Paul recounts his early years between New Orleans and Southern California during World War II, the culture shock of segregated buses in New Orleans, and the dyslexia that made academics difficult. He explains how college ROTC and a Marine Corps officer ...

Entrepreneur Markus Nassar joins Hazem and Mack to share his journey from a multicultural upbringing and international travel business to building a multi unit Jimmy John’s empire in Texas. From Jordan and Germany to Boston and Dubai, Markus traces his path through a family travel company that expanded across several countries before he sold it after 9/11 due to extreme volatility. He explains why he turned to franchising, ho...

President and CEO of the Greater Houston YMCA, Stephen Ives, joins Hazem and Mack to explore how the Y strengthens community far beyond treadmills and weight rooms. From youth sports and senior programs to refugee resettlement and anti human trafficking work, Stephen shares how 175 locations across Greater Houston are building belonging, connection, and opportunity. He explains why only a fraction of adults will ever join a gym and...