Joel A. Sherwin

Sherwin will be the first to tell you that his career has been atypical. After graduating from Pepperdine School of Law in 2010, he joined a startup.

"I really didn't want to go back and try to get a job at a big firm, so I cut my teeth at a [financial technology] company," he said.

The effort paid off. Sherwin spent four years at Thousand Oaks-based Kaiku Finance LLC, a company that offers prepaid credit cards. He transitioned from general counsel to chief operating officer and saw the prepaid credit market move away from its early days of hanging predatory fees on low-income customers to becoming a true alternative for millennials who wanted to establish a credit history without taking on debt.

"People have been trying to build credit with prepaid for a long time," Sherwin said. "And I think what you're able to see now are these types of alternative lenders that go, 'We don't really care about FICO.'"

It was that expertise that bought Sherwin to Weinberg Gonser LLP, a Century City law firm that provides counsel to startups and other businesses in a variety of industries. With his specific expertise, Sherwin has been able to bring in several fintech companies working in the prepaid credit space.

"These lawyers are not like other lawyers," Sherwin said. "It's very much about the freedom to grow, to build your business, and I think everyone is truly rooting for each other."

Recently, Sherwin has worked with ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. and Oklahoma-based Stride Bank NA to create Lyft Direct Debit. This no-fee debit card for provides Lyft drivers immediate access to their earnings. Now when drivers complete a shift, their earnings are deposited into a Stride Back account and available for use with the card. Drivers also receive cash back on gas, groceries and other purchases.

In eight U.S. cities including Los Angeles, San Diego and Atlanta, Lyft Direct Debit will give workers more control over their money, something Sherwin said Lyft wanted for its driver base.

"They wanted this product to meet what their drivers were looking for," he said. "It seems like a typical product, but when you get into their needs, there's a lot to help support the drivers."

When he's not helping fintech companies build new products, Sherwin enjoys playing golf, where he boasts a 2 handicap. These days, however, it's less about his score and more about spending time with his 5-year-old son, Jack.

With the recent arrival of a daughter, Sherwin said he's trying to "find the new normal." But whenever he gets the chance, he cherishes the time he can spend teaching his son about the game he loves.

"He comes out to the golf course and we get hot dogs, we get popcorn, we drink lemonade and have some quality father-son time," he said.

-- Glenn Jeffers