We catch up with Emma Cattermole from Wealthfolio to hear her top tips for growing your own brokerage, how that interacts with being a parent, and the value of knowing your niche.
Almost 20 years ago, Emma Cattermole transitioned from her accounting career to the broking space – a decision she says was sparked by the birth of her first child.
Since then, she’s not only become immersed in the industry, but established herself as a renowned broker. In 2015, she created her now multi-award-winning brokerage, Wealthfolio and was named the winner of the Editor’s Choice award at the 2022 Queensland Better Business Awards.
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We find out what she attributes to her success.
How long have you been a broker – and how did you enter the industry?
I have been a broker for around 19 years, so quite a long time! I was actually working in a large accounting firm for many years – PricewaterhouseCoopers – managing a team there.
I hadn’t thought at all about broking, but after I had my first baby, I was with her for five to six months and thinking: “I don’t want to put her back into care or into care at all and go back to the corporate world!”.
One of my friends who was a broker mentioned that I might enjoy broking. And it was as simple as that.
What was it about broking that drew you in?
I actually didn’t know what a broker did back then. But I did a bit of research and decided that it looked great and that it was something I could do around my daughter.
I did my studies and started working for a firm for a good year and a half. I worked evenings, going to people’s houses... I didn’t enjoy that too much, but I loved broking – talking to clients and helping them achieve what they were wanting.
I did leave that firm and went out on my own pretty quickly because I did find the way they did things was very transactional and I knew that I wanted to look after clients better than that.
What was the main impetus that drove you to take the leap and launch your own business?
I don’t think I really looked into a lot of different options. I think I just thought: “I can see how I would run a business” and that I’ll have to do it someone else’s way if I work for someone else.
I was quite specific with how I wanted to look after clients, so I just started with one client and off I went.
I was working every opportunity I had around my daughter, so late nights, which wasn’t great in hindsight. But that’s what I had to do to get it off the ground.
What does good customer service look like to you?
There are so many different facets of it. I would say the overarching thing with good customer service is communication. Clients just want to know what’s going on. But I guess customer service is also all about how you’re making people feel. It’s not something that can be faked or put on, really. If you genuinely care about what you are doing, people feel that and are happy through the process.
So, I think that’s what good customer service is – doing the right thing.
It’s just not what clients see. It’s the whole process.
What would you say is your biggest career milestone to date?
I think my biggest achievement is being able to grow a business while being a mum. I’m very hands-on and involved with my children, but being able to grow a business at the same time. I’m really proud of being able to do that and show my children that mums can have a career as well as be a good mum!
We’ve certainly won various awards over time. Those are obviously wonderful and it’s great to be recognised for, but I think for me, the achievement is just growing the business. Being able to offer a team of people a great environment and help them with what they’re wanting to do, helping my clients get what they want and achieve their goals, so it’s all those things.
What would be your biggest challenge?
It would be around juggling the business and being a mum at the same time. But certainly, bringing on a business partner has changed things around for me. It’s enabled me to take more time off, have more holidays and certainly grow the business with someone else supporting me.
What advice would you give emerging brokers?
One is putting on someone to help you as early as possible in the business. You can do it all yourself, but it’s very hard to grow a business. Find the parts of the business that you are great at and love to do the most and then get help from others. That might be an onshore team member, or it might be someone offshore.
The other one would be, find your niche early on. I’ve learned over time that there are certain clients that I enjoy working with more, and I think that you’ll really grow your business a lot faster and enjoy what you do more if you find that type of business that you are best at and that you enjoy the most.
You can find out more about Emma Cattermole and her top tips for success, in The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast.
Tune in to the episode with Emma, How this leading broker structures her booming brokerage, below:
