Going through cold calls, trying to qualify leads and distribute them to brokers — it was a really, amazing landing place. I was exposed to quite a variety of different scenarios, and had to quickly [gain] the skill of listening.

During lockdown I just put my head into [broking] and it became a great distraction from everything going on with the Olympics. I was able to switch my focus to my career in broking, looking back it was the best decision I made.

Blake Edwards, BE Astute

Flexible family work environment

I’VE GOT two children and I really wanted a flexible role. I really wanted a role that I could do around my children... a role that was doing something that I loved. 

I’ve worked in banking since I left high school. When I was quite young in my banking career, I was able to progress into a lending role within a bank and realised that I just loved the home lending space: I understood it, I got it, [and] I just loved the opportunity to support clients in purchasing property.

I was working in another brokerage for a couple of years as a credit manager processor type role. We hit a bit of a turning point, and I had to make a decision whether I would go and give it a crack on my own or whether I would go and get a job again. I made a decision to give myself 12 months as a broker to see if [I] could make it work. We definitely made it work!

Melissa Wright, Zest Mortgage Solutions

Spending more time on the road   

FOR ME, wanting to become a broker is something that I was thinking about for quite some time, having worked in the bank for a number of years, across many different positions. I was fortunate enough to work with a lot of different people in different businesses like retail, business banking, private banking, and I’d seen other people make the transition.

I started investigating different franchise models, Mortgage Choice, Loan Market, and a few others. But I still felt that for me, I wanted to be the boss and I wanted to be the key decision-maker in every aspect of my business, and I just didn’t feel that those models were right for me.

The roles that I enjoyed most were working in a mobile position where the clients weren’t necessarily coming into your office to see you, but you are actually going out to see them at their home, their café or their local business — that’s [where] they’re most comfortable.

Nathan Martin, Mobile Mortgage Advice

Passion for people and maths 

I ALWAYS  loved maths going through school, big fan of maths, I still am. I came out of school playing footy. Believe it or not, playing professional sport doesn’t actually take up too much of your time. Obviously, when you’re on, you’re on, you need to be here and there. But during the season you get a lot of time off and a lot of downtime and often it is good to take your mind off and do other things. 

So finishing my [commerce] degree was awesome, I worked very long, very hard with it. It took me seven and a half years. The degree is very generic, you learn about financial elements, but you’re learning about it as an accountant, as a broker, for instance. But communication, talking to clients, you don’t learn about that at uni, [and] in broking, it’s so important how you build rapport with clients. I [enjoy] helping clients reach their goals, achieve what they want to achieve and just be along the journey with them.

Tom Trbojevic, iFin Capital