Estelle Dejean

Q. How and why did you become a broker?

I was in banking with a big four [bank] for about 10 years. I did a bit of branch activation and then moved into the resi space and eventually moved into commercial before going back to residential. And then, life happened. We have three kids and I just wanted to have a little bit more flexibility and be able to dedicate more time to family life while building our own [broking] empire.

I wanted to do things my way – I’m very strong on branding, social media presence, so it just didn’t make sense to be under someone else.

Q. What kind of loans do you write?

Last year was very much about resi for us. But our portfolio of customers has very quickly expanded into being predominantly self-employed. So, we now have this need from our clients to start dipping into commercial lending and asset finance.

We want to be able to offer that whole-of-wallet experience to our clients.

Q. You started the company with your husband. Who does what?

We both do the same, so [it’s] equal. We both do all the business admin, sourcing, getting referral partners, importing the loan, and looking after our clientele.

But we’ve also just hired a support staff member, which was very much needed, and he’s incredible. On days when [my husband and I] both have to be out of the business, usually I would be stressing out about the amount of work that’s going to be waiting for me. Having that staff member in the background who knows what to do, when to do it has been [a] lifesaver.

Q. Why did you decide it was time to bring someone in?

In the first year, your cash flow is very much up and down – you never know when to make the right move. However, it is kind of the chicken before the egg because you need support to back yourself up to be able to then grow.

Q. How are you generating leads?

We started on community pages that already [have] online presence on social media… We were creating educational videos and posts. All of a sudden, we had leads that would come to us and say, “I’ve seen your videos, I’ve seen that content. I’ve seen that education piece. Can I please work with you?”

We’re also working with influencers within the home and rental space on Instagram. A lot of ‘mom’ influencers who have a large audience in the home and rental space, investors … anyone who we think has our audience. We pay them an upfront fee, which can be quite a costly exercise, [but] we’re tapping into it because [users] trust those creators. When they start working with us, we automatically get those followers.

Q. What advice would you give new brokers just starting out?

Don’t be afraid to shake things up. Don’t be afraid to be different and create something that’s not the norm. The mortgage broking world can be so old-school and boring at times and this is not the way the world is going. The world is moving with tech, AI, and and it’s about making sure that you differentiate yourself in a sea of fishes… so do things differently. Be bold, be bright, be disruptive. Don’t be afraid.