Starting his career as an accountant with LaTrobe Financial in rural Victoria, 20 years on, he is still working for LaTrobe, though his knowledge, skills, and experience have grown significantly over that time.
These days, as Chief Lending Officer, the focus for Cory and his team is weighted heavily toward contributing to the success of their customers, you, the mortgage broker.
Interestingly, in line with Cory’s progress, LaTrobe too has extended its service offering from a ‘specialist’ lender to a suite of options to accommodate the various scenarios and clients whom they help.
With a mantra of “make a difference” and “others before self”, LaTrobe’s business values and culture are reinforced monthly by celebrating and recognising team members who live and breathe these values to deliver service and outcomes for brokers and their clients.
Cory also shares some sage and generational advice that he learned from his grandfather and father, which was “do more than you’ve been asked to do and don’t ask anything more for that”. He also shared this nugget from CEO Greg O’Neill of “doing things right and small things matter.”
If you want to connect with Cory you can reach him via his LinkedIn profile.
Jeremy Harper’s journey in mortgage broking isn’t your typical one. Having established his business in Melbourne, Jeremy packed it up and took it to New York where he and his wife lived and worked for two years.
While operating in the Big Apple, through a combination of opportunity and strategic insight Jeremy chose to niche down and build his knowledge and reputation for providing specialist lending solutions for ex-pats.
Now back in Australia and operating out of Sydney, the bulk of the loans that Jeremy writes are for professional ex-pats who want a person they can trust to make the deal work.
Combined with his degree and a previous career in accounting, Jeremy gives his clients a professional advisory service which earns him referrals and repeats business.
In this interview, you will hear Jeremy talk about some of the decisions he made that have contributed to the continued and ongoing growth of his business.
If you want to connect with Jeremy, you can visit his website here.
The journey of Richard Bootle has certainly been an interesting one. Born in rural New South Wales, Richard went onto boarding school and university in Sydney before a stint at a large corporate law firm.
It was during his time at the large law firm that Richard answered the calling to return to his family roots and operate a local law firm.
But, what to do when there’s already a law firm already established in your local town? Buy them out. And it was with this acquisition strategy that LawLab has become the nation’s largest conveyancing firm.
As Richard readily admits though, it’s one thing to buy a company’s client list or infrastructure. It’s quite another to ‘buy the people’, which is why integrating one business culture into another is not as simple as it might sound.
In this interview, Richard also discusses how their business has invested heavily in building innovative technology that enables them to scale up the service offering without a substantial increase in operating overheads or impact on service levels.
If you’ve thought about buying a book, partnering with others, or considering strategies to growing your broking business, I think you’ll find this interview inspiring and insightful.
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As a long-time champion of the 3rd party channel, Aaron Milburn talks about his career, his love of helping brokers succeed, and his mission of educating consumers on their options so they never have to feel like there isn’t hope to solve their financial challenges.
Having worked in a number of 3rd party roles including state manager @ Bank West, Citi, and St George, Aaron has found his home at Pepper.
Knowing the value brokers bring to each client, Aaron continues to advocate for how brokers can make a profound and lasting difference at a time when clients might be at their most vulnerable and needing hope, guidance, and a solution to help them move forward.
Knowing the responsibilities of executive leadership can sometimes take a toll on people, Aaron clearly has a balanced approach to managing his day to day commitments while continuing to be an active father and husband.
As Aaron says, “I don’t shout at the rain”, meaning he doesn’t invest energy into things he can’t control.
He also likes to keep things simple and in perspective. It is with this attitude, that Pepper is providing a suite of lending options to accommodate ‘prime’ all way through to ‘specialist’ lending.
With a pragmatic, yet passionate approach to serving the industry, I hope you enjoy Aaron’s journey and his advocacy for the broker channel.
If you would like to continue the conversation with Aaron, you can reach him on 0438416882 or via Aaron’s LinkedIn profile.
After a 14-year career at Westpac, Andrew Larcombe decided to join the ranks of the broking industry, and 23+ years on, he has seen just about everything and achieved an extraordinary amount.
When loans were easier to write, Andrew broke the company 3-months in a row, where he set a record of 84 loans in a single month. Legend has it that record still exists to this day.
With a knack for teaching, Andrew’s broking business has evolved over the years to incorporate a structured mentoring program given his passion for helping new-to-industry brokers.
Moreover, like many high achieving brokers, for years Andrew unconsciously associated ‘success’ with the number of submissions he wrote.
That all changed though the moment he survived a new-death car accident.
This challenge and the ensuing rehabilitation forced Andrew to reconsider how he operated his business and what his priorities were. That isn’t to suggest that his road to recovery has been easy, but it has given him the opportunity to redefine success as something that comes within and how we can make a more valuable contribution to his mentees.
I hope you find this an inspiring and rewarding podcast, and if you would like to connect with Andrew, you can do so via his Morbanx website and LinkedIn profile.
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In this candid and relieving interview Jeremy Fisher of 1st Street Financial, we cover a number of topics pertaining to personal success, business development, and contributing back to the community.
You may know Jeremy as having been ranked # 1 broker in the MPA Top 100 list with a settlement volume of $320 million. But as Jeremy readily admits, that’s when organising a deal required less admin and lenders approved applications faster.
With a healthy perspective on the industry, Jeremy understands acutely that though he may have written the most volume, there are brokers the country over who might write just as many, if not more deals. A major difference is that with an office in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and an average deal size around $1M, it makes it easier for the volumes to grow quicker.
Jeremy also touches on simple strategies that helped him immensely in the early years to build strategic relationships and earn more client referrals. Like he said, that when the core of the business is focused on delivering a great client experience, there is more than one way to go about it.
These days, 1st Street Financial gives back through various charities that they support, and they have grown their team of brokers so Jeremy can share and enjoy the journey with other like-minded people.
Visit the 1st Street Financial website if you would like to reach out to Jeremy or find out more about their business.
Hailing from the small country town of Orbost, Robert Trewin has built a renowned and trusted reputation across Victoria’s East Gippsland as a mortgage broker of choice, and of latter years, the mortgage broking business of choice.
With a background in lending, Rob made the leap at a time when only 20% of home loans originated from the broker channel.
Armed with a fervent commitment to delivering service, solutions and value to the community, Rob hasn’t looked back.
These days, Rob’s brokerage has won a host of awards for service, diversified income (insurance) and business operations, including the prestigious nMB Business of the Year. This is a reflection of the continued value that he and his team provide to clients.
For Rob, staff selection is based on an alignment of values, meaning he can trust them quicker and be confident each member of the team can uphold the reputation and service standards the business has become known for.
As Rob also mentions, one contributing factor for his ongoing success has been surrounding himself with good quality people.
If you would like to continue the conversation, you can reach him via his email.
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In this candid, straightforward interview, Peter White, Managing Director of FBAA, talks about his legacy, how far the industry has come and what’s in store for the months and years ahead.
It will come as no surprise that Peter, just like the brokers he represents, is extremely passionate about the industry and furthering the broker cause.
This is absolutely evidenced through the continued lobbying done during the Royal Commission, and more recently, to ensure the Best Interests Duty enables brokers to continue delivering the advice and lending solutions that are fit for purpose.
What came as a pleasant surprise is Peter’s advocacy for R U OK and discussing the previously taboo topics of depression and anxiety. In doing so, Peter normalises conversations and empowers others to recognise they aren’t experiencing these challenges in isolation, and that it’s OK to ask for help.
When asked what his vision of the future looks like, Peter sees 70% + of loans originating through brokers.
Outside of work, one of Peter’s personal passions is The Sanity Space, a charity he founded to help parents of children with special needs.
If you would like to find out more:
Finance Brokers Association of Australia
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As someone who has been at the raw end of a property spruiker, I can say with absolute certainty that it does make a difference who consumers and investors get their advice from.
Get it wrong, and you’re stuck with an expensive lemon. Get it right, and it can be a building block to creating financial security.
In this episode, Richard Crabb, managing director of Aspire Property Network shares how their business model brings rigour, structure and professionalism to consumers to help them make objective, informed decisions around investing in property.
After 15 years in finance, Richard decided to take his knowledge, back himself and create a company founded on principles of transparency, ethics, and advice so he could sleep at night while knowing his clients are taken care of.
And now, through a national team of independent advisors, Aspire continue to set the benchmark in terms of a service proposition that helps consumers achieve what they ultimately want, financial peace of mind.
I hope you enjoy this interview with Richard and if you would like to find out more, visit their website for a host of resources.
As a stalwart of the Canberra mortgage broking scene, Gerard Heffernan is well known and respected by clients and peers alike.
Having joined forces with his brother Bernard in 2015, their business hasn’t looked back. And, like many a bespoke brokerage, Gerard and Bernie understand intimately the need to provide personalised service and advice according to the needs of every client.
It’s with this premise that they have continued to grow their volumes year-on-year in what is clearly a forever changing and dynamic lending landscape.
Seeing the need for additional admin support, their business has invested in back-office staff which frees up Gerard’s time to do what he excels at - conducting client interviews and structuring their loans.
In the interview, Gerard goes into detail on the core strategies that allow their business to continue growing despite all the challenges in the marketplace today.
Like to continue the conversation with Gerard? You can reach him on 0402 026 246.
In this interview with Liz Wilson, we focused the conversation far more on culture, people, leadership and systems.
Like all mortgage brokers, Liz has needed to embrace the change of recent time so she and her team can remain relevant to their clients and continue to deliver outstanding levels of service.
What interesting to hear is Liz’s mindset and openness to personal change, growth and thinking differently in order to achieve different outcomes.
Not only does she embrace change, but moreover, Liz also engages her people in the process so there is buy-in at the ground level. As Liz would know first-hand, the more the buy-in, the easier the transition.
In terms of Liz’ personal growth, as she eloquently said, “The only way to survive is to grow”, and that’s a very healthy mindset so she can continue to explore new avenues for optimising the engagement and focus that her team members bring on a daily basis.
Liz also touches on how employing and engaging the right people and helping the wrong people get off the bus has made a profound difference to how their business operates and the energy & attitudes that are brought into the office.
If you’d like to find out more about Liz and her team, you can visit their website here.
With a love of people, processes and numbers, though Cathy Brown started life as an accountant, she has found her calling as a mortgage broker.
From the early days of smashing out long hours and driving all over town, Cathy has restructured her business to fit around her life all while leveraging processes, technology and an off-shore team to deliver exceptional client outcomes.
Like many a broker, Cathy found it difficult to relinquish control but has found that with continual & effective communication, she can empower, upskill and support her team to take as much ownership over the delivery of service so her time can be spent on clients appointments and acquiring new business.
Cathy would be the first to admit that having an offshore team has provided both challenges and new learning opportunities for her. In particular, the proximity of distance has forced her to improve her communication skills so her team understand the ‘why’ and the ‘what’, not just the ‘how’.
Moreover, in her downtime, she can also tweak processes and system so they continue to stay relevant and enable her and the team to deliver on exceptional client experience.
In today’s interview, you’re going to hear from Ilse Strauss, a leadership consultant and advisor for people who want to ensure there is alignment between their values and their business.
In this interview, you’ll hear Ilse share specific insights into how having clarity of your value can and does make it easier to operate your business in a way that feels authentic for each person.
The reason for asking Ilse to share light on this very important topic is because quite often, in the cut and thrust of getting deals done, it can be easy to operate in a task-centric manner without having the clarity of purpose or being able to calibrate if or how the tasks are contributing to organisational success.
Ilse shares her perspective on mission, vision, values and clarity of purpose.
Yes, this interview is different, and by intention, so it can provide the opportunity for you to consider what else, if anything, you could be doing to help you, your business, team members and clients progress to the next level.
If you’d like to connect with Ilse, you can visit her website or connect on with her on LinkedIn.
Some brokers go quietly about their business, making an impact where it matters most - with the outcomes and relationships they have with clients.
This is certainly true for Kelly Cameron, the entrepreneurial director of Get Real Finance.
At age 30, Kelly sold her first brokerage and ‘retired’ from the workforce, though boredom, the need to be challenged and passion for making a difference soon brought her back to the finance industry.
Having since established Get Real Finance, Kelly has since brought on a total of 8 other staff members to accommodate the continuing need to service existing and new clients.
In contrast to some others, Kelly is a fervent believer that the PAYG model ensures her loan writers and admin staff are only ever focused on what’s best for the client. As she says, “keep it small and keep it all.”
And if the business results and loan book size are anything to go by, there’s merit to her philosophy, as her staff continue to grow in skill and confidence and Kelly is progressively transitioning from being in front of clients to overseeing business operations.
You can visit the Get Real Finance website here.
In this interview, Aaron Christie-David pulls back the curtain on some of the business processes and optimisation techniques that are helping him and his team operate an efficient and productive brokerage that delivers a smooth lending experience for their astute clientele.
As a marketer turned broker, Aaron has a keen eye for the small details that help influence consumer perception of him and his brand. For example, Aaron is masterful at communicating online and recognising and appreciating his clients and his team for the joint success experienced. It’s one of many subtle yet powerful positioning techniques he incorporates to drive advocacy, repeat and referral business.
To complement his outstanding broking and human skills, Aaron’s wife Bernadette has helped transform business operations through her knowledge of systems, processes and measuring tasks to optimise their ROE (return on effort) so they understand the cost and value of the work being delivered.
In a few short years, together, they have built a respected brokerage and client base of predominantly astute investors that recognise exceptional advice and service.
To connect with Aaron, visit the Atelier Wealth website or email him here.
When Otto Dargan started his mortgage broking journey, he had a modest vision of having 3 staff members and to service a local client base.
But, while trekking in Nepal, he broadened his horizons in more ways than one. With a more worldly view, he came back to Australia inspired about what else was possible.
With the newfound energy, he started experimenting with his business, and though not all experiments worked out, he failed often enough and quick enough to let go of the bad ideas and follow through on the good ones.
These days, his company, Home Loan Experts looked very different from those early days. With 150+ staff in Australia and Nepal, he operates an efficient, effective business from their Sydney office.
In a complementary way, Otto’s approach to business reminds me of Frederick Winslow Taylor, father of the principles of ‘scientific management’, as Otto, just like Frederick before him, has mapped out the various functions of the role to ensure the broker maximises their revenue per hour worked with all other functions being looked after by their support staff.
Further to this, Home Loan Experts have set up a significant Nepalese based operation that provides white-labelled loan processing and credit analyst services for brokers.
If you’d like to find out more about the services available from Home Loan Experts, you can contact Otto via his email.
Hearing Hannah Nguyen’s story will be aspirational for many - and rightly so. She is shooting the lights out with her volumes, though she is far from resting on her laurels.
Currently writing around $86 M with a goal of $100M (and then $150M), Hannah and her team operate with precision and structure to enable deals to flow smoothly through their well-oiled machine without every task being reliant on Hannah’s personal effort.
If you think of a surgical team, which has the prep-nurses, the surgeon and the post-operation support, that’s much like Hannah’s setup. Where Hannah is the surgeon and sets the tone for how the business operates.
Impressively, her last appointment time slot is at 4 pm, and clients find a way to fit around her schedule, not the other way round.
As you’d expect, Hannah has a strong grasp of loan structuring and though has a highly tuned loan submission process, in my opinion, what’s even more impressive is her capacity to guide and empower her team members to perform their role to the best of their ability.
This skill earns her loyalty, and moreover, gives her the confidence that clients will be well serviced, and provides her with the opportunity to have a work-life balance where she can enjoy the other responsibilities in her life.
Luke Howes is the typical story of an ‘overnight success’ 15 years in the making.
Better known as the founder of bankstatements.com.au, in our interview, Luke gives us the back story that brought us his fantastic innovation that now provides value for thousands of brokers and tens of thousands of clients alike.
Immersed in the entrepreneurial world for the better part of his working life, Luke readily admits that bankstatements.com.au was born out of continually listening to the market, tweaking and refining tech solutions until they landed on something ‘big’ (aka a ‘unicorn’ in the world of tech).
And like many a small business owner, Luke learned on the job through trial and error. He advises that while tech isn’t his strong suit, he was fortunate to have a brother who he partnered with to co-create their vision.
Experiencing rapid growth, Luke quickly found himself needing to hire, lead, promote, sell & delegate so he could build the business.
Luke’s story is a parallel for many brokers who also experience the challenges that arise at various points in their business, and I hope you enjoy his forthrightness, energy and get inspired about taking your business to the next level.
Like many a high performer, Nathan Aird is vividly clear on what’s important to him, and he is incredibly consistent in his approach to operating his brokerage so it can support his chosen lifestyle.
And, these days, Nathan strictly operates a Monday-Friday brokerage. For some, the thought of not putting in some hours on the weekend or doing ‘home appointments’ might make them nervous, but in Nathan’s case, it’s doing him a world of good...
By defining his boundaries and his values, it ensures that his time spent in the office is highly productive.
As Nathan said, he built his business by design so he could do great work for clients, and also have time to enjoy with those who matter most, namely his wife and his 3 boys.
And, though he doesn’t chase the ‘numbers’ or the ‘awards’, he does have his eye firmly on the key drivers that influence business results - namely, delivering a great client experience, always exceeding expectations, and having a great back office that can move each file quickly from application to settlement.
To introduce commercial lending to his clients, Nathan is well poised to deliver even more value and delight his clients, which in turn will be the catalyst for driving new business.
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In this refreshingly honest interview, you’ll hear Mark Stevenson talk about the tribulations and triumphs of operating a broking business.
Mark is the Managing Director of Finance division of Bell Partners, a multifaceted professional services firm that aims to ‘put a ring’ around their clients so they can offer a suite of services to each client without needing to refer to people outside of the group.
As looking from afar, you’d think Mark has and the team have ‘got it made’ with all the referrals they could garner in-house.
And you’d be right, to a degree.
Though Mark certainly enjoys the benefit of generating a lot of leads in-house, as he candidly shares, the past 12 months hasn’t been without its challenges.
With operating overheads staying the same and settlement volumes being less predictable, Mark discusses how he has had to pivot, embrace resilience and remain highly focused to work through this challenging period and set up himself and his team up for the months and years ahead.
From banking to broking, Jake Biddle shares with us how he took 10 years of accumulated knowledge in the finance industry to setup Saint Finance.
And, though he’s on Australia’s west coast, it was his passion for the Saint Kilda football club that was the impetus behind the name.
Like most before him, though Jake initially relied on family & friends, he was able to reconnect with past clients and earn more referrals through the provision of outstanding service.
After several months, his long-term friend and former boss Chris joined him at Saint Finance where they are co-directors of the company.
As Jake shares, if you are going into business with someone, particularly as co-owners, you want to be certain that you can support each other and ride the bumps that can sometimes happen arise.
This is sage advice, as all too often, it can be easy to see the ‘upside’ of going into business with another person without necessarily taking the time to review potential risks, threats and/or challenges that can come with having a business partner and the responsibilities herewith.
Visit Saint Finance website here.
From car showroom to running his own show, Nathan Smith is an impressive individual.
In this candid interview, Nathan takes us behind the scenes as to how he is building a respected, productive and high-value brokerage that is making a difference in more ways than one.
And, Nathan is also the first finance guest I’ve interviewed who is also a host of his own podcast, How Gen Y Buy - which in and of itself is educating and empowering his target audience to get their foot into the property market.
As the founder of Birdie Wealth, Nathan combines his love of tech, process optimisation and finance to deliver an efficient and highly referable service experience.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Each broker who joins the team is asked to “pull apart the process and put it together again” and improvements to be made, which optimises how the business operates and the service clients receive.
And that’s not the only thing Nathan and the team @ Birdie Wealth do differently.
Nathan and the team don’t do settlement gifts. Instead, they donate 4% of their upfront to a charity that’s close to his heart. So, for Birdie Wealth, their clients and their charity, it’s a win-win all around.
In this episode, we talk with Jason Cuerel, who shares his unusual journey to becoming a high performing loan writer.
Early in his career, Jason did a financial analysis of annual reports before transitioning to a retail sales role. It was in that role where one of these customers offered him a position with a non-bank lender which marked the beginning of his journey into the finance industry.
Jason and I discuss how occasionally, with the best of intentions, some brokers find themselves having ‘Analysis by Paralysis’ to find the right lending product, which can adversely affect getting the client’s commitment to proceed with a loan.
Jason tackles and talks about how a LOT of tools are readily available for brokers to use but are underutilized.
To keep things enjoyable and maintain a healthy mindset, Jason and his team head out on Friday’s for a team lunch so they can relax, unwind, have a laugh, and get ready to go again for the following week.
Jas gives us an overview of how he has grown his back-office team over time to accommodate the increase in volumes so his time is freed up to ‘workshop deals’ with clients.
Jason also touches on the general rule of his business is all about ‘if it’s not in the system, it never happened,” which has earned him a lot of referrals from existing clients.
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In this interview, Clinton talks about how to get the job done to an exceptional standard and having a seamless delivery of service to the clients. We also talk about how vital it is to review your ‘why’ in doing all of the things you have been doing.
Clint also shares how embracing technology has contributed to a more efficient loan process while also making it easier to build client relationships.
Some of the tools in Clint’s lineup include his bespoke fact-find-form that feeds directly into Mercury, Zoom for online meetings and Calendly for booking appointments.
For Clint to support his team of brokers within the Axton Finance brand, he has found that it’s exceptionally important to provide robust processes and a collaborative, engaging work environment that brokers want to be a part of.
Though it is hasn’t been easy, Clint’s ongoing commitment to supporting his clients and helping his brokers to achieve success provides both a challenge and an opportunity to learn, give and grow.
Find out more about Axton Finance here.
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At the surface, Sam Carrello comes across as a stereotypical Western Australian - laid back, friendly, happy with life.
And, though Sam is all these things, he’s also an astute broker who is quickly making headway with his operation, Napoleon Finance.
With broking experience accumulated over several years at some of Perth’s largest brokerages, Sam took a year’s hiatus from broking before returning with a vengeance.
And, unlike most ‘start-up’ business, Sam was able to connect with former referral partners to reignite the relationship and quickly drive new enquiry and write significant volumes virtually from Day 1.
In fact, they were good enough to earn him a guernsey in the MPA Top 100 in his first year under the brand.
Coupled with the proximity to the Perth CBD, their commitment to exceptional customer experience and his personal reputation, fortuitously, the team @ Napoleon Finance has been ‘shielded’ from some of the tougher market conditions that exist in WA.
With a goal to continue running a high-performance business, Sam is equally passionate about empowering his team to be the best they can and delivering a service that clients will tell others about.
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