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After speaking at the MFAA conference earlier this year, director and finance specialist at Penny Finance, Morgan Owen, spoke on the Elite Broker podcast about her brokerage.
We find out more about how Morgan Owen has built a large client base nationwide and what her top tips for other brokers are.
How did you become a broker and how long have you been broking?
I have been a broker for about six years now, and I fell into the industry in a random way. I started out my career in fitness, managing gyms; however, I wasn’t happy with the pay.
Eventually I took the leap into [broking] after someone I’d previously worked with in the fitness industry decided they were going to start up a finance business and asked if I wanted to be a part of it.
After moving around several firms and dealing with business relationships breaking down, I’d been [a] broker for about three years before I decided that I would be better off going my own way and that’s how Penny Finance was born.
What kind of loans are you writing at the moment?
We actually do a range of loans. We do residential with a big focus on first home buyers, and we also do commercial loans.
I also do business mentoring, so we do quite a lot of business finance too, in terms of cash flow, lending or expansion or acquisitions. Now we’re doing asset finance as well. We were referring all of our asset business, but now we have a team built out to the point where we can have dedicated resources for different things.
It just made more sense for [us] to bring it in-house and make sure that our clients are getting that full Penny experience.
How do you think Penny Finance helps women in the broking industry?
When it comes to hiring women and Penny Finance being really centred around that, it comes from the fact that I do think women are under-represented, and I’m really trying to disrupt that to an extent.
But also, when it comes to being a woman in this industry, the other thing I’m trying to disrupt is the image of it as well, because you might be female but you may feel like you need to present in quite a masculine way.
What are some of the things that you and your team do to unwind and de-stress?
We very much have a flexible working environment. For example, I don’t particularly like working Monday mornings, so we either don’t get up really early on Monday or we don’t come into the office. I like to use that time to go to the beach or take the dogs for a walk, just something to de-stress.
I like to also spend that time planning what I need to do for the week. There’s no stress because you’ve actually thought about what you need to do and where you can fit it in, and if it’s not possible, we move it to the next week and reprioritise.
What are your top tips for other brokers?
One I would definitely say is try not to think that you’re in this alone. I like to think that there are other people like myself out there and that there are a lot of brokers out there [who are] more than willing to be connected to help and support one another.
Another one I would recommend is being on social media because for me it’s been everything. However, you need to understand your clients and understand what platform you need to focus on. It’s really all about opening up a huge audience.
We’re not just a Victorian broker, and I have clients all over the country, and understanding how to utilise social media is a great way to broaden your audience.
You can find out more about Morgan Owen and Penny Finance in The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast.
Tune in to the episode, How Morgan Owen whips loans into shape, below:
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