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When her bank employer couldn’t offer the flexibility she needed, Kelly Carter uprooted her life and started a new career as a mortgage broker in Port Macquarie.
For many years, Kelly Carter had a successful career at a big four bank. She was a lending executive based in Bathurst, servicing the Central West of NSW. While Kelly loved lending, over time her role become too rigid and stressful. She also felt constrained by only being able to offer the bank’s products and services to her customers.
Kelly decided to make a big change and move her family from Bathurst to Port Macquarie. However, when she approached her employer to discuss what type of roles she may be able to do from Port Macquarie, they weren’t willing to support her move.
“I wrote several business proposals, however they couldn’t support the idea,” Kelly said. “I was willing to give up lending as a career because I needed to gain more flexibility in my employment to relocate my family.”
Fortunately, Kelly came across a LinkedIn post saying the company was actively recruiting for female mortgage brokers. Mortgage Choice sounded like a great match for her skillset, and she could work from anywhere in Australia. To find out more, she spoke to a local franchisee in Bathurst and a member of the recruitment team.
Kelly said, “These conversations gave me a good feeling for what life as a broker would be like. I became a mobile broker in Bathurst, and a year later our family made the move to Port Macquarie.”
After completing her induction training, Kelly opened her franchise in early 2021. Her lending experience made the transition from banking to broking relatively easy. She already had a lending mindset and was used to dealing with some of the trickier parts of lending, such as dealing with companies and trusts. While she did have to learn new systems and a broader range of products, Kelly was able to lean on the Mortgage Choice support team and other brokers in her network whenever she had questions.
“Having that backing behind me meant I didn't feel like I was alone, even though I was working independently,” she said.
Kelly found the hardest part of starting her franchise was building her reputation with other business owners and potential customers in a location where she didn’t know many people.
“In regional towns like Port Macquarie, everything is based on relationships,” she said. “I’ve had to work hard to make those connections. I joined a local business networking group and a women’s networking group, and they’ve been very helpful in supporting my business. I also actively reached out to business owners through Facebook or LinkedIn to introduce myself and ask if we can meet up for a coffee and connect as business professionals.”
Kelly’s dedication to building her business and becoming a trusted member of her local community has paid off. Earlier this year, she won a Port Macquarie Business Award in the Financial Services category. She was also named New Broker of the Year at The Adviser’s NSW Better Business Awards and selected as a finalist in the Newcomer category for the NSW MFAA State Excellence Awards.
To support her growing business, Kelly has employed a part-time administration assistant. She also recently brought her husband into the business as an additional loan writer. And even though her business is booming, Kelly still enjoys the flexibility and autonomy she was craving back when she was working in banking.
“I’m not restricted to business banking hours,” she said. “I can work in a way that suits my lifestyle. There’s no one micromanaging me and I don't have that pressure of somebody else setting my professional targets. My business growth and success are up to me.”
To take full advantage of this flexibility, Kelly and her husband are working towards a future where they can travel around Australia delivering her mortgage broking services from a van, and operating the business remotely.
She said, “The best part about this career is you can design your business to suit whatever goals you have.”
For other bankers who may be considering making the move into broking, Kelly stresses the need to have realistic expectations – especially in the early days.
“It's important to have cash flow and savings behind you to build your pipeline, and it may some time to get paid,” Kelly said. “But if you’re confident in yourself and you know your value, the benefits of being a broker can far outweigh the benefit of staying with an employer.”
If you’d like to know more about becoming a Mortgage Choice franchise owner, visit MortgageChoice.com.au/
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