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In what is still a male dominated industry, Pepper is defying the trend, with a majority of its BDM workforce made up of women
Of the BDMs currently employed by Pepper, nine are female: Janine Wade, Patricia Boustany, Michelle Sargeant, Vanessa Bakatselos, Joanne Hill, Vasé Marcevska, Dianne Robinson, Natalie Sheehan and Siobhan Williams make up the female contingent of the BDM team.
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The BDM role is a challenging one. Balancing the needs of numerous clients and dedicating the time to ensure top quality service demands a wide range of skills.
AdviseHer speaks to Ms Marcevska, Ms Robinson, Ms Sheehan and Ms Williams about becoming successful female BDMs.
Unsurprisingly, all four ladies identify time management as one of the key skills required to succeed as a BDM.
According to Ms Williams, good time management isn’t just about planning your work day; it’s also about ensuring an appropriate work-life balance.
“I think knowing where family fits in and where work ts in and managing time appropriately is very important,” she says.
“Particularly for me as a mum, I make sure that between 5pm and 7pm every day, I dedicate that time to my daughter. But then I will jump back on the laptop again later on.”
While the women all praised the industry and promoted its many advantages – including flexible working hours – some admitted being a female in a male-driven industry presents some extra challenges.
Ms Sheehan says, “earning the respect of much older male colleagues early on, the lack of female mentors in senior roles and establishing an effective support network to enable work-life balance” are some of the struggles she regularly faces.
Offering some advice to young females thinking of entering the industry, Ms Marcevska says it is important to set goals.
“Have an agenda and an outcome for every meeting or business proposal that you are looking at to make sure you always look for a good outcome,” she says.
Ms Sheehan says it is important for BDMs and females working in the third party industry to “be passionate about what you do and be prepared for challenges by developing a good understanding of your own strengths, weaknesses and coping mechanisms”.
“I discovered the benefits of understanding ‘emotional intelligence’ and this has served me well in dealing with challenging situations in a professional and confident manner,” she says.
According to Ms Robinson, it is important for young women entering the industry to always understand the value they hold.
“Make sure you understand your value proposition and your brand – not just the brand you work for, but your own brand as well,” she says.
To attract more women into the industry, Ms Sheehan says there needs to be more positive, successful role models in senior positions.
Ms Marcevska agrees and says mentoring from senior women in the industry as well as more female-orientated focus groups, such as the MFAA’s Women in Mortgage Business Network (WIMBN), will encourage young women to join the ranks.
“I came into the third party industry very perceptive,” she says. “I really had to keep my head down for the first five to six months, to word hard and gauge what it was all about, and watch people in the industry.”
A common misconception
While the women all love what they do and believe being a BDM is a great career, they agree brokers share some common misconceptions about the role a BDM actually plays.
A vast majority of brokers are still of the opinion all BDMs do is “have coffee, lunches and drinks with other brokers”.
However, as Ms Marcevska explains, this is simply not the case.
“The role of a BDM is very much about multitasking. We need to maintain relationships with brokers and key stakeholders, work through deals and ensure we remain proactive in finding new business opportunities, all on a day-to-day basis – and usually out of our cars!” she says.
Ms Sheehan concurred and says the role is multi faceted.
“My responsibilities on a day-to-day basis vary greatly, from workshopping potential deals, training credit managers and presenting at workshops to working on systems and procedures, marketing commitments and developing products and policies,” she says.
