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The story of Jeff Wong’s success is far more perilous than most.
One of the founders of Vow Financial and now owner of Your Financial Journey, Mr Wong’s rise to high-performing broker begins in 1978 when he fled post-war Vietnam via boat.
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The daring journey led to four months in a refugee camp in Indonesia, before being granted residency in Australia.
Upon arrival on our shores, Mr Wong initially studied to become a nurse and worked in that field for some time.
“My introduction to mortgage broking occurred when I applied for a property investment loan back in June 1994,” Mr Wong explains.
"Looking at the mortgage consultant, I said to myself: if he can do it, I can do it better. That was how I entered the mortgage business.”
With no experience in the industry, he had to quickly get up to speed.
“I purposefully watched everyone around me. It was almost like I had my ear up against the wall, trying to find out as much information as I could on the best ways to operate and interact with customers. How do they make appointments? What do they say to make a sale? And how do they approach certain challenges?”
In 1998 when his colleague Michael Nicholson and three others opened The Mortgage Professionals, Mr Wong joined them. The business grew quickly and, in 2010, Mr Wong and two other companies merged together to form Vow Financial.
“Merging was difficult for me; it was like giving up my baby. But we settled in, worked hard and once Tim Brown (CEO of Vow Financial) came on-board, the business really took off,” he says.
After selling his share in the Vow business, Mr Wong has since opened a brokerage again - Your Financial Journey - with Vow Financial as his aggregator.
He believes his key to success is a simple one.
“I never give myself the option to go back. As an immigrant, I really couldn’t go back so I always have to find a way to move forward. I run my business in the same way,” says Mr Wong.
