Q. What made you decide to swap banking for broking?
A friend of mine who works in recruitment hit me up at a dinner party. She said, “Nat, I’ve got this role, that’s like a home loans specialist.”
And I said, “Don’t try to trick me. That’s a mortgage broker – way too stressful. I’ve got three little kids. No way.”
This was a Sunday and the next morning, I’ve got an interview. I thought, “Okay, fine, I’ll go. I’ll just see what it’s about.”
I wasn’t looking to change. I was a bank manager in the same suburb where I live. It was very convenient. But then, after having the interview I thought, “Do they [the bank] really care that much about me?”
I knew that I went over and above for my clients. I had the drive. So, why not do it for myself and build my own business?
The problem was I didn’t own my book and I didn’t know enough about the industry, really, when I started out
Q. Why did you make the move to Birdie Wealth?
[I started] at a different brokerage, not at Birdie. I stayed there for two years, but it was 50/50 commission. The problem was I didn’t own my book and I didn’t know enough about the industry, really, when I started out.
It wasn’t until I was there for about two years and I realised I was just handcuffing myself to the place. I was building a good amount of trail. I realised that I enjoyed the job – I was not bad at it. And then I thought, “Maybe I should look around to see if I could find a better home.”
I never really wanted to start my own brokerage. Having been a bank manager for years, I didn’t want to be worrying about who’s going to replace the light bulb or having to write an incident report if somebody bumped their knee. I just wanted to put my head down, write loans and concentrate on my clients.
That’s when I met Nathan [Smith] at Birdie. I actually went to sort of pick his brain just to learn more. And then I walked out thinking, “I just want to work for him.”
Q. What is your process for working with clients?
I block out 90 minutes for every appointment. I know a lot of brokers would want that shorter, but I feel like if I can dedicate that time at the beginning, it solves the problem going forward [as] they fully understand what an offset account is and what their repayments are going to be, etc.
We do have a guide that we attach to our meeting summary emails for first home buyers and that’s really comprehensive because everybody learns differently. Some people want to read, other people want me to draw a picture and they want to visualise it. Other people just want to ask lots of questions throughout the process, which is fine, too.
I always say just give us a call, send an email, [there’s] no silly question. I really want people to understand exactly what they’re doing and they understand exactly how their loan works.
Q. What do you love most about broking?
Helping clients is really, really rewarding. I always think about my week and the amount of thank you [messages] we get. We get a text message, which will say, “I’m so happy we’ve been able to get our pre-approval. I can’t thank you and your team enough, Nat.”
How good does that make you feel? And we’re getting that all the time. Whereas other jobs, you can go unthanked for months. It’s just a really good feeling. Even at the end of an appointment, I’m on a high. I feel like they were so glad that they met me [and] they feel so empowered with more information.
