When you’ve assessed and approved over a billion dollars in lending within the banks, it is more than just a good apprenticeship to set you up for a life in broking, it’s the foundations to a rewarding career.

In this interview with Charles Zerafa, he takes up through a career assessing commercial transactions before making the switch to broking and becoming the trusted advisor to a portfolio of high quality clients who lean on his expertise to help them fund their and facilitate their business growth objectives.

Charles outlines how the benefits of being a broker enable him to offer a level of depth and value to his clients in terms of how he could represent and facilitate their funding needs.

And, like many a good broker, he talks about how his service has earned him introduction to the personal networks of clients that never availed themselves whilst he was in commercial banking.

If you would like to connect or chat with Charles, a great place to start would be his LinkedIn profile.

It’s seldom you come across a person who has started a movement, though that’s exactly what Philip Robison has done.

As the the founder of Saving Brothers and a property professional, Philip is driven by the desire to impact people for the better.

Not just in their hip pocket, but equally if not more so to look after one’s health and wellbeing - and with the scars and war stories he’s gathered, Philip is empathetic, compassionate and insightful.

In our interview, we talk about the highs and lows of his journey, his love for regional property and how people can live their best life.

If you’d like to reach Philip, send him at email to philip@theholygrail.com.au

As we all know, time is arguably the most precious commodity for every mortgage broker.

In this podcast with gun loan administrator turned business owner, Mandy Love, we look at the importance of having the right people in the right seats to help deliver an efficient, referable and repeatable service to grow a broking practice.

Having personally seen Mandy make a significant contribution to the growth of one of our broking clients, she is all too familiar with how to help brokers ensure their focus is on income producing activities that contribute to their financial and quality of life goals and getting everything else off their plate.

It's with this mantra in mind Mandy mustered the courage to pursue her dream of opening a loan processing service so she can positively impact more brokers and see them grow their practice by delivering better and quicker client outcomes.

Mandy discusses common challenges inherent with many brokers and how to address them to actually enjoy the success and prosperity they are working hard for.

If you’d like to reach out to Mandy, visit Mandy’s LinkedIn profile or go to:

Website: landmarkloansupport.com.au

Email: info@landmarkloansupport.com.au 

From police officer to high performing mortgage broker mortgage, Travis Carruthers is on a mission to impact more brokers, consumers and staff for the better.
 
Most brokers who settle in excess of $100M per annum are usually looking to grow either their back end to pump through more volumes, or  build out the broking team so they can grow with and through others.
 
For Travis, it’s a combination of both, in addition to running a sub aggregation group and providing a consulting service where he implements a version of his own processes into other broking practices.
 
With a passion for seeing people do better, Travis aims to provide exemplary client service standards and cultivate a team in culture where his staff are expected to come up with ideas and innovations that contribute towards the ongoing growth and optimization of the business.
 
Arguably not an easy thing to do, which is perhaps the exact reason why Travis is doing it because as he says he gets bored staying in his comfort zone and wants to be comfortable with remaining uncomfortable.
 
If you’d like to connect with Travis, you can reach him:
 
·      Via Travis’ LinkedIn profile
·      Through VMBS, his mortgage broking service, or;
·      VTEK Solutions, his consultancy service for brokers

Having interviewed over 160 podcast guests and had extraordinary conversations with many incredible people, it’s a big call to say this is the most important podcast I’ve done, particularly since it has nothing to do with broking.

It does however have everything to do with how and why we perform and function in the world the way we do through our unconscious biases.

It was spurred on by some friends of mine, females, who have had vastly different experiences of people whom I’d refer to as ‘good blokes’.

And knowing my friends were having these experiences, the more important I felt it was to unveil why we, like people, have unconscious biases that influence our behaviours, decisions and actions.

On occasions, these biases contribute to our growth and well-being, and at times, can dimmish our capacity to be the best version of ourselves.

To help piece things together and provide some perspective around this, I asked a friend of mine and one of Australia’s leading authorities on unconscious bias, Wendy Lundgaard to share her knowledge and insights.

I’ll be the first to raise my hand and there’s still a long way journey ahead of me in terms of building more awareness around my biases, and I hope this conversation provides you with further insights to assist you in your professional and personal well-being.

Operating a broking practice can be challenging, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s even more so if you used to work as an employee in one. Transitioning from employee to owner can be tricky… but not impossible. 

Keith Caine joins me for this episode of The Successful Adviser. He moved from England after the 2008 recession to build a life in Australia. He joined Mortgage Choice and worked his way up. But today, he runs the firm. 

Keith shares his story of how he started from scratch and went on to become one of the top brokers in Australia. It’s an inspiring journey with lots of insights for all mortgage brokers. 

The key questions:

• How can mortgage broking business owners deal with imposter syndrome? (16:00) 
• How can you transition from employee to owner of a mortgage broking business? (18:31)
• What is the highest form of leadership? (22:52)
• How can you engage better with staff and create a high-performing work environment? (25:30)

What you’ll discover:

• The inspiring story of how Keith kick-started his mortgage broking career in Australia (4:19)
• The primary motivation of most employees (12:07) 
• The mentality Keith used to smoothen his transition from being someone’s colleague to being their boss (14:06) 
• The objectives Keith focused on that sustained the growth of his mortgage broking business(20:40)

The sole operator mentality can only take mortgage brokers so far. At some point, brokers will need to delegate key responsibilities to their team members. This will allow them to focus on the strategic and operational decisions and actions that keep their broking practices moving forward. 

Marissa Schulze, the director of Rise High Financial Solutions, joins me for this episode of The Successful Adviser. She and I discuss common growing pains and how she grew from a practice of one to a thriving practice of more than 30 team members.  Tune in to discover how to maintain a cohesive working culture and how to maintain a great client experience as your practice expands.  

The Key Questions:

• Why do many mortgage brokers hesitate to hire more staff? (9:17)
• How do you know when you should hire an additional team member? (11:13)
• How do you maintain a great company culture while growing your team? (20:30)
• How can you maintain a great client experience after leaving the trenches? (26:03)

What You’ll Discover:

• How Marissa achieves work-life balance as a mother of two (7:29)
• Hiring employees vs. subcontractors (12:51)
• Marissa’s approach to team-building exercises and events (23:04)
• The importance of trust in broker-client relationships (29:23)