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The story of Two Birds One Loan began when the founders of the mortgage brokerage – Alissa Childs (pictured right) and Elousie Dooley (pictured left) – were just teenagers.
"We actually went to high school together," Childs, co-founder, director and finance broker, told Australian Broker. After finishing school, Childs spent more than a decade in the real estate sector, including working as a business development manager, while Dooley went to work in marketing.
"And then we both had kids at roughly the same time," Childs continued. "I went back to work after my first child, and I had another one quite quickly afterwards, and I just really struggled with that transition back to full-time corporate work with one child. And after the second, I just thought, I can't actually go back to that. And I didn't want to go part time. And I'd already done the training to be a broker in one of my BDM roles. And then I thought, 'I'll give this a go, and I'll become a broker.'"
Fast forward several years, and Childs said Dooley "was at the same sort of crossroads with her career. So I was like, 'why don't we do this together?' I said, 'You can come over and learn the ropes.' I thought, with my background and skills, and then her background and skills, there's no way we can't make this work. So we did."
That was in September 2018. Today, in addition to three kids each, the long-time friends have a thriving business.
"It was always a priority for both Alissa and I to continue our careers after having our children," Dooley, co-founder, director and finance broker, wrote on the company's website. "We feel very fortunate that we have been able to craft a business (together!) that allows us to do both."
The Glenorie, New South Wales-based Two Birds One loan has also grown to house multiple birds, including staff in Nepal and the Philippines. The brokerage offers services for first-time and existing homebuyers, as well as investment and construction loans, and services such as self-managed super funds and refinancing.
"We do primarily residential," Childs said. "[But] we are starting to get a bit more commercial.
"It was hard in the beginning, because we started without a single client to our names, and we had very rose-colored glasses on as to how quickly we would grow it," she said. "It took a good few years for us to build it up. But now that we're established, business is coming to us.
"And I'm lucky, because I know so many people across the industry, from working in it for so long," Childs said. "So if something goes pear-shaped, I tend to know at least one person we can call for help. It pays to be well connected in this industry."
In addition to growing their own business, the two birds are also driven to serve as role models for other women. All of the firm's supporting "birdies" are women. There's also Two Birds One Loan's Instagram page, which is akin to a picturesque vision board, highlighting the women living their best lives, offering tips for potential buyers and inspirational quotes.
But most importantly, it's a reminder that women can still be successful as brokers – even though there are still so few of them. According to the MFAA's latest data, women make up just over a quarter of total brokers in Australia.
"We are very underrepresented in females [in the industry], and I can see why," Childs said. "We've got six children between us – me and Ell – and it is a juggle. But we have each other. A lot of women who join the industry are single operators, and they probably are the primary care[giver] for multiple children. So we're lucky that we have each other and we have a team.
"But I think it is hard for women in general who have children," she said. "This industry attracts [women] because of the work-life balance; that does attract women. But it's not always sustainable. I've spoken with lots of female brokers who have just been wanting to give up because if you don't write a reasonable amount [in settlements], it's almost not worth it. And if you're having to do all the kid drops and pickups and daycare and school and all the assemblies and sports and things like that, sometimes your hours can be really, really limited. If you don't have a support network behind you, it will be hard to do this job. I think that's probably why [there are fewer women in the industry]. And the home duties tend to fall with the women, and you've just got to try and work your career around it."
Still, Childs said she's optimistic for the future and the potential to see more female brokers.
"I'd love to see more women come into the industry, but doing it on your own would be hard," she said. "I think the way we've done it has been quite good for us, because we have each other and we can lean on each other and support each other."
