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Q: How did you get into the mortgage broking industry?
A: When I started out as a broker, I’d reached a point in my former job where I knew there was just nowhere to go. I remember walking around the block, thinking: what is something that really interests me? Not just a job but a career path. I owned one investment property at the time and thought, OK, let’s look at something to do with property. I started to apply for any and all jobs that had anything to do with property. It was a fl uke that I stumbled into this industry – and that I enjoyed it and was good at it.
Q: Did you work with someone initially who took you under your wing?
A: I’ve had amazing mentors over the years, and it’s taken me a long time to catch up to their way of thinking about me. I would hear my old boss, Ed, say to clients, “You’ll love Dee. She’s the queen of communication.” And I would think, “He’s lying! I am not!” It took me about three years before I actually believed him and realised, hmm, I’m quite good at this!
Q: Do you aim to pay it forward by being a mentor yourself?
A: Yes, now that I’m a boss, running More Than Mortgages, I want to be just as good a mentor to my team as the ones I’ve had over the years. Broking has really changed my life. I’d never been in the position to earn decent money before. I grew up in a very low socio-economic household where there was domestic abuse, and I was an only child, so I had to go through that all on my own. We had no money, no car for three years. This industry has changed my whole way of thinking. In the last 10 years my life has completely changed trajectory. I look at myself and say, “Who am I?!”
Q: What has surprised you most about the broking industry?
A: I think broking is an incredible industry, and what you can actually achieve is limitless. There can be one million things that need to be done, and that can feel overwhelming at times. But if you learn to focus and you’re prepared to put in the hours, there is the capacity to be able to earn a really decent income. I have a friend who is a neuropsychologist. She studied at uni for seven years and the max she could earn in Canberra was $130,000. Broking off ers much greater income potential; it is a huge opportunity to sink your teeth into something that can be rewarding in so many ways.
