Kylie Meredith is a mortgage broker at The Savings Centre on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. She became a broker five years ago, after working as a settlements officer and in customer service roles at ASIC and Telstra.
Q: Tell us how you became a mortgage broker. Did your customer service roles at Telstra and ASIC help your transition into broking?
A: Becoming a broker for me was a natural transition. I began my journey in the broking industry as a settlements officer working in a busy broking office on the Sunshine Coast. I then moved up and educated myself on all stages of the fi nance process, managing the finance administration team and finally broking. It was fantastic learning from the bottom up, which gave me a deep insight into how the finance process works in the background and has allowed me to deliver knowledgeable information and provide support for clients. Working at ASIC gave me an extensive background in compliance regulations involved in the broking industry, which has in turn allowed me to manage compliance at The Savings Centre. Further to this, my role at Telstra was in technical support and customer service, which helped me grow into a customer-focused and solution-driven broker to get the best outcomes efficiently for clients.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a mortgage broker?
A: I love the ability to help and teach people to take control of their finances and make it work for them. Finance is such a scary and overwhelming thing for a lot of people, and they don’t always have the opportunity to learn. We are in a unique situation where we can assist and educate, and make finance a pleasant experience for people.
Q: What are the challenges of the role?
A: A Broking is a very competitive market, and it can sometimes be hard balancing clients’ expectations with our compliance obligations, but I have found that building trusting relationships with our clients and explaining the ‘whys’ to them overcomes this. We have implemented a rock-solid procedure to ensure that we are servicing our clients efficiently and ticking all our boxes along the way. I’m a sucker for a procedure!
Q: Who inspires you and why?
A: Our wonderful team make it such a great job to do, and I actually look forward to going to work each day! We all love helping our clients reach their goals (and reaching our own), and we continue to build a strong and trusted reputation on the Sunshine Coast and nationally.
Q: What do you do to unwind?
A: A I try to take advantage of any down time to escape the hustle and bustle of life and go on camping trips. We have such an amazing country, and so there’s much to see. It gives me a chance to relax and regroup and allows me to come back on board fresh and motivated. If I don’t get the chance to take off , you will generally find me making a mess in the kitchen or playing music and singing loudly (sorry, neighbours)
