Celebrating women in finance

On March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day 2020. This year’s theme is #EachforEqual. International Women’s Day aims to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and celebrate women’s achievements.

We value our female brokers and love celebrating their success. Read our member profiles of three incredible women who are thriving in the world of finance broking: Giulia Polizzi, Katie Dickson and Kate Garrett.

1) What’s your professional background?

I’ve been a finance broker for almost 21 years. I started in a supporting role and only intended to be doing it for a couple of years and then take off travelling. I was given great opportunities at Acceptance Finance, so I decided to stay, learn more and grow my client base.

2) What do you love about your job?

I’m very lucky. The culture here at Acceptance Finance is exceptional. We’ve got a great team of people. I have lovely friends here too.

3) How has your experience been as a woman working in the finance broking industry?

It’s been very positive. Management has always been very good at encouraging women to become brokers and I’ve never felt mistreated or like I didn’t have opportunities because I’m a woman. I don’t think that’s very common in other places.

I’ve never experienced a client not wanting to deal with me because I’m a woman.

4) Do you feel supported? Valued? Included?

Absolutely! And the onus is also on us to make other women feel valued and included.

5) Unfortunately, the number of women in the industry is low and declining. What would your message be to young women considering this as a profession?

You can do this job full-time or part-time. A lot of women take time off work to have families and they think they can’t be committed in a broker role if they’re not working full-time – that’s certainly not the case.

There’s a lot of support out there for brokers. Platforms that help you work away from the office, allow you to work from home, or a holiday house; you can take more breaks and still keep in touch with your clients.

My message to aspiring brokers is to take that leap of faith. If you’re in the background or in a supporting role, you should step up and do it yourself. Start your financial independence and make a career for yourself.

6) How do women add value to the industry?

Women bring a different approach to the finance transaction. I believe we’re more patient and empathetic regarding our clients’ unique situations.

Nowadays, many women are making the major financial decisions in their family. They may feel more confident dealing with other women and this makes for a better rapport overall.

7) What would you like to see happen in the next 5-10 years?

I believe it’s a booming industry for women brokers. One of the major points made during the Royal Commission investigation was the lack of empathy and understanding in the lending industry. One-on-one personal relationships are pivotal, and I think the more women are involved in developing these relationships in our industry, the better.

1) What’s your professional background?

I started Dickson + Co Financial Solutions in 2017. I’d been broking since 2012 and prior to that I worked in Account Management in Advertising.

2) What do you love about your job?

Helping clients look at their current and future financial goals and putting a plan into place to help them get there.

I personally love working in the self-employed space, as I find the scenarios are often complex and challenging, which keeps me on my toes and in tune with lenders and the different niches they have in policy.

3) How has your experience been as a woman working in the finance broking industry?

Challenging at first. When I entered the industry, it was probably one of the toughest lending climates seen for a long time.

However, through hard work, good networking skills and the confidence to back myself, I have created a successful business. I have a wonderful network of brokers, BDMs and a hugely supportive aggregator in Connective, which have helped me to succeed.

4) Do you feel supported? Valued? Included?

Yes. I think the industry has evolved so much. There are a lot of woman-focused events. And less golf days, which is great because I hate golf!

I do think there is still work to be done in this space, but the boys’ club mentality is slowly diminishing.

5) What would your message be to young women considering this as a profession?

As a mother to a 9-month-old and 4-year-old and with a husband who has just started his own business, I can definitely understand making the leap into a new industry can often be daunting and finding the time for yourself can be hard. What I would say is that it’s worth the risk!

It’s hugely rewarding and flexible, it’s a great industry to be involved in and if you have the confidence to back yourself and grow your partnerships with referral partners and clients, it will pay off in the long run.

6) How do women add value to the industry?

I think women in broking are successful because we are approachable and empathetic, which is often valuable when dealing in what can be a stressful process. Our problem-solving skills and ability to multi-task also come in handy!

7) What would you like to see happen in the next 5-10 years?

I would love to see the numbers of women in the industry grow, and I think this happens by lots of support and guidance from aggregator and lending BDMs.

1) What’s your professional background?

Prior to working in finance and as a broker, I worked as a radio journalist in Sydney and Scotland.

My partner and I moved back to Perth from Scotland in 2011 and after working as a radio journalist in Perth for some time, I had become disillusioned with the industry.

It was then that my stepdad, who owned a finance company with my mum, approached me and asked if I wanted to work with them. I said no initially, but after talking with my partner, I decided to give it a go. I started in financial planning initially but was drawn to the mortgage broking.

I’m lucky enough to work with one of the most amazing women in the industry – my mum, Lisa Backhouse. She’s a fantastic mentor, she’s super patient, she’s a great teacher and just has massive love and empathy for her clients. My stepdad is a financial planner and in the last couple of years we’ve brought in accounting into the business. Learning from these two has been amazing.

2) What do you love about your job?

I love the speed and the adrenalin that comes with mortgage broking. I also love the clients, especially the first-home buyers.

For me, the most rewarding aspect is finding the solution. I think that goes back to my absolute love for research and my journalism background. I love getting into the nitty gritty, researching the best deal and knowing that I’ve crossed off everything for my client and that it’s the perfect deal.

In this industry, you never stop learning. There’s so much information, and policies changing all the time, so it’s never boring.

3) How has your experience been as a woman working in the finance broking industry?

Interesting. It’s very male dominated. I think a lot of the events, especially the social events, are geared towards men. I find that disappointing, and I feel we still have a long way to go in terms of equality.

We went to an awards ceremony recently, and it was predominantly men who were being recognised. I think it’s because a lot of people self-nominate, and women aren’t often ones to self-promote. We need to encourage more women to have that voice.

May Watson (Connective BDM in WA) has been incredible at doing that. She’s been amazing at creating an empower group and catch-ups for women in the industry. It’s made a huge difference to me, because I felt very isolated in this industry. Now I feel like we have the women to support each other.

4) Do you feel supported? Valued? Included?

We used to be with a different aggregator, but when we moved to Connective a few years ago, the difference in culture was colossal. Connective are so supportive and inclusive.

5) What would your message be to young women considering this as a profession?

Young women need try to find a female mentor that can them take them under their wing and assist and support them as they learn and master their profession.

Whether we are male or female, potential income is a main driver for job choices, but I also think that women desire purposeful work and finding someone who can help them nurture that balance is really important.

Don’t feel like you have to prove yourself and do it on your own. Work with someone, (male or female) with similar ethics and beliefs and do your best to connect with other women in your field. If I didn’t have my mum and now the group of Connective female brokers, I definitely wouldn’t still be working in this industry.

6) How do women add value to the industry?

I think there is more empathy in the way we approach a situation and emotional support with scenarios. We definitely provide that difference to our clients.

7) What would you like to see happen in the next 5-10 years?

It would be great to have more female role models (like May and my mum) and other experienced female brokers/finance managers having a louder voice. I think if women had more high-level female role models, they would continue to push and strive, as they have a clear example of what they can achieve. So, we really need to make more of an effort to support and encourage women in these roles.