What locations and how many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role?
I look after around 800 broker firms across the North East and Yorkshire, working closely with my telephone BDM Karen Green to ensure all these lovely individuals receive great support and service from us.
How have you changed the way you establish and maintain a good relationship with brokers in (and after) the pandemic?
I was actually a broker during the pandemic and I started the BDM role in March last year. I feel like having been a broker myself I saw how BDMs adapted, and I got used to the flexibility of using both face-to-face and virtual meetings.
Now the pandemic is over, more brokers are receptive to face-to-face again which I love.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
I am a bit of a geek myself and my favourite part about my broker days was the research behind a case. I am not shy to help a broker pre and post-application and they usually appreciate the extra mile I am willing to go.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
Perhaps holding my own in a difficult conversation when I need to deliver bad news. I don’t like not being able to help someone.
Where would you rather be stuck, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, or back-to-back Zoom calls that could have been an email, and why?
I love to chat so back-to-back Zoom calls would be a dream day for me. Plus, I really hate being late and traffic usually means you’re late and stressed because time management is such a huge part of this role.
What’s the best bit of career-related advice you’ve ever been given? Who gave it to you?
A quick no is better than a long maybe… and as long as you are a good communicator you will go far.
I think this came from my dad who is actually a broker in my patch.
What makes a great colleague?
Someone you can vent to, confide in, give and receive support and also have a laugh with!
What is the most quirky/unique property deal you’ve been involved in?
I haven’t seen anything too quirky yet, but I’m dreaming of the day I get to arrange a mortgage for a mansion or a castle.
Tell us about your trickiest case – what happened and how did you resolve their problem(s)?
Someone was buying a £1m buy-to-let property but their residential was only £200,000, so it seemed a little odd that their buy-to-let was five times more valuable. I sat with the broker and found out more about the case. It turned out the client and his brother had created a very successful tech business and his brother bought him out with £1m in shares.
The client had all this money to invest and bought a plot of land to build his own residential on, three unencumbered buy-to-lets and this large house. I understood why it made sense for the client to invest this way, so I supported the broker and helped him put forward an appeal. The appeal went through and we completed on the mortgage.
Happy broker, happy customer.
What was your motivation for choosing business development as a career?
My dad has been in the industry for 30 years. He has always been a broker and I followed him into the industry. I studied business management and marketing at university and always wanted to use my skills in B2B relationship management. With industry knowledge from my broker days plus the key skills for business development managing I knew it would be a great role for me.
If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?
I would probably love to buy and flip properties and get involved in the design side.
What did you want to be growing up?
A professional swimmer.
What makes you laugh?
Probably… my partner and best friends, (some) TikTok videos, Kevin Hart and the Amy Schumer/ Jennifer Lawrence duo.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
To teleport places. I love to travel but hate the actual travel part.
Name your favourite restaurant and why you love it.
A Taste of Yard in Zante. Absolutely stunning pasta. We went almost every night on the same holiday and got the same dish.
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
Lots of brokers ask if my name is made up because it is so perfect for the industry.
