What does your role entail and how long have you been doing it?
As a protection adviser, I’m in regular contact with clients and book appointments with families. For the last two years, I have been supporting families with their protection needs and meeting many of them in the comfort of their own homes. You can also find me at weekly compliance meetings ensuring that I’m up to date with the market and latest products and services.
What attracted you to working in the mortgage/property/finance sector?
I was previously working in sales and I had a client that was working in the protection industry. Like myself, she was a mother of two. After speaking with her, I was intrigued to learn more about the industry and once I joined Access Financial Services, I fell in love with the industry. The rest is history as they say.
What were you doing in the five years before starting here?
I was a sales negotiator. Before that I worked for a small medium enterprise company that focused on business turnarounds.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
I think business acumen and product knowledge is really important. But the most valuable skill is having empathy for others supported by excellent communication skills.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
It is important to always believe that there is room for improvement. Moving from being employed to self-employed is a big change and requires a lot of discipline.
How has the pandemic changed the way you approach your job?
The pandemic made me reflect on what I wanted out of my life and career. As I was spending more time at home, I realised how my family was missing me. I was fortunate to be able to explore this new career path helping families prepare for unforeseen circumstances while having greater control over my work-life balance. Being part of the Access team is honestly my dream job.
What is the most interesting/memorable property deal/case you’ve been involved in?
I think it would have to be my first client. He invited me to meet his wife – who he said already had protection policies in place.
As I was fresh in the industry, my manager accompanied me. My manager took control of the meeting and invited his wife to join the conversation. By the end of the meeting, the client’s wife was thanking us as we found a much better policy for her – one that fit her needs. The previous policy had been sold to her over the phone and she took it without really understanding the product. This meeting really changed my whole perspective of the role we play in the industry and our responsibility to educate and help clients make informed decisions.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I would like to follow the footsteps of my manager – he is such an inspiration. I would like to have my own team of female advisers, especially mothers like myself. Mothers have all the necessary skills to thrive in this empathy-driven business.
If present-day you could go in time back and tell yourself something five years ago, what would it be?
I would say: ‘Make yourself a priority and don’t let external forces distract you from your goals in life’.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve tackled so far in your career?
I think self-belief was an initially a challenge. But by believing in myself, and delivering for Access clients, the referred business comes naturally.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
If I could have one ability, it would be to heal everybody and create a better world for us all.
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
As a protection adviser there are often difficult conversations with prospective clients. I’ve been asked what I think happens after we leave this world. It was a really deep question and wasn’t one I was ready to answer on the spot.
