My alarm goes off at…

…I can’t remember the last time I used an alarm. Probably pre-Covid for a silly o’clock train.

But those days are behind us now and we have all learned how powerful video meetings are to our industry.

Sometimes you need to be a source of guidance, sometimes a mitigator, and sometimes a counsellor

I usually awake around 6am and either take the dogs out or spend an hour in the garden, tending to the veg plots.

I wanted to work in the mortgage industry because…

…after a career in retail banking I realised that mortgages weren’t just a product — they helped people fulfil a big life dream of owning a home.

Whether it is a customer’s first step on the housing ladder or someone downsizing to buy their dream country cottage, the mortgage is for many a necessary financial requirement for making this happen.

Our job is very people orientated, so human connections are important

It is definitely a speciality role that requires much devotion and effort, but is also greatly rewarding.

Something that surprised me about my job was…

…the amount of variety the role offered, outside sitting down with brokers (which is obviously an important part of the job).

There is a lot of work we do behind the scenes to ensure we are supporting our brokers as best we can, through training, analysing performance and looking at how to optimise our processes. It can be challenging to balance all these spinning plates, so you have to be a multi-tasking genius.

A misconception about my role is…

…that the life of a business development manager (BDM) is spent driving around and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

We have all learned how powerful video meetings are to our industry

I have a real mix of additional/behind-the-scenes tasks throughout the week that offer a significant amount of extra support to brokers, especially during busy times such as now.

My typical day entails…

…my days are so varied that rarely are two alike, but most days include checking overnight emails (brokers are very dedicated and often are working very late or very early).

I have an amazing working relationship with the telephony BDM for my region, so we catch up daily.

I realised that mortgages weren’t just a product — they helped people fulfil a big life dream of owning a home

Rigorously managing my diary is a must as typically there will be a variety of internal and external video meetings, broker appointments, checking existing cases/case tracking, and raising/following up escalations or decline appeals. In addition, it’s important to keep up with market intel and insight.

Our job is very people orientated, so human connections are important and sometimes you need to be a source of guidance, sometimes a mitigator, and sometimes a counsellor.

A perk of the job is…

…making that call to let a broker know I’ve managed to get a challenging case sorted. Even though I don’t get to see or speak to the end-client, I know this has made a massive difference to them.

There is a lot of work we do behind the scenes to ensure we are supporting our brokers as best we can

I cover the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset region, so seeing the ocean most days isn’t a bad day in the office for me, and I’m lucky to have some amazing brokers, many of whom I consider friends.

My favourite work memory is…

…this is by far the toughest question. I have some very funny work anecdotes, which really shouldn’t be shared here!

I guess the proudest memories I have are of winning achievement/recognition awards or being involved in work projects that have made a huge difference, both internally and improving our support for brokers.

To unwind after work…

…I replace my work shoes with wellies. We live in a converted cattle barn in south Devon with nearly an acre of land. This keeps me very busy and is a great way to unwind. After a long day at work there’s always something to fix, improve, plant, harvest, chop or mow.

It’s important to keep up with market intel and insight

I love DIY, which is a must, really. One of my many lockdown projects was plumbing and fitting a new bathroom and I also love to upcycle old furniture.

When my time isn’t taken up with this, we have a Volkswagen camper van (called Pingu) and you’ll often find us in Cornwall at weekends, cider in hand, not far from a barbecue with friends.