"I just have to show up as me"
For Caroline Roach (pictured), mortgage planner at Fitzwilliam Mortgage Corporation in Nanaimo, one element stands above everything else when it comes to establishing the trust of her clientele.
“The most important lesson that I have learned so far is to be yourself. When I first started out, I had this image of who I had to be to be successful in this industry, that I had to put on a strictly business persona – high heels, fancy clothes, and always trying to look like I had it all together and figured out,” Roach told Canadian Mortgage Professional.
Roach said that a vital realization eventually set in: “I just have to show up as me.”
“People want to do business with people they can relate to and the only way to build real trust is to be vulnerable. So now I show up as me, a little hippy, a little hot mess mom, but 100% real,” she said.
For the BC-based mortgage professional, the results can’t be argued with.
“Since making that change and accepting the vulnerability, my volume has been growing at a steady rate of at least 30-50% each year,” Roach said. “I love my clients and I wouldn’t be able to connect with them on the level that I do if I didn’t show up as me – flaws included.”
Establishing strong bonds of trust with other industry players is also a crucial element of success in the long term.
“Relationships are key in this industry, and not just when it comes to your relationship with your clients,” Roach said. “We work hard to maintain a good relationship with our lending partners, specifically those who lend on the islands. We also advocate for our community to our lending partners who don’t; some of them have gone to bat for us trying to convince the higher ups that the islands are a good investment.”
“I work on so many different types of files, but I guess something that I specialize in is the islands. While I now live on Vancouver Island, I grew up on Gabriola, one of the gulf islands and am still very connected to it,” she added. “The islands are different when it comes to mortgages. Some lenders won’t lend on them, while some only will if it’s insured. There are a lot of unique property types as well. The other issue on the islands is that there are virtually no ‘B’ lenders who will go there, so it takes a lot of creative problem-solving sometimes when trying to find a solution for a client.”
This approach has served Roach well in her career so far.
“I’ve been licensed for almost 12 years now; however, I was doing admin work for the brokerage before getting my license so I’ve been in the industry for almost 15 years,” Roach said. “I’ve been with The Mortgage Centre the whole time. The head office team both out in Ontario and here in BC are amazing and I am incredibly proud to be a part of the network.”
And while Roach initially told herself that she had no intentions of entering the mortgage industry, she stressed that she is “so incredibly grateful” that she did.
“This business has given me the freedom and flexibility to be at home with my son while also building a career,” Roach said. “A lot of people say that you cannot be part-time in this industry, and for some that may be true, but for me it was the perfect solution.”
However, the intimate and personal approach has its fair share of pitfalls, Roach said.
“The more files you have, the more opportunities there are for fires on files. I am an incredibly empathetic person and I care so much about my clients and their outcomes – maybe a little too much, so I take it personally,” she said. “You can’t do that in this business, you’ll drown under the weight of it.”
Roach said that the mantra “I didn’t create the problem; I’m just here to help” is a valuable one for a broker to keep top of mind at all times, coupled with generous self-care and physical activity.
“I’ve stepped up my personal rituals: more exercise, more meditation, more yoga, and completely disconnecting from my phone and email when I’m not on the clock,” she said.
