Broker shares how 'talking' to her late parent, helped her focus on the future
Sometimes it can take a seismic event in your life for you to focus with fresh eyes on the way ahead, and to find a new way of doing things - certainly, that was the case for mortgage broker Jessica Reehal.
Today, Reehal (pictured) is a high achieving adviser, but 15 years ago, she was less sure of her path and felt she was drifting.
The daughter of a driven entrepreneur and property investor – her much-loved father - Reehal had grown up against the backdrop of a business environment and duly pursued a business-related degree.
Leaving university, she applied for various jobs, and secured some, including working in recruitment. But Rehaal’s father spotted a restlessness in her, in her early career. “You keep aimlessly going everywhere,” he commented.
Eventually, she seemed to find her groove, joining Royal Bank of Scotland in 2006 and becoming one of its best performers at the time. She was promoted to manager of several branches, but the lack of certainty about her onward career path remained. She was dogged by a lingering fear: “If you leave the bank, your life will fall apart.”
And then, the unthinkable happened – her father passed away in 2010, aged just 59.
“I think that was actually the kick that I needed to change my life,” Reehal told Mortgage Introducer. “When he passed, that gave me a shake-up to say, what do you really want to do? What do you really want to achieve? Are you happy with just meandering along? When he died, it really shocked my whole world because he was so important to me. When someone massive in your life passes, I think it puts you at a crossroads.”
Searching for clarity on what to do next, she headed to her father’s favourite pub, which had now closed down, to try to connect with him.
“I remember driving there and sitting in my car, asking myself what was I going to achieve out of life,” Reehal said. “It felt like my father was with me, so I had this conversation with him. I just said, ‘I need you to help me’.”
And did that experience help her?
“100%,” she said. “My life is totally different now. I believe in manifestation - if you don't set goals or set your ideas of what you want to achieve, you will never achieve anything.”
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The journey to a rewarding career
Reehal left the bank, and despite diversions into retail - running her own store and trebling its turnover - and in sales for Direct Line Group, she finally settled into a new career as a mortgage broker. Now she works under the auspices of London Mortgage Solutions (LMS). She’s also followed in her father’s footsteps, today holding an impressive portfolio of 20 rental properties, and, as a broker, enjoys helping her buy-to-let clients to grow their own businesses.
“I got into mortgages to become a dream maker,” Reehal explained. “You've got to be tenacious, and you've got to be able to spin lots of plates at well. You're going to have a bit of an imposter syndrome, where you're worrying is this your last case, is this your last deal? It makes you realise you've just got to keep striving. You're only as good as your last month.”
She continued: “You’ve got to be resilient, be an avid worker and do the hours. You need to be showing up every day and be consistent with your mindset, and consistent with the work you're doing. If you've not got cases on your desk, then go out and find them. You've got to be good at networking, willing to go to networking events, where you'll be out of your comfort zone.
“You can network anywhere. My husband and I went to a spa day over Christmas and I could hear a couple talking about HMOs. So, I turned to them and said, ‘I'm a mortgage specialist’, and their ears pricked up. We’re got an appointment tonight.”
She urged: “You might be fab giving advice, but the main thing you need is leads, and I don't feel that anyone needs to pay for leads. You need to go out there and have a personality that's willing to go and grab that business. It's just finding opportunities everywhere. If you get a ‘no’, don't let that ‘no’ put you down, or put you off. When a door closes, the better one is further down the street or further down the road. Just keep going.”
What, then, does Reehal think her father would make of her career now?
“He would say, ‘why didn't you do this before? Just imagine if you'd have done this 20 years ago, where you would be now!’” she said, with a smile. “But, he would be really proud.”
