Getting to know Larissa Barton

How did you get into broking and why did you choose Mortgage Choice?

I moved from New Zealand to Sydney in 2002 and got a job working for a boutique financial services company. I was working in the mortgage team, helping the loan writers track and submit their applications. I ended up working for that business for 10 years and moved up the ranks until I was General Manager.

While I was on maternity leave, I started thinking about my next career move. I knew wanted to do something for myself and by that point I knew the lending process well and had met quite a few mortgage brokers from Mortgage Choice. They were all great people, so when I made the decision to start my own business, starting a Mortgage Choice franchise made sense. We were still living in Sydney when I started the franchise, and my husband Gordon was working in the construction industry, but he couldn’t see longevity in it. We were in a small house, and we knew we wanted to move where we could afford a bigger home for our family.

I was almost due to have my son Charlie in March of 2016 when I got a call from someone in the recruitment team saying a franchise on the Sunshine Coast was up for sale. I was nervous because I was so close to my due date, so I talked to Gordy about it, and we decided to take the plunge and put in an offer. A month later we were on a plane with the kids to see the business! Four months after that, in November 2016, we’d taken out a lease in a small office at Peregian Beach.

Like many franchises in our network, yours is run by a couple. Can you share how you and Gordon balance working together?

Gordon spends most of his time in the Peregian Beach office and I spend most of my time in Noosaville, but we mix it up because I still have clients who want to meet me in Peregian, so I'll book those appointments at the start or at the end of the day. I think we are both aware of our strengths. Gordy loves marketing and strategy and I’m constantly looking for ways we can refine our processes as a team, so I think we complement each other in that way. I think the biggest benefit of being a husband-and-wife team is that we appreciate each other's time. If someone's got to run and get the kids from school, I know who can be in the office over the other. Whereas I think if I had a job somewhere else, it might be harder for us to shift things around.

What would you say is the best part of your job?

I love seeing our business grow and seeing that we’re making the right decisions with our processes because even though we are doing the same amount of work we were a few years ago, we don’t feel like we’re running at 100% capacity all the time, so we can enjoy the work.

Why do you think broking is a great career for women?

I think broking is a great career for women because you do have flexibility, particularly if you've got a family. But it can involve more time than you think to get started so it’s important to spend some time working with an established broker before you decide to start a business. This will give you the chance to learn the ropes so if you get stuck writing a complicated loan, you’ve got someone with experience to help you. One of our team members is about to become a broker and she’s been doing credit analyst work in the business for the last year, so she really understands loan scenarios back to front. She’s going to shoot the lights out as a broker!

What are your goals for the business for the rest of 2023?

Personally, I’d like to get to a point where I can work four days a week. I want to see our business continue to grow, we’re bringing on another team member and I want to keep nurturing our team because we’ve got some great talent. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and enjoying what we do. There’s no point writing a high volume and being stressed out; you need to enjoy what you do every day.

What do you love to do outside of work?

I play tennis on a Tuesday afternoon, and living on the Sunshine Coast means we do lots of walking and going to the beach with the family.