FEATURES
MENTORING
Lifting women up through mentorship Using her own experience as a female rising through the ranks in the finance and broking industry, La Trobe Financial’s Michelle Bannister mentors other women on their journey to do the same
SINCE STARTING out in the mailroom at La Trobe Financial 25 years ago, Michelle Bannister has worked her way up the ranks at the non-bank lender to her current position as senior executive – head of distribution. Bannister puts a lot of this down to the support she has received from the organisation, which has helped her grow and develop not only in her career but as a person. Now, she wants to support more women to choose a career in broking and finance. Heading up a team of 35, she enjoys mentoring and helping other people succeed. La Trobe Financial provides tailored training and education for its female employees, as well as ‘women in finance’ events with inspiring female speakers. In order to boost the number of women in the industry, Bannister believes promotion and messaging via industry bodies is needed to show women how broking has changed and now offers work-life balance. Beyond that, the industry has also come a long way towards being seen as a professional career path, by implementing and promoting a number of key qualifications and training programs. As a result, broking
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has become more appealing to younger people as an profession they can join out of school or university. “Traditionally, a typical broker was a retired banker who had been working for over 20 years within the banking sector, took a package from the bank and moved into finance broking as a natural fit for their skill set and an opportunity for them to run
maturing of the broking industry as it moves further towards being recognised as a true ‘professional service’.”
Helping mentees reach their goals Having seen both positive and negative changes over her years in finance, Bannister is using her experience to mentor others. Mentoring is something she believes the
“I believe that female leaders and executives within business light a path for opportunity and career progression for other females entering the ranks” Michelle Bannister, La Trobe Financial their own business,” Bannister says. “There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, other than that perhaps broking was something people did after their careers, rather than a profession that people aspired to at the beginning of their careers. More recently, we have experienced a
industry has become very good at over the last five to 10 years and is offered to both men and women. These kinds of opportunities were not available when she started her journey, when young females were often afraid to ask for support or guidance in the event they were seen as failing.
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