This is part 6 of a series I’m calling ‘How to start a Lifestyle Financial Planning business from scratch’. If you are new here, welcome! For context, it would make sense for you to start with part 1 which can be found by clicking HERE.

Last week I revealed what it was like selling sub-prime Mortgages during a sub-prime Mortgage financial crisis.

So, let’s continue…

March 2008

I had been actively looking for a proper Mortgage Adviser job ever since I joined my previous company selling sub-prime secured loans, but with scant reward due to my relative lack of experience and the fact that we were in the midst of a global financial crisis and the mortgage market was in meltdown. 🏡📉😤

Then, to my utter surprise I received a call from a recruitment consultant who told me an Adviser job had come available for a large high street bank, would I be interested?🤷🏻‍♂️

“Erm, go on then!” 😕 I replied.

Dude, where’s my car?! 🚗

I could not wait for this interview, I was certain this was my big opportunity.

The interview was held in their Doncaster branch.

I was wearing my best oversized, cheap polyester black suit for the occasion. In a bid to avoid any distractions during the interview, I left my phone and wallet in the car. All I had with me was my briefcase full of accolades from previous employments and the obligatory copy of my CV.👌🏻

I had learnt from my past interview mistakes (remember my DFS debacle from this blog?🤦🏻‍♂️) so I researched the company and the role in great depth.😇

The interview went brilliantly, and I felt confident I would be in contention for the job.

I left the interview with an indelible spring in my step, the fact that it was absolutely pouring with rain hardly even registered. I was smiling from ear to ear, until I realised I had no idea where I had parked my car.😐

At the time, I didn’t know Doncaster centre at all, so I couldn’t even ask people for directions, because I didn’t know where I was parked or what landmarks were nearby for reference.👀

All I knew was that it was at the top of a multistorey car park and I had walked through a shopping centre.

I Had no phone, no wallet – I was soaking wet and I was absolutely starving! (I am known for getting ‘hangry’).😡😩

I was too embarrassed to ask anyone for help. What would I even ask them?🤷🏻‍♂️

I honestly didn’t know what else to do other than walk around in the hope that I would eventually find it.🌧🚶🏻‍♂️

After an hour and 45 minutes I finally found it, on the top floor of Frenchgate shopping centre car park, which was about 100 metres away from the location of the interview.🤦🏻‍♂️

The relief was palpable – I honestly think I cried a little when I finally sat in the car. It was like a scene from ‘This is your life’ when someone is reunited with long lost family.😭

I returned home and told my housemate John, all about my ordeal – he was very understanding, his laughter was only halted when I received a call from an unknown number.😳

It was Mike – the interviewer.🤭

After exchanging pleasantries, he offered me the job!🤗💪🏻

I couldn’t believe it…I felt like I had won The Apprentice – and I couldn’t wait to get started.

For the journey 🐎

After I completed my training I was told I would be covering Rotherham and Pontefract branches.

On an interesting side note, I was born, raised and lived in Rotherham at the time – but I had never been to Pontefract and I only had a vague idea of where it was. But as I write this, I am in the process of moving to Pontefract! If I cast my mind back now, if you had told me 10 years ago that I would end up married and living in Pontefract, I would have found it very hard to believe.😮

Work and play, it’s never OK to mix the way we do

My time at the Bank had an inauspicious start.

Rotherham was one of the key branches in the region. Consequently, it had a huge sales target and all the top sales people worked there.💷💷💷

The manager was an absolute dragon 🐉 and she expected us all to work every hour of the day, and sell whatever we could, to whoever we could.👹

The fact was that I didn’t want to work until 7pm every night, I simply wasn’t that interested in building a ‘career’ at that point in my life. All I wanted was a respectable 9-5 which earned me enough to pay the bills and afford me a few minor luxuries, after which, I was much more interested in going to the gym, playing sports or jamming with the band.🏋🏻‍♀️⚽️🎸

When I joined the Bank, I had this naïve vision that I would become an upstanding member of the community, and that our customers would truly be ‘at the heart of everything we do’, after all – take a look at any of the major Banks marketing and that is exactly what they all promise.🤐

But that wasn’t, and still isn’t the truth. The truth is that every person who walked into the Bank had a ‘£’ sign above their head and if they were unable to be monetised in some way, then our job was to shift them on as quickly as possible. (🕒 is 💷)

I felt a little deflated by the constant push for sales at any cost. I thought I had made it to the promised land – only to find that it was full of charlatans and snake oil salesmen. 🐍

After 3 months the manager in the Rotherham branch had grown weary of my pedestrian sales performance and had me moved on.👊🏻

2009

A few branch moves later and I found myself working in Wakefield.

I liked Wakefield because I had an office upstairs, nicely tucked away from the constant annoyance of colleagues and customers knocking on my door whist I was trying to deal with the endless paperwork associated with arranging a Mortgage.👨🏻‍💻📚🗂

I used to rock up, see my customers, hit my targets and then spend the rest of the time on Wikipedia until the bell rang for hometime. 🔔 (I didn’t have a smart phone and we could only access BBC news or Wiki on the works computer 😤)

I was coasting and frankly – I was bored. But I stuck it out because I was far more interested in enjoying my mid-twenties and let’s face it, the economy wasn’t exactly booming – so jobs were scarce.

Meadowhall boys club

In 2010 we were at the very nadir of the financial crisis, the Bank was going through a major transition and because of this, came the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy!🤔

Much to my managers surprise, I ticked the box. ✅

I had no idea what I was going to do if I was selected, but I would get around £7,000 which would give me a few months to figure something out.🤷🏻‍♂️

My manager came to see me and told me they didn’t want me to go. In fairness I was doing ok in terms of performance, but I was only doing the bare minimum to keep the wolf from the door, and nothing more.

I told him I wanted to work closer to home – specifically, Meadowhall.

A month later I was moved to Meadowhall branch. It was a sliding doors moment for me. I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I had been given redundancy, maybe I would have set up on my own or maybe I would have changed career entirely?🔄

Instead, I found myself in a busy, bustling branch with a team full of guys under the age of 40 and the truth is, we had great fun!🕺🏻👀🆙

We were smashing targets and having laughs, it soon became known as ‘The Meadowhall Boys Club’.🙌🏼

The only problem with working in Meadowhall was that I spent my wages before they had time to register in my account!😩

I remained in Meadowhall for a further 2 years and as I approached 30 I started to take myself and my career a little more seriously.👔💼

My friends were starting to settle down, we decided to call it quits with the band and I was finally enjoying my work.

Then, in 2012 an interesting and timely opportunity arose.🤔

More on that next week…

Until next time…

If you are looking for a collaborative partner to help you and your family succeed financially, then hit me at planning@claritylfp.co.uk and let’s see if we get along!

Financial Planner | Financial Adviser | Investment Advice | Pension Advice | Insurance Advice | West Yorkshire