This is part 7 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 detailed my first foray into retail banking as a Mortgage Adviser during the credit crisis in 2008.

So, let’s continue…

2012

London ‘Olympics’ fever was in the air and a long overdue wave of optimism had gripped the nation.🏅🇬🇧

Work was going well too, but I was starting to get itchy feet as a Mortgage Adviser for a bank. I was starting to consider my future career progression and it dawned on me that I most definitely did not want to become a mortgage manager, that being, the job of my current boss. 😬👎🏻 As this was the obvious route to ‘progression’ for me at the time.

I had also been asked whether I would be interested in moving into bank management – but frankly, I would rather eat my own head.🙈

I couldn’t imagine being a manager of people, it’s just not me.

What I could imagine though, was always helping people on their financial journey.🙌🏼👌🏻 I absolutely loved getting to know all about my clients hopes and fears and helping them put their financial puzzle together.🗺

But being a Mortgage Adviser simply wasn’t enough for me. It was a one trick pony, almost transactional in nature.🔄

I would often sit with my clients and want to dig deeper, to help get their financial lives in order and help them put their financial lives in perspective, but the truth is that it wasn’t my job and I wasn’t paid a bonus for building deep, meaningful and long lasting relationships with my clients – I was paid to sell Mortgages!👊🏻

That’s why I was never one of the absolute top performers with the bank – I cared too much about building meaningful relationships with my clients, rather than simply transacting with them and selling anything to anyone, like some product selling machine.🤖

I had an innate curiosity about my clients and I loved getting to know their stories.

So where else could I use these skills whilst simultaneously progressing my career?🤔

Financial Adviser

In late summer of 2012 I heard the bank was looking to recruit Financial Advisers and they were open to internal applications. This was a rare thing indeed given the economic situation and the scrutiny on the Banks at the time. 🏦 👀

I was encouraged by the local manager of the Financial Advisers to apply even though I wasn’t qualified.

At the time, I can’t say I was overly keen. 😐

Looking back, I think there was an element of self-doubt and laziness behind my apathy, but also, the job itself didn’t really appeal to me.😴

I was however, growing tired of my current role and let’s be honest – a payrise wouldn’t hurt!💷⬆️💪🏻

So, I applied for the position with a low expectation of success.

Interview

There were 2 vacancies in my region and an abundance of both internal and external applicants.

I arrived in Leeds for what would be a full day selection process including interviews and role plays.

Before the formalities began, all candidates had to introduce themselves in a classic round table game of ‘Tommy Topper’ which went something like this:

“Hi, I’m Alan, I currently work in HSBC private banking and I have been a corporate financial adviser for 200,000 years. I’m generally quite affable but if you stand in between me and a sale then I will rip off your head and sh*t down your neck…and my favourite colour is taupe”.😐🤑

“Hi, I’m Angelica. I’m married….to the job….and I was recently made redundant from Natwest where I worked as a Senior Financial Adviser, I had been with them for 15 years and won the Nobel prize for outstanding contributions to Financial Advice in 2006”.👱🏻‍♀️🧛‍♀️

“Hi everyone. I’m Kevin, and I have been an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) for 6.2 Million years, I started giving financial advice as soon as I left my mothers womb and as you can see, I am a complete dinosaur”.🦖👴🏻

Then there was me…

“Good morning, my name’s Marc Hoyland, I’m 28, I’m single, I live with my buddy John, and I am a Mortgage Adviser from Meadowhall branch”.😁

It was like this scene from Men in Black where Will Smith’s character applies for the MiB position surrounded by military elite candidates.

I wasn’t feeling confident…

Not ready

I’ll give myself some credit – I had become pretty good at interviews by this point and I had prepared well, but it was still a massive surprise – not just to me but also to many of my colleagues – that I was offered the job.😮🤯

It didn’t go down too well with my new Mortgage Manager though. She had recently taken on the position after yet another internal restructuring debacle. Truth is she had been demoted. It was either that or redundancy. She was in a hurry to progress back up the ladder and was simply not interested in the development of her staff and she was prepared to destroy anyone who could jeopardise her mission.😈

This woman had only met me twice before, yet on hearing I had been offered the job (and realising she would lose one of her top performing staff) she had the temerity to make an unannounced visit where she proceeded to inform me (with no substance or evidence) that I was not ready to be a Financial Adviser.😮

She went further and called the regional head of the financial advisory business to tell them they had made a mistake and that my performance was inadequate to warrant what was in effect, a promotion.🤬

Have you ever had a sudden change in management which has completely changed your relationship with your work?😭

I will assert that I can get on with almost anybody, but this woman I could not abide, she seemed impervious to my charm! Which is surely witchcraft?!🤷🏻‍♂️

If I ever come across someone I don’t much like at first, I look to Abraham Lincoln for inspiration;

“I do not like that man, I must get to know him better”.

– Abraham Lincoln

But try as I might, in my view, this woman was fundamentally unlikeable.🧙‍♀️

If I knew she was to visit, I would become consumed by an unshakeable feeling of anxiety, the hairs on the back of my neck would stand to attention and my throat would tighten its grip.😬

I badly wanted to tell her where to go. 👊🏻But I knew that to do so would be self-sabotage. There was nothing I could do, I simply had to keep my head down and my mouth shut during the 3 months I had to wait until I transitioned over to my new role 🤐.During that time, she tried on several occasions to veto my career progression.😠

It was a real test for me.

It was awful.

Finally, at the end of 2012 I was officially a ‘Financial Adviser’, in name only – as I still had to study for and pass the exams, which due to a new regulatory shake-up had just become a whole lot more difficult.📚📙📘📗📕

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