Experienced advice.
A real conversation.

I grew up around small business

My parents immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s, and for as long as I can remember, they were entrepreneurs. Over the years, they owned several businesses, including tanning salons, a trucking and airport freight company, and later a daycare centre.

Growing up in that environment meant everybody helped. I worked in the family trucking business, helping with freight and airport deliveries, and later helped at the daycare with lunches, activities and getting children to and from school.

At the time, it was simply part of family life. Looking back, it was also my first education in business.

You show up. You work hard. You solve problems. You listen to people. And when you’re self-employed, you learn quickly that taking care of your customers matters.

Those lessons stayed with me.

An unexpected route into mortgages

I went on to complete a Bachelor of Science degree, which might seem like an unusual starting point for someone who would eventually spend more than two decades working with mortgages.

My mortgage experience came through years of working directly in financial services and lending, but some of the habits I learned through science carried over.

You ask questions, gather information, test assumptions and make sense of what the evidence is telling you. I’ve always enjoyed that kind of thinking.

In 2001, my career took me into financial services, where I worked with lending and helped manage an existing mortgage portfolio.

I regularly spoke with homeowners who had been making mortgage payments for years but were sometimes surprised by the rate they were paying, the balance they still owed or the options available to them.

Most hadn’t done anything wrong. They simply hadn’t always had someone explain how the mortgage worked or review it with them along the way.

So I started reaching out. Sometimes by phone. Other times we’d sit down together, go through the mortgage and talk about the options.

I realized how much I enjoyed helping people make sense of something that had previously felt complicated or unclear.

That was really the beginning.

Moving into the mortgage broker channel

Moving fully into the mortgage broker channel eventually felt like the natural next step. It gave me access to a broader range of lenders and the opportunity to build my own client practice.

More than two decades later, I’m still doing it.

I’ve worked with hundreds of clients through purchases, renewals, refinances and situations that don’t always fit neatly into a box.

And despite how much the mortgage industry has changed, the part I’ve always enjoyed most hasn’t.

It’s the conversation.

Getting to know someone, understanding what’s going on and helping them make sense of their options.

Outside of mortgages

These days, I live in Toronto’s Beaches with my family. My children are moving through their late teens and early adulthood, which is its own reminder of how quickly life moves.

I’ve always enjoyed learning, creating and figuring out how things work. I’m usually researching something, building something or tinkering with an idea.

Music has always been part of our family. My children started piano when they were young, and several years ago I finally decided to learn myself. They also play guitar, which remains on my own “one day” list.

I also enjoy being outdoors, camping with my family, spending time with our pets and playing golf whenever I get the chance.

In a strange way, I’ve ended up not that far from where I started.

I grew up watching my parents build businesses by serving people directly.

Today, I’m doing much the same thing.

Just with mortgages.