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Fresh off the back of winning Mentor of the Year at the Better Business Awards 2025 Sydney, Dr Lisa Bridgett discussed how crucial mentorship is for the industry.
“It’s not just a box to tick. You actually can have someone you know in your team really helping you grow,” she said.
It goes beyond teaching them how to be brokers. Mentors can assist in wider professional development and help build the next-generation business owners.
There are multiple avenues a new broker can go down in their career. Whether joining an established brand, a small boutique brokerage, or flying solo, unexplored and daunting territory may require some expert advice.
“A lot of the help at the beginning is around helping them package a deal, how to do a funding cap, product comparison, use Quickli, do all the broker bits. But so many questions I’ve found keep coming up about, should I hire someone, and should they be onshore or offshore? And should I go into my own brand or should I do a franchise model? Or should I just join another company? Should I do PAYG?” said Bridgett.
“There are so many ways you can cut it. Having my experience in doing a few of those different models in the past, but also asking the right questions of the mentee in terms of what their life looks like, then determines what you know might make sense.”
While the two-year compulsory mentorship journey can establish the foundational skills of being a broker, going above and beyond the requirement can build deeper skills.
Bridgett urged fresh brokers to leverage the expertise of those who have years of experience.
The Cert IV requirement to operate as a broker can leave those on the other side with questions. Mentors can fill these gaps.
“To become a broker, it’s no secret that it’s a very low barrier to entry. You’ve got a laptop, you’ve got a Cert IV, off you go. But what you realise after you do that, Cert IV is, now what? What do I do now? It doesn’t really give you the on the ground stuff,” Bridgett said.
“Doing a formal training course facilitated by an external provider helps them in leaps and bounds to accelerate their broker knowledge.”
Further to benefiting the mentee, mentors are able to develop skill sets and gain fresh perspectives.
“I love it when they ask a question that stops me in my tracks and I have to really think about the answer to it. You can learn a lot,” Bridgett said.
[Related: Top-performing brokers on opportunities and challenges for 2025]
