Isabella Constantinou

Simplicity Loans & Advisory congratulates Isabella Constantinou on the six-month mark of her appointment to the position of Associate Director of the Sales team at the beginning of COVID-19.

Ms Constantinou first joined the company in 2017 as a graduate before being promoted to the role of associate working with both the Managing Directors, Matthew Johnson and Jean-Pierre Gortan.

Co-Managing Director, Matthew Johnson said “With our plans to continue growing our team this year, we couldn’t be more proud to promote Isabella to this new role and to have seen her growth over the last three years since her first introduction to the broking industry.”

“We are pleased to see more widespread entry of women in our industry and we want to be part of those paving the way by providing the right environment and offering opportunities for women to thrive in the industry. It was amazing to see the positive difference we saw in our small group when we first had Isabella and Samantha join the five men in the business back in 2017. Historically the finance and broking industry, particularly so in the commercial market, has been slower than others to move the dial on this.”

Co-Managing Director, Jean-Pierre Gortan added, “It’s also great to see others in the industry such as our aggregator FAST, and many of our lenders, recognise and make an effort to highlight the importance of women’s success in the industry and the unique perspective they can bring to a team through programs such as Strength in Diversity.”

Rob Ryan, Head of NSW, ACT and QLD at FAST said, “One of the reasons behind Simplicity Loans & Advisory’s early success is because of their inclusive and supportive approach towards their people, reflecting FAST’s own values of strength through diversity in its many forms. We are proud to say it is already one of FAST’s major key broker groups nationally thanks to the vision and foresight of the business’ founding partners Matthew Johnston and Jean-Pierre Gortan. It is businesses like Simplicity Loans & Advisory that will continue to empower this industry for the better, with their innovative approach and drive for diversification.”

In this new role, Ms Constantinou is now responsible for managing her own portfolio of commercial clients and referrers. Over the last six months she has averaged around 30 transactions in her pipeline at any one time, working closely with all stakeholders to source and structure attractive funding solutions.

“Joining the team at Simplicity has proven to be an invaluable step in my career and I am excited to step into this role as the team expands. Starting my career with a newly established business as part of a small team has given me the opportunity to be mentored by the best in the industry, and gain the experience and knowledge I wouldn’t have been exposed to as a graduate in a bank,” Ms Constantinou said.

“Being a woman in an industry that is traditionally dominated by men was certainly a challenge, but the team at Simplicity has been incredibly welcoming and supportive in helping me grow in my career and develop my skillset. I recognise I am still one of few women in the industry, but I’m looking forward to encouraging better diversity and gender equality amongst other colleagues in the industry. There are so many female role models in our industry that should be celebrated. We are still greatly underrepresented, and I actually see this as an opportunity to stand out and demonstrate your value.”

Mr Johnson concluded, “We will always be stronger, better prepared and better able to deliver outstanding service to our clients when we are able to leverage a range of different experiences, skills, backgrounds and viewpoints. We are really proud that our business includes people from so many different nationalities from all over the world and from different work backgrounds, but we are certainly looking to have more women join our team as we grow. Today, we have Samantha, our Office Manager in a leadership role, but of our 7 brokers we only have Isabella, and whilst we are focused on the right people for the right roles, we would love to see that ratio even up.”

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