Tanya Carlson – Director Amplify Wealth Management

How did you start down this career path?

Like many advisers, I “fell into it”. I had been working as a Legal Recruitment Specialist when my mother was involved in a catastrophic accident. I was 9 months pregnant with my second child and decided I needed to work closer to home. A friend reached out and suggested I join a local practice in admin and got the job! They offered training and progression to paraplanner and subsequently adviser. After 9 years I left to start Amplify Wealth Management as I was keen to do advice my way. I recognised that women (and men) wanted more than just product and technical advice, they wanted guidance and a coaching relationship too, something I believe is intertwined with advice. Starting a practice from scratch was exciting and challenging. I worked from home and offered a “mobile” service initially. As my team grew, we moved to premises and recently moved in to our new office in Woolooware, overlooking Shark Park.

What inspires you in your role? Why

Inspiration is easy found in our clients– we work with clients who are keen to make this their best life! They want to achieve more and that in itself is inspirational and contagious.

We also see first hand the impact financial advice can have on people’s lives – both in the good times (eg retiring comfortably) and in the bad times (life’s unfortunate turns).

The other thing that inspires me is the profession itself – whilst there is no doubt it has been gruelling since the Royal Commission, one thing that has always been a dominant factor is that advisers want to be better, continuously. Personal development is a key focus for advisers and I love that we are all striving to be a better person every day of the week.

What's your approach to customer service that separates you from the rest?

The business has moved through various phases as we have grown and our focus is on working with professionals and business owners (we have a lot of lawyers, accountants, medical, media and design professionals). We love the complexity they bring to the table – they are time poor, wanting innovative solutions and needing responses to their requests as well as peace of mind and clarity. Our customer service approach is to provide a family office style solution. We offer a family office service for affluent clients (rather than the uber rich). We believe this is a growing niche as life becomes more complex and wealth is increasing exponentially, especially with the intergenerational wealth transfer that is underway. Trusted advisers will do more for their clients other than just provide investment advice, super and wealth protection. Our team are skilled at getting to know our clients needs and tailoring our services to their circumstances.

It's an ongoing commitment to being better.

How do you innovate and stay ahead of industry trends?

As I mentioned before, personal development is high on our agenda – attending PD days often provides insights to the growing trends, whether that is fintech, product solutions or information from our support partners, we always learn something.

When you are naturally curious and interested in what is going on around you, with competitors and peers alike you get a sense for what is coming next. We have learned to be early adopters and we have a unique ability to be agile when it comes to trying new things.

What is the toughest challenge you've faced in your role? How did you overcome it?

Being a business owner is always challenging. Just when you feel you have gotten through one problem, another one arises.

And I have always found it challenging to be a woman in business. I have made a conscious decision to grow my business second to raising my family and assisting my aging parents. I am a living example of the sandwich generation and too many times have felt that I wasn’t able to do anything well, as I was just stretched too thin. Life is a journey and for now my kids are adults and my parents have passed so there is more time for the business. Understanding these ebbs and flows have helped me.

What are some of your goals for the next 5 years?

I am excited for the next 5 years. I see more client growth and innovation in our service offering. I would like to hire another adviser and grow our team further.

Tanya is the host of the Money Mind podcast. Find all the episodes here: https://www.amplifywealth.com.au/podcast-1

For the latest news and articles from Amplify Wealth, follow their Money Mindset blog: https://www.amplifywealth.com.au/blog

Learn more visit https://amplifywealth.com.au/