Inaugural event features a stellar line-up of speakers from across the industry
New Zealand’s first ever Women in Mortgage & Finance event is now less than two weeks away, and with a stellar line-up of speakers, attendees can expect to hear a lot of inspiring stories, insights and thought-provoking discussions.
One of the keynote speakers at the event Sue Griffiths (pictured), head of sales NZ at event partner Bluestone Mortgages, has been heavily involved in women in finance events in Australia throughout her career, and says Bluestone is excited to be bringing this opportunity to the mortgage and finance industry in New Zealand.
Griffiths will be speaking about juggling career and family, stress management strategies, and the importance of taking opportunities in a session titled ‘Confessions of a recovering workaholic.’
“We really want to support the industry and the advisers as much as we can, and we’re very keen to make sure there are a lot more of these opportunities for the industry, because there don’t seem to have been a lot of them in the past,” Griffiths said.
Read more: Women in Mortgage and Finance 2021 agenda
“We’re really pleased that we’ve had the opportunity to pick this event up and promote it across the sector.”
“I thought that if I was going to share something personal to me, then I wanted to really make it real and relate to the audience,” she continued. “It was actually really lovely to look back and reflect on my journey. I’m hoping it’ll resonate with a lot of the people in the room, and maybe prepare some of the newbies for what’s ahead.”
Griffiths began her career in the banking space, and moved on to work for various mortgage aggregation groups before taking on her role at Bluestone Mortgages. She said the networking events she attended for women in finance across Australia were a huge success, and were a great way of bringing a thriving sector together into one room.
“I started in the industry after I finished college, but I was a bit of a rebel as a kid, so I said there was no way I was going back to school,” Griffiths said.
“My mum told me that I would have to start work, and so she literally drove me up to the local Westpac and told the manager to interview me. I had a few interviews and was a successful candidate, and I had a very long career with them.”
Read more: Speakers gear up for first ever Women in Mortgage and Finance event
“I left the bank after 16 years, and then moved on to working for the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association and PLAN New Zealand,” she continued.
“Something I’m really proud of there is our mother company PLAN Australia. They were the original aggregation group that started Women in Finance summits there before eventually passing them over to the MFAA, and I’ve been very passionate about these events for some time.
“I’ve been to a lot of them in Australia, so when the Women in Mortgage and Finance event came up, we just knew that we definitely wanted to support it and make sure those opportunities were here for New Zealanders as well.”
To register for the Women in Mortgage and Finance event, click here.
