Celebrating the Women of Lendi Group: Jazmin Wann

Our International Women’s Day series continues today with a feature on Jazmin Wann , Lendi Group’s Network Development Manager (South). In this role, Jazmin builds and nurtures collaborative relationships with our existing broker and franchise network, while also focusing on the strategic expansion of our Aussie retail footprint across VIC, SA, and WA and guiding prospective franchisees through the process of opening a store.

In her time at Lendi Group, Jazmin has consistently demonstrated genuine care for our brokers and franchisees, and an authentic desire to see them thrive in their businesses. Jazmin is also a passionate advocate for workplace diversity and equal opportunity for all people, regardless of gender, identity, or expression. Jazmin relentlessly champions social progression and diversity through tangible actions, so we were privileged to speak with her recently as she shared her insights on why initiatives like International Women’s Day are crucial for evoking meaningful change.

Tell us a little bit about your career journey, and how you found yourself at Aussie/ Lendi Group ?

As a child, I was exposed to small businesses through my family, and worked in a few myself, before moving to Perth to pursue a Bachelor of Management and Human Resources. I always loved the tight-knit relationships and community of small businesses, and the breadth of tasks and responsibilities required to see them thrive.

Once I completed my degree, I worked in big corporate across customer service, sales leadership, workforce management, operations, and supporting small business owners in franchising. After several years, I decided to pursue further study and ultimately completed my Master of Business Administration in Leadership while working in a People and Planning Manager role in the banking industry. When COVID hit, it was absolute chaos, but I loved being part of a team that was at the forefront of helping Australians navigate one of the most uncertain times in our history.

Eventually, I was compelled to return to my small business roots, and my love for helping small business owners in franchising made the Network Development role at Aussie the perfect fit for me.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you, and why do you believe it is important for us to celebrate it as an organisation?

I love International Women’s Day! It’s a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the strong, courageous women in my life who have inspired me, as well as hope for a brighter future with pay parity, equal opportunity, and balanced representation for all.

It’s incredibly important for us as an organisation to continue celebrating International Women’s Day and pushing the equity agenda forward. Organisational values set the cultural tone in the workplace and underpin our values as a society, so by celebrating this initiative, we are showing that we value the contribution and achievements of women and want to actively participate in embracing equality.

How can men play a more active role in promoting and advancing gender equality in the workplace and beyond, and what strategies have you seen be successful?

Gender equality for me, starts in the home. Not only because men who take on equal domestic responsibilities are more respectful of their partners, but because how can we ever expect women to achieve their full potential in the workplace when they are juggling the full domestic mental and physical workload at home? In the workplace, we need men to call out non-inclusive behaviours and avoid reinforcing dated societal stereotypes, such as leaving women to clean up after the morning tea.

I think it’s important for men to advocate for the women in their team, and be acutely aware of the intersectionality women face, so they can help minimise these disadvantages. For example, a ‘flex first’ work policy is great, however, if only women are utilising it, it becomes a flashing neon sign that says, ‘I’m a mum and my outside responsibilities are interfering with my ability to do my job’. However, if all team members embrace flex first, the narrative shifts to being about work-life balance. I believe the Lendi Group has done a great job of this – prominent male leaders within the business are vocal advocates of flex first, and regularly share their experiences and how they’re enabled to spend more time with their children or participate in social interests, and this has flowed down across all layers of the business. Tone at the top is incredibly important for promoting and advancing gender equality.

While female representation in the mortgage broking industry has declined to 25%, Lendi Group is leading the way in this space – with 42% of brokers joining the group in the last year being female. How can we continue to lift this trend and improve representation in the industry?

As a Lendi Group team member, this is a number I am incredibly proud of, and it hasn’t happened by chance. Our attraction, selection and interview processes are very strategic and have been designed to target a diverse range of brokers. This targeted recruitment strategy eliminates unconscious biases out of our process, which is helping us buck the trend of the male dominated mortgage broking industry.

To keep moving forward, we need to continue to prioritise hiring team members from diverse backgrounds, who can bring their differing perspective, skills and experiences, while facilitating an environment where people from all walks of life are heard and encouraged to bring their whole, authentic selves to work. Make no mistake, diversity in an organisation provides a competitive advantage because it allows a business to harness knowledge and perspectives that represent the people in our community, offering extended legitimacy with more diverse consumer groups.

Why do you think mortgage broking is a great career choice for women?

There are so many reasons! Women are increasingly becoming the primary decision makers in the household, and there is a large market of women who simply feel more comfortable doing business with another woman. This is why it’s so important for organisations to embrace all kinds of diversity, so all consumer segments are adequately represented.

Mortgage broking is such a rewarding career, where brokers get to help customers with likely the most important financial decision they’ll ever make, and I love that this industry empowers women to be their own boss and gives them the opportunity to seek financial independence in a way that works for them.

This is truly an ‘effort in equals reward out’ industry. If you are a woman thinking of making the jump into broking, I would strongly encourage you to champion yourself with the same lens you use to champion your best friend, your kids, or your partner. Back yourself!

Lendi Group’s core value of ‘stronger united’ aligns with the theme of IWD 2023 – ‘innovation for a gender equal future’. How can we work together to achieve a more inclusive and equitable future for all?

Stronger united really captures the heart and soul of the Lendi Group and the equitable future we are looking to build, as well as who we are as a diverse network of over 1300 brokers. I truly believe the more we speak to and learn from people who are different to us, the more likely we are to break down prejudices and stereotypes and truly harness the strength of diversity and inclusion.