Redundancy gave Kerryann Willoughby the opportunity to assess her career and the direction she wanted to take.
Read how she became Principal Adviser at Willoughby Bespoke Protection
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
My first job was in retail at the age of 16 and I loved the customer facing element of it – chatting to people, helping them and giving them an enjoyable experience. I had various sales roles until I was made redundant and embraced this as an opportunity to really focus on what I wanted to do with my career. Having always had the ambition to run my own company I needed to settle on what direction that I wanted to take. I just knew I wanted to be financially secure and do something that helped people and I feel I have found my calling.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Art. I was always creative and loved the opportunity to just be free and create whatever I wanted.
Did you go on to further/ higher education, if so, what did you study and where?
Yes, I undertook a BA Hons Fashion and Textile Design at University of Ulster Belfast.
How did you get into your area of work?
After being made redundant I took that time to evaluate my life and was reviewing my own insurance policies with an adviser. As I was discussing the current situation, he asked was the financial industry ever something I considered. Honestly it wasn’t, but thought it was something to research and see what it was all about. I started with a firm in 2017 and it really was sink or swim. I dedicated every hour to researching products, providers and how to best serve my clients. Then it was time to move on and create a space where I could really innovate and use my own core values to help, not only the client, but by creating an opportunity for advisers that allowed them a space to work around their family.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
Not the industry, as it was never a sector I would have thought about. But again, the passion to create a business that I really felt that I helped people was always central to what I wanted to do.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
I completed all the training with the network my firm operates through, to have competent adviser status. Also, it is essential that my team and I meet all requirements for the FCA. There is regular training with the providers to stay up to date with their offering and continuous professional development hours to be completed, alongside regular testing within the network.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
All of my advisers have no previous experience in the industry. What I was looking for was the desire to help people, their willingness to put the client first, to listen and understand the company values. I want them to have a personal connection to understanding why protection is important and why it is so important we do the right thing. I provide our own in-house training program to build their knowledge of the industry, pro-iders and products. I want to test their knowledge and ensure they are at the top of their game. Over and above their knowledge it is how they treat our clients and always go above and beyond to ensure they are recommending the very best for each of them.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
One of the main skills you need for this job is empathy and strong interpersonal skills; the ability to connect with people and relate to them. In addition, good communication, negotiation, problem-solving and lateral thinking skills are key. When evaluating a client’s claim or calculating the cost for a policy, you must be able to demonstrate comprehensive analytical skills too.
What does a typical day entail?
Emails in the morning, checking the day’s diary and ensuring the team are set for their tasks ahead. Client appointments along with research for each client, generating their protection portfolio and reviewing any concerns with the provider’s underwriters. Our client support administrators will take over the case to complete the applications and admin. I may have a meeting with the advisers; reviewing their cases – always checking how we can improve our client experience and service. Then behind the scenes, running the business payroll, marketing, reading and researching different avenues to move the business forward. The day also entails lots of cups of tea and buns as well.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
The best is seeing the advisers and the admin team flourish in a great working environment. The biggest challenge is balance. As a new business with lots of ambition and plans, it’s a battle to balance the day-to-day running of the business with taking the time to research how I want the company to grow and progress and implement that.
Why is what you do important?
For me it is important because I have seen the consequences of people either not having insurance in place to protect themselves or their family or when there has been cover but things have not been set up correctly. For me it is so important to ensure we always do right by our clients.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business/role?
We have grown significantly over the last year because we had plans in place and didn’t let Covid have a negative impact. We gauged the situation and saw what opportunity there was to allow our plans to progress and how we could really take this time to ensure clients understood how Covid may have impacted them.
What adjustments have you had to make?
Getting used to lockdown putting measures in place to ensure the team and clients are safe, plus learning the online process and adjusting to Zoom life for meetings. We adjusted our client meeting room to maintain social distancing and keep it as simplistic as possible so the cleaning could be managed.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Go for it, for me I love being an adviser and building that relationship with clients. From a principle point of view I can say it has tested me in many ways, building a business from scratch and through a pandemic has presented me with lots of challenges and opportunities. But to anyone, I would say don’t let anything hold you back if you have a vision put it into action and watch it flourish.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
Probably something creative like interior design.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
Stay focused, stick to your principles and always remember the client comes first.
Describe your ideal day off.
Time with my husband and two daughters, shopping, eating out and cinema under normal circumstances – currently it is movies at home with pizza and trying to get the girls off their phones.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
If you work at something you love you will never work a day in your life.
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