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From cane paddocks to coast lines and the suburbs in between, Cairns has been home for the past 27 years.
Born in Mackay to hard working parents, I am the youngest of two. We moved to Cairns when I was just three years old to be closer to family and for my Dad to pursue his dream of becoming a cane farmer.
My career in Insurance began in 2009, shortly after graduating year 12. I started in an administration role where I fell in love with getting to know people and providing the highest level of customer service. Over the past 12 years I have worked in various roles as an Insurance Broker. I hold a Diploma of Financial Services (Insurance Broking) and was awarded young professional of the year in 2017. I have gained invaluable knowledge of the unique insurance market in Far North Queensland and have made many wonderful connections along the way – colleagues, clients, insurer’s, assessors, and lifelong friends.
I am delighted to have joined the amazing team at Astute, and I look forward to getting to know you all and building on these connections in my next role as General Insurance Office Manager. I will work closely with our team to ensure we are providing the highest level of service. We hope to take the fuss and fear out of what can sometimes be a very daunting and confusing industry.
I’m a family girl at heart who outside of work, enjoys soaking up all of the goodness that this region has to offer – camping, water skiing, hiking, swimming in the ocean and entertaining with friends in our home.
First, Tania: Quite simply, a complete, caring professional. I am not sure where on the spectrum the amount of work she did to get us into our current home falls in her professional career (mind-blowingly easy, somewhat challenging, borderline impossible…), but to us it literally meant the world. The reason we came back to her (and Astute) is because of the level of care and attention she gave us–we don’t feel like a number, an account, a bottom line, or a percentage point. I would recommend her (and go back to her for advice) again and again and again; when we found ourselves in the position to invest and/or buy again, our first thought was we needed to talk to Tania before doing literally anything else.
Building on that, Astute: Again, I would (and do) recommend them to anyone when talk of buying a home or investing comes up. Long story short, I work for a guy named Scotty Garden, and there is very little under the Earth’s sun I would not do for him; ergo I take his advice on anything as gospel. When I causally mentioned a few years back that Michelle and I were thinking of buying a house, he enthusiastically recommended we talk to John Watts at Cairns Home Loans and we did, and John gave us solid, practical advice: Save a bit more and come back to us. And we did, because he looked after us as people (again not an account). He could have talked us into buying something we couldn’t afford, or buying something we didn’t really want, or (as one local branch of an unnamed John Symond-run group told us) we were grumpily told it was “unrealistic” to think of buying a home in our position. Working in tourism/hospitality, I appreciate the personal attention, as well as helping a local business continue doing what it does well.
Sorry to gush, but Michelle and I really do hold you and your whole team in the highest regard. Thank you again, and I will [not] try to stay out of trouble.
After having issues with another broker and losing a settlement, we were recommended by solicitor. After speaking with Billie she was honest and open about my options. The entire process was dealt with promptly and efficiently with minimal to no stress.
I found the whole experience easy & everyone there were so lovely n friendly & also available any time to answer any questions we had.
Friendly and very knowledgeable. Made the whole process of getting our first mortgage easy and relatively stress free. Very prompt communication and excellent rates provided on our mortgage.
Excellent team, all staff were professional and friendly, will definitely use their expertise again and recommend to friends and family.
John and the team looked after us on many fronts from mortgage, superannuation and even life insurance. We even compared rates on our new vehicle lease and Astute came through better than any bank.
These guys definitely have the XFactor
Simon is fantastic! He explains and explains again if you don’t understand. He has helped us on a couple of occasions now and seriously, I wouldn’t go anywhere else or to anyone else.
My husband and I went to Astute today, firstly met with Shae at the front reception and had a chat with her. It was lovely to chat with such a friendly happy lady who made us feel welcome.
We went upstairs and met with John Watts for some financial advice. We have known John Watts for over 10 years now, and truly admire his honesty and ‘no beating around the bush business eiquette’. We would highly recommend anyone requiring financial advice and/or a financial bank loan to not look any further than that of the ASTUTE team. 🙂 Thanks Astute….
First time we have used a mortgage broker and we will both recommend Billie.
All the staff at Astute are very professional and genuinely interested in making it easy – would be great to get this service everywhere I go 🙂
I give them two thumbs up! I always feel comfortable visiting the office because I know I’m in good hands!
