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Sharon Walker’s built an award-winning career off one simple ambition: to help people achieve their financial goals.
Having been financial planning since she started receiving pocket money, according to her mother, Walker started her career at NAB, worked her way up to being one of the bank’s first female branch managers, and later trained as a financial planner when her kids were three and one.
Last year her significant work in the field was recognized officially, when she received the TAL & AFA Female Excellence in Advice award, for women in financial advice who are making a significant contribution to their profession, community and clients.
“I was just thrilled and happy to be nominated by a colleague, and then overwhelmed to have been named a finalist,” Walker tells Women’s Agenda.
But ever the goal setter, some advice from NAB’s GM of Wealth and Personal Banking, Ann-Marie Chamberlain, changed her perspective. “I recall telling her I was just happy to be part of the top three! She told me, ‘You can go all the way. Don’t stop here. Do the best you possibly can and don’t have any regrets.”
And so Walker gave it everything during a presentation to the judging committee, the final stage of a comprehensive judging process, and was later named the winner at the award presentation ceremony in Cairns. Shethen established more goals – particularly to improve her public speaking skills by enrolling in Toast Masters, so she could help inform others on the importance of financial planning. She’s also just participated in a national roadshow with TAL and the AFA, inspiring women across the country.
So what inspired a young woman from regional Victoria to become a financial adviser Walker recalls not having much money around as a child and her father often saying that ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’. She hated the expression, and knew there had to be some way to grow wealth. Later in her early twenties she recalls seeing a ‘low risk’ investment she’d been talked into losing thousands of dollars, and deciding she personally wanted to understand how different financial products work.
Walker’s been with NAB for over 30 years, the last 14 as a financial planner based in Wangaratta, Victoria. Named the first female branch manager at NAB in the Gippsland region, Walker later completed a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning at Deakin University to make the move into financial planning. She now works closely with clients on goal setting and establishing strategies to help achieve them with the resources they have. Walker also coaches branch staff on financial literacy, mentors a number of planners and volunteers with Women’s Health Goulburn.
Walker is passionate about financial planning, especially for the difference it can make to people’s lives.
“There are so many people who don’t understand financial planning, every employee has a super fund but they don’t really understand what it is or how to make the most of it,” she says. “To be able to help them with direction and goal setting, and come up with strategies that will make a significant difference to their lives is so satisfying. There’s nothing better than when someone says, ‘I don’t think I can retire’, and you can come up with a way to help.
“A lot of people seem to think they don’t have enough money to see a financial adviser, but a good one [financial planner] is not about investing money, it’s about putting strategies in place to help people achieve their goals.”
Walker herself would like to start getting more involved in schools, recalling her own experiences as a child saving and goal setting. “We all want to have nice things in life. We want to do really great things. If we can start teaching about budgeting and the power of compounding, then that’s really the first step.”
It’s no surprise then that goal-setting is Walker’s number one tip for Women’s Agenda readers when it comes to money. “Have smart, specific goals regarding things you want to achieve. Know what those goals are and start a budget to put you on track to actually achieve those goals. Start now. Don’t put it off.”
From there, she again urges women to understand their superannuation; given it will be one of our major assets in the future. “If you don’t understand it, talk to someone who can help you understand it and explain all the benefits you can obtain through superannuation.”
Walker said the awards process has seen her reassess her own goals and address some weaknesses she identified during the comprehensive judging process. When she was flown to Sydney for a leadership master class with six other semi-finalists, Walker learnt the work/life balance she thought she did have was actually pretty poor.
She’s since implemented strategies to help: “Simple things like shutting down my computer, going to bed an hour earlier with a book and reading, taking time out to reflect. Taking a weekend away every month without technology,” she says.
Nominations for this year’s TAL & AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award are open now. Recognise an inspirational female adviser and help us celebrate the leading ladies of financial advice.
Interested in a career as a financial adviser? The Association of Financial Advisers can help. Call 1800 656 009 or email [email protected]