Leath Margrie was born in Adelaide and spent most of his primary school childhood in Western Australia. He then did his High-School years in the Riverland region of South Australia.
"Saving people money makes me happy. It has also provided me with an opportunity to show others what I stand for, what I am passionate about and my overall motivation for the work I do".
- Leath Margrie
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At the end of his schooling, he joined the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) as an Electrical Fitter. Over the 10 years he was in the RAAF, he maintained Aircraft and cross-trained into different “avionic” fields. During this time he was responsible for varying levels of staff and travelled interstate and overseas gaining valuable life experiences and skills.
In 2000 Leath resigned from the RAAF to pursue other opportunities; he and his wife moved to Perth. He continued his technical and trouble-shooting roles via different employment contracts. During all this working life, Leath was involved with property and lending and had a Broker of his own; this is where the passion for lending began.
In late 2003, the universe called out and Leath took an opportunity to step into the finance industry and joined the “Aussie Mortgage Market” Broking company. By early 2006, Leath and his family returned to South Australia and he continued to be a Contractor for different lending companies. Moving out on his own 2015, he then rebranded that business in 2020 to “The Lending Therapist”.
“When it comes to passion and the fun in what I do, it would have to be the daily challenge of troubleshooting and finding solutions. Those 'vanilla standard deals' are few and far between, most people have some sort of quirky employment situation or skeleton in their financial closet. Understanding clients' stories, finding options and having the opportunity to present the right lending solutions to clients is a rewarding experience. Whether that is guidance on purchasing a home or providing them with funds to resolve their burning issue - for example a large tax debt”.
Leath challenges himself to stay ahead of his competitors by utilising the latest technology. “I continue to look at resources that save me and my clients time. Recently I worked with a company to create The Lending Therapist Benefits website. The benefit is helping people reduce their living expenses. 51% of Australians voted that their main concern for 2023 were living expenses so this is my way of giving back and helping others save where they can”.
Some of the challenges that the finance industry faces is the ever-changing and increasing compliance. “Compliance and sales are often polar opposite beasts. It is always a juggling act to find a balance of ensuring you're satisfying government obligations whilst trying to make it a smooth and relatively easy process for clients.
A lot is out of your control so I try and focus on the silver living even when the Reserve Bank are making decisions that tend to have a significant impact. Communication is essential in overcoming these challenges and explaining the ‘why’ to clients is key. If you can do those two things, things generally work out ok. The last thing you want to do is to have your client feeling like you have abandoned the ship and leave them feeling uneasy and unsupported”.
The Lending Therapist website is just one of the things Leath says he is proud of. “Saving people money makes me happy. It has also provided me with an opportunity to show others what I stand for, what I am passionate about and my overall motivation for the work I do. It is an add on and a real bonus for my clients and the community”.
When it comes to success Leath believes that persistence & patience is the key. “There are lots of roadblocks and obstacles that pop up in the lending game, often I’m trying to manage 5 -20 people in the process. I’m not a fan of “it’s not my job” attitude so I’m often stepping in and motivating or finding solutions for others to ensure the clients get their end result.
Understanding the whole process where possible is a valuable tool and then trying to anticipate possible roadblocks is key.
Hence patience and persistence is essential plus the fact that you’re often spending a long time with clients. From “hello, how I can help you” to “Congrats, you’re a home-owner" may take a couple of months or a couple of years - sticking around with a positive attitude will ultimately deliver a great outcome”.