Welcome to Home Building Like a Boss, the podcast dedicated to helping first home buyers in Perth  build their dream home with ease and excitement.  I'm Jamie, your host and go to building broker.  Are you ready to feel empowered, in control and excited about your building journey? I'll help guide you with expert advice, insider tips and tricks and real life stories to help you navigate the confusing world of home building.

Tune in as I take you on the journey to building your home like a boss.  Hello 

and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm your host, Jamie, as always, and I'm joined here today with me is Jake. Welcome to the podcast, Jake. Hello. Thanks for having me, Jamie. No worries. All right, let's kick it off today. We're going to do a few episodes. By having the team members on and getting them to introduce themselves so you can guys can get to know who they are, what they do and the importance that they play in your building journey as well.

So Jake, let's kick it off. Tell us a little bit about you and your background and how you started at BOSS. Well, firstly, can I say this podcast has had a lot of feedback, which is good. So it's exciting to actually be on here. Aside from hearing it from clients and  So yeah, it's very exciting to be here.

How I, a little bit about me, um, have been in the industry for probably a little over three years now. Come across to join Jamie and the team,  when was it, March now? Yeah. March, March, April. However, we did catch up months before that. We did. So yeah, obviously there was a few, um, catch ups before then, which was really good, just sussing, sussing it all out.

Putting the groundwork in. Putting the groundwork in. So, and that was really, that was really good, like catching up with you. Seeing how you do things here. It was pretty much a no brainer move over, so. Yeah. What were you doing before? So, before I joined BOSS here and the team, I was working at another builder, um, director and a big volume builder.

Um, and that's where I started off my career in the building industry, which was, uh, which was exciting. So, and then since the move across, yeah, it's been really good. What do you find one of the main differences between like working for a Yeah, lots of differences. So  we've chatted about this previously, obviously, but yeah, I think coming from a big volume builder who had been in the industry for a number of years and then joining a small brokerage team, it's quite, it's quite daunting.

However, it was, it was, it was a bit of a no brainer move for me. I think like the biggest difference is. They're, they're such a volume based, like those big volume builders and they're good at what they do. You know, they've, they do it for, they've done it for years and years. They do attract a certain  Uh, caliber of client as well, which is fine, obviously comparing it to a small broker. 

It's a lot more client focused, journey focused here rather than sort of being a bit of a number at a volume. Yeah, it's probably just like the biggest difference you can, you can tell straight off the bat. Yeah. You just, uh, number and you get thrown in the system in the end, really. Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. What's your role here within the team and what do you enjoy most about it? Role within the team is simply building broker.  Um, what do I love about the team? Probably the number one thing, uh, is the office banter is really good. We do have some good office banter. We do have some good office banter.

Sometimes the productivity drops a little bit. It's all about balance. It's all about balance. Uh, good vibes, good vibes as well, which is in our, uh, what to expect with us as well. But internally, we One of our core values. Yeah, which is kind of Yeah. Kind of fun. But we always have the good vibes internally too.

Always. Always good vibes. So yeah. Every day is different with us as well. It's not. I think some of the conversation topics that come up  just, yeah, really interesting. So it's good to come. It's good to come to a good environment office. That's the main thing. Yeah. Yeah. Makes a world of a difference. Yeah.

Big time. What is something that you're proud of from your time here so far? Good question. I think the biggest thing for me is being more not, I wouldn't say emotionally attached to the clients, but more, more like client focused in general, like what the similar sort of role I was doing before I joined the team here.

It was obviously a similar process and whatnot, however, it was a lot more detached from the client journey. Yeah. So I think the biggest change for me was just being a bit more closer with the clients and like on their journey, which I think obviously it's like one of the biggest investments of their life.

So just makes the whole process a lot more genuine. Yeah. Yeah. Going from that big volume builder to small client first focus. Yeah. And I didn't really know, I was kind of oblivious to the fact that that was what the big difference would be. Yeah. Which is good. So I'm kind of glad that's, that's happened as well.

Yeah. Yeah. Cool. What motivated you to pursue a career in the building industry? Yeah, so it was a bit of a funny one how I got into it. I was previously, before I joined, like came to across to the industry. I was studying logistics and supply chain management and was in the mining and oil and gas industry.

So left, left side, left field, that's right. Mine was like that as well. I went from the fitness industry to the building industry. Yeah, so it's funny, it all happens. Like I wasn't really seeking it out specifically. I sort of had some, um, some family friends that, uh, who, he's kind of like a mentor I guess you could say, but.

A close family friend of ours, he actually recommended me to sort of look into it as a career change. And yeah, it worked. It eventually, you know, things came across that way and then it just, uh, just naturally happened, which was good. Yeah. That's good. That's the best way to do it. Yeah, it was good. When you're not working, what are some of your hobbies or things that you like doing?

Well, I  think you know this, but I do like my health and fitness. So before or after the gym, definitely before or after work, sorry, definitely at the gym. Um, however, like obviously on weekends, like getting away, like going to the beach,  spending time with family and friends is a big one for me. Yeah. And we have like a close.

We have like a, quite a large group of family and friends and even like, obviously where us, us three are in the gym as well. Jake, Mim and I all go to the same gym. So we're in together at the gym in the morning, we're at work together and then we see each other again in the afternoon. Yeah. And even lots of people are like, are you sick of each other?

Yeah. Yeah. But we're actually not. Well, I don't think. No, I don't. They might be sick of me maybe, nah. Nah, so it's good, but yeah, I think, um, we're, like, I'm quite an active person as well, so I like getting outdoors a lot. Yeah. And just, just doing stuff outside the house is probably one of the biggest things, yeah.

Good that the weather's It's nice now. Well, you've come back from essentially, you're going to have like a double summer this year. Double summer. So good. I timed that perfectly.  What do you love most about working independently as a building broker? Good question. Probably the biggest, the biggest thing is, although  you put a lot more responsibility on yourself.

Generally, it's good to also not sort of be linked to that big corporate management chain. Yep. Yep. I think sometimes you can get caught up with like all the management responsibilities reporting like KPIs  that in itself, you know, dealing with managers and managers of managers that can like really affect how you sort of service clients as well because you put under that pressure from like those big.

Corporate sort of management levels. Yeah. So like obviously the biggest change for me is yes, there's more responsibility to on yourself, like working independently for yourself, but there's a lot more freedom, you know, you're not having to report yourself to lots of different managers and Yeah.

Different levels of sort of reporting as such. Yeah. Oh yeah. And you get to focus on the clients more versus, and your KPIs, and you're hitting your numbers pretty much, which can, which can really like damage the process if you, if like, and it has done privacy as well. Yeah. Yeah. And that comes back to like what you said before.

The difference between working for a big volume builder and working independently and having that client focus and then bringing it back to our core values really. Yeah, it was quite funny, like the meeting we had over the weekend, the client, they were quite appreciative of the fact that, you know, they're working with someone who doesn't have to meet KPIs and they're not just getting something across the line because they have to.

It's more like because they want to. Yeah. Which. Actually here to help people. Yeah. Actually, actually here to help people, which already like, that was the first time someone said that to me. Yeah. From a client's perspective. So I was like, Oh yeah. That's nice. That's true. But  I wasn't like saying that. I never mentioned it.

So they can feel that through your intention and how we operate and how we work. A hundred percent. Yeah. So, and, but yeah. That's a good little win. I like that. Yeah. It's good. Yeah. It was good. Can you share a recent experience where you helped a client overcome a challenge? What was the outcome and how did it positively impact their building journey? 

Probably most recently, probably the biggest challenge at the moment would be land. That's probably speaking on behalf of lots of people. So we've got quite a proactive sort of plan in terms of how we can help with land.  Being like open and transparent with clients about that and just getting them in that patient mode Kind of has worked really well Like we've had well We've probably had a couple of clients now Looking for land for quite a long time and they feel confident in us that it will stick when it happens You're like getting the right block as well.

So like obviously it took a little bit longer and like lots of lots of clients would just get impatient and just kind of They put off the whole sort of process early on, which is not what we want. So just like spending a bit of time with that. So that's probably been like a big thing with a couple of our clients that we've had just explain them to be sort of like patient with the whole process, knowing that we're doing the right things when it sticks, you can genuinely say they're like super excited and like, there's no real.

Uh, 470 blank block that's not suited for them as well. There's been like, yeah, well we've had, I think across the team we've had multiple clients in the past few months with that, really. Yep. It's not as quick as what it was before, which is just about reshaping that expectation and overcoming that challenge, but it's good.

Once I, once. We've, once we do that with them and then once we can get them a block, like they, they're so much more appreciative of the fact and like most of the time, 10, it's a better block than what they would have thought given we waited a bit longer or like just did it a bit, took us, took our time getting it.

Yeah. Sometimes it's not about rushing into the decision just because it's about making sure it is right for the client and the budget and the area. Yeah. So that's been, that's been a pretty big positive. Over the last couple of months, just purely because the land side of things is the trickiest at the moment.

Yeah, and you did help, well, one of my clients hugely, who the developer cancelled  one of the blocks because the finance went over and they didn't offer an extension, but they couldn't get formal finance because it was under the scheme and a whole bunch of stuff anyway, the developer cancelled the contract.

And that specific developer has done that a bit though, so it's a bit of an odd, bit of an odd, that was an odd situation and very specific to that developer and a state because they did it across the board, but I was in Europe and Jake, um, helped me out and help the clients out and stuck with the developer and the updates and managed to get the exact same block back for the client, obviously at a higher price.

Um, but it meant the client could just continue through their process because they had building contracts, working drawings, pre start was done. Everything was ready to go. We were just literally waiting on formal finance. And now we've got the same block picked up where they left off and they have formal finance now.

So I think that was a really good one for you. Naturally they were like super anxious as well, super uneasy, you know, put off bits. So it's just sort of like recouping and reassessing and just taking it step by step as well, which did take A little while. Yeah. It probably took six to eight weeks  from when they cancelled it to when we got the same block again.

Yeah. So, but no, that, that was good. I think as soon as I got it after that, I was kind of like, I thought that was stunned almost. Like internally we were working absolutely crazy. Yeah. Trying to get like caught like, yeah. So we're all going. Well I was. I was on the beach in Europe somewhere and Jake was working,  but it was good like that was good.

Now I think what stage are they at now? They're pretty much, um, we're just waiting for titles to come through then it's settlement and slab down. Yeah. So that one will be coming up soon, which is good. All right, so we're going to leave our episode here today, and we're going to wrap it up. You'll see, um, Jake and Mim and Maddie more often on the podcast, and we'll come on here and talk about different topics and conversations and things like that.

So, um, you will hear from them more, which is exciting, but to wrap up our episode today, if you had to describe our team or company in three words, what would it be? You've really put me on the spot here.  That's a tough one. That is a tough one. Definitely one of them has to be fun. Yep. Probably number two would be honest.

Yep. That's a good one.  And the third one, I could, I could pick haste, but the one that does come to mind is vibrant. We are very vibrant. Vibrant. I like that one. That's a good one. Sometimes you go into some offices and it's very dead and very dull, but like, it's not here. We're very, like generally we're vibrant.

Yeah. Yeah. Which is, yeah. So that one comes to mind, but I could think of a million other. So good, I like that. Fun and honest are a part of our core values. I like vibrant, maybe we should add that in there. Yeah, well see, I don't even remember the core values off by heart, but I say them naturally anyway, so.

Yeah, most of the things that you said have all to do with the core values, which is Nice setup though. No, no, he has no idea. Cool, alright, well thank you so much for coming on for an episode today, and I look forward to all of our other episodes. Thank you, first. Podcast ever, so thanks for having me. 

Thank you so much for tuning in to the Home Building Like a Boss podcast.  I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something new. Remember, you've got this and I've got your back. Until next time, stay inspired, stay informed, and stay confident on your building journey. I can't wait to chat with you on the next episode. 

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