"You learn quickly that growth without structure creates pressure, and growth without the right people creates risk." That's how Katie Thomas (pictured), managing director of Focus Finance, sums up the hardest lesson of building a brokerage from the ground up. It's a rare moment of candour from someone running the business — and it reframes scaling not as an ambition, but as a discipline.
Thomas reflects that fast growth tests every part of an organisation, and doesn't forgive shortcuts.
"The biggest lesson for me has been that performance is only sustainable when it is backed by clear systems, clear expectations, and a team you trust deeply," she says.
The numbers matter, but for Thomas, how they're achieved matters just as much.
That instinct — structure before scale — traces back to her decision to leave banking altogether. Thomas spent more than a decade in the sector, including 13 years at Westpac, before a shift in thinking led her to broking.
"By 2020, I knew I wanted to work more directly with people and be closer to the outcomes I was helping create," she says.
Focus Finance, Thomas explains, "grew from that same belief — that finance should feel personal, thoughtful, and tailored to the person sitting in front of you."
Asked about the biggest challenges facing the broking industry today, Thomas points to complexity: shifting lender policy, changing borrower behaviour, and clients arriving with more questions and less certainty — a trend that's driving more borrowers toward brokers.
But her proposed solution isn't speed.
"My view is that the answer is not to push harder, but to build better businesses," she says.
For Thomas, that means "sharper systems, clearer workflows, stronger capability within teams, and a genuine commitment to education and communication."
That same philosophy carries into her advice for newcomers. Thomas urges aspiring brokers to prioritise substance over shortcuts.
"Learn policy properly, understand credit, ask good questions, and pay attention to how great brokers communicate. Process and people over profit. Reinvest early days," she says.
Thomas is equally clear that no broker succeeds alone.
"The best brokers are rarely operating in isolation,” she says. “They are backed by good systems, good mentors, and people who care about doing the work well." It's a point echoed in broader industry research, where trust remains brokers' strongest asset even as clients navigate an increasingly complex market.
For brokers scaling their own businesses, Thomas's lesson is a practical one: the systems have to be in place before the growth arrives, not after.
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