In Australian Broker’s ongoing spotlight series of outstanding brokers, BDMs and lenders in the industry, we're showcasing top talent across the country.
Today, we're turning our focus to the Northern Territory – home to Janine and Murray Ashmore, the husband-and-wife duo behind Bliss Home Loans.
Co-founded more than two decades ago in Darwin, the multi-award-winning firm offers a wide range of lending services, including residential, business, investment, personal and vehicle loans, along with refinancing solutions. Janine Ashmore, co-director and principal, first stepped into broking in 2004 and has built a reputation grounded in honesty, empathy and a deeply personal approach to client service.
Australian Broker caught up with Janine to get her take on Australia's property markets as we enter the back half of 2025, what sets broking in Darwin apart and the keys to her long-running success.
"I have been told I also rock a nice mum vibe," she said. "So that might help."
The following interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.
AB: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? What is your background? How did you become a broker?
JA: I became a broker in 2004, in Darwin. [My husband and I] were purchasing a home loan through a newly-opened Wizard Home Loans at the time. Our conveyancing agent locally was horrendous. So I had decided to start my own conveyancing business from home, since I had two small children at the time. While my husband was talking to our broker, [the broker] suggested that I come and work with him to learn the lending side while my conveyancing qualification came through. (I think he just wanted free labour, when I think about it now.). Still, less than six months later, [my husband and I] had sold [our property] and moved to open our own Wizard Home Loans in Townsville, and have been going one way or another ever since.
AB: What made you decide to start your own firm?
JA: The flexibility of being able to make our own decisions with our marketing; how we deal with our customers can be more personal and caring. [It impacts] how we can make decisions, regarding our own time, and how we can get paid.
AB: What is the secret to your success? Why do you think you've been successful as a broker?
JA: I tell the truth whether people want to hear it or not. And I always come from a position of care. I have been told I also rock a nice mum vibe, so that might help.
AB: How is working in Darwin, or regional Australia, different from working in Australia's capital cities?
JA: I think that it is [different than other parts of Australia] in that you run into everyone you help when you are shopping or at the pub, or at school, when the kids were at school. So while I know that happens in cities too, (I have done broking in Brisbane previously as well), being regional is a lot more about community. You can do it in the cities, but it’s more niche here.
AB: Do you have clients nationwide? Or do you primarily work in the Northern Territory? And what are some of the challenges you've faced in Darwin that are different from other parts of Australia?
JA: Darwin – whether people realise it or not – while it's regional, it also has a capital city, suburbia, rural residential and then plain rural. We have every lending criteria you could possibly need to address all in the one territory. So you need to know a lot to be able to help everyone.
And because Darwin is so transient in nature, the challenge is to keep being able to provide the best service to your clients even when they aren’t in the state. I don’t think there is a state or territory at any point in time that I am not doing a loan in. And it’s heartwarming that people that I support want to support me back no matter where I go.
