Learning to keep moving when the headwinds pick up and the noise gets louder is perhaps the biggest skill Emmanuel Marios has mastered as a broker.
"I generally like to ignore the [market] noise," the broker told Australian Broker. "I like to follow my own lane. I've always done that from day one. Like, joining this industry. I was very young; no one really took me seriously. And I just did my own thing, focused on my lane, and just kept going at it."
That mindset has served him well: keeping your eyes on the road ahead and resisting the temptation to get caught up in everyone else's commentary. In an industry where market conditions, lending policies and competition can change in the blink of an eye, that ability to stay focused can be worth its weight in gold.
And Marios has the results to show for it.
For the third consecutive year, Marios, founder and mortgage broker of Hobart-based brokerage Derwent Finance, took home the Finance Broker of the Year Tasmania award at the Finance Brokers Association of Australia's (FBAA) annual Awards of Supremacy.
Three years in a row is no small feat. Winning once is an achievement; doing it again and again suggests there is considerably more at play than simply having a good year.
The latest recognition also adds to an already growing awards tally, following Marios' win of Bankwest's Broker of the Year award earlier this year.
Australian Broker was at the 2026 awards celebration, which recently made its return to Sydney, to catch up with the winners, including Marios, and find out what it takes to walk away with one of the industry's top honours.
For Marios, that story began nearly a decade ago when he launched his own brokerage in Hobart. Building a business from the ground up is challenging enough without having to convince people to take a new broker seriously. But rather than wait for someone else to give him a seat at the table, he set about building his own.
Fast forward to today, Marios serves as chief executive officer and principal broker, leading a team that works nationally, with seven offices scattered throughout the nation. The business works across residential, commercial, investment and business loans, giving it a broad reach and a diverse client base.
Behind the awards and business growth is a broker who appears to have remained remarkably consistent in one respect: knowing where he wants to go and not being too distracted by what everyone else is doing.
The following interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.
EM: No, I wasn't. But I'm glad that we got it at the end, which is good.
EM: I don't know. Persistency, I guess. Just loving the industry. I've been doing this for a decade now, which is great. And just being out there in the community and educating consumers on what was super important is also great. So I feel like all that does help when the FBAA selects the winner.
EM: Yes, this is the third year in a row. So very chuffed about that.
EM: Just be you. Don't try to be anyone else. Do what you're good at. Also, I would say, do your content, look after your customers. Just be a good broker. That's what this is about really, just helping your customers and being surrounded with great brokers and BDMs and having that support.
EM: Maybe I'll get myself in a bit of trouble with this. But I generally like to ignore the noise. I like to follow my own lane. I've always done that from day one. Like joining this industry. I was very young; no one really took me seriously. And I just did my own thing, focused on my lane, and just kept going at it. And we're doing the same thing now. It's something that we talk about in the office: the noise is out there. We get it. But also, as a broker, you just have to be there for your customers and just follow your own lane and everything else is going to work out in the end.
