Trailblazing Broker Lisa Carter a fearless advocate for industry change

Lisa Carter, founder, CEO and Managing Director of Clear Insurance, says the broking industry must do better in serving the policyholder and delivering sound risk advice.

Carter, who started her independent brokerage Clear Insurance in 2010, is a strong advocate for the fee-for-service model and the shift from transactional price-focused insurance broking to client-focused risk and insurance advice.

“I’m proud to have built a strong brand at Clear Insurance, advocating for positive change in the industry through transparent remuneration and client-focused risk advice, and embracing a fee-for-service model,” she says.

She says the Clear Insurance approach “focuses on people and their needs, whether they are clients, team members, or insurers”.

Two years ago, Carter partnered with Steadfast and obtained her own Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). Clear Insurance is now an award-winning company and Carter herself has also won many industry awards.

Breaking new ground

Carter has consistently broken new ground as a woman in the industry. In 2019, she became the first female to win the NIBA National Broker of the Year. She describes this as the highlight of her career.

“I've leveraged this incredible opportunity to support women wherever I can, including participating annually as a mentor in the NIBA mentoring program, and working with young women in the industry,” she says.  

Clear Insurance is known for attracting and supporting working mothers and middle-aged women returning to the workforce.

“We hire the right people for the job, and many of them happen to be working mothers. Give a busy mother a job to do, and they'll get the job done,” Carter asserts.

Work-life balance is important to Carter and her team. “Insurance is a demanding industry; my team and I work hard,” she says. “We work flexibly, pursuing both personal and business growth goals while enjoying precious time with our families.”

The office is “a lovely, warm environment filled with plants and puppy cuddles” with Carter’s dogs Queenie and Aretha, who accompany her to work every day.

Carter and her team work out together, doing personal training (PT) on Wednesdays in a park near the office. “Instead of long lunches”, they invite underwriters and business partners to join them for their PT sessions. “We always receive positive feedback,” Carter says.

Fearless self advocate

Carter attributes her success to fearlessness.

“I wouldn't have progressed my career so quickly at a young age without boldly advocating for myself and asking for promotions, which is not something that women typically do well,” she says.

She relates encountering many challenges in the industry, particularly as a younger woman.

“I was regularly asked to do typing for both male and female colleagues,” she shares. “I needed to remind them that I was a peer, not their assistant. I politely recommended that they seek help from their account broker or do it themselves." 

Carter joined the insurance industry during the economic downturn of the mid1990s.

She was seventeen at the time, living on the Sunshine Coast and seeking work by door-knocking businesses in Maroochydore.

"After multiple attempts to knock on their door, a local business, Steel Pacific Insurance Brokers, relented and agreed to hire me as a receptionist,” she recalls. “I worked my way up the career ladder from that humble beginning.”

Having been promoted to Account Broker within two years, Carter moved to Sydney where she worked for two suburban brokers, Adept Insurance Brokers and SPT Insurance Brokers.

She later returned to Queensland to be closer to family and accepted a position with the HIA construction team at Aon in Brisbane.  

It was within Aon’s Enterprise Team, that one of Carter’s managers, Bruce Campbell, became her greatest mentor. “Bruce championed me, as a young 25-year-old, allowing me to service my own portfolio of clients,” she says. “I was a lot younger than my colleagues."

The new role was a steep learning curve. Both Carter and her mentor took it in their stride. “I made mistakes, yet he always encouraged me, so I loved learning and growing in the role,” Carter says.

Her passion for learning continued, and after four years at Aon, Carter asked to become an Authorised Representative. “As a 20-something at the time, gaining this role and succeeding in it was a huge achievement," Carter says.

“Without my mentor’s  support, there's no doubt I would have remained in the role of an Account Broker for quite a few more years.” she she adds.

Working mum and AR

After eleven years at Aon, Carter left the corporate world, joined Insurance Advisernet as an Authorised Representative, and started her own business.

She was six months pregnant with her second child and felt driven by to work from home rather than commuting to the office. “I was eager to continue my career while still being a present mother,” she tells.

She clarifies that "this was in the days before remote access or working from home”, yet she found a way to make it work.

“After starting my business, I very happily fed my baby in the middle of the night while typing slips and client reports,” she says. “Thankfully, it's a different world now with many more flexible working opportunities.”

Carter remains inspired by “the complexity and competitive nature of broking,” which she says, “requires constant growth and learning.”

She says starting her career in suburban brokerage firms taught her “the importance of developing strong, personal client relationships.”  Working at an international brokerage “underscored the importance of training, brand culture, and strong compliance procedures.”

According to Carter, the regional and global worlds of broking can be quite different. She has benefited from the complementary experiences.

“The skills I learned at both suburban and international brokerages provided an excellent foundation for founding Clear Insurance, which serves our clients with corporate know-how yet offers a client-focused service with a personal touch,” she says.

Living up to values

Carter enjoys serving her clients and building long-term relationships and makes this approach the primary focus of everything Clear Insurance does.

"We rely on our values of care, clarity and competence as a guide for our engagement with all stakeholders," she says. "This allows consistency in problem-solving, innovation and leadership by simply circling back to our values and asking ourselves if we're living up to them."

Carter is also harbinger of change beyond the industry. She is the first insurance industry representative on the Reserve Bank of Australia Small Business Finance Advisory Panel, now in the final year of her three-year tenure on the panel. Her feedback is helping to inform Australia’s monetary policy.

“The RBA has valued the insurance industry insights I have brought to this forum, including client experiences with claims and difficulties in obtaining insurance, as well as sharing underwriting challenges that insurers have shared with me,” Carter says.  

An early-school-leaver, who now holds a Diploma of Financial Services (Brok) and is CEO and Director of a very successful company, Carter is a stellar example for newcomers to the industry.

The importance of a mentor

Recognising the crucial role that her mentor played in her career trajectory, she recommends young and/or inexperienced insurance professionals to seek out a mentor. 

“Be bold in asking for learning opportunities. Ask to shadow a senior colleague that you respect so you may watch and learn,” she advises, adding that “people rarely say no when you ask for help and guidance.

This approach will earn you a reputation as a professional who is willing to learn and grow, and opportunities will follow. Finding a mentor is the best tactic to open doors for future partnerships, collaborations and business development opportunities,” she asserts.  

Reflecting on her own career, Carter says that along with passion, courage, determination and resilience, making meaningful connections is critical.

She says the best way to connect meaningfully with people, whether peers or clients, is by taking the time to get to know them and recommends learning to listen deeply and genuinely.

"The skill of listening in this way will boost your confidence and enable the building of relationships more quickly and easily," she says. 

Looking to the future, Carter is inspired by the prospect of expanding the Clear Insurance team and business.

“I am excited to be a beacon of change in the insurance industry, which is steeped in tradition and resistant to change," she says. "The future is bright with great tech and transparent business practices."