The power of heart, energy and drive: The Katrina Parrington story

ONE of Australia’s most successful successful mortgage brokers, Alice Springs’ Katrina Parrington has the vision to dream and the guts to do

Kat Parrington is one of Australia’s most successful mortgage brokers

KATRINA Parrington is one of Australia’s most successful mortgage brokers, and one of the Territory’s most loved people.

She is self-motivated, driven, successful and respected.

Kat’s work ethic is matched by her genuine care for people.

In business and in life, Katrina Parrington is a rock star.

Born in Adelaide, to a renowned farming family, Kat spent much of her childhood between her suburban family home and farms on the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas.

“My grades were okay at school, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she said.

“I thought I’d be a lawyer – but I’m glad I didn’t!”

“I came to Alice Springs for my gap year. I was 17, and I absolutely loved it.

“I worked for Senator Bernie Kilgariff at the Oasis Motel. I was one of the receptionists there – it was my first job out of school.

“I loved the community lifestyle. The people were very respectful, very welcoming and very warm. Coming from a rural background, I loved it.”

Kat moved back to Adelaide, where she says she “fell in to finance”.

“Finance is really about people, and connecting with people,” she said.

“I worked at Australian National Railways (AN). It was mainly male dominated – in my role we only had two women, one in Melbourne, and me in Adelaide.”

Kat Parrington now splits her time across the NT, operating in Darwin, Alice and Katherine

In 1996, the Federal Government decided to sell off AN, and Kat was at a crossroad.

“I had to reinvent myself,” she said.

“I did a real estate course, and I hated it at first!

“I then worked for one of the Adelaide Lord Mayors, and I managed his property portfolio.”

Twenty-eight years ago Kat met the woman of her dreams, Jo.

“She’s a quiet achiever,” she said.

“I think she underestimates how important she is. Jo is the glue that holds us together. She takes very good care of me.

“And Jo is a very important part of our mortgage broking business. Everyone in the team brings so much, we all blend our different skills together.”

Kat has just brought her daughter, Kara, into the business.

“Kara is very special, and I think she will be a big asset to the business,” she said.

“She brings a whole different skillset. The rest of us are old bank boffins, whereas Kara has that social media savvy, and the tech side.

“Kara is also a HR specialist. So she will bring all of those skills in to the mix.”

Kat Parrington and Jo Walsh. Picture: Justin Brierty

In September 2001, Kat found herself at another fork in the road.

In Adelaide with Jo, Kat felt a calling to come back the Territory.

“It was after 9/11, and Jo and I were looking at each other on the couch,” she said.

“I was due to head to uni the next year to do town planning.

“I said, ‘let’s go to the Territory!’”

Kat and Jo went to the Territory, initially for a holiday.

“Jo got a job offer before we’d even left our holiday,” she said.

“I ended up working at Elders Insurance in Alice for three or four years.

“One of my girlfriends said ‘there’s a job available at the ANZ Bank’.”

Kat got the gig as a home loan lender, and within two years she was one of the top three ranked lenders for ANZ in the country.

That was beginning of a stellar career.

What is key to her success?

“Listening and communicating,” she said.

“You hear what people have to say, and find the common denominators. And open communication lines to be more approachable.

“Some people are frightened of the process of getting a loan or a house.

“Some of the feedback I get is that I keep the ‘humanity’ in the process – you don’t look down your nose at people.

“The key is to listen and work around their issues.

“All I ask of people is for honesty. And I give them honesty and integrity.”

Kat Parrington ... ‘All I ask of people is for honesty. And I give them honesty and integrity.’

Kat became a business lender for the ANZ, before moving to Darwin to work with the Commonwealth Bank as their relationship manager.

“I missed doing home loan lending, it’s different to the commercial side,” she said.

“I said to Jo, ‘I’m either going to be a broker or a checkout chick’.”

Kat and Jo started Elders Home Loans in Alice in 2009.

The business flourished, and saw the pair move to Darwin in 2013 to run the office in the Top End.

Kat now splits her time across the NT, operating in Darwin, Alice and Katherine, and now has daughter Kara heading up the Adelaide office.

Kat’s trophy cabinet is brimming with silverware that attests to her remarkable level of success.

Not only has Kat been ranked number one in the Territory, but also in the country – multiple times.

Kat has been crowned Elders’ best franchisee in Australia and best broker in Australia, along with a slew of other business awards.

But Kat says the greatest satisfaction is from the friendships she has been able to make along the way.

“Some of my original clients, now I’m looking after their grandkids!,” she said.

“I’ve got one client that I’ve done 22 houses for!”

Kat Parrington from Elders Home Loans

Kat says a renaissance is under way in the Territory, and the business environment in Darwin is starting to steam ahead.

“We have been just frantic. We are working seven days a week – it’s non-stop,” she said.

“The Territory has kicked off again. We are getting a lot of ‘COVID-refugees’. They are coming here because we are seen as healthy and COVID-safe.

“There’s been a lot more expenditure in the Top End, more opportunities are coming our way.

“I think and I hope we are seeing the Territory transition to a stronger economy.”

Kat’s goals now are to consolidate her business across the Territory and into the Adelaide market.

And also to give herself some more freedom:

“We have these new internet models like Zoom and Teams, where we don’t have to be slaves to our desks anymore,” she said.

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“There is this fourth dimensional world now, where things that weren’t possible suddenly are.

“We don’t have to be face-to-face.

“Many of my clients prefer to be able to talk to me from their kitchen table, while I’m sitting at mine.”

Katrina Parrington has the vision to dream and the guts to do.

Her story is a classic Northern Territory story – the self-made person who loves and gives to her community.