Farmer, erstwhile fitness centre owner and mother of two boys Tonia Sanderson did not set out to add financial planner to her considerable list of accomplishments. It was, she says, something she fell into.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was at school, but I was always a firm believer in working hard,” Sanderson says. “I detailed cars after school just to get money. I liked clothes and needed a way to pay for them. But in terms of skill, I guess I was always able to pull something apart and analyse it to see the bigger picture.”
When she was 18, Sanderson worked as a personal assistant in Brisbane for the state manager of Zurich Insurance, before moving on to financial planning firms in various assistant and paraplanning roles. She completed her advanced diploma of financial planning and took an adviser role with RetireInvest (now RI Advice Group) in Toowoomba at the age of 26.
A few years later, her life changed entirely when she married a central-Queensland wheat farmer and the couple moved to a 10,000-acre farm in Clermont, in the “middle of nowhere”.
Sanderson, who has since split amicably from her husband, tried to be a good country wife and make crafty things for the home, but it was not a role she wore easily or happily. “I’m very adaptable but it just wasn’t me,” she says.
She mucked in with the farm work, driving the wheat harvester and running the tractor bin, but after about 12 months, she knew she needed a change. Her planning skills and qualifications weren’t being put to use, and she was desperate for a challenge.
“I sent out a few feelers to a few [business development managers] about whether they needed any paraplanning work done,” Sanderson says. “I figured it was something I could do remotely.”
The sideline business grew into a full-time one, with eight clients and enough work to keep her occupied six days a week. It also proved to be a vital lifeline during the drought years.
“If not for that extra income … during those drought years, we wouldn’t have made it,” Sanderson says.
She had two boys during this time and the family eventually relocated to the cane and small-crops growing region of Burdekin, in north Queensland, to be closer to the boys’ schools.
In early 2006, John Grasso, who is now Sanderson’s business partner, approached her about opening up a financial planning practice in Ayr.
“It took a while for him to convince me to go into business,” Sanderson recalls. “But he was very persistent and assured me that he would put all of the money in, to begin with, and I could buy in later. So I decided to go for it. We serviced Bowen, Ayr and Townsville with our head office in Ayr, and ran satellite offices in the other towns.
“It was our relationship with an accounting practice that gave us a good base to grow our business from.”
During this time, Sanderson, who has long been a fan of keeping fit, bought a local Curves fitness business to manage on the side.
“I saw how it was being run, and I thought I could do better,” says Sanderson, who made the business a success before selling it only recently.
Her philosophy towards her clients is very much based on openness and trust.
“I know everything about them,” she says. “They will call me all the time before they do anything huge, such as buy a car, and they will ask me the best way to fund it. I love helping people and I know no different from this career – except for the odd project on the side, of course.”
Planner profileTonia Sanderson Name of firm: Grasso Financial Services Name of licensee: Securitor Time in the industry: 30 years Academic qualifications: Advanced diploma of financial planning; master of financial planning Accreditations: SMSF specialist; aged-care accredited Professional association memberships: Financial Planning Association Other memberships: Most Trusted Advisers Network; SMSF Association |
