James Symond, the 418th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, played a major role in building one of Australia’s most famous companies.

In 1992, when James was 19, his uncle John, who would become known as ‘Aussie John’, asked James to temporarily work in a new business he was launching, called Aussie Home Loans. James, who was a founding shareholder, thought he’d be involved for just a few weeks, but ended up staying until 2021.

Aussie, which began life as a non-bank lender, built a strong profile through a combination of undercutting the banks and relentless TV advertising, which featured Aussie John uttering the famous slogan: “At Aussie, we’ll save you.”

Aussie eventually morphed from a lender to a mortgage broking business, becoming the country’s largest retail brokerage. Later, it was purchased by the country’s largest bank, Commonwealth Bank.

During his time at Aussie, James performed a number of roles, including head of sales and CEO. Since leaving the company, he’s invested in several businesses, developed numerous properties and done some mentoring work. James plans to return to the financial services scene soon … and, if I read his body language correctly, may already be in discussions with one or two parties.

James is a really nice guy and very happy to speak his mind – with one or two swear words thrown in – so he makes for excellent company. Also, as a small business owner myself, I was grateful for the opportunity to learn from such an experienced businessperson. James’ formula for success is simple but effective: work very hard; live and breathe your business; and play the long game, because it takes time to build a reputation and establish a strong financial position.

I’m looking forward to seeing where James pops up next. He’s still passionate about the mortgage broking industry, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to his first love.