Tim Jennings: broker and firefighter

This NSW broker and firefighter has extinguished both financial fires and real ones for 16 years

Tim Jennings: broker and firefighter
This NSW broker and firefighter has extinguished both financial fires and real ones for 16 years

Tim Jennings of NSW brokerage NRG Financial Services has balanced two careers – in firefighting and finance – for the past 16 years. Working two 24-hour shifts every eight days in the NSW fire service, he says there is a strong correlation between broking and firefighting.

“You’re still putting out fires; they’re just different types of fires,” he explains, with both roles demanding empathy and understanding of people in a diverse community. “I can often be talking to people from either the worst day of their life to the best day of their life – from someone who needs some assistance through emergency services to someone who’s just been approved for their first home loan.”

Broking takes him from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, but as a senior firefighter he is currently halfway through a secondment to the fire communications section, which spans the entire state.

“When you know that you’ve helped someone it’s just like writing a home loan – it has all come together for them.”