Most people think financial advice is only for the wealthy. This conversation challenges that perception completely. Nicola Beswick — Chair of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network (PFAN) — shares how advisors across Australia are quietly helping people facing serious illness, disability, and financial hardship through free financial advice. From navigating Centrelink and superannuation during life-changing diagnoses, to the emotional side of client relationships, this conversation reveals a side of financial advice rarely seen by the public. A powerful discussion about empathy, purpose, and the human impact of great advice.
Most people think financial advice is only for the wealthy.
This conversation challenges that perception completely.
Nicola Beswick — Chair of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network (PFAN) — shares how advisors across Australia are quietly helping people facing serious illness, disability, and financial hardship through free financial advice.
From navigating Centrelink and superannuation during life-changing diagnoses, to the emotional side of client relationships, this conversation reveals a side of financial advice rarely seen by the public.
A powerful discussion about empathy, purpose, and the human impact of great advice.
Reach out to Nicola:
Website - probonoadvice.com.au
Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/nicola-beswick-financialplanner
Key topics
Nicola Beswick's career transition from science and law to finance.
The mission and impact of PFAN in providing pro bono advice.
The process of connecting clients facing serious illnesses with advisors.
The importance of financial education and community support.
Challenges and opportunities for women in the financial industry.
Sound Bites
"It's people first. It's not just about outcomes or results."
"It's like Ted Lasso, PFAN feels grounded in kindness and integrity."
"A good group of human beings doing important work."
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Priority Lane Podcast
01:59 Nicola Beswick's Journey: From Science to Finance
05:54 The Impact of Personal Experience on Career Choices
11:47 Understanding PFAN: Connecting Advisors with Those in Need
17:59 The Process of Matching Clients with Advisors
24:07 Supporting Vulnerable Clients: The Role of Social Workers
30:11 How Advisors Can Get Involved with PFAN
32:49 Redefining Wealth and Financial Advice
36:15 Attracting Women to the Financial Industry
40:16 The Importance of Empathy in Financial Advice
43:29 Funding and Support for PFAN
46:55 PFAAN: A Show Like Ted Lasso
The Priority Lane (00:05)
I'm your host Nigel Catt and today on the
Lane podcast I'm joined by Nicola Beswick Chair of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network or PFAN and founder of White Rabbit Advisory.
Through PFAN, Nicola is helping connect Australians facing serious illness, disability and financial hardship with life changing pro bono financial advice. Shining a light on the power of financial guidance when people need it most. Welcome to the podcast Nicola. No problems at all and how's your day been going today?
Nicola Beswick (00:33)
Hello, thank you for having me.
⁓
Normal end of financial year lead up where everything's crazy but it's a nice, I think sunny day in Melbourne. Haven't been outside yet so, so far so good.
The Priority Lane (00:52)
Very
good, very good. And did you get belted by budget questions and the rest?
Nicola Beswick (00:57)
Yes,
I think it's been the perfect storm. We've had budget questions and also what's happening in markets. So, you know, if it rains, it pours kind of thing at the moment in financial planning world, I think.
The Priority Lane (01:14)
Well,
now you can run away from all of that for half an hour or so and have a chat with us.
Nicola Beswick (01:18)
100 % I look forward to talking more
about the great things that we can do rather than all the ⁓ other kind of stuff that noise is going on.
The Priority Lane (01:29)
Yes,
yes exactly. Now our last guest who you know, Keira Sharrock, on the podcast she mentioned PFAN and the great work that PFAN does and so afterwards I was chatting to her and she connected us because yeah I think it's a great initiative and I want to make people aware of the great work that you do.
Nicola Beswick (01:51)
Great, thank you. Looking forward to talking about it. It's a real passion, I think, for myself and the board and then everyone that's part of it, like Kara would have shown when you spoke to her in terms of what we do. So excited about that.
The Priority Lane (02:10)
Okay,
great. Now, but before we get into that, ⁓ just want to have a chat about your background, because that's quite interesting as well. We had a chat before and you actually started off in the legal profession, is that right?
Nicola Beswick (02:25)
Yes, so that's correct. I moved from being in intellectual property law to financial planning and before that I actually studied science. So I look at it as changing careers three times, going from science to law to financial planning ⁓ and I think they all kind of tie in together somewhat but...
The Priority Lane (02:43)
Okay.
Nicola Beswick (02:53)
Definitely where I've landed now is me in terms of what I do and the work I do. 100 % right?
The Priority Lane (03:00)
So third time lucky. ⁓
So science first. So what did you get involved with there? You finished your degree or?
Nicola Beswick (03:12)
Yes, so I was a bit of a science nerd through school, ⁓ really in biology. So I really focused on, it really started from the whole science fair kind of side that you do as a throughout high school. And I just really enjoyed that.
The Priority Lane (03:17)
Okay. Any particular branch? Okay.
Nicola Beswick (03:38)
When you, I think sometimes when you finish high school and you go, okay, what am I going to do at university? If you don't really know what you're to do, you kind of pick what you're interested in. So I chose ⁓ science, specializing in genetics and ended up with a master's in genetics.
The Priority Lane (03:48)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Beswick (04:00)
So from there I kind of went, okay that's great I've got this qualification, what am I going to do with it now? ⁓
The Priority Lane (04:10)
become a lawyer.
Nicola Beswick (04:11)
become a lawyer, right? Makes perfect sense.
And so really, was, I didn't want to sit in the lab. ⁓ Being doing lab work really didn't appeal to me. I didn't want to become a teacher because my mum used to always tell me that I'd make a really good teacher. So I was like, well, I can't have that. ⁓ And then started exploring other things. So
I looked at moving into genetic counseling and then intellectual property law came up and particularly with IP law you'll find a lot of people that specialize in that area have some kind of technical background. They don't necessarily set out to learn law, they set out to learn how to do certain things like engineering.
computer science, all of those kind of things. And the theory is you can teach the scientist the law, but you can't teach the lawyer the science. so with, yes, and so with...
particularly patient applications protecting new inventions, it's all about understanding what someone's developed, how is that different to what exists and then how do you put that into words to be able to protect it. So it's really quite interesting and I, because of my science background, took that step into moving into that specific legal field.
and then worked in that space for about just under 10 years. And between the time of me changing careers into financial planning, the catalyst really was my dad being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. So he ⁓ was one of these people that
The Priority Lane (05:55)
Okay.
Nicola Beswick (06:20)
found out, like many people do, that something's there. And when he wasn't able to work or was looking at what he did with work, ⁓ had an income protection policy. So for him, having that...
IP policy. I can't remember what I said with it. There too many IPs, right? The income protection policy that covered him for the next 10 years of his working life. So he was able to stop work and then focus on his health. And obviously we know the benefit of being able to have the ability from a financial perspective to make that choice. So with that kind of happening in the background.
The Priority Lane (06:39)
You
Nicola Beswick (07:04)
I've got to learn about money. ⁓ I think many people don't learn about finances when they're growing up or there's one of those really kind of either you have big conversations or you don't. ⁓ But I started going, I need to learn about how to look after myself, how to protect myself financially, not only myself but my partner. And then I just started.
like, self-converse geek that I am, started learning about money and how that all worked. And the more I learned, the more I just went. There's this big world out there that people just don't know about. They don't know anything, you know, the small things like contributing extra into superannuation and what that can make in terms of a difference, all of those little bits and pieces. And so, one day, all over a few weeks,
Mark, my partner, politely said, I think you're in the wrong job. ⁓ we talked about the idea of me finishing up at law and going into financial planning. he is quite supportive of many things that I do. ⁓ We decided to make that change and here I am.
The Priority Lane (08:05)
you
Nicola Beswick (08:26)
however many years later, ⁓ running my own business through White Rabbit Advisory and absolutely loving it.
The Priority Lane (08:37)
Okay, quite a journey. I just found it quite interesting that you were studying ⁓ science, genetics, but couldn't see yourself in a lab or teaching. ⁓ Were there other options? What were the other options? What, out in the field or something? Is there much other scope?
Nicola Beswick (08:44)
Yeah.
Yes.
Not well, I didn't think so. ⁓ And so that's where it was, well, what else can I do? What can I do to use that expertise? And so that's how ⁓ moving into law works. Just being able to go, okay, I can do that and use some of the skills that I've learned, but not. ⁓
ended up just sitting in an office all day like I do now. ⁓ it was, I know as I'm talking about it, it's like, how ironic is that? I'm nice talking about food lab research. Yes. It's like, okay, no, maybe it's number four coming up soon.
The Priority Lane (09:24)
You
You know, I can hear a consensus career change coming on.
So, okay, so you got into finance and then you established White Rabbit. Pete Van Caine first and then White Rabbit.
Nicola Beswick (09:57)
so when I moved into financial planning, I...
gosh, would have been, it was over 10 years ago and I decided to apply for a couple of roles to try and get in and have that experience. rather than jumping in, not knowing anything about financial planning, looked for some roles. So...
About 400 job applications later, and I'm not joking because I counted and kept every single cover letter I said, I finally got a role as a paraplanner ⁓ with a small business in Armidale, Melbourne. So a really beautiful guy ⁓ took a chance on me, so to speak, and could see the skills.
The Priority Lane (10:31)
wow.
Nicola Beswick (10:54)
that I already had complimenting the job. And that was the beginning. ⁓ I was in that business for 18 months or so before the business was sold and then moved.
to one practice and then to another practice. So kind of moved twice and then set up my own firm. So getting that experience and broader overview of clients and what you could do really is how I ended up setting up the focus that we have at White Rabbit in terms of the clients we help and how we position ourselves. ⁓
When I was in one of those roles,
I learned about PFAN from a friend who also has MS and so she was telling me about the organization and what they do. was a financial counselor at that time. ⁓ so I...
stalked them, reached out to a couple of the board members and then got the opportunity to help work with the MS cohort here in Victoria and so then what happened is after that got offered a position as a board member with PFAN and when that current chair stepped down they
⁓ nominated me ⁓ without me knowing to step in as the role of Chair and that was, there we go. So that's how I ended up as I think I've been chair for about six years now ⁓ and in the middle of that also then starting White Rabbit as well. ⁓
The Priority Lane (12:34)
them again.
Right.
Nicola Beswick (12:51)
I'm very lucky in that I have a lot of support, which is why it sounds like I can do a lot, but I don't do everything, which is probably a big take out of that.
The Priority Lane (13:02)
So what's the core need or the core service that PFAN provides? Is there like a typical client or what's the core service that PFAN provides?
Nicola Beswick (13:14)
So what we do is we really connect people that have gone through illness or injury and can't afford advice with advisors willing to give back through advice. Now, that statement in itself means there would be so many people out there that would be able to qualify ⁓ because if you think about...
The Priority Lane (13:36)
Yeah.
Nicola Beswick (13:40)
Not everything that's going on in the world today, inflation, all of those kind of things. What we do is we really work with specific charities or people with specific illnesses. And we do that because we didn't want to overload the advisors, particularly the advisors that are part of the network. If you could imagine, we're all busy.
And as Salves normally, so we had to scale it somehow. And so we work with ⁓ the multiple sclerosis community. ⁓ See the connection now as to how I got involved with Dad. And also...
The Priority Lane (14:15)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Beswick (14:24)
MND, so motor neurone disease, and pancreatic cancer and so forth. So what we do is we really help people that have been impacted by one of those three illnesses and then match them up with advisors within our group.
The Priority Lane (14:44)
Okay, so from a client perspective, let's say I'm facing a difficult time in life via one of those ⁓ illnesses and I need assistance, what do I do? What's the process of approaching you guys?
Nicola Beswick (15:01)
So what we do is we have a central email contact that we ask people to connect with us and what we do firstly is make sure that they really qualify for free advice essentially. So what we're trying to do is make sure that people do come through.
The Priority Lane (15:08)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Beswick (15:28)
those three illnesses as much as I would love to help everyone that is sick it's we have to be careful ⁓ but what we then do is ask a few simple questions around people's financial capacity so bit like Centrelink anyone that's tried to navigate Centrelink and work out you know what income people have what assets they have it's very similar kind of ⁓
detailed process I would say. It's just two pages we ask rather than 50. ⁓ And then we really make a judgment call based on that as to whether we think someone genuinely can't afford advice. What we're trying to do really is
There's a lot of people out there who say, for example, MS may have MS, but I've seen people with a million, $2 million come through and say, hey, I've got MS, can I get some free advice? And I'm going, we're looking for the people that don't have that amount of money, really. ⁓ So, yes.
The Priority Lane (16:40)
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. And are there parameters around the service you provide each client? I guess in terms of time or scope of service?
Nicola Beswick (16:47)
⁓
So what we do is we're essentially a matchmaking facility. We receive these client inquiries from these people and then what we do is we go to our advisor register. So we have licensed advisors who have opted into giving back through our channels. These are people that are
The Priority Lane (17:13)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Beswick (17:18)
run a whole range of scope, whether they're employed, self-employed ⁓ advisors throughout Australia, they're on our register and when we get someone come in, we go to a select cohort on that register of advisors and then we say, hey,
Mr. and Mrs. Jones have come through to us. They're going through this situation. They have this financial capacity. They want advice on, say, applying for the disability support pension and maybe some ⁓ quick review of their super. We take that cohort, ⁓ take that kind of general information out to the advisors and say, hey, who's got capacity to talk to
these people that had come through to us. So we, the advisors, we try and also narrow it by location as well because sometimes it's nicer to meet people in person or at least have that kind of connection. So once that matchmaking is kind of done, we then step away and let the advisor and the client talk to each other like a normal
relationship would be with any other client seeking advice.
The Priority Lane (18:45)
Okay, okay, so you get them in, filter them, ⁓ summarise their needs and then put it out to appropriate people on your network.
Nicola Beswick (18:54)
Correct, that's exactly it. we don't provide the advice as such, ⁓ we just connect people with each other and all the advisors on our register have self-selected in, so they're the people that have gone, yes I really want to do this. ⁓ We have people that ⁓ take on one case a year and that's all we ask for is ⁓
advices to at least help one person a year ⁓ but we do have advices that say yes to many more than that and we don't want to ask people to do more than just one, particularly because I know how time, the constraints around what you have to do going through that process as well.
The Priority Lane (19:47)
Yep, so when the client comes on board, is there a set kind of like finish line for them? Otherwise it could go on forever as they're a set, okay, this is what we're going to achieve and then job's done. Right.
Nicola Beswick (19:58)
pretty much.
So we...
ask advisors to at least give an hour of their time, go through the general advice piece if there is personalized advice needed. So going through the whole fact finding statement of advice position, we do expect that to be at no cost to the client. And so practices absorb that cost. I appreciate that, my own practice, what that means.
The Priority Lane (20:10)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Beswick (20:31)
But from an ongoing advice perspective, we don't advisors to take on clients on an ongoing basis at no cost. Really the finishing point is that initial start to finish piece rather than the ongoing throughout a client's lifetime because that could be quite a substantial out of pocket cost. But that short little, yeah.
The Priority Lane (20:58)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yep,
yep. So I guess you're dealing with people and the advisors are dealing with people at a very vulnerable time. They're under a lot of pressure, probably a lot of unknowns. Little barriers can seem like ginormous barriers.
How does that change or how do you, is there a way that you engage with clients in this particular manner as opposed to say a normal paying client? Are there different considerations or different ways you have to manage that relationship?
Nicola Beswick (21:30)
So good question actually, very good question. ⁓ We have been collectively as a board talking about how we support our advisors in that position, particularly like you just highlighted. These people coming to us are vulnerable, ⁓ not necessarily vulnerable in the true sense of the word, but vulnerable in that they've got so many things going on that they just have all this emotion that they just don't
The Priority Lane (21:32)
Thank you.
Nicola Beswick (22:00)
how to process ⁓ and so we are in the stages of developing some type of supporting material education sessions for advisors to be able to have a little bit more guidance around what to expect ⁓ but then also I think the
The clients that do come through us are generally referred through social workers. So they do have that support already from that type of perspective. ⁓ Because of the illnesses we work with, we've naturally ended up being part of the bodies around those.
those illnesses. So if I use multiple sclerosis as an example, has a different, each state has a different ⁓ service provider. Here in Victoria it's called MS Plus. Queensland's MS Queensland. ⁓ And every state has that kind of organisation. So we have spent a bit of time engaging the social workers within each of those. ⁓
organizations so they understand what advisors can do, what help we can support your clients with and then generally we see the people that are referred to us or know of us have come through those channels. yeah, so the,
Supporting the advisors from managing vulnerable clients is there not necessarily just from us as an organization, but then also because of the support from the wider community that that particular client is giving.
The Priority Lane (24:04)
Yeah,
okay, okay. So it's kind of like a PFAN helping out and training the providers as well as other way around. So it's more of a seamless transition from one to the other. Beautiful.
Nicola Beswick (24:18)
Correct, correct.
And if you think about, no, not everyone understands what financial advisors do, right? We all know what we do, but the everyday person doesn't necessarily know what we do. And so we've really found that that education piece in those key organizations is really, really critical to being able to get people to reach out and go, I know I can get answers to my
The Priority Lane (24:26)
Yeah.
Nicola Beswick (24:48)
Centrelink question here or answers to my superannuation questions here. So it's really, really, it's been really good and the social workers when they ⁓ see it and they understand it, particularly from the clients that they've followed the journey with, it's just remarkable in terms of the support that they've given us as well.
The Priority Lane (25:11)
Okay, okay. Now from the advisor side, so if an advisor wants to contribute, how does that process work? Is there a screening process or how, if I'm an advisor and I want to contribute, what would be the process?
Nicola Beswick (25:26)
so,
Everyone likes questionnaires, right? We have a questionnaire that we ask advisors to fill out. really around contact details, licensee details, has your licensee signed off on this? Because obviously, if someone's going to be providing advice in any kind of capacity, it's part of that obligation process with licensee. What areas of...
The Priority Lane (25:29)
Yeah.
Nicola Beswick (25:54)
⁓ financial advice do you want to provide advice in rather than not so some people we've got a few insurance only advisors we've got some people that don't want to talk about centling so they make a note on that form and then that ⁓ we record that at our end we also make sure that we do our little checks like ⁓
Is everyone registered on the FAR? know, bringing up the licensees, going, you know, tell me about this person, just doing those natural ⁓ aspects of checking that and advise it as who they say and they genuinely want to give back. ⁓ And then once we have that all checked off, ⁓ we put...
someone on our database and then as someone comes through from a client perspective we just put that call out and if you fit that criteria from an advisor perspective you'll be part of group.
The Priority Lane (27:03)
And so the licensee has to sign off. The firm owner, if there is a firm owner as well, I guess they have to agree as well. And how do you get the word out there to find advisors?
Nicola Beswick (27:16)
basically coming and talking to people like you, right? ⁓ And spreading the word, but we also have a really great network of ⁓ professionals behind us. We've got a number of really key organizations like Hub24, TAL, who have been with us for a long time in terms of helping us market to advisors through social media channels, ⁓
The Priority Lane (27:20)
okay.
Nicola Beswick (27:46)
particularly through professional planner are really big on supporting us through
doing articles to the wider advice profession around some of the good news stories that we've had coming across. So it's really just going out and building awareness through those channels. ⁓ We are at conferences like the FAAA Congress. ⁓ They're pretty great at giving us a little bit of space at all the conferences so we can talk to advisors as they come by.
⁓ And then also we're on their website as well in terms of any members that want to look up and being able to join us. it's really just building up like any kind of natural thing is just building up different kind of yeah. And it's been really great the feedback and the
The Priority Lane (28:28)
Okay.
putting the word out there. Yeah, okay.
Nicola Beswick (28:47)
uptake from an advisor perspective in terms of people wanting to volunteer has just been remarkable. I think this is the really biggest thing is
There's this really great cohort of advisors out there that do want to give back their skills because they can and not be financially remunerated for it. ⁓ And I think that's incredible, not only for us to highlight from a professional capacity, but then also see that from a client lens that ⁓ there are these really great people out there just wanting to help.
The Priority Lane (29:25)
Yeah, and that's we touched on that last episode with Kira. She's very big on giving back. ⁓ And speaking to a number of advisors as I have lately is there seems to be that sense of giving back to the community, giving back, wanting to help, ⁓ which is sort of at odds with how the wider financial industry is perceived, I'd say.
Nicola Beswick (29:30)
with.
100
% it's a shame isn't it because all the advisors I know all want to give back. They all want to give back using their skills in some...
shape or form and I think that's just amazing. That needs to be an amazing thing that we really need to showcase and highlight because if you think about what we what is talked about generally is all the bad news stuff and 99 % of people are great people just wanting to help and
Yeah, we're just going to be able to break through that a little bit and show that we're all here to help support people. yeah.
The Priority Lane (30:38)
Yeah, because the
other perception is that you need to be wealthy before you get a financial advisor.
Nicola Beswick (30:44)
100%. That's exactly right. it then becomes that real definition of what does wealthy mean. And like I can go down this rabbit hole for a long time, right?
The Priority Lane (30:57)
You
Nicola Beswick (30:59)
I think about some of the people I see in my practice and you know it's not necessarily about the dollar value but the thing that they're going through and making sure they're making smart decisions that's probably more worthwhile from a financial cost perspective as opposed to going I need to wait until I've got this ⁓ so it's an interesting I think
perception that's out there and I think this is why talking about when advisors can help someone is more important than talking about really just making money off ⁓ from a return perspective. It's just those that strategic work that we all do as advisors is
equally if not more important than getting a slightly higher percentage with the money you have.
The Priority Lane (32:03)
Is there, how do you break that perception to the general community saying, look, everyone can get financial advice, you don't need to be, it's sort like the gym scenario where I've got to get fit to go to the gym. ⁓ It's similar to that. ⁓ Is there, is that like what FAAA and other associations do try to educate the wider community that financial advice is for everyone?
Nicola Beswick (32:16)
Yes.
Yep, that's exactly it. And I think it's more, it's all about breaking through that perspective and position that I think...
It may be there in certain areas, not necessarily in others. And I think when we see a lot of advisors coming through, it's people that have been touched by financial advice in some way that has enabled them to go, yes, I want to be an advisor. ⁓ I'm just thinking of all the young.
professionals that I've talked to over the last, ⁓ however long, it's all because something's resonated with them. I've got one lady who I'm thinking of who she became an advisor because her parents had a financial advisor and she saw the benefit that that person had on her parents so that encouraged her to.
seek out that as a career path and I think it's those little things that ⁓ we just go you know people with children and you want to show what we can do this from my perspective ties in really
thinking about things at a high level, really interesting way, but then also being able to give back and help someone in a genuine basis. And I think that's why I really love being in the advice spaces. You can really help.
change someone's world from a lot of strategic thinking and have that real positive outcome as opposed to if someone didn't have that person in their corner helping them at whatever point in time with whatever's going on. yeah.
The Priority Lane (34:17)
Yeah.
And I think it's probably important for getting young advisors into the industry to just let them know they don't need a master's in genetics and then do a law degree. They can go straight to finance. It's probably a lot simpler and easier.
Nicola Beswick (34:46)
100 % right. Yeah, I would definitely,
you know, it looks good with the dots joined backwards but not necessarily forwards, you know. yeah, you know, I've seen a lot of things, done a lot of things. Yeah, you're right. But in the other, this place from a destination perspective is pretty cool. So, you know, take the scenic route.
The Priority Lane (34:54)
Well you've done a bit of a tour, you've learned a lot.
Now just on that perception thing we were talking about, a somewhat, I guess, maybe negative perception about the industry and the not giving back, that's not sort of visible. Do think that's why there's not a lot of women attracted to the industry? Or there are other reasons?
Nicola Beswick (35:29)
ha! Sorry! there are other reasons!
It's a good question, right? I, in my practice, have two female staff ⁓ and they're both mums and what they have both said to me around...
their work and employment is really just about that flexibility pace. One of them's on at six o'clock in the morning because that's when she is up and can do some work, but we'll finish at four and have other bits and pieces. And for her, it's all about when she can...
fit everything in and in terms of us from a business perspective that's working really well. We've still been able to do everything that we need to do and I think potentially that's me looking at it from my viewpoint but I think we do have a lot of
think about how to say this politically correctly. But we do have a lot of, I guess, established practices out there that have been around for a long time. And so it's harder sometimes to bring in that kind of flexibility when ⁓ the traditional nine to five pre-COVID has been there. ⁓ Yeah, it's a tough one. ⁓
And it is somehow finding that balance between what's the priorities with from a business perspective to what are individual needs. ⁓ And I also think sometimes if we also look at the gender pay gap, all these things, generally in a...
husband and wife scenario, so to speak, the male in that relationship does earn more money. So from a financial sense, it does naturally lean towards someone taking out a little bit more time of their career to help raise kids and things like that. So I think that doesn't help with trying to encourage females into the profession. But I also think that
The Priority Lane (37:59)
Yep.
Nicola Beswick (38:10)
what we need to do is really showcase the what we can do as women in terms of being able to help people, what skills we bring. It's not necessarily that technical expertise that we all think we should have before we go and do something. It's really that EQ perspective that I think females just naturally tend to have over men. ⁓
The Priority Lane (38:38)
Yeah.
Nicola Beswick (38:39)
Yes. ⁓
The Priority Lane (38:40)
Well, sorry, I was just about to say the last, I think, three or four guests I've had have all been women. And what comes through is a lot of what they talk about is that ⁓ empathy side of the relationship of getting to know the client. ⁓
And really, that's the starting point. You've got to know your client inside out, back to front, absolutely everything. You know, if something happens, your advisor is the first person to call. Forget about anyone else, you call the advisor. And it's that relationship that they stress that this is, you know, the key, and the figures and everything else, get the power of planner. You know, it's...
Nicola Beswick (39:26)
But it really is, you can learn, and this has always been something that I have stressed so much, is you can learn the technical side of things. The technical stuff will come with experience and exposure. Yes, you can learn all these things in a textbook or doing courses, but it's not until you sit in front of a person that you really need to draw on your relationship pace and those relationship skills to really
get to the heart of why is this person in front of you? People don't generally come to an advisor going okay right I want to make a million dollars here you go. It's more about okay something's driven for that person or a couple or someone to come to you wanting to do something and it could on the face value be something as simple as that but now what's driving that? What's behind
The Priority Lane (40:00)
Yeah.
you
Nicola Beswick (40:26)
that question or that statement and that's where I think the intuition is really really important to be able to get people to be really comfortable at talking about that and if you think about that as a skill set, women naturally have that because over
centuries, that's what we've all developed unconsciously within society. And if you think about our societal kind of traditional roles, ⁓ that's a remarkable skill set that we all bring to the table. And I think shouldn't be overlooked and should be held in equal capacity in terms of
requirement to technical skills. one's not better than the other. One you can just learn probably easier than the other,
The Priority Lane (41:30)
Well,
yeah, I mean, it gets down to, well, if you don't get all the information from the client, you can't provide the best advice. Yeah, yeah, so it's a key part, I'd say. Last episode, we likened it to the medical relationship. If you don't tell your doctor everything, things aren't going go great. Yeah.
Nicola Beswick (41:38)
Correct. That's right.
That can go really badly. Yeah, you're right. Yeah,
you're so right because finances, it's a part of well-being, right?
medical well-being, whether that's physical, mental health, financial health, all of those things are all key parts to be able to be a person living a great life. And if you've got people in those respective corners that you can't talk to openly, then you're not going to have that.
So yeah, you're right. It's a very good... Gosh, that got really serious for a moment, didn't it? I was like, wow.
The Priority Lane (42:25)
Nah, exactly.
Now back to PFAAN for a second. Okay, now I was having look on your website. You've got three types of partners.
Nicola Beswick (42:41)
Yes, yes.
Yes.
The Priority Lane (42:47)
organisational
which you've mentioned a few of those and I guess they help out with spreading the word, helping out here and there, promoting you etc. You've got the advisors ⁓ and then individual donations. Individual donors, I guess they're financial donors.
Nicola Beswick (43:01)
Yes.
Correct. ⁓
One thing that's like any organization, right? ⁓ You need money to be able to do things. And one of the key parts that we're looking at doing is how do we make that more, how do we make it easier for people to donate to us financially? ⁓ And so one of our big plans for this year is to look at ⁓ how we can make that. ⁓
appropriate through charitable donations and so forth. ⁓ the plan is the more everyone on our board, so the team there, all the advisors, everyone gives up their time for free, no one gets remunerated. ⁓ And so our theory is if we can get more funds in, then we can build the team actually.
buy in that expertise so to speak to help people that means we can actually then help more people ⁓ and help serve more charities, more illnesses because there are so many people being impacted by a range of things. ⁓ We don't necessarily want to limit ourselves to just those three.
The Priority Lane (44:26)
Well,
I mean really, there'd be unlimited demand for your service. With limited resources to fill that demand, so yeah.
Nicola Beswick (44:31)
Yep. Gotta say.
You're exactly right.
A week doesn't go by where I get it. We get an inquiry from a charity wanting to be part of our network and support some of their clients. my conversation with people is I would love to say yes, but we also have to be mindful with what we're doing from the advisors as well. So.
try to tackle all the world problems in small steps, ⁓ but from a financial perspective we all know that it goes a long way.
The Priority Lane (45:10)
Yep,
so the donation side, would that be if you had your wish out of the three channels, those partners you could grow to be the I guess the donations you'd be pointing at.
Nicola Beswick (45:21)
⁓ Yes, at this point in time. We always know that all of those three will revolve ⁓ to be more important than the others, but yes, definitely from that financial donation at today's date. That, yes, would be the key thing.
The Priority Lane (45:24)
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep. Well, and as you said, that just enables you to help more people. Yep. Okay. Look, we've been going on for a while, so I'm just going to finish up. We did say what? Between 30, 40 minutes, we've blown that out of the water. So we'll, but it's been great. We'll finish up with a question. Now, if P-Fan were a TV show or a movie, what would it be and why?
Nicola Beswick (46:05)
So thank you AI for giving me this answer. And I have to say, I was actually really quite happy with what AI came with me. I will just find it and I'll read it out. Because this is something I've literally just finished watching as well. I'm actually really, I was like, that sounds a little bit too least random, but it works. So.
The Priority Lane (46:19)
Okay.
Thank
It's not the
federal budget coverage, is it?
Nicola Beswick (46:37)
It's a little bit more entertaining than that I can tell you. So AI said to me if PFAAN was as a show it would be Ted Lasso. Why?
The Priority Lane (46:39)
I got you.
⁓ okay.
Nicola Beswick (46:50)
Just like Ted Lasso, PFAN feels grounded in kindness, integrity, and doing the right thing even when it's not the easiest path. It's people first. It's not just about outcomes or results. It's about supporting the people involved, building trust and lifting others up. Quietly powerful impact. The change may not be always loud or showy, but it's meaningful and long lasting.
Collaboration over ego because everyone brings something to the table and success is not, comes from a genuine teamwork rather than hierarchy and competition. And a bit of heart and humour along the way.
There's warmth, relatability, humanity in how things get done. so PFAAN is like Ted Lasso, a good group of human beings doing important work, backing each other and making a real difference while keeping it grounded and genuine.
The Priority Lane (47:48)
wow, wow, is that going to be your next LinkedIn post?
Nicola Beswick (47:52)
it should actually be. What
I will do as you said very close podcast goes out and I can we can use it as the liner right. I'll email it through to you so we can make sure we get it right.
The Priority Lane (47:58)
Yeah
Yeah, we'll do that. We'll do that.
And I was thinking you're very generous crediting that to AI. You could have said look just off the top of my head. Ted Lasso.
Nicola Beswick (48:20)
People
are like, the cruise, blah blah. No. ⁓ No. I'd like to, no. Exactly right. Yeah. I think that's seasonal in terms of being able to show that it's not.
The Priority Lane (48:29)
It's not in your nature to do that.
Was
that the lawyer's side of you going, could I get away with that?
Nicola Beswick (48:50)
more this is how my mother taught me. ⁓
The Priority Lane (48:53)
Right.
⁓ Okay,
Nicola, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the podcast. Thank you very much for coming on.
Nicola Beswick (49:05)
Thank you, lovely, and thank you so much for spending this time with me as well.
The Priority Lane (49:11)
No problems and look, ⁓ anyone listening that wants to get involved with PFAN, ⁓ the website probonofinancialadvicenetwork.com.
Nicola Beswick (49:21)
⁓ dot au I think so yes or you can just Google us and I know will come up so or find us on LinkedIn and I'm sure you'll come across us.
The Priority Lane (49:24)
.au, Okay.
Absolutely fantastic. Well, I hope I hope people do thank you again for coming on and for everyone else We'll see you next week on the podcast