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It’s hard for me not to write good things about Annick Donat. After all, I have known her for almost 20 years, both in her professional capacity, and as a friend.
The biggest thing you will notice about Annick when you meet her is her palpable energy. This woman just radiates positivity and excitement: about ideas, about business, and about improving things.
It’s a phenomenon that’s infectious. Time and again, I have seen Annick lead a meeting, and by the end of it, the room is energised, excited and ready to go out and change the world. This style of charismatic leadership is rare, and so is she.
Her passion for advice, advisers, and small business is clear throughout our interview. Both Mark and I very much enjoyed exploring her views, frustrations and insights into the future; because Annick is also very much a predictor of things to come.
I assume this is based on a deep intuition, combined with her 30 years’ of working experience, as what she calls usually comes to pass. At times, I have seen this frighten some in the financial services space as her predictions can come before the data has been explored or is even available. It is a gift, which she has had to manage and combine with her ability to build a strong business case to support her view; something which she has done many times, and which has led her to her current role as chief executive of Madison Financial Group.
Her years of work at both MLC and BT were filled with success, as she brought large corporate companies on a journey to better understand and support the needs of advisers, who in turn were able to help more Australians.
Annick’s passion for the value of advice comes from hard life experience. In this interview, she revealed to us for the first time that her mother had suffered an aneurism at a very young age, when Annick was just 21.
Her mother did not have insurance, which left Annick to care for her siblings and essentially become the breadwinner for the family. Undoubtedly, that incredibly difficult life experience has made her the resilient leader she is today. It has also given her the drive to help as many advisers as she can reach the Australian public to ensure sure this kind of tragedy does not happen to anybody else. That kind of motivation is powerful and effective.
I know you will enjoy listening to what created Annick’s leadership style and what lies ahead for her. She is truly one of a kind.
Regards,
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