Georgia Twomey
Rural Manager, Wagga, NSW
- I get to learn so much
- I love that no day is the same
- I really miss sitting face to face with my clients
What is your role here at Rabobank?
I joined Rabobank almost six years ago working as a commodity analyst and was fortunate enough to be supported to move regionally to work out of the Wagga branch. This was fantastic to both be closer to the country banking business in my research role, support the lifestyle choice my family and I were eager to make and further create opportunities for a transition into a client management role which I have now taken up.
How do you support our clients?
I’d like to think I help them by listening to their needs, trying to get a really thorough understanding of their business, including the sectors they are involved in and using that knowledge to ask questions and both challenge and support their requests. Sometimes I think they really just appreciate that there is someone that knows them on the other end of the phone to pick up where they left off.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I get to learn so much. I am afforded a really personal view into people’s businesses, what makes them tick, what goals and aspirations they have – and we get to help make that happen. I love being able to get out of the office (pre COVID-19) get on farm, go to field days or community days. I love that no day is the same. We also have an awesome team and clients who make the job a lot of fun.
How has COVID-19 affected the way you work?
I have two young kids and the balance has been tough. The fact I have had to keep in close contact with people throughout the bank from those in my team to those around the country has been such a great way to maintain energy. I really miss sitting face to face with my clients, seeing how their farms are looking - for the first time in the last 18 months in the role their farms are starting to look really great with the recent rainfall and I haven’t been able to drive past or around them. Thankfully though the change in the season has made for some positive conversations on the phone.
The hardest parts are being overwhelmed with all of the home school options I could be undertaking with the kids, there are some super things out there online but not knowing where to start means they’ve had a good dose of screen time too. I’ve loved integrating our family’s lives a bit more though – we are a busy family and it’s easy to run parallel quite a bit. Recently my daughter has been checking in on the sugar price. I still follow it from my research time and it has been particularly impacted by some market fallouts due to COVID-19. I think she has taken an interest in order to promote a family increase in sugar consumption to help. My husband is working from home too and I have stolen his office. I claim it’s a hot desking model and he just doesn’t get in early enough although not sure he’s that impressed.
Fortunately many of my colleagues and clients are all facing similar challenges and the sense of being in this together has been really comforting.