The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 96
Meet
eet The Broker
Mortgage Chat
Marvin Onumonu speaks with Marianne Lombardi, owner and
broker at Mortgage Chat
What made you
become a broker?
In my early 20s, I spent a number
of years travelling the world and
working as a water sports instructor.
I was teaching windsurfing, doing
seasons abroad and even moving to
live in Australia for a while.
I have been a mortgage adviser for
around 20 years now. I started out
in the building society world, first at
The West Brom and then Nationwide,
before moving into a combined
broker and estate agent role.
Those roles gave me a solid
grounding in advice, criteria and the
property market.
In 2019 I decided to become
self-employed. I have two boys, and
I wanted more flexibility. Moving
from a restricted environment into
self-employment really opened my
eyes to how much more I could do
for clients, with more lenders, more
94
The Intermediary | September 2026
options and more flexibility. That
shift from saying “no” to being able
to say “yes” to far more people has
kept me passionate and driven.
What should people
know about you
outside work?
Outside work I am quite simple and
routine driven. I love spending time
with my family, and I get a lot from
just being out walking.
I have always had quite a busy
mind – like many brokers, I find
myself thinking about cases from
the moment I wake up – so I need
things that help me slow down and
switch off.
One of the main ways I do that
is Lego. It is a different kind of
problem-solving from mortgages,
and it pulls me out of that constant
work headspace.
What made you form
Mortgage Chat?
The idea for Mortgage Chat came
directly from my own experience of
going self-employed. In employed
roles I always had colleagues,
managers and peers around me.
There was always someone to
bounce a case off, ask a quick
question, or just talk to. When I
moved to working from my kitchen
table, that structure vanished.
I was part of a network, but that
does not automatically give you real
relationships. I did not really know
anyone, and no one really knew me.
I felt quite isolated and lonely, and I
started to suspect there were a lot of
brokers in exactly the same position.
I wanted somewhere you could
take that tricky case on your desk
with people who understand and feel
less alone. I joined LinkedIn to see
if anyone would be interested, and
