Lance Cure didn't become Australia's longest-serving finance broker overnight.
It took a change of plans, a chance meeting with Western Australians, and a deep love for community engagement.
And 40 years of hard work.
Known to many Launcestonians as the face of Finance Brokers of Tasmania, Mr Cure planned to study pharmacy at university as a teenager in Hobart.
But the 1975 Tasman Bridge disaster dashed his plans to finish college via night school in Rosny, and he instead entered the world of banking.
He moved to Launceston and spent four years doing finance for Toyota before becoming Tasmania's first finance broker in 1986.
Mr Cure said he had been inspired by a chance meeting in 1978 with a group of brokers, who were travelling to remote parts of WA to help mining contractors.
He soon wound up helping organise loans for businesses, machinery, commercial and residential property - even the first iterations of mobile phones.
"There were a few areas that I saw a bit of a niche in," Mr Cure said.
"I'd go out and see the loggers and the Branxholm pub or the Marrawah pub, Wednesday or Thursday night, have a game of eightball or have a beer with them.
"So I got a bit of a following in the logging industry, I'd see quite a few people after hours or over weekends."
The business survived through the early 1990s and grew to eventually have about a dozen staff across Launceston and Hobart. In 2025 it merged with Dynamic Brokers.
Throughout his career, Mr Cure introduced the state's first trivia nights, became heavily involved in sporting clubs, and served the board of St Giles for 13 years.
His advice to those starting in the business is to "get involved" in community.
"You've got to know your products, you've got to know what's out there for the clients, but you've got to get out there and work in your community," Mr Cure said.
"If you are sponsoring footy clubs or whatever, be involved, otherwise it's just a donation. Be there at the footy matches, be at their fundraisers, have your little logo on, dish your cards out, let people know you can come and see them."
Mr Cure passed the 40-year milestone in June.
Of the many changes he's seen throughout his career - he's no longer helping finance $5000 brick mobile phones - one stands out from the pack.
"The big winner for the borrowers has been that margins on mortgages have gone from about 5 to 6 per cent to 2 or 3 per cent," he said.
"Initially 20 and 30 per cent of the business going to lenders was coming through mortgage brokers in the mid '90s, in the June quarter just finished, 81.6 per cent of home loans were written through the broker network."
Mr Cure still feels a strong passion for his craft, and has no plans to retire.
He's determined to see his younger clients - in their 20s, 30s and 40s - into the next stage of their career.
"I think when Ricky Ponting went out to bat for the last time he looked like he didn't want to be there - I haven't had those sentiments as yet; they may fall out of the sky and hit me on the head one day," he said.
"I started when I was 28, I'm now 68 - I won't be doing it at 108. I might be doing it at 78, I don't know.
"A lot of things can happen in 10 years, but health permitting I'd love to keep doing it for quite a while yet."