Hamilton-based award winner Alana Garnett, pictured, says she has found her dream job since leaving the tax office behind and entering the world of broking two years ago.

The Bridges Insurance Compliance and Office Manager has just won the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) Broking Sector category Making a Difference recognition award – her first industry accolade and the “cherry on top of a pretty phenomenal year”.

Ms Garnett tells insuranceNEWS.com.au she has not taken sick leave since MD Ron Bridges, who started the firm in 1990, hired her in early 2020.

“I tell Ron I will be here till I retire,” she said. “I go to bed on a Sunday night and I wake up excited to come to work on a Monday. I genuinely am in my dream job and I love what I do. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the future brings.”

After a decade at the tax department, Ms Garnett completed an MBA and a "massive journey of self-discovery" and applied for what was an entry-level role at the Bridges brokerage, which has a team of 30.

“Ron was like, you’re a wee bit overqualified! How do you feel about compliance?” Ms Garnett said. “It was a match made in heaven.”

She began six days before New Zealand’s first covid lockdown and says her varied experience in IT, change management, marketing and communications, health and safety and compliance have all contributed to her current role.

Coming into year three of covid, she says remote working has put at risk vital and hard-won client-broker relationships developed over years but Bridges has been fortunate and is taking advantage of technology to spend more time listening to clients and understanding their needs.

More high complexity risks are coming through, and Ms Garnett says she is grateful to be surrounded by experts.

“I always try and listen in on the conversations that they are having,” she said. “Our brokers do such a wonderful job. I am really lucky that I work in such a collaborative environment where they share their expertise. I am in complete awe of everything they do.

"We have clients who have been with us since day dot. They know that if anything happens, they ring their broker and it gets sorted. It comes back to that peace of mind."