Profile
After beginning her career as a medical scientist, Maddie Walton found her true calling in mortgage broking after struggling to find the guidance and education she needed as a first home buyer. Determined to create a different experience, she built an engaged community through @moneywithmaddie, where more than 23,000 followers have joined her mission to make personal finance less intimidating and make conversations about money more accessible.
When Walton launched Money Lounge, she took an unconventional path, building her brokerage through education, trust and authentic relationships.
35 Colrene Drive, Nerang, Qld 4211
0415 922 777
maddie@moneylounge.com.au
linkedin.com/in/maddie-walton-85248a157
moneylounge.com.au
Maddie Walton
Director and Mortgage Broker
Money Lounge
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Bio
Milestones
2020–2022
2022–2023
2023
2024
2025–2026
Medical Researcher at Griffith University, specialising in immunology, parasitology and malaria vaccine research
2020–2022
Loan Processor and Credit Analyst, building expertise in lender policy, complex lending and credit strategy while completing her Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management
2022–2023
Became a mortgage broker, combining her technical expertise with an education-first approach while continuing to grow her online financial education community
2023
Founded Money Lounge from her Gold Coast home, growing the brokerage through financial education, trust and authentic relationships
Named Wellness Advocate of the Year at the Better Business Awards
2024
2025: Australian Mortgage Awards – New Brokerage of the Year; MFAA Queensland Excellence Awards – Newcomer of the Year; Better Business Awards Queensland – New Broker of the Year
2026: Loan Market Group Awards – Best New Broker; Loan Market Group – Top 250 Brokers; MPA’s Rising Star
2025–2026
Milestones
As a founding member of WOW! (Women. Opportunity. Winning.), an employee resource group created for all women of Ryan Specialty, Phillips Topping has long championed for women in the industry.
“It’s very important to set an example and to not only inspire but mentor other females,” she adds.
In addition to her sharp marketing eye, the key to Phillips Topping’s success lies in her high-energy approach and positive attitude.
“As the leader of a team, it’s important to motivate and encourage your team members. People work very hard and do their best and it’s important to recognize these efforts. For my career overall, my attitude has been one of curiosity. The more you can learn, the better you’ll understand the business, and then the deeper your knowledge will become, making you a better team member.”
Chief underwriting officer of executive risk at Chubb
President of financial insurance solutions at Kemper
Chief underwriting officer at Axis Capital
CEO of global Insurance at Endurance
CEO of global Insurance at Sompo International
Empathy underpins that discipline. Prickett has struggled in the industry. She has felt what it is like when promised support does not materialize. Having worked across almost every function in the company, she understands operational detail and the pressure agents face. That shared experience shapes her leadership.
Structural barriers also shaped her path. As a woman and a mother, she encountered the assumption that serious business building required keeping priorities “out of order for a time.” She also experienced the double standard that frames firm women as difficult while praising similar behaviour in men.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing,” Prickett says.
She wants to dismantle the expectation that women must choose between career and family, or between strength and kindness. In her view, leadership demands both conviction and care.
Being named an Elite Woman carries weight. Prickett did not have female role models in the industry when she started. She hopes visibility changes that. “I hope I can be an example. Not of perfection, but of persistence. Of building from your values and staying true to who you are.”
The legacy Prickett is still defining centres on proof – proof that a large, profitable company can grow without sacrificing integrity; proof that agents can build real assets while keeping their priorities intact; and proof that leadership does not require abandoning who you are to succeed.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group
“What I’ve learned is that when you build from your values, when you put people first, when you do the right thing even when it’s hard, that becomes your plan”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group