Karam wanted to be a surgeon growing up. He didn't end up in an operating theatre, but he'll tell you the work isn't as different as it sounds. Both are ultimately about human psychology understanding what people fear, what they need, and what it takes to help them thrive. In advice that could mean navigating a difficult chapter or seizing an exciting opportunity ahead, Karam brings the same care, precision and genuine investment in the person in front of him. That insight sits at the heart of everything Karam does.  

The moment he knew financial advice was the right career came when he watched a nervous client slowly transform over time as trust was built. That quiet shift from anxiety to confidence, from uncertainty to direction turned out to be everything. It's a blend of financial expertise and human understanding that Karam finds endlessly meaningful, and his clients feel it.  

Active, personal and disciplined are the three words Karam uses to describe his advisory style. But perhaps the question that has stayed with him most says it better than any descriptor could. A client once asked him as they faced navigating a failed marriage, a new business, a young child, and a lot of dreams still ahead "Will I be ok?" Reassuring and complex in equal measure. It's the kind of question that reminds you exactly why this work matters.  

His best advice, the kind he lives by: put in the effort and it will always work out in the end. Always. For someone who spends his Saturdays on long runs and his Sundays at Barry's training sessions, that's not just a philosophy it’s a lifestyle. If you checked his google what would you see him searching “average ultra-marathon timings”, so the effort levels are only heading in one direction. When he's not moving, Karam is listening to the All-In podcast four venture capitalists dissecting business and technology. What financial concept that has him quietly building a growing appreciation for is Total Value to Paid-In (TVPI) measuring a total performance relative to invested capital.  

He's a morning person, a macchiato drinker, and one of the warmest and genuinely popular people you'll meet. The kind of adviser clients trust not just with those areas that matter most, but with the bigger questions too.

Kim has lived in 6 countries, holds 3 passports, and speaks 2 languages. He will readily admit that last part is embarrassing given the first two.  

A self-confessed night owl perpetually at odds with his own calendar, Kim brings the same directness to his advisory work: detailed, thorough, and honest enough to tell you when you are not paying attention. His approach to money is straightforward. Saving is discipline, not magic. Spend less than you earn. He has learned that lesson the same hard way most people do.  

Kim once had his sights set on becoming a helicopter pilot and came close enough to nearly enlisting in the navy before financial advice won out. His clients are presumably grateful. He recently completed a Graduate Diploma, finishing with distinctions in three of four subjects.  

What keeps him in financial advice is the moment a client realises their goals are within reach. The euphoria that brings, he says, is addictive. Outside work, Kim is currently working through Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and watching The Mentalist.

First impressions of Jess are good. What keeps clients coming back is everything that comes after the clarity, the calm, and the feeling that someone genuinely has their back and understands their needs.  

Most people meet Jess and do a quiet double take when she mentions her teenage daughter, she simply doesn't look old enough. Superwoman is the only reasonable explanation, especially when you factor in a young son at home and genuinely strong opinions about the perfect cup of tea (white — very white — one sugar, thank you). Oh, and her last Google search was Auscycling results and she'll tell you it's "extremely riveting stuff," but we all know a proud mum when we see one.  

By her own admission, she's a hummingbird. Up at 6:30am, hitting her stride early, then somehow finding a second wind right when most people are winding down. Her calendar is engineered around it, and honestly, her clients benefit from that energy at every hour.  

Her advisory style? Holistic, educational, relaxed. She'll sit across from you more like a conversation partner than a spreadsheet wielder and if you leave the meeting feeling comfortable and clear-headed, she considers that a win.  

One client once opened with "are you left or right brain?" Jess has never forgotten it. That kind of question is exactly her kind of client.  She nearly became a hairdresser and was offered an apprenticeship at 15 but ended up choosing a Business degree at Newcastle instead. Funny how things turn out. She wakes up genuinely loving what she does, which she'll tell you is the only real signal that you've chosen the right career.  

Outside the office, Jess is happiest with nowhere to be and her family around her. She's currently deep in Jack Ryan, lives by the wisdom that "you don't know what you don't know," and recently finished her post-graduate diploma, quietly, without fuss, because that's just how she operates.  

Genuine is her default setting. Her friends have always known it. Her clients feel it from the first conversation.

Ben is the kind of adviser who has seen enough of life and enough of people to know that financial advice is rarely just about money. Over a career spanning decades, he has helped clients reach their personal and financial goals, sometimes advising families across multiple generations. That kind of trust isn't given lightly, and Ben doesn't take it lightly.  

He wanted to be a farmer growing up. He'll be the first to say he dodged a bullet  though he's quick to add a genuine hat-tip to his farmer clients, who he holds in the highest regard seeing just how hard they work. Instead, he found his way into financial planning, and it's hard to imagine a better fit.  

Ben's approach to advice starts with listening. Not the polite, nodding kind the real kind. He'll tell you that people need to be heard to be understood, and that not everything worth knowing about a client can be reduced to bullet points. Early in his career, a single afternoon crystallised this for him: one client living comfortably on under $25,000 a year, another who couldn't imagine surviving on less than $125,000. Same question, worlds apart in answer. That day Ben learned that within boundaries, a large portion of what we call "needs" are perceived, not real  and it has shaped every client conversation since.  

A great meeting, in Ben's view, ends with him knowing exactly how he can help and the client leaving with clarity on what matters, what doesn't, and genuine confidence that financial security is within reach.  

His best piece of financial advice? Spend less than you earn. Simple, unglamorous, and according to Ben, a strategy that will never let you down.  

Outside the office, Ben is up before most people have set an alarm  a self-confessed early morning devotee, despite his equally self confessed late nights. Weekends are for the Saturday Australian, the Weekend Financial Review, a nice pot of tea, and family. He's also been Googling camping spots in NSW, which suggests a slower weekend may be on the horizon.  

He drinks black coffee. Because even shockingly bad coffee, he'll tell you, is drinkable when taken black. Practical, unpretentious, and quietly brilliant very much like Ben.

Don't let the quiet exterior fool you. Ben is one of those people who carries a depth of knowledge and a genuine drive to do right by clients that becomes very clear, very quickly, once you get to know him.  

Ben's journey at Eightfold started in paraplanning the engine room of great financial advice where he spent his time working closely with advisers to build and shape the strategies that sit at the heart of our clients' financial lives. That grounding has given him something many emerging advisers simply don't have: a deep, practical understanding of how good advice is actually constructed. Now, as he steps into an Associate role while completing his studies, Ben is bringing that knowledge directly to clients in a more hands on way and it suits him.  

He wanted to play cricket for Australia growing up. He didn't quite get there, but First Grade cricket for Gordon and representing NSW Country is a pretty respectable consolation. That same quiet competitiveness the kind that shows up in preparation, patience and persistence rather than noise is very much present in how he approaches his work and his clients.  

Outside the office, Ben is likely on a lunch walk with a podcast in his ears anything from daily news to finance to spirituality or involved in sport or his church community. He's the kind of person who is always trying to grow, whether that's in his career, or quite literally, in his garden.   

He'll also tell you, if you ask, that time in the market beats timing the market. Simple. Proven. And very Ben. Oh and he's a tea drinker. Splash of milk. No fuss.

If you've ever walked into the Eightfold office, chances are the first thing you encountered was Laura's smile. It sets the tone for everything that follows; warm, genuine, and the kind that makes you feel like you're exactly where you're supposed to be. 

Laura holds herself to a high bar, both at work and in life. She'll tell you her secret to always seeming happy is outrageous amounts of caffeine and a great book, and honestly, that tracks. But anyone who works alongside her knows it runs a little deeper than that. Laura genuinely cares about every person who walks through the door, and it shows in every interaction.  

She wanted to be a teacher growing up. And while the classroom didn't quite work out, she finds her way back to it constantly; explaining, simplifying, and helping clients make sense of concepts that can feel overwhelming. One of her favourite myths to bust is the idea that property and saving are the only paths to wealth. There's a whole world of possibility beyond that, and Laura enjoys being the person who opens that door.  

She lives by the belief that you are a product of the people you surround yourself with. Which perhaps explains why she invests so much in making every client feel genuinely welcome and valued from the moment they arrive.  Outside work, Laura is deep into a her faviourite eight-book fantasy series  most volumes clocking in at over 600 pages which she is re-reading because once apparently wasn't enough. Ideal weekends involve friends, a lounge, and a good book. She's also a night owl who regularly sees midnight, which makes her morning warmth at in the office even more impressive.  Laura sets a high bar for herself in everything she does  and her most recent milestone says it all. She just bought her first home. For someone who believes wealth is built through more than just saving and property alone, it's a goal that reflects exactly who she is: thoughtful, determined, and never settling for the conventional path when a better one exists. A very Laura thing to do.

Josh is the kind of person who doesn't just work in financial advice he lives it. The moment he realised that working towards his own financial independence could actually be a career, the path forward became clear. That personal connection to the work hasn't left him, and it shows in every conversation.   

He wanted to be a professional tennis player growing up. He'll be the first to admit there was no chance, but that same competitive drive found its outlet. These days you're more likely to find it on a pickleball court, which might be the most surprising thing to learn about him. Engaging, thoughtful and strategic are the three words Josh uses to describe his advisory style and given how much he values genuine back and forth with clients, working through strategy ideas together and leaving meetings excited about what's ahead, it's hard to argue with any of them.   

One of the concepts Josh finds himself returning to most often is dollar cost averaging and how valuable this is each time he is asked. It's the kind of idea that seems simple on the surface but carries real power when properly understood. Much like his go to myth to bust: that all debt is bad. It's a distinction that can genuinely change how someone approaches building wealth.   

His best piece of advice make money work for you is also the philosophy he instils right alongside the benefits of compound interest. No hesitation. Josh recently achieved a goal he'd been working towards for some time becoming a provisional adviser. It's the kind of milestone that means more when you've understood from the inside why the work matters.   

Outside the office, Josh is currently reconsidering his relationship with morning sleep before early starts. It turns out, sleep has become non-negotiable. Weekends look like walking, coffee, sport, the beach, and whatever he's listening to, which right now which is an audiobook on mastering private equity. He's also been researching incline walking versus running for maximum fat burn, which suggests the pursuit of optimisation doesn't stop when the workday does. We order him a flat white, no fuss.

Charmaine is the kind of person who leads with warmth, genuine curiosity, and a real desire to help, and that comes through in every client interaction at Eightfold.  

Growing up, Charmaine had her sights set on the music industry. Her dad had other ideas accounting, he said, was the "real" job. He wasn't wrong, but what he probably didn't anticipate was that his other great lesson would matter even more: keep learning and growing. That philosophy stuck. It's a big part of why Charmaine found her home in financial planning an industry where the learning genuinely never stops.  

One of the most common conversations Charmaine finds herself having is around the true value of insurance. Many people underestimate it  or overlook it entirely not realising that protecting what you have is just as important as growing it. She sees insurance less as a cost and more like superannuation: a genuine investment in yourself and your future, one that quietly compounds in significance the longer you have it.  

Outside the office, you'll find Charmaine at the beach or freediving on a sunny weekend or deep into a Big Bang Theory when the weather turns. She takes her coffee with oat milk and a teaspoon of honey, which tells you everything you need to know about her approach to life: thoughtful, a little unexpected, and just the right amount of sweet.