Rapidly growing Newcastle Financial Services firm recruits more Local Talent into Senior Leadership roles to drive expansion Australia-wide.

Locally based Newcastle financial services business, Coastal Advisory Australia, recently appointed three Novacastrians into Senior Leadership roles as it expands from a small team in The Junction to a national business of more than 100 staff across 17 locations. 

From humble beginnings in 2016 as a three-person team, Coastal has grown into a national group spanning financial advice, lending, accounting, insurance and aged care.  

Joining CEO & Founder, Daniel Brown, in The Junction head office, are: 

• Leigh Stefanyszyn as Chief of People and Performance 

• Hayley Stathis as Head of Marketing and Growth 

• Aaron Watts as Senior Lending Specialist  

All three are Newcastle locals, reinforcing Coastal's commitment to growing its leadership bench from the same city where the business began. 

Having grown through almost 30 mergers and acquisitions, bringing 7,500 active clients and $4 billion in funds under management to date - Coastal has set its sights on completing more acquisitions in the future. 

CEO Daniel Brown, said, "I knew, that to take us to the next level of growth, we needed to have the right leadership team in place to ensure the systems, culture and decision-making can keep up with where we're headed." 

Joining the executive team, Leigh Stefanyszyn is in a new role as Chief of People and Performance, bringing more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership within human resources, company culture, employee engagement, and business transformation. Leigh's position will be crucial in managing complex changes, developing senior leaders, and putting in place the necessary systems to support the company's rapid growth. 

"I'm really excited about what lies ahead. From the start I have been able to see the genuine commitment to making a meaningful impact for clients, a clear sense of purpose and an energy around the opportunities and growth that lies ahead," said Stefanyszyn. 

To help take the Coastal Advisory Australia brand from its small local beginnings to a national name, Hayley Stathis joins as Head of Marketing and Growth, bringing more than 20 years' experience across public relations, digital marketing and professional sales. She will lead brand strategy, client engagement and growth initiatives across the group's expanding structure - including the application of emerging technology to deepen the client experience at scale. 

“I’ve watched Daniel and Julie grow this business over the past ten years with great admiration. When the opportunity arose to help them scale the marketing function to the next level, I saw this as a great opportunity to help create a national brand, that still retains its proud Newcastle beginnings,” says Stathis.

Finally, Aaron Watts joins the team as Senior Lending Specialist, to help expand Coastal’s services across the lending sector. Aaron brings more than 30 years' experience in the banking and finance sector, and is a well-loved local who is excited to join the growing team. 

"I'm passionate about building long-term, meaningful relationships with my clients so that I can continue to offer tailored lending solutions suited to their needs now and into the future, and I believe Coastal is the perfect place for me to do that," says Watts.