Off the Cuff

_{By | 24/11/2009 8:00:00 AM | 0 comments}

ING Direct’s executive director of mortgages, Lisa Claes.

What was the last book you read?
Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina 

If you did not live in Australia, where would you like to live?
New York –for the buzz, the excitement and the energy. In a penthouse definitely, overlooking Central Park. 

If you could sit down to lunch with anyone you like, who would it be?
A few people – all in the visionary category. Paul Keating; the financial visionary who floated the Australian Dollar, the superannuation scheme and many others. Love him or hate him, he just did so much. Bill Gates who revolutionised information technology. And David Bowie; the musical visionary never afraid to push new genre boundaries and the first to set up a bond issue on the royalties of his music.
All of them are very clever people.
 
What was the first job you ever had?
I worked in a health food shop when I finished high school. I learned that work was really quite challenging, having to maintain a focus over a long period of time.

What do you do to unwind?
Although I don’t have a lot of time, I find mothering and interacting with my children to be relaxing. I also like to run, read and spend a small amount of time alone.

What's the most extravagant gift you ever bought yourself?
In terms of the price to volume to value ratio - it has to be a pair of True Religion jeans. The price you pay for a pair of denims is ridiculous.

What CD is currently playing in your car stereo?
Richard Clapton – The Definitive Anthology

If you could give anyone starting out in business one piece of advice, what would it be?
Run early and run hard

If I was not working in the mortgage industry, I would like to be…?
Teaching English literature to children. 

Where was the last place you went on holiday?
Noosa

What is the one thing most people would not know about you?
When I was about 14 I camped outside the Park Royal in Queensland because the band Queen was staying there - just to catch a sight of them. And after all of that I didn’t even get to see them. Don’t tell my mother.