“I am so grateful to the people who helped me during those early and formative years. As I was accepting my international top honour, I had a moment on stage of deep gratitude for Francis and the others who helped me. It taught me a great lifelong lesson in that ‘hard challenges in life make you a stronger person’, which I believe I have brought into my work ethics.”
David had a few words of advice for people wanting to get into the real estate industry.
“There are huge rewards for those who work hard. Make sure your family is supportive of your career, as this isn’t a 9-5 style of job. Be organised, keep clear of office politics and stay focused. Learn to read people and most importantly, be happy.”
Love of peopleDavid, who is also a successful wine-grower, put his success in both fields down to a love of people.
“I have always been driven by the people aspect of the business. When you list a property there is always a reason why people have to move home and I thrive on the problem solving aspect of that. I love the challenge of finding out each person’s needs and doing my upmost to meet them. Success also drives me. I’m a big believer that hard work, dedication, passion and positivity equals success. I always want to deliver above and beyond for my client,” David said.
“I’ve had 30 wonderful and rewarding years in real estate. I started out with Peter Cloake from Dalgetys, and then I worked for First National with Jim and Anne Osler, who taught me a lot and gave me good foundation. From there I worked with Philip Searle, firstly with First City Royalty, Ball & Crawshaw and then finally LJ Hooker. LJ Hooker creates a very strong team environment and culture. I have been very lucky with the people that work within our office. It’s a lot of hard work and can also be fun. Winning this international award has definitely been a career highlight.”
David has been in horticulture for 46 years. 11 years ago, both David and his wife Shona decided to start making wine after producing an exceptional chardonnay one year.
They named their wine brand Bushmere Estate after the area where they lived.
“We started with a humble cellar door which is now a much a bigger entity. We just own the vineyard side of the business not the restaurant side. We are thoroughly passionate about making wine and very much enjoy marketing it in New Zealand, Singapore and England. Shona and I are going to Singapore in a few weeks, on a marketing trip to teach people about New Zealand wine which we are excited about,” David said.
“Even though I have involvement in Bushmere Estate, all credit goes to Shona who drives the business and does the bulk of the work, whereas I do the bulk of the talking,” he joked.
“We are very much a family business and our daughter Claire who is an opera singer in London, has sung at garden parties where our wine has been sold which is fantastic. We have been well supported by all our daughters over the years. I’m very thankful for the 11 years we have had in the wine industry. I believe Gisborne grows some of the best chardonnays and aromatics that we see in New Zealand.”
