I was born in 1984 in Yeppoon, a small sun soaked beachside town in Central Queensland, the youngest of four in a family where hard work was not optional, it was the air we breathed. Mum and Dad were both entrepreneurial to the core. When Dad turned 50, an age most people consider slowing down, he and Mum started a brand new spring water business from the aquifer on their farm. Watching them take that leap planted something in me early: the belief that backing yourself is always worth the risk.
Seven years later they had grown that little idea into an incredible spring water business. Dad, originally a diesel fitter from the mines, had even built his own automatic water bottling, cleaning and filling system from scratch. But life took a turn and he found himself running the entire operation on his own. To keep the business alive he had to take on an incredibly large loan, all while supporting two kids at home and taking just two days off a year. That kind of grit, sacrifice and determination became the backbone of everything I understood about work, resilience and showing up even when the odds are not in your favour.
At 21, I moved to Brisbane, ready to chase my big hospitality dream. I became a food and beverage manager at a boutique hotel, and yet behind the uniform and the title, I was lonely, lost and quietly falling apart.
So, in a moment of either bravery or madness, I quit my stable job with $3,000 to my name and answered a flyer in my letterbox that read: “Are you interested in a career in real estate”
Apparently, I was.
I landed under the wing of a Harcourts agent. It was grassroots, hands on, messy and magnificent. I learned fast, what works in business and what absolutely does not, what healthy, ethical real estate looks like and what I would never allow myself to become.
A few years in, with enough grit and stubbornness to fill a Queenslander, I went commission only under the Harcourts banner. No wage. No backup. If I did not list and sell, I did not eat, and I was determined not to move back to Yeppoon. That pressure lit a fire. Brisbane became home and building a reputable name for myself became the mission.
In 2009 I hit a huge personal milestone: I bought my first home as a single person at the age of 26. A tiny 75 square metre unit in Everton Park. It was not much, but it was mine. And that little apartment changed everything, because it is where I met him, Stephen Doyle, a cheeky Irishman newly landed in Brisbane with a smile and a story for every occasion.
Stephen was thriving in civil construction, being head hunted left and right. But five months into dating, he was helping me at open homes and I noticed instantly he had a certain je ne sais quoi. Genuine, relatable, disarming. He reminded me how good this industry can be when you lead with heart. Soon after, he left his stable job to join me and together we decided to build something grounded in hard work and good people.
In 2019, our daughter Isabelle arrived.
Her birth was not simple. She suffered complications and a stroke and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Suddenly everything became uncertain. How could we run our business while supporting Bella to become the strongest, happiest and most capable version of herself.
We had no family in Brisbane, but the community I had poured over 14 years into showed up for us in ways we will never forget. Their support carried us through those therapy-heavy early years and kept our business afloat.
And then COVID arrived.
The market paused. Income stopped. No opens. No face to face anything. So we pivoted hard. In one weekend we built a makeshift office underneath our house in The Gap. If we could not go to the people, we would bring ourselves to them. We doubled down on social media, video, learned Google analytics, studied online buying behaviour and refused to become another outdated real estate story. We helped the community where we could, went back to basics and somehow, we made it through. Stronger.
But something had shifted. Our values looked different. Our future path did not match the one we were on.
So we took the leap.
We left the security of Harcourts to build our own brand, taking one assistant with us and a whole lot of courage.
We had no idea how to start a company. But we did know how to do damn good real estate.
Good service. Good people. Good ethics. The stuff that actually matters.
We continued under our house, hired another team member, worked ourselves threadbare and grew purely by word of mouth, the kind of growth you cannot fake. And within 6 months we were ready: our first office on Waterworks Road in Ashgrove!
Over a long weekend we hired a trailer, loaded every piece of office furniture we owned and moved it in ourselves. Standing in that space for the first time felt surreal. Pride on a level that still brings a lump to my throat.
- And what you see today is the culmination of children raised by hardworking parents with grit stitched into their bones…. -
And what you see today:
* Is the culmination of children raised by hardworking parents with grit stitched into their bones.
* It is the result of surrounding ourselves with good humans and attracting clients who value honesty over fake hype.
* It is the story of taking the long road, the hard road, the right road, and redefining what success looks like for families and for the humans behind the For Sale signs.
Today, we are a team so well supported that our focus is singular:
* You, your home and that golden result
* No corporate KPIs
* No misaligned agendas
…. just the work that matters.
And if you’ve read this far, perhaps you’re standing on the edge of a real estate decision of your own.
We know the weight, excitement, and unknown feeling.
We’ve taken big steps too.
And we would be honoured to take the next one with you.
