By Kirsten Craze
Although Cathy Baker hadn’t originally planned for a career in real estate, she nonetheless has walked away with the industry’s most prestigious accolade.
On September 8, the Belle Property Central Coast principal was crowned the REINSW Woodrow Weight Award winner for 2022 at a dazzling gala dinner celebrating our industry’s best of the best.
Each year the highly coveted award is handed to a member who has made an outstanding contribution to real estate agency practice throughout the year. With her selfless dedication to her team and the greater community, Ms Baker was a deserving recipient.
“I was in complete shock, really humbled, but also very grateful. Over the last few months, I think we’ve all seen a tougher market and so have had to work hard to get traction. When something like this happens, where you get that recognition, it just makes you feel like it's all worthwhile,” she said.
After a business deal turned sour during the GFC, Ms Baker and her builder husband were left in debt at the hands of a rogue trader. It was then that the interior designer pivoted into real estate at 40 years old with four school-aged children. She then wasted no time, quickly becoming a trailblazer in her field, achieving remarkable milestones and setting an enviable benchmark for others to follow.
“I decided if I was going to start real estate at age 40, by the time I was 50 I needed to put my kids back into private education, pay my house off and the debt. So I fast tracked everything and hired five coaches to hold myself accountable. Within the first two years I’d written $1 million in gross commission income, and I started surrounding myself with good people and a fantastic growing team. That’s how I grew from a one-woman operation to a team of 44 people across five different businesses,” she explained.
Within just 12 years, Ms Baker has firmly cemented her place as not only a market leader in the Central Coast region, but also as an inspirational figure for others in real estate across New South Wales and Australia.
Throughout her eventful career to date, she has gathered an impressive collection of awards for her trophy cabinet, including the REINSW Sales Agent of the Year, Real Estate Executive of the Year at the CEO Magazine awards, and was ranked in REB’s Top 100 Agents for 2022. Ms Baker is also a sought-after speaker presenting at leading industry conferences such as AREC and REINSW’s WIRE event earlier this year. She has also thrown her support behind local Central Coast charities such as Killy Cares.
“Winning an award like this is a great personal achievement and endorsement from the industry, but in many ways it’s also recognition for your team. I’m really looking forward to sharing this with all of them because everyone beside me played a part.”
As a passionate player in the property industry and a committee member of the Residential Sales Chapter at REINSW, Ms Baker said a successful industry is a supportive one. She therefore offers mentorship programs to others seeking professional direction.
“I’ve been amazed by the amount of people who have reached out desperately in need of guidance throughout what was a difficult time during COVID. I think we all need help at times, and I feel like this is my opportunity to give back to the industry that coached and supported me when I first started out.”
One of the key reasons Ms Baker credits for her success is her drive to not just go through the motions as a sales agent and principal, but ultimately deliver her clients a holistic lifestyle service. She believes in the “client for life” philosophy.
Taking her creative flair and eye for detail, earned during her time as an interior designer, Ms Baker has crafted a vibrant and diverse business that goes beyond being a simple real estate agency.
“My whole real estate model is now built around 10-year life plans I create with clients to help them live their best life,” she said.
“That's something I think is really important to focus on moving forward, for all of us in real estate. Our goal is to become our clients’ lifestyle advisor, someone who can help guide them through major decisions in their life and build future plans. I believe a great real estate agent is someone people feel they can trust to work with for the long term, as opposed to it being just a transaction.”