General News
8 June, 2023
Kate’s Queensland success
It’s not often someone is asked to present a talk at an international conference in front of more than 4000 industry professionals. It is even rarer to share the program with speakers such as Reece Witherspoon and Caitlin Jenner. In fact, such...
It’s not often someone is asked to present a talk at an international conference in front of more than 4000 industry professionals.
It is even rarer to share the program with speakers such as Reece Witherspoon and Caitlin Jenner. In fact, such a request would strike terror into the hearts of many.
But when Maryborough Ballarat Real Estate’s Kate Ashton was invited to address the audience at the recent Australasian Real Estate Conference (AREC) on the Gold Coast in Queensland last week, it was an offer too good to refuse.
“It was an amazing experience, an absolute bucket list achievement, and I was honoured to be asked by Tom Panos and John McGrath personally,” Kate said.
“I am not a public speaker; even though most people think I’m an extrovert it was out of my comfort zone big time. I was terrified beforehand, but once I got going, I was fine. When I finished, I came off the stage and said ‘when’s the next one?’.”
The title of Kate’s speech was ‘Be Honest with Yourself and Others’, a phrase that sums up her philosophy in business and in life. Her speech focussed on the transformation she has made over the past five years. Although she has been selling real estate for more 20 years, Kate said that a series of personal challenges made her re-assess her life.
About five years ago, when her daughter was overcoming illness and thinking about leaving university, Kate gave her a pep talk about not giving up and doing her best and realised it was time to take her own advice. this went full steam ahead, no epiphany but she really put into action that it was her choice to change.
Kate decided it was time to make some changes and, as she explains, the biggest change was her attitude.
“Sometimes the best gifts come badly wrapped, and in our own personal lives, there can be challenges,” she said.
“It became evident I needed to get out of my comfort zone. I realised the biggest hurdle we have is ourselves and negative self-talk — ‘I’m too old, too fat too this or too that’.
“No one else was telling me these things — I was the one telling myself this.”
Kate is the first to admit that it hasn’t been easy; her personal and professional success has come after a lot of late nights and hard work.
“I decided I can do the same thing as the big city agents to serve my clients — my purchasers, vendors and people who are just curious about real estate,” she said.
“By changing a few things about how the industry is thought of locally, my business grew.
“It was an absolute honour to be invited a speak about this journey among those amazing professionals at the AREC conference and put our region on the map in front of 4000 industry professionals.
“I was so proud to represent my agency, my industry and my community.”