RYAN SUHLE
RAY WHITE NORTH LAKES
Not only is Ray White North Lakes agent Ryan Suhle the youngest Elite agent in Ray White history , he also participates in the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship .
Attracting the best Pro and Pro-Am sports car drivers from the Australasian region , Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup is the premier one-make championship in Australia with drivers competing in identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup ( Type 992 ) race cars .
His family has always been into motor racing , beginning with his grandfather who owned a karting shop out of Willowbank in Queensland . He spent a lot of time there as a kid where he developed a love of cars and racing . His career began at seven years old in a go-kart , he then moved through the car ranks and is now in the Carrera Cup .
Eight weekends of the year , he attends races for the championship and a few test days in between . There ’ s plenty of travel involved which can be time consuming but Ryan has a great real estate team around to help support his clients when he ’ s away .
“ I love everything about fast cars , but also the competitive aspect . I enjoy winning and it ’ s something I ’ ve always been good at ,” he said .
“ Spending time with family doing something and around something you all enjoy is also great .”
The competitive aspect of it is a great carry over , but the most transferable skill is definitely dealing with the ups and downs of motorsport according to Ryan .
“ One day you ’ re winning , the next day you ’ re not ! A bit like real estate ! Dealing with that and understanding it ’ s something that ’ s natural is critical for both ,” he said .
RAY WHITE REMUERA
When Derek von Sturmer was told he needed to get some life experience before joining his brother ’ s real estate agency in Auckland , he took it to the extreme by running away to the circus .
With a background in gymnastics , Derek answered an ad in the paper looking for people to join the circus . Six months later , he got the call saying he needed to be in Malaysia in six days .
Derek quit his job in sales and jumped on the plane for his first overseas journey .
“ I found myself in the jungle at night and was thinking , ‘ what the hell have I done ?”
After a year in the circus , Derek headed back to New Zealand and joined his brother Ross at his real estate agency in Auckland in 2007 . In 2008 the market slowed down , and Mr von Sturmer was faced with another opportunity – to coach the national Rugby 7s team in Mexico .
Not speaking a word of Spanish when he left , he coached rugby in Mexico for two years , and was fluent when he returned to New Zealand two years later .
“ I coached the national 7s team and the national women ’ s 7s team .”
DEREK VON STURMER
RAY WHITE REMUERA
“ They put me on the trapeze and we did intense training all day , every day , and I ended up being a flying trapeze artist .”
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