STEVE MUTTON Ray White Robina QLD
Steve Mutton, a highly respected industry leader, is back to the Queensland network.
Stevepreviously owned six Ray White offices on the Gold Coast, and then spent seven years as the general manager for another major franchised network.
He recently joined forces with Scott and Grant Burgess at Ray White Robina, bringing his extensive experience and expertise back to our team.
" Coming back to Ray White feels like coming home," Steve said.
“ I was the general manager of another major network and when I reflected on my own journey, I had all of the options available to me.
“ I was talking to multiple brands and boutique agencies but I always knew my best years were always with Ray White. I had successful, happy years with Ray White and I love how we have the ability to tap into the family and the training that is available.
“ Ray White is a genuine fourth generation real estate group, who continually invest in their brand.
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No-one invests in their business like the White family.
“ I knew the Ray White brand and the integrity and values that the group stands for, but when I looked under the hood so to speak, I was blown away with the advancement that had been made in the real-time data space.
“ I can firmly say that the technology available at Ray White is the best in the business. The family, the resources, the technology, and the auction focus are what’ s driving the business forward. NurtureCloud would alone be worth coming back for. The app is changing the face of our industry."
LINDA BAKER Ray White Norwood SA
Linda Baker is a salesperson at Ray White Norwood who recently returned to Ray White late last year after running another franchise in Adelaide for nine years.
Linda started her real estate career after several years running large corporate sales teams in the telecommunications industry.
“ It was a huge change for me when I started in real estate, and I was desperate to get my first listing. It was through my sister in Perth that my first referral came, and it was for a big restaurateur in Adelaide- then I was off and running. I worked for Ray White in Adelaide City for seven years, but they closed the office and concentrated on Semaphore which was a 40 minutes drive away from my home. So the only reason I left was for geographic reasons,” she said.
From there Linda worked for a small boutique real estate business for five years, and then Linda and two of her colleagues decided to open their own business with another franchise.
“ We owned that business for nine years, and it was a good experience and we learnt a lot, but we felt we needed help recruiting in South Australia. This was difficult as we had no corporate office in Adelaide, as our head office was in Melbourne,” Linda said.
That’ s when she had what was the first of 40 meetings with Ray White Norwood.
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I used to always love meeting Brian White in Adelaide, and he used to tell me,‘ you are my customer’ and I always love that.
“ The White family are so genuine and I always loved my time with Ray White and never had a bad word to say about them. Here at Ray White Norwood, Flavia Ingegneri works full time in recruitment and that was our weak spot. We are lucky to have her expertise and drive.
“ I love the culture and the consistency of that culture that Jason Spagnuolo has created. It’ s a high quality and high value business that promotes a solid work ethic, co-operation and very little gossip or complaint. This is not easy to do with a big group of people. On top of this, everyone in the Adelaide corporate office is so good at what they do, and such helpful people.”
Linda and her business partner Elesa Wood are now running their business, including their own rent roll, with a total team of six within Norwood.
" Matt Lindblom has been exceptional, and of course we get the best training ever with Mark McLeod. There is nothing about real estate sales and auctions he doesn’ t know. Ray White Norwood has excellent marketing and sales support, and everyone couldn’ t be more helpful. In a large real estate office to have such a culture of high performance, healthy competition, with no negativity, is rare,” she said.
Linda Baker’ s sister Helen Bond has followed a similar path to bring her back to Ray White in Perth’ s Inner North.
ROD SMITHERAM Ray White Glenelg | Brighton SA
Starting a real estate career as a matureage recruit at 37 wasn’ t easy for Rod Smitheram— especially in an era where new agents were handed a phone book and a desk and told to " make it happen."
Rod initially joined Ray White West Lakes in a work-experience-style capacity to get a feel for the industry. From there, he relocated to Glengowrie and joined a local independent agency in Glenelg.
““ Independents, often small scale and localised, can lack the structure, training and technology needed to properly launch careers.
I found myself in an environment with no CRM / database, limited guidance, and very little formal training— tough conditions for someone new to the industry,” Rod said.
“ The transition back to Ray White was a game-changer, made seamless by the structure and mentorship of the Pathways program. The Pathways class of 2021 produced some outstanding operators- Ross Whiston, Jamie Wood, and Brandon Pilgrim among them.
“ What I found in my experience, was that unlike independents, where training is often confined to a handful of senior agents or the principal who may have outdated or narrow modes of operation, Ray White decentralises the knowledge.
At any time, you can jump on Whiteboard, or pick up the phone and speak to the CEO Matt Lindblom, or leaders like Bianca Denham and John
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