Single mum climbs to industry helm

Real estate agent Michelle Winkle has climbed to the top of her industry through sheer perseverance and hard work.
“I’m not about just getting it sold straight away,” she says.
“If it means taking a bit more time to get it sold at a higher price, I will spend that time doing it.
“I’ve been through some really hard times – so I understand that every single cent makes a difference. That extra $500, or even $100, can make a big difference.”
When Michelle started as an agent at age 29, she was a single mother of two with “not much hope or money in the bank”.
“I was quite lost, and I didn’t have any financial security – I’d just left a bad relationship,” she says.
“I decided I’d stop waiting for someone to save me and save myself. It was about showing my kids that they could do anything and achieve their dreams.”
Michelle remembers struggling in the early days.
“For two years, I was working 24/7 with little result,” she says.
“But I didn’t get in it to chase the money – I got in it to chase success. I sold a pub once, and a farm, which is very different to selling a house.”
She remembers visiting the eventual buyer for that farm – another farmer down the road.
He had purportedly lost interest, but Michelle slogged across his property on a cold winter’s day to find out for sure.
“I actually walked out into his muddy paddock in heels, which was ridiculous,” she said.
“But taking those extra steps got the property sold to that farmer down the road. If you don’t take risks you’ll always wonder.
“Sometimes, it’s just about thinking outside the square. It was all about getting that one good testimony.”
Her persistence would pay off: now 95 per cent of her sales are referral-based.
“Which is what I dreamed of,” she says.
A decade later, Michelle has won recognition as the best female agent in Victoria and the third best in Australia with a major real estate company.
But she says her first award in 2008 (Personal Assistant of the Year) was her most memorable.
“I never in wildest dreams imagined I would get up on the stage – I just thought the awards were for special people.”
She still remembers her first sale, and 10 years later, she’s selling a home for them again.
“I was a single mum who had no hope, and they trusted me to sell their house,” she says. “I don’t think anyone else wanted so badly to get that sale right.”
“It’s an honour to work for them again.”
To get in touch with Michelle Winkle, phone 0416 117 978.