It’s been 10 years since Jared Cooksley bought Ray White’s Mount Eden office. He was just 25, and people told him he was mad to take on the responsibility of running his own real estate business at that age. He didn’t listen to the naysayers, and today the agency is in the top three Ray White offices in the country. It’s also the company’s number one office with a sole director, has the highest number of agents who’ve received the top ranking of Chairman’s Elite in a single office, and has closed more than $500 million worth of sales in the last 12 months - and over $3.3 billion in the last 10 years. Not bad for someone who once thought he’d be lucky to get a decent job.
Q: Why did you take on an office at such a young age?
I’d been in real estate for a few years – I started when I was 19. Selling houses had never been my plan, but I got into it after meeting a very successful agent and thinking I would give it a try. I learned a lot in my first couple of years, teamed up with another Jared [Hards] and as #TeamJared, we did amazingly well. But I felt I needed more of a challenge, and when the opportunity came to buy the Mount Eden office, I bought it with a partner. I bought him out after a year.
People did say, “What are you doing? Are you crazy?”, but I wanted to create a space where I would want to work as a salesperson.
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At the time, my son wasn’t born – he’s seven – so I didn’t have dependents, and I thought, “Okay, I’m going to give this a go, and if it doesn’t work, I’m not really affecting other people”. If I were to do it now, I would probably be more hesitant, because I have a family to consider.
I was lucky to have the support of Carey Smith [former Ray White CEO, now joint chairman of the Ray White Group board]. I owe him a lot. Having someone like him for guidance and leadership, someone who walks towards the fire, really helped.
Q: Why do you think the office has done so well?
Our company quote is to create an environment conducive to success, and that’s what I always try to do. I want our vendors to do well and achieve great results, but I also want our salespeople to do well and feel supported.
We have some of the best salespeople in Ray White working under the same roof. Robyn Ellson and Rachel Berry are among the top agents for New Zealand. We also have other top performers like Dean Tuffley and Mike Robson. These guys are all rock stars – they are extremely special and should be respected for what they do because the job is challenging and it’s hard. They’re incredibly successful, but they’re quite humble.
Having people of that calibre working together here does give our company massive results, and seeing what they achieve is really inspiring for our other salespeople. There are high demands on them, so they need a company that looks after them.
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I just have the one office, and we’ve only got 30 people. We keep the numbers down so we can give them 100% support. There’s an open-door policy, and they know they can talk to me about anything. There’s a very strong culture and a supportive environment.
It has been a lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I had no backup plan, no family trust. I never borrowed money to run the company. Now I’m looking forward to the next 10 years, which I think are going to be really exciting because we’re going to see even more growth. We’ve got great connections, great technology, and really, really great agents.
Q: Does the fact that you’re running the show but are younger than many of your salespeople cause any issues?
No. I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and they know that I know what I am doing. If they come to me with a problem and I don’t know the answer, I will tell them I don’t know, but I will find it. It’s not good leadership to make things up if you don’t know the answer.
Cooksley with his team, from left, Mike Robson, Rachel Berry, Dean Tuffley and Robyn Ellson. Photo / Fiona Goodall
As a manager, you want to have the best resources, the technology, the knowledge, but it still comes down to the personal relationships you have with people, and them knowing they can trust you.
You always have to be one step ahead, which can be challenging. When things are going well, and your team is pumping, you have to be thinking, “Okay, what is coming that could be negative? How would we deal with that?” And then if things are negative in the market, you’ve got to swap and be the positive one.
You also have to be there when things are tough. Not every sale is a happy one. Some people are desperate, some people are going through tragic things. Our salespeople are at people’s dining room tables, helping them to make some extremely important decisions. Sometimes they’re at people’s deathbeds while they are making those decisions. It can be intense.
It’s a great privilege to be trusted to help our salespeople, who are helping people going through what is often a really stressful time. I feel so fortunate, and I really love what I do.
Q: What would teenage Jared think if he could see what you’re doing now?
I don’t think he’d believe it. I can still hardly believe it – I still have to pinch myself sometimes. When I was young, I thought I’d be lucky to get a good job. I was a boarder at Dilworth School from the age of eight to 18. You only go there if you are from an underprivileged background. It was an amazing school, and it made me realise your past doesn’t have to be your future.
Before I got into real estate, I couldn’t afford to buy myself a coffee. Now, when I pay off the office’s monthly coffee bill, I reflect on how things have changed and appreciate that I can do that.
Cooksley still has "pinch me" moments: "Imposter syndrome is definitely a thing!" Photo / Fiona Goodall
I’m just about to go off to America with a group from Ray White on a study tour to visit Amazon and Google to see how they do things, and I can’t quite believe I get to do that. That was not on my bingo card growing up. Even just going overseas was not something I thought would happen; now I get to travel a lot.
I’ve had so many opportunities through real estate, and I get to do crazy stuff like watching rugby from a corporate box, and then I see the success our office has, and sometimes it just doesn’t seem real. Imposter syndrome is definitely a thing! It’s not that I’m not confident because I am confident in my leadership and knowing how to do my job, but there are times when I think, How is this real?
Q: What makes you happy?
I like simple things. Hanging out with my wife and son. Kicking a ball on the beach with my son, going for a swim, having a cold beer.
I also get a lot of joy out of seeing other people do well. We all celebrate in our office when somebody does well. And there are those pinch yourself moments when you see how the success of the company affects people’s lives and gives them opportunities, like being able to travel or send their kids to a good school. Seeing others happy makes me very happy.
I also like being able to help our community. We’ve recently started a charity called Brick By Brick, which raises money for local projects. A sum of money from every sale is matched by the company and goes towards a variety of things. They’re not big donations, but they can give a little boost, like buying rugby boots for someone who can’t play because they’ve got no boots. It feels good to know you can help.
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