Six Years Strong in Bundaberg
It's been six years since Explore Property Bundaberg joined the Explore network. To celebrate the milestone, we caught up with Kylie Hennig and Rob Prendergast to look back on their time with Explore, some of the highlights along the way, and what they've enjoyed most about being part of the network.
What made you choose to join Explore when considering the available options for your business?
For Kylie and I, one of the biggest things was getting away from an international real estate name and being somewhere we could actually be seen, rather than just becoming another number. Being regional, we always felt that could easily happen with the bigger groups. Our first conversations with Andrew probably got our attention. It just felt like a fresh approach. The fact we were talking directly to the CEO was impressive, but what stood out even more was him basically saying, "Here are the other principals, give any of them a call." To us, that said a lot. There was nothing to hide. It was pretty much: this is who we are, these are the people involved, go and have a chat with them. Nearly six years later, that part hasn't changed. We can pick up the phone and call someone for advice, help, to bounce an idea around or sometimes just for a good chat. There are some bloody good owners in this group with a lot of knowledge who are more than happy to help. You just have to reach out. That connection has definitely been one of the things we've appreciated most as we've grown with Explore.
What is a key differentiator of the Explore Property Group that you value most?
We've probably covered a fair bit of this already, but for us it's about actually feeling like we're part of something. Yes, we're all individual offices running our own businesses, but you still feel like your input counts. We certainly don't have all the answers down here in Bundy, but if we have an idea, a suggestion or something we think could add value, we know we can put it forward and it will actually be heard. That's important to us. You don't feel like everything is being decided somewhere above you and simply passed down. There's an opportunity to have a say, contribute and be part of where the group is heading. So for us, it's probably pretty simple: being heard, being able to add some value and feeling like we're genuinely part of the bigger picture.
What has been a significant achievement or highlight for your business over the past 12 months?
One of our biggest achievements over the last 12 months has probably come from the challenges we've had, particularly around staffing. It hasn't always been easy. We've struggled at times, we've stressed and there have definitely been moments where we've wondered what the hell we're doing! But coming out the other side and looking at the people we have around us now, we genuinely think we're a better team and a better business because of it. Yeah, we know "coming out stronger" sounds like the biggest cliché going, but sometimes it's just true. We look at our team now and think we're offering a better level of care and advice across the board. More importantly, we want people here who actually want to be part of what we're building. We also think every now and then you've got to stop and look at where you started. We kicked this whole thing off from a little back room office in Rob's home, and now when we look around at our office, our team and what we've built together, it's pretty cool. We're certainly not finished and we definitely haven't got everything right along the way, but Kylie and I are bloody proud of where we've come from and where we're heading.