It’s about more than just property
Winning numerous awards since establishing Blackshaw Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra 17 years ago, Alex AhKey and her team are passionate, professional, and focused on taking care of one another, their clients and their community.
Tell us about your journey in business.
I started the business in 2006. Mum and Dad loaned me $5,000, I bought a laptop, registered a business name and off I went! I worked in the Public Service during the day (to earn income) as I started to grow the business. After about six months, it had built to a point that I could work solely in the business and we haven’t looked back since.
Fast forward to this year, and in 2023 our Blackshaw Queanbeyan & Jerrabomberra team were nationally awarded Small Residential Agency of the Year by the Real Estate Institute of Australia – an incredible honour, in addition to recently receiving the President’s Award at the ACT Real Estate Institute for commitment and service to our industry.
Locally, we received the same award in 2023, 2022 and 2013 from the Real Estate Institute of the ACT (REIACT). And in 2020, we won the Canberra Region Local Business Award for Top Real Estate Agency.
Something that sets our team apart is that we’re a little bit of an outlier. I’m one of the only Property Management-based Principals in NSW and the ACT. And we’ve operated like this from the very start. In 2012, I was inducted into the REIACT Hall of Fame and was the first Property Manager and individual agent to ever receive an accolade like this. I guess breaking the mould has always been part of the approach and it’s worked because for a small team of 11, in an industry like ours, these types of achievements are no small feat. But we’re truly passionate and professional about what we do, always with a sense of fun, yet focus on really taking care of each other. And that focus is at our core.
What is your business philosophy?
From an early age, I could see the ‘gaps’ in our industry and my philosophy has not really changed over the years.
1. Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you’re going to do it by. Reputation is everything. Our team have a 24-hour communication guarantee. We promise our clients that we’ll get back to them within the business day with an answer to their query. You’d think that would be pretty standard, but it’s not, and our guarantee is fairly unique within the industry.
2. Leading on from this is just good-old communication. It sounds very clichéd, but honestly you cannot keep people up to date TOO much. The more information the better is the way we operate.
As the journey has progressed, I also think the best thing you can do as a leader is empower and appreciate your staff. True leadership is fostering your colleagues’ individual and team success.
How does your business contribute to your local community?
We are all locals, and giving back to the community is something that we LOVE to do. I have been on the Queanbeyan Public School’s P&C for many years. We also sponsor the Queanbeyan Blues Junior Rugby League Club, we support Win The Day (a locally established children’s charity), and we’ve also cooked meals for families staying at Ronald McDonald House as part of their Meals From The Heart program. Our team are always keen to fundraise for a great cause – particularly when kids are involved, as many of us have children ourselves. We always say that it’s about more than just real estate and property to us, and it truly is.
If you’re looking to invest, rent, buy or sell property, call the office on 6297 0005 or email [email protected]
