My Real Estate Career Path. 02.

I was 27 or 28 years old and had decided that it would be more fun to work in Westmount than to sell condos in Ville-Émard, and my children were attending Rosyln. I simply picked up the phone and started calling agencies to ask if they were looking for help. On my second attempt, the receptionist at Westmount Remax transferred me to Joyce Faughnan, who was then president of the agency.

During that first phone call, we decided to meet later that week, and I quickly became her personal assistant. What an extraordinary woman! She was 72 at the time, and I remember her telling me she had a house in the Eastern Townships, a region I didn't know (yet). She was in a phase of sharing her life, and I am so lucky that our paths crossed when they did.

It was fun eating green apple, brie and alfalfa sandwiches from Nick's together (she was always full after half a sandwich and my stomach was rumbling two hours later!), helping her choose and select the finishes for her new car, scanning all the real estate photos she had in a cabinet in the corner of the room, and helping her with the few listings she had, but the best part was learning.

She talked about the beginning of her career in Alberta, when real estate was still a man's world. When agents, some of whom are now among the best brokers in Quebec, came to talk to her, she would motion for me to stay when I got up to leave. Afterwards, we would chat and she would ask me what had impressed me or what I would have done differently.

She taught me how to carry on a conversation and not get stuck in it, she taught me the importance of dressing appropriately so as not to cause any unwanted effects in my professional interactions, and she taught me to always pay attention to the woman in a couple, first and foremost. Even today, I tend to refer to the woman in a couple as ‘buyer 1’ or ‘seller 1’.

Unfortunately, my position did not last very long, as my goal was to reorganise Joyce's office, and she only intended to keep a handful of listings that she could handle on her own. It was my shortest but most meaningful period as an assistant. Not a week goes by in my career without me remembering something I learned from her, and I am eternally grateful to her.

Next article in this series: How I stayed in Westmount and became the first assistant to what is undoubtedly the best estate agent in Quebec.