For Local Leader Dean Hill, good business is all about helping people. Driven by a desire to help and to be a part of the community, Dean is changing the focus of recruitment. With a business philosophy grounded in years of working in different industries, Dean is now the CEO of Effective People, an Australian-owned and operated recruitment company based...

What’s the secret to running one of Canberra’s top recruitment companies? If you ask Ian Lindgren, who has owned recruitment agency Effective People alongside wife Maria since 2015, the answer may surprise you. While other recruitment businesses rely on generous commission structures and measure success by the number of candidates placed in roles, for the Lindgrens, it’s all about people...

Sofia Ligeros knows the power of going that extra mile. It’s her determination that makes her a great cultural fit for Independent Property Management. Sofia’s magic combination of professionalism, empathy and high-energy levels enable her to make such a difference to landlords and tenants. Like the prospective tenant she met around a year ago who was desperate to find a...

Corkhill’s Engineering has won a substantial contract to supply Harvey Norman with steel-framed glass screens for shop fit-outs, in another example of ingenuity from a workshop that has put Boorowa, northwest of Canberra, on the map. In a village of 1600 people, creativity and an extensive network underpin Corkhill’s Engineering, without which the business would not thrive. The engineering firm...

home.byholly has just had a major growth spurt, with the addition of the McReynolds family — a father, mother and son team, all passionate about, and experts in, real estate. Even though now larger, the home.byholly team remains dedicated to providing boutique, personal, hands-on service, something the McReynolds are masters at. Jenny McReynolds says the trio was attracted to join...

"Let’s break the stigma against mental health, and support men speaking out about it." Forty minutes into my conversation with Golnar Nekoee, what impresses me most is not the many and varied professional goals she's already achieved. It's the way she continually brings our conversation back to a personal passion; removing the stigma surrounding mental health issues, specifically that of...

Justin Wong is a numbers guy. He loves crunching them, and helping clients understand and use them to full advantage in business. That’s why Justin opened PAQ Group, a bookkeeping and payroll solution that has designed its services especially for small business. “The benefits of understanding your financial position are enormous,” says Justin. “It lets business owners focus on their...

Damien Holder is excited how tradies of the future are being developed. Over the next 10 years, they will be stronger, plumbing designs will maximise efficiencies and have the ability to be remotely monitored and a plumber will be notified and dispatched before issues become problems. “This is all exciting stuff and we need people to develop,” he says enthusiastically....

Sheena Ireland says opening her own business, Specialists in Communications, is one of the best decisions she's ever made. Sheena Ireland dreamt of moving into business for a long time. She loved her job but couldn’t shake the feeling that it was time to explore what could be. So one day she jumped from her secure position to opening Specialists...

Whether achieving an outstanding price for a plush new apartment in a multi-unit complex, or listing a 40-year-old, three-bedroom home tucked away in a cul-de-sac in the Tuggeranong valley, Will Honey is blazing a new trail in property with technology and teamwork. Born in Bega and having completed high school at Erindale College, Will entered real estate as a personal...

Nine years into an outstanding real estate career that began when she was 21, Jess Smith has invaluable advice for young people: Don’t wait until you are 40 to become a leading figure in this business. If you’re about to leave school, you can learn on the job and flourish up the front of the residential property market in Canberra....

Like many Canberrans, Nigel Earnshaw's life was consumed by his military service. Deployed five times, he suffered an injury in Iraq and reached the rank of major before leaving the armed forces and wondering what would come next. His journey illustrates both the difficulties in making that transition and the potential positive outcomes. "The military gives you a place to...

Good butchers tell great stories. Before he was a real estate agent, Col McIntyre was a butcher who managed a shop in South Dunedin, New Zealand, called the Bashful Butcher. A chirpy young bloke who was a real estate agent named James Stewart called in regularly for Col’s chops or sausages and always told the butcher what he was doing...

A highly successful national not-for-profit, that originated in Canberra, is now helping a new wave of women facing barriers to employment to find purpose and a sustainable income. Multiple studies and social welfare groups such as The Salvation Army now point firmly to older women as being the new face of poverty and at an increasingly heightened risk of financial...

Paul Corazza is no stranger to real estate. He’s just marked his 26th year in ‘the biz’ and has sold 1508 properties worth close to half a billion dollars. That’s more than one a week, every week, for 26 years on average. Paul, the Principal at Independent Gungahlin, remembers his first sale as clear as if it was yesterday. It...

Roger Tall well remembers the catalyst which started him on the road to help others within the Canberra community. It was 25 years ago and Roger, a pharmacist, had become friends with a customer at his Wanniassa pharmacy whose son had severe cerebral palsy and who attended the Malkara Special School. He observed the love between parent and child and...