Consistently at the top of her field for nearly two decades, Lesley’s phenomenal real estate career is an inspiring story.

Lesley developed her position as market leader in Western Springs and the surrounds working as a sales person from the Ray White Mt Albert office for almost 10 years, and her outstanding performance saw her win numerous accolades over that time. There have been few to rival her consistent record, which includes five consecutive years holding the Ray White NZ No 1 Supreme Salesperson and being in the top 3 in the country for the whole decade. Her international ranking in the company was cemented over this time too with her penultimate achievement in 2005 of being recognised as the No 1 International Salesperson across the entire Ray White network.

This ability to perform at the absolute top of her game, year in year out, gains her the utmost respect from both clients and colleagues. Nearly 20 years into her real estate career, Lesley’s energy and passion for the job remain as strong as ever. She strongly sees her role as helping people to fit the pieces together of the real estate puzzle. “I love the challenge it represents and get great satisfaction from the contribution I’m able to make to other people’s lives."

In 2006 she had the opportunity to open her own Ray White office with her family in the up and coming suburb of Kingsland. This has seen her business and market presence grow in leaps and bounds and in her own words was... “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. The chance to work on daily basis with my husband and three adult children, building our exciting company together, is an opportunity few people are lucky enough to have – it’s a thrill and a total challenge at the same time!”

“I consider myself a very fortunate person – I have the opportunity to go to work every day full of enthusiasm doing a job that I feel passionate about. My job is never boring - it’s always exciting and dealing with people and property is just the most fulfilling role I could ever have dreamt of. What more could one ask for?”

On presenting the award for Salesperson of the Year 2011, Carey Smith, NZ Chief Executive says " Lesley and Ruth, individually, and together, typify many of the values thay are shared within Ray White. They are a family, they have a love of real esate, and specialise in the community they live in. They have a unique blend of caring but also an efficiency of knowing how to have an outcome of a successful sale. This is the first time a mother and daughter have independently contested and independantly won our NZ Number One Supreme Salesperson award. A truely remarkable achievement.

Achievements and Recognition

1999 - No 2 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2000 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2001 - No 2 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2002 – No 3 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2004 - No 2 Salesperson Ray White NZ and No 2 International Salesperson Ray White Group

2005- No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ and No 1 International Salesperson Ray White Group

2006 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ and No 2 International Salesperson Ray White Group

2007 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ and No 3 International Salesperson Ray White Group

2008 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2009 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ

2010 - No 8 Salesperson Ray White NZ and daughter Ruth No 9 Ray White NZ

2011 - No 1 Salesperson Ray White NZ equal with daughter Ruth

Delighted clients share their thoughts:

"How does she do it? She does it by caring for more than money. She cares for the people." Anthony Bogacki

"I firmly believe that Lesley subscribes to the view of building relationships not just 'doing the business', which is why having her work on our behalf as such a pleasure." Annette Harvey

"The careful listening to us as clients, strategic planning and the enthusiasm she applied to this project was exemplary. I have never seen such thoroughness in covering every aspect of the sale." Anthony and Elisabeth

"A unique blend of caring and efficiency followed by the successful sale of my house." Nadyne Coles

"Right from my very first meeting with her I knew I could trust her entirely." Beverly Palmer

Ruth’s authentic, people-oriented approach gets results.

She holds Ray White’s top accolade, International Supreme Salesperson 2013 – beating a field of 5,000 salespeople from 1,000 offices throughout eight countries to the title. Not bad for a local!

Motivated to deliver the best results for her clients, Ruth’s early career in nursing demonstrates her empathetic drive to make a positive impact on people’s lives. But real estate is in Ruth’s DNA and it wasn’t long before she joined her mother Lesley Hawes at the helm of The Locals, working her way up from ‘girl-Friday’.

Ruth’s commitment to establishing great relationships and understand clients’ needs, her positive negotiation style and good old-fashioned work ethic are essential to her approach. Always known to go the extra mile to fine tune every detail of a sale, her integrity inspires confidence and a sense of ease with clients.

With the support of a dedicated team around her, there's no doubt your property decisions are in great hands when you're working with Ruth.