A Northam professional, who last year was recognised for her dedication to her business, has reached a milestone within her industry - celebrating 10 years of service with the Professionals.
The Avon Valley's Business Woman of the Year winner and Professionals Avon Valley director Naomi Thomas was last week awarded for a decade of service for the brand.
With a career in real estate starting when she was just 17, the now mother of two has run her own business in the Northam town site since 2014.
Mrs Thomas, who did work experience in the real estate field for six months and went straight into property management has worked in every aspect of the industry.
She said her 20 year tenure in real estate to date was down to her passion for providing quality service to home owners and renters.
"The real estate industry is very male dominated and I'm very different to the agency normal," Mrs Thomas said.
"Most real estate agents have male directors and are very sales based and I've always been property management based.
"I have had every role within the business so if a staff member leaves I can jump into that job. It was very easy for me to slot into that director role because I knew every part of the job."
Mrs Thomas said living in the Wheatbelt provided her with a community of mentors that helped connect her with valuable information.
"I love the community aspect of living in the Wheatbelt," she said.
"There is always someone you can ask for information in business mentoring."
In the region's annual business excellence awards, the Bakers Hill resident was named business woman of the year, a title she said helped her both in her personal and professional life.
"The award cemented everything I have been working for - I want to be a leader, I want people to look up to me," Mrs Thomas said.
"It helped me know that I am on the right track with my business.
"I just want people to see that it is achievable to have a career with kids. If you don't have downtime it can draw you down - you need to have boundaries."
When it comes to the local property market, Mrs Thomas said agencies throughout the Wheatbelt had seen a positive shift in recent times.
"We were selling around three houses a year back in 2010 to 2018 - you were lucky to get one buyer contact you a month," she said.
"There was a massive shift when all the mortgagee sales hit the market. They got snapped up - there were multiple offers.
"I've never seen that in the 20 years I have been in real estate, not even in Perth."
