Aaron Woolard was fired from his first real estate job and, after closing just six transactions in his first year, he seriously considered leaving the industry.
More than 15 years later, Aaron has risen to become the number one salesperson across Place Estate Agents, but the story behind the result is as much about the team and culture he has built as his individual performance.
Now a Partner and Lead Agent at Place New Farm, Aaron leads a seven-person team built around trust, shared responsibility and developing people to perform at their best.
It’s a markedly different picture from the beginning of his career.
After being fired from his first job at a small independent agency, Aaron moved to Place New Farm, where he learnt by watching established agents, how they structured their days, worked with clients and built sustainable businesses.
For years, Aaron operated largely as an individual agent supported by administration staff, selling across New Farm and surrounds. But as the business grew, so did the demands on his time, eventually forcing him to reconsider what a successful real estate business should look like.
Building a team became a defining point in that progression.
Rather than creating a business where every decision, client and result depended on one agent, Aaron focused on building a team where people could take ownership of their roles, contribute to the wider business and develop their own careers.
The culture has become central to how the team operates.
Aaron’s approach is based on giving people responsibility and the opportunity to grow rather than simply building a support structure around a lead agent.
That has meant investing time in people, establishing expectations around how the team works together and creating an environment where individual success contributes to the performance of the wider group.
The results have followed.
Aaron was recently named Place’s number one salesperson company-wide, as well as its top seller and top lister. He had previously finished second company-wide in 2024 and 2023 after steadily climbing the rankings over several years.
For Aaron, the progression also challenges the idea that successful real estate careers are built quickly.
His own experience, from six transactions in his first year to leading one of the network’s highest-performing teams, has reinforced his belief that agents should view real estate as a five-to-ten-year career rather than expect immediate success.
For Aaron, the bigger lesson has been that individual performance can only take a business so far.
His experience has taught him that sustained success comes from building good people around you, trusting them with responsibility and creating a culture where they can build careers of their own.