As I sat down with Lara Sadowski in the Geraldton Property Team offices, a coffee was brought in for me. It was a Moccona. Lara sent it back and asked her staff to bring a "proper" coffee.
As I chatted with Lara for the next couple of hours, I would learn Lara has no problem doing things the hard way if the result means a better outcome.
Lara Sadowski was born and bred in Geraldton, a child of European immigrants. She says her parents were both very hard workers.
She attended St Francis Primary and then Stella Marris, now called Nagle.
Her original plan was to become a school teacher, but that didn't quite pan out.
"I mucked around too much in year 12", she recounts. "So my TEE scores weren't high enough."
That sent Lara to TAFE to redo year 12, which was where she stumbled across dental nursing.
"There were 250 applications, 15 positions, and I was the only country kid." The fact that Lara can remember those numbers so accurately points to her sense of accomplishment.
A relationship back in Geraldton at the time made sure Lara did her best to land a position back home once her studies were finished. She worked in the school dental service upon her return to Geraldton.
"The school dental service was very boring," says Lara, clearly not a fan of a cushy job. "Just checkups, fillings... it wasn't challenging. Because it was government as well, there was no drive to work."
The disconnection between her income and how hard she would work used to drive Lara mad.
"So I ventured out into private practice. I was working in the school dental service by day, and for Chapman Road Dental at night, with Jim Hu."
After the nurse working for Geoff Noonan at Chapman Rd left, Lara took the position, and was there full time for 14 years.
But even that full time position wasn't enough to keep Lara from becoming restless.
"While I was doing that job I was working at Video Ezy. I'd finish work at 5:30, jump the fence, literally, then work 6 to 9 at night at Video Ezy. I did that for about six years."
Lara's life philosophy begins to show through at this point. "If you want things in life you've got to work for them," she says. "I've always been one to get what I wanted myself." Her emphasise was on the I, not the wanted. "I haven't been one to rely on someone else to get it for me."
Lara also spent time working at Price Attack, and running a night time dental nursing course.
So how did Lara find herself going from dental nursing, plus two other part time jobs, being an owner of a real estate firm?
It seems it may have simply been a case of noticing what someone else had, and asking what she had to do to get that too.
Lara says she had a "very very dear friend", named Natalie, who at the time was working for Kalazich Smith Real Estate. Lara couldn't help but notice that her friend's income was a lot higher than what Lara was pulling in, despite working three jobs.
"So I approached Warren Kalazich and asked 'What do you think if I got into real estate' and he said 'I think you'd be great.'"
Lara has a tenderness in her voice when she recounts her conversation with Warren Kalazich. "He was a dear family friend, and he backed me financially. It was a roll of the dice for him." Even today, Lara still looks to Warren as something of a mentor.
Within the year Mr Kalazich retired and sold the business.
Around that time Lara made the move to Geraldton Property Team, having been approached by the owners at the time. She didn't leave immediately to join GPT, due to a goal of staying the full 12 months to give herself the best chance of winning Rookie of the Year in sales. Had she moved offices early, her sales count would not have carried over to her new employer.
But the transition to GPT wasn't perfectly smooth. Some internal issues and office conflict resulted in departure for GPT before the full 12 months was done.
