Top performing Auckland real estate salesperson Blair Haddow of Bayleys Ponsonby is taking a philanthropic approach to supporting the next generation of Aucklanders.
Blair was motivated to underwrite the scholarship sponsorship after initially meeting with Auckland University of Technology’s vice-chancellor to look at potential mentoring, career advisory opportunities, on-the-job placement and guest lecturing invitations at the education provider.
However, delving further down into the student nurturing opportunities, community-spirited Blair was motivated to sponsor a scholarship, which will in due course be awarded to a worthy recipient who has shown a commitment to undertaking tertiary education which, without financial assistance, would possibly not be attainable or achievable.
“Community support comes in many shapes and forms – from sponsoring a local school, sports club, team or cultural organisation, through to supporting the next generation of Aucklanders in helping grow a better city and life… for both the recipient and the Auckland community as a whole,” said Blair, who has been selling real estate across Auckland’s inner-west suburbs for two decades.
“Ironically, I was talking about my AUT scholarship sponsorship with a couple of clients recently and it transpired that she is, in fact, an AUT professor/lecturer, so there’s quite a bit of synergy between real estate and education.
“One of AUT’s Bachelor of Business degree course focuses is the positive social impact and the difference which graduates can make to society as a whole. That very much resonates with my personal beliefs and ethos.
“For me, selling real estate in the locales of Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Grey Lynn, Westmere, St Marys Bay and Freemans Bay, is about creating a positive change for both vendors and buyers. So, sponsoring a degree course which shares how I view business and life in general was a perfect fit.”
Blair’s scholarship is to be awarded to a ‘role model’ Bachelor of Business student who has demonstrated excellence in both effort and achievement during the first year of studies.
Disciplines under AUT’s Bachelor of Business degree classification range from accounting, IT, economics and finance, through to management and marketing – giving students not only an insight into how businesses operate, but also giving them visibility on the issues they will face as future decision makers.
While academic achievement will be assessed as part of Blair’s scholarship sponsorship, grades will not be the sole defining factor, with applicants having to demonstrate an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset to their studies and course content.
“Those aspects really resonated with my and the way I do business,” said Blair.
”When you’re marketing a home for sale, you have to take an innovative approach to every listing. While we do use templated and proven marketing programmes at Bayleys Real Estate, every listing must be treated individually within that paradigm to take account of the unique and special features and attributes it may have and how those characteristics will appeal to different buyer niches.
“Simultaneous to that, real estate sales people as self-employed contractors have to be entrepreneurial – always looking for new opportunities, using our networks of contacts and thinking outside the square on how we can deliver successful solutions for our clients at any time of year, in any phase of the property cycle.
“While I never undertook tertiary education at a university level, I feel like every day at work I’m doing something I would have no doubt learnt about if I had gone down that route before eventually settling into a real estate sales career. Saying that, you never stop learning which, ironically, is something I’m always learning at Bayleys Ponsonby,” laughs Blair.
Blair said he was looking forward to meeting his AUT scholarship sponsorship recipient in due course and potentially mentoring them through their studies.
In the meantime, Blair is spending countless hours with his talented Bayleys Ponsonby sales associates preparing new marketing collateral for the latest portfolio of beautiful inner-west Auckland homes he has just brought onto the market for sale – all available to view on Blair’s pages within the Bayleys website, or by registering directly with Blair to be on his email database which provides potential purchasers with ‘early bird’ viewing opportunities before those dwellings are officially brought to market.
www.facebook.com/blairhaddowresidential
#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay #bayleysponsonby #blairhaddow #philanthropic #sponsorsuniversityscholarshipprogramme
Published: March 2024