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1 week ago | 
oneroof.co.nz | Donna Fleming
In her 11 years as a real estate agent, Fiona Li has sold over $450 million worth of property and been in the top 1% of Harcourts agents internationally. She now has her own business, Harcourts Property Ventures in Epsom, Auckland, and life today is a far cry from when she was a single mum juggling four jobs. Q: What did you do before real estate? I had several jobs but mostly I was a waiter. I came to New Zealand from China when I was 20 and I found the language very hard.
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1 month ago | 
nowtolove.co.nz | Donna Fleming
At 73, Alexa Lawrence is fitter than she’s ever been. She goes to the gym every weekday and walks, cycles or swims at the weekend. She’s done several of New Zealand’s notable cycle trails, like the Alps to Ocean in the South Island, which takes five days. Yet until she was 65, she’d never done any kind of regular exercise. “I’ve always turned my nose up at things like the Jane Fonda exercise craze and I’ve never played sports,” says Alexa.
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1 month ago | 
nowtolove.co.nz | Donna Fleming
*Name has been changed. Jobseeker Annabel* reckons when prospective employers discover from her CV that she’s over 50, they say, “Nah, too old” and bin her applications. She’s been looking for a job for seven months and is frustrated that she’s missed out time after time, despite having a wide range of skills. “I need to work,” says Annabel, 56. “I’m on my own and it’s very tough financially – I’ve had to go to a foodbank, which was very distressing.
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1 month ago | 
oneroof.co.nz | Donna Fleming
People told Kiwi Natalie Williams she was crazy when she revealed her plans to open an agency in Dubai selling residential developments to investors. But she ignored the naysayers and recently set up a business called Wealth Creators, which she hopes will give investors from New Zealand – and all over the world – the chance to make money on property in the booming emirate. Q: What did you do before real estate?
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2 months ago | 
nowtolove.co.nz | Donna Fleming
It never ceases to amaze Ruth Shaw that people have travelled from all over New Zealand – and indeed, from around the world – to visit her in the three tiny bookshops she runs in the remote Southland settlement of Manapōuri. “People say, ‘It’s an honour to meet you,’ and I say, ‘I’m just Ruth – I’m nothing special,’” she tells. Her visitors disagree with that.
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2 months ago | 
oneroof.co.nz | Negotiation Grey Lynn |Donna Fleming
When Alexandra Vincent Martelli launched her Auckland business as a buyer’s agent two years ago, it took a while for some people to get their heads around the concept of what she does. Alex describes it as taking the stress out of finding a home for her clients while helping to protect them against buying a dud or paying too much money. And no, it’s nothing like TV show Selling Sunset – she’s more like Location, Location, Location’s Kirstie Allsopp, she says.
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2 months ago | 
nowtolove.co.nz | Donna Fleming
Adolescence was watched by 24.3 million viewers globally in its first week on Netflix, and 42m in its second. It’s the most-watched limited series on the streaming platform ever. It sparked great concern in many viewers for a range of reasons. We break down the key talking points and take aways to help you get the conversation started. It’s harrowing viewing. A 13-year-old boy is arrested for the murder of a female classmate.
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Mar 26, 2025 | 
oneroof.co.nz | Donna Fleming
Steen Nielsen’s new career selling houses got off to a very slow start when he moved to New Zealand from Denmark in 2005. The former undercover police officer eventually found success and became one of Ray White’s top salespeople. He’s now supposedly retired and living in Copenhagen, but he just can’t stay away from Aotearoa or the real estate industry. Q: What did you do before real estate? First of all, I played cricket full-time and made a living out of that for five years, from 1990.
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Mar 19, 2025 | 
oneroof.co.nz | Negotiation Howick |Donna Fleming
Mandy Huang was a newbie real estate agent when she joined forces with industry veteran Jack Hu three years ago, and she admits it initially felt like working with her dad. But the pair’s differences have proved a strength, making them one of Barfoot & Thompson’s most successful teams. Q: Mandy, what did you do before real estate? I got two bachelor’s degrees in China, in advertising and architecture, but I did think real estate could be a good option.
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Mar 12, 2025 | 
nowtolove.co.nz | Donna Fleming
Graham Norton is happy to set the record straight about why his trip to New Zealand later this month will be the first time he’s ever been here. And no, the fact he’s never visited our shores isn’t because the Kiwis who’ve featured in the infamous Big Red Chair on The Graham Norton Show have put him off Aotearoa. New Zealanders have told some dodgy stories over the years, many of them involving bodily functions.
