“I’m not that interesting. I haven’t climbed Mount Everest or anything,” laughs Nic Christou. It’s his second week at BresicWhitney, and as we order our coffees (one oat latte, one almond latte), the Winter sun dances across the table’s cutlery.

His opening comment is the perfect springboard for our interview, but Nic doesn’t know that yet. You see, I’ve found that it’s the people who think they’re ‘not that interesting’ who are in fact the opposite. Often, their humility has shaped their life experience in ways that arrogance cannot. Their natural curiosity in people, places, and environments around them has anchored them as an observer. They’re wise to the transient wonders and joys of the every day. Most acutely, they’re in tune with the fragility of life itself, and understand that opportunities, therefore, must be grasped with two gracious hands.

As for Nic? Well, he’s perhaps a quintessential example of this in motion. “I came across real estate as a potential career in quite an unconventional way,” he says. “My mum and I were inspecting homes [to live in] after a separation in the family,” he says. “I decided on a whim to approach the listing agent to learn more about the industry and whether I could get some work experience.” The then 15-year-old had a maturity that not only allowed him to adjust to the family change that lay ahead, but a drive for independence and a self-awareness that had made it clear he wouldn’t be satisfied with a “typical” first job for a teenager.

A coffee meeting some time later with that same agent sealed their fate. “She was willing to show me the ropes but said I’d need my license to get any on-the-ground experience with her,” Nic says. The only catch? Sixteen being the legal age at which an individual is eligible to gain a real estate license. So, the high school student and keen young sportsman bided his time until age, and qualifications, were on his side.

“I got my licence as soon as I turned 16,” Nic says, with an ease that affirms just how integral it’s been in his life’s journey. “A little while after that she [the agent] gave me a part time job while I was still in school. I was doing all the weekend jobs no-one else wanted to do. I just wanted to learn and observe how everything worked”, he adds.

It didn’t take long for Nic’s willingness to transpire into results, and at the then-comparatively mature age of 17, Nic sold his first property. He was, in fact, meant to be at Schoolies at the time. “I was upset at the time that I wasn’t old enough to go, but I think it’s turned out okay,” he laughs.

One sale led to another, and Nic decided to continue working with the agency to help fund his university studies. Surely, he’d have studied property, I assume, before being corrected. “I had a pipe dream of being an automotive journalist,” Nic says, having enrolled in a media, communications, and journalism degree.

The years passed and as graduation came and went, the 20-year-old had to choose between pursuing publishing (an industry undergoing radical change with the digitization of media and consumer habits); or investing his energy full-time into sales. “I was just always learning in real estate. It felt like a natural, easy decision,” he says.

His success in real estate escalated, and an opportunity to take on the General Manager role of the agency he had started with, came across his desk. It would turn out to be what Nic says has been the most fundamental role in his growth and development to date. “I was working with and managing people who were many years older than me. But I had been with the [Inner West] business a long time and was so grateful to be given this level of trust and responsibility. It was a very steep learning curve…it taught me a huge amount,” he says with an undertone of personal reflection.

One of those steep learnings, he reveals, was the need to set clear boundaries and stay in tune with his mental and physical health. A curious search for a more peaceful existence saw him enroll in a Vedic meditation course. Quietening his mind was a “huge challenge” at the start but morphed into what is now one of his non-negotiable, daily habits.

“It’s helped me to stay grounded and centered. It’s reassuring to know your own mind and be able to help guide it back when it needs it. It helps you recalibrate, I really recommend it,” he says enthusiastically. Nic is quite literally a salesman, but I’m inclined to take his word for it.

This journey gave Nic the head space to uncover new aspirations; and the places, spaces, and people he wanted to be surrounded by. Those who held a similar love of the outdoors and green space, of the ocean and water, and “all round, good people” who, on the (unofficial) scale of understated to ostentatious, are more the former. Enter: The Lower North Shore.

“It’s one of those areas that has so much to offer, not only in terms of livability, but the architecture and different types of homes. As an agent that means you’re able to work with a lot of different people at their various life stages. That’s one of the most rewarding parts of real estate, as I see it…” Nic says, trailing off, recalling sellers and buyers he’s “had the good fortune” of helping move across Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Milsons Point and more. The list goes on.

The Winter sun has faded as the mid-morning cloud cover takes hold. I have one last question for Nic. “Harvey Specter,” he laughs. It’s not the answer I’d expected in response to who he admires, and not only because Harvey Specter is indeed a fictional character from the television show Suits. “I’m a big fan of the show. He’s strong, smart, quick-witted,” Nic says, of the indomitable yet loveable attorney.

“I don’t know. He just knows how to have the upper hand all the time, even if he doesn’t. I guess that’s sort of an attitude you gravitate to in real estate,” Nic extrapolates. “There are a few lessons to be learnt there.”

Indeed, there are. Until next time.