At just 18 years old he started selling North Brisbane families’ biggest assets. Three years later, there’s still no stopping him as he becomes Ray White Queensland’s top performing sales agent. What drives Ryan Suhle to succeed and who is the rising star behind the classy suits?
His name and face can be easily recognised from busses, billboards and sold signs across North Brisbane, but only a few people may connect that he’s also frequently on Australian living room big screens racing in Porsche Carrera Cup. Often known for either his sales or motorsport career, never both, many are shocked when they learn about the other.
The young gun spends hundreds of hours a week getting to know North Lakes families.
“It’s definitely been a few massive years with long hours and a high stress load but I’m proud of the team and the amount of people we’ve been able to help buy their dream home,” he says. “The biggest learning curve and what’s helped me grow so quickly is focusing on productive hours, making sure my energy is focused on the right places.
“When I first started in the industry, I made sure that my 8am-8pm was focused on productive activities that couldn’t be done after hours, such as calls and inspections. Then, from 8pm-10pm, I would catch up on paperwork and letterbox dropping – the things that weren’t essential to do during typical work hours.”
The 21-year-old certainly doesn’t lack ambition or charisma, and the productive hours are paying off, receiving 181 5-star reviews from his clients. Although sales came quite naturally to him, real estate wasn’t his first career choice, jumping straight into university to study engineering after graduating from high school. His passion for real estate quickly ignited after working part time as a sales associate, and everything became a second priority, even his aspiring racing career.
“There were weekends where I’d just finish a race, still in my race suit and I’d have my work phone in one hand, laptop in the other, pacing up and down the track. It was quite a funny sight for my race team,” he says.
“It’s definitely been hard to balance my workload and my personal life and there’s been a lot of sacrifices, a lot of family dinners missed, friendships that have drifted, and my racing has definitely become a second priority.
“Before I started working in the industry it was rare to have a weekend where I wasn’t racing, now I think there’s an odd Sunday every few months that I manage to pop down to the local track.”
Porsche Carrera Cup wasn’t his first rodeo, racing in Michelin Sprint Challenge, Formula 4 and go-karting over the years. His racing took him around Australia’s most iconic tracks, such as Bathurst and Phillip Island, the dream of many motorsport enthusiasts. He’s even raced alongside motorsport icons such as Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson and Luke Youlden to name a few.
From the moment he stepped into a go-kart at six years old, the adrenaline and competition were two things Ryan couldn’t live without. He is fiercely competitive by nature, driven by rankings, podiums and leader boards, wanting to see his name featured and his hard work recognised. To succeed in real estate, all Ryan needed to drive his hunger for success was a Ray White sales leader board.
“There are actually quite a lot of traits that I picked up from racing that has really helped me as an agent, especially when I first started,” he says. “Racing and real estate both require a strong sense of competitiveness – the ability to make quick decisions and there’s continuous high stakes and high pressure. Selling someone’s biggest asset, you’ve really got to be on the ball 24/7 and there’s no room for error, just like racing.”
The 2023 Ray White awards have just wrapped up at the Royal International Convention Centre with over 1400 attendees dressed to impress. With tailored suits, sparkly dresses and perfectly groomed hair, agents gathered to celebrate top performing agents and offices across Queensland.
Far from the glitz and the glamour, the reserved but quietly confident real estate agent has worn the same suit to every awards night since starting in the industry and this year was no different.
“Last year I actually forgot my tie and ending up rocking a Kmart one purchased an hour before I went up to collect my award: nobody knew the difference,” he says.
This year, Ryan took out number one across Australia and number two internationally across the Ray White Group for number of sales.
Although the race suit has been hung up for now, the classy suits are far from being retired. With Ryan’s foot to the floor, he is ready to push himself even further this financial year.
https://raywhitenorthlakesqld.com.au/agents/ryan-suhle/119411
