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Tahnee Barnes says that, four months ago, a friend of hers asked if she had heard of the LJ Hooker Million Dollar Intern program. She hadn’t, but she got intrigued and looked into it. Today, she is the Million Dollar Intern, staring down a stellar career in real estate.
Ms Barnes, hailing from Canberra, says the program made an impression on her immediately, especially the opportunity to work so closely with LJ Hooker Double Bay director and Million Dollar Intern mentor Bill Malouf.
“I realised this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she told REB.
“I thought I could really learn from Bill Malouf after I had done a little research on him.”
Ms Barnes had recently discharged from 10 years in the military, which she had “lived and breathed”.
“I worked hard, worked seven days a week when I had to. It was just normal everyday process.
“When I got out, I thought I’ll just get a job now because nothing will beat the military. I won’t ever find something that is such a strong career that I can really be a part of and be a part of the team.”
But that was before she stumbled across the competition. Giving herself very little chance of actually winning, she entered.
“I never gave it really a second thought as it was nationwide. There were a lot of good candidates.”
But that all changed when she made the top 15.
“Then when it started to get a bit real and I was in the top fifteen and talking to [the LJ Hooker family] and doing more research, I thought ‘I really need to win this’.”
“People said, ‘You’ll have to work very hard’, and I said, ‘Well, remember we were all in the military together, so I’m not really scared about losing my weekends – or putting in the extra effort’.”
It became apparent that she might actually take it out when she flew down to Sydney and met Mr Malouf.
“My interview went a lot longer than expected and it seemed that they were quite happy with me.
“Later, when I took the call from Bill Malouf, I was in a bit of a panic. I just said, ‘Bill, tell me I’ve won it.’ And he told me I’d won it. And then he stayed on the phone with me for twenty minutes having a chat. I said ‘thank you’ a million times.”
Mr Malouf remembers her ambitious approach, and says her directness made an immediate mark on him.
“What impressed me most was at the end of the interview, she did what no one else had and asked for the job,” he said.
“In real estate, we teach agents to never leave a listing appraisal without asking for business. This was a great first lesson.”
Mr Malouf also said that Ms Barnes stood out among her competitors with an excellent video submission and by making memorable impressions in her phone and panel interviews.
“She was passionate, succinct, humorous and thoughtful,” he said.
Ms Barnes starts her internship on 31 July.
Stay tuned to REB as we follow her milestones over the next three months.
Meet Tahnee Barnes by clicking here.
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