From Blacktown to Bronte: How D'Leanne Lewis became a powerhouse of Sydney's elite property scene

With more than $150 million in sales, D’Leanne Lewis is undoubtedly Australia’s top female real estate agent.

Three times NSW Residential Salesperson of the Year (REIA) and the highest income producer in the National Laing+Simmons group for the past 16 years, there is nothing left for D’Leanne to prove.

She is married with one child and (at time of going to press) about to have her second.

Tell me something about your childhood

I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. When I was about eight, I asked my dad why I couldn’t go to a certain section of the beach. It really broke his heart to have to explain to me that it was because of the colour of my skin.

Dad came to Australia with his brother and they pounded the streets determined to find work, get their families out of South Africa and give their kids the opportunities that they weren’t given.

I eventually came over here in 1982 and we rented in Hornsby, before moving to Blacktown. It was the only place my parents could afford.

Lewis grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: iStock

How did you get into real estate?

At 19, I moved out to live with my boyfriend in North Bondi and worked as a legal secretary in the city. Then I decided I wanted to go travelling and I needed to earn more money. I answered a six-line advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald, looking for a PA to the director of sales at Laing+Simmons Double Bay.

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How did you move forward?

After a couple of years, I asked if I could go into sales and the big boss at the time said that I was too young. I left and worked for another agency where I got to sell the stuff that other people didn’t want to sell. If you had a $120,000 apartment at Bondi you wanted to sell, I’d be there, and I’d open it seven days a week if you wanted me to.

“People don’t care where you come from, people care how you treat them” – Lewis, pictured with her daughter. Photo: Jessica Hromas

What’s the secret to your success?

I’m very disciplined and I’m genuine. You must treat all people the same: it doesn’t matter if you’re selling a $200,000 apartment or a $20 million house.

What has the job taught you?

Don’t judge people. I was a girl from Blacktown when I started, I didn’t even know where Double Bay was. People don’t care where you come from, people care how you treat them.

Lewis says she ‘didn’t even know where Double Bay was’ when she started in real estate. Photo: Nic Walker

Did you ever think you’d be so successful?

It was never my intention, I just wanted to make some money and go overseas. I wake up in the morning and think I’m so lucky, because I’ve got a great career, I really enjoy it.

What do you love about it?

I enjoy the challenges; the fact that sometimes you meet really difficult people and you have the opportunity to change their perception of what they think a real estate agent is.

I figure If I’m giving the best service and I’m doing my best all the time, that is going to be the legacy that I leave, and the example that I lead by. And I make good money, but that’s a by-product of loving what I do and being good at it.

If Lewis could live anywhere, it would still be in Bronte, where she’s currently based. Photo: Jessica Hromas

If you could live anywhere in the world?

Right here where I am now – Bronte. You can’t come home and feel bad when you have the sea, the surfers and the sunshine.

The hardest thing you’ve ever attempted?

Getting pregnant at 40. It took me three years of IVF, but it was the most worthwhile thing I’ve ever done.