EP. 1265 **Championing the Home, Work, Life: Real Estate Legend Cleo Whithear - How Do Mums Do It?**

Ever wondered how someone manages to juggle a high-stakes career with a bustling household? Meet Cleo Withear, our extraordinary guest on this episode of Novak News. Cleo, a powerhouse in property management, shares her secrets of managing 500 properties while also being a dedicated mother and wife. Learn how her professional skills seamlessly translate into her home life, and discover the immense value of having a strong support system, including role models at work and her indomitable spirit to meet every challenge head-on.

Join us as we dive into the Thursday morning routines that define family life, with a special nod to stay-at-home parents who make the early starts and toddler tantrums look easy. From the immediate needs of toddlers to the unwavering support provided by stay-at-home mums and dads, this segment offers a heartfelt appreciation for their indispensable role. Don’t miss this warm and engaging conversation that celebrates the art of balancing work and family life, wrapping up with an affectionate farewell to these everyday heroes.

Transcript

Juggling Work and Family Life

Speaker 1 0:00

Like what are we doing now?

Speaker 2 0:04

And you just need to drive to the shop and get some bread.

Speaker 3 0:07

What are we doing now? What are we doing? Are we doing Novak News? Hey, we're doing Novak News.

Speaker 2 0:11

We're doing Novak News.

Speaker 1 0:14

And say stay tuned, we'll be back in a second. Okay, okay, oh two stars, two stars, now. What's your name? I'm a senior. Oh, two stars, two stars, now what's your name?

Speaker 2 0:47

I'm a senior, oh, I love you. I have a ponytail, and me and Papa went to the unicorns last night.

Speaker 3 1:01

The unicorns and the ponytails. Yes, and I went to soccer. You went to soccer and guess what happened.

Speaker 2 1:04

I went to the and guess what happened. I went to New York with the park swing and I just fell off the other slide.

Speaker 1 1:12

No, and who's the lady behind you? Who?

Speaker 2 1:15

am I.

Speaker 1 1:16

Who's that lady behind you?

Speaker 2 1:19

He's my mummy, he's the mummy.

Speaker 1 1:24

Mum, is she a hard worker?

Speaker 2 1:26

Yeah, he works All day and my yo-yo stayed with me didn't he?

Speaker 3 1:32

Yeah, your yo-yo stays with you when mum's at work.

Speaker 2 1:35

We're lucky, we have a yo-yo.

Speaker 1 1:38

And what does mum do for a job?

Speaker 2 1:42

He goes to work and he just comes back and gets me a kinder surprise.

Speaker 3 1:48

I give her a kinder surprise when I'm at work and I get home. Wow.

Speaker 1 1:52

And what does mum do for work? What sort of work does she do?

Speaker 2 1:57

She does every work in the Real estate and this is an octopus, okay, and the blue-ringed octopus is pleasing. We don't want to touch it.

Speaker 1 2:16

You've got to be careful. Hey, listen, I've got another question for you. Does mummy work too much?

Speaker 2 2:22

Yeah, or not enough. I can never buy a coffee. So, it's worth it Because we are girls. Welcome to school holidays Mark.

Speaker 3 2:36

We can't do the Thursday for two weeks normally.

Speaker 1 2:42

For me it means less traffic in the car. For you it means more traffic in the house.

Speaker 2 2:48

And my mum works all night.

Speaker 1 2:53

Starchy, these are I'm talking about you. Does she work on the computer or on her phone?

Speaker 2 3:04

Where do I work Both? He works on VAC News.

Speaker 3 3:08

On Novac News. Yes, I do work on Novac News.

Speaker 2 3:12

And someone draws here.

Speaker 3 3:14

Okay.

Speaker 1 3:16

No way. So tell me, can I talk to mum for a sec? Xena, can I ask mum a question? Is that okay? Okay so, cleo, running a property management team looking after lots of landlords, lots of tenants and lots of properties, running a house, running the kids, running life, wife, social work.

Speaker 3 3:54

It's a real. It's a juggle. It is to be fair. Property management's been a very good um. It's a very good training module for doing everything and juggling and multitasking. Even before I was married and had children, all the little day-to-day things I did at work and how I time manage all of that stuff has actually helped me be able to do it all with home. Like you said, life, kids and work at the same time. So the balance isn't always perfect, but I've got great role models at work. Look at Lise. She's brought up two beautiful girls. Yeah, you can go down the step. Um, sometimes you don't get to finish a conversation in full, but you know the phone's ringing, you're doing jobs, you're at work, they're asking why you're not home yet and then you get home and you're still doing stuff. But it just somehow works Like you just make it work.

Speaker 1 4:54

It must feel like nothing's ever enough. It's like I need to do more for the kids, I need to do more for family, hubby, for yourself, I need to do more for work. It must just be like want to do more, want to do more. Yeah, so much. You just disappear off the screen, just give up, but she'll come back, she'll come back. So, guys, this morning we've got Cleo Witt here on the line and we're talking about Cleo's job and juggling everything that she does. It is so like as an employer and a manager of people. So, as an employer and a manager of people, it's inspiring to see these mums work from home and juggle everything they do. Now, one thing that I Hi, she's back, hi. One thing that I noticed about you, cleo, and an observation, and part of your success is your set-up.

Speaker 3 5:54

I've just lost mark. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 5:56

I've got your back of you. Can you hear me now? Oh, okay, we'll do. We'll do.

Speaker 3 6:10

Restart your phone, restart restart your phone, turn it. Don't know what I've done. You're in the show.

Speaker 1 6:14

Just wait, restart your phone.

Speaker 3 6:19

Turn it off and then come back. Wait, Mark. I'm sorry, mark, I can't, I've lost you.

Speaker 1 6:28

I can hear you.

Speaker 3 6:29

I can hear you well, you can hear me, okay, cool, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just can't hear you.

Speaker 1 6:34

All right, so restart the phone.

Speaker 3 6:37

Restart my phone.

Speaker 1 6:39

Oh, look at that Sign language All right let me try Hang on.

Speaker 3 6:52

This is how stay-at short, Novak News. This morning I don't know what to do.

Speaker 1 6:59

Look, restart the phone. Restart my phone. Okay, hang on. But one thing I do notice, guys, while Cleo's doing the restart, one thing I do notice with Cleo and this is a lady, like she's managing 500 properties.

Speaker 3 7:13

Since I'm in the show, I can't no, I can't hear you.

Speaker 1 7:19

So one thing that I notice with Cleo and her success and what she does and this is probably the greatest tip I can give people out there setting up for working from home is Cleo's ability to juggle and the way she actually does it like she's looking after 500 properties. Oh, here she is.

Speaker 3 7:39

Hi, does that work now Hi?

Speaker 1 7:41

Yeah, I can hear you. Can you hear me?

Speaker 1 7:43

Yes, I can hear you now, I'm sorry I was just giving away your biggest tip, which you probably don't realise, but what I noticed with you, cleo, and you're managing a lot of properties, you're managing a team of people, you're managing home work-life balance. What I noticed about Cleo is it's all about the set-up. So where one of your biggest strengths is, one of your many strengths, is you set up expectations. So you will actually have that conversation with the client on how, with the tenant, the landlord, the employer, the whoever on how things will roll, on a repetitive basis. And I find that amazing that there won't be tolerance for anything left of that or right of that. It has to actually land that way every time.

Speaker 1 8:37

For you and it saves you a lot of time.

Speaker 3 8:41

Yeah, that's true, being prepared, like you said and I do. You know I have love for the process.

Speaker 2 8:46

you know I definitely am organised and I like to know that things are sorted at a certain time, whether it's Excuse me, just one moment. Hold that thought Mum mummy, I'm going to go to my bedroom.

Speaker 3 9:00

Okay, off you chop, but yeah, like the set up, like you said, the expectation, the tenants for example, when they're starting a tenancy, I like to give them the full overview of how things are going to run. Same with owners. You know some of my many clients that I've had for over 12 years now do know me and how I do things.

Speaker 3 9:25

And yeah, I've not thought of it that way, though the setup, that's a good way of explaining it. But yeah, the process, the procedures, all of that sort of stuff that I am quite rigid with you know, does help with juggling all these things that I do.

Speaker 2 9:44

Mum, I need a wee Okay.

Speaker 1 9:47

And guys and girls, there is a show, there is an example of how a mum will juggle many things at once, doing a lot across multi-channels on social media, talking to me, talking about your career. Well done to what you do. Well done to the mums out there in the world juggling what they do. And I think where the weakness sometimes is, Cleo is hours per day, I think, sometimes without talking about gender male or female, but whoever's at home and whoever's at work.

Speaker 1 10:24

they often think they're working different hours, but they're working the same amount of hours.

Speaker 2 10:30

It's interesting.

Thursday Morning Routine

Speaker 3 10:32

You know, juggernaut means many jobs, it's true, and without Brian like that, it's hard. Okay, give me one second, darlene, I'll be there in a sec. The one morning that Brian's left early is Thursday morning. Sometimes he helps on the Thursday morning. There, you go and he's gone, so I need to go now. My toddler needs to go to the bathroom.

Speaker 1 10:58

Take care. Well done to the stay-at-home mums and dads out there in the world.

Speaker 3 11:04

Say bye, say bye.

Speaker 1 11:05

Mark Bye, mark Bye. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, enjoy your week. Bye.