Ill-health may have prevented Peter Drummond from attending an awards ceremony, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still take part.
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The Albury real estate agent wasn’t physically present in Melbourne when he won Leader of the Year, accepted in his absence by his wife Carol, at the Australasian Real Estate Awards run by The Pittard Group.
“I dressed up in my tuxedo at home and FaceTimed them,” he said.
“I thanked the team, it’s all very well being a leader but you’ve got to lead a team. None of the salespeople were born when I started my business.”
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Mr Drummond has just finished seven weeks of radiation treatment, along with three sessions of chemotherapy, made necessary by a throat cancer diagnosis in August.
“Just one of those things, you go away on a holiday, I couldn’t swallow properly,” he said.
“Came back, fortunately I did something about it and found out fairly quickly.”
A Rotary representative on the Hilltop accommodation centre board, Mr Drummond is happy to promote the benefits of the Border’s cancer care facilities.
“We’re so lucky; I leave home 10 minutes before an appointment, go through treatments and things and I’m home again in 10 minutes,” he said.
A real estate business owner since 1977, Mr Drummond has run offices in Wodonga, Myrtleford, Bright and Beechworth as well as the present Drummond Real Estate Albury site in Stanley Street since 1993.
While the internet and social media have changed the industry, the agency still values neighbourhood visits.
“I believe you can’t sit on your bottom in the office and expect it to come to you, you’ve got to go out and what we call TTP, Talk To People,” he said.
Nominated several times previously for the Leader of the Year award, Mr Drummond said he “can't quite still believe” he won late last month.
“It’s a one-off award, you can never get it again,” he said.
“You know, I’ve spent 40-something years at it and I’ve made a hell of a lot of mistakes, and this is a bit of a recognition that maybe I’ve got some of the things lined up eventually.”
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