Meet the real Phillip Kingston

A FARM BOY AT HEART:

MEET THE REAL PHILLIP KINGSTON

I grew up around farmers who got up at five o’clock and didn’t stop until after the sun went down. People in the country truly know what it means to work hard.

From humble beginnings working on the family farm to selling Melbourne’s finest homes, Phillip Kingston has come a long way.

After a chance encounter with Gary Peer when they were both just 12, their business is now booming and interwoven into the fabric of south-east Melbourne. From supporting local groups to mentoring the next generation to the iconic coffee van.

But beyond the showman seen at auctions, Phillip works tirelessly to support his team. And our community.

We sat down with Phillip, Gary Peer & Associates Co-founder, to learn more about the man behind the suit. How did he start out? What drives him? And what’s next?

Lessons learned on the land

Phillip’s story begins in the country NSW town of Cootamundra, where he grew up on his parent’s farm, producing wool, lamb and wheat. “Life on the farm taught me the importance of independence, hard work and supporting your family,” says Phillip. “I grew up around farmers who got up at five o’clock and didn’t stop until after the sun went down. People in the country truly know what it means to work hard.” After school each day, young Phillip would return home to help his father run the farm. And when he wasn’t working or at school, he would race around the farm on a motorbike (from the age of six, he adds). “A lot of who I am now is grounded in my upbringing alongside working-class Australians,” Phillip explains. “It opened my eyes to the experiences of those who lived a tougher life.”

When Gary met Phillip

At the age of 12, Phillip’s parents sent him to Melbourne to make friends and prepare him for boarding school. Phillip took the train and made the eight-hour journey, where a bus was waiting to take him to a summer youth camp. “I jumped on the bus and there was one seat left. I sat next to this kid, and three hours later we’d become the best of mates. That kid was Gary.” The pair stayed in touch. In the meantime, Phillip went to boarding school and then on to university – but academic life wasn’t for him. He could do the work, but concentration eluded him.

It wasn’t until later in life that Phillip discovered he had ADHD. Yet the diagnosis was far from a curse. In fact, Phillip credits much of his creativity, energy, spontaneity, and problemsolving to his ADHD – it just made sitting still for too long hard! So Phillip left university and got a job in retail. “As soon as I started, I knew I was born to sell. I love the ebb and flow, the psychology. And I love connecting with people.” Before long he was outselling his peers by 10 to one. Phillip had found his calling.

Selling the ultimate product

In their early twenties, Gary, who was already working in real estate, suggested that Phillip would enjoy the work too. “I decided that if I was going to stay in sales, I had to put my skills to good use. I needed to sell the ultimate product.” And in an alternate universe, Phillip could be selling aeroplanes. Jumbo jets cost half a billion dollars, after all. So to Phillip, planes were the ultimate product.

He did his research and connected with Boeing to discuss a cadetship. But then he discovered that career path would require him to be overseas for the majority of his life. So, grounded by family and community, he decided to give real estate a try instead. And within six months, he joined the same agency as Gary.

Gary Peer & Associates is born

After working together for two years, Gary and Phillip were ready to open their own real estate business. In 1986, Gary Peer & Associates was born.

But what gave them the confidence to go out and start their own venture in their early twenties? Well, Phillip explains, both their parents were small business owners – and, from a young age, they’d both wanted to work for themselves.

“We came together as best mates. We had an unshakeable belief from day one that we could do real estate as well as anybody else. And the confidence that we could do it better than most.

“We joked that we had the smallest agency on the planet,” Phillip chuckles. “We had no money. We had no clients. And we had no houses to sell. So, it could only improve from that position!” And why was the agency called Gary Peer & Associates? Well, to put their names on the business required a university qualification – which only Gary had. (It took Phillip 31 years to finish his course, making him Swinburne University’s longest enrolled student. It’s a record he’s proud of – and one that, to this day, he still holds.)

Growing the agency

Phillip and Gary went into business with a do-first, askquestions-later approach, built around their faith in their own abilities and their loyalty to each other. And it worked.

“We renovated our first office in Caulfield on the back of our credit cards – assuming that by the time the payments came around, we’d have generated some income.” Because while they had no backup plan, they did have each other’s backs. Gary and Phillip knew each other personally and professionally. And they brought strengths and weaknesses that complemented each other. As Phillip analogises, what makes a restaurant great – the food or the service?

“Even if the food is outstanding, you won’t go back if the service is poor. But if you have good service and good food, you have the recipe for a successful business. “Gary is the chef and I’m the maître d’. He’s detail-focused, and good at running the business and keeping it all together. While I lead the business in our outward face and make sure everyone is having a good time.”

That combination has taken the business from strength to strength. Starting the business so young – at the age of 23 – was an advantage for the pair. Their naivety protected them from worrying about the risks and pitfalls of striking out on their own.

And with no major responsibilities or commitments, they had the freedom to take chances. “We never really had any fear about failure. We knew we were going to make this work because we didn’t have a Plan B. This was it. Our success was tied to the business’s success.”

Community at the core

“Gary and I have a simple philosophy. If we want to be part of the community we do business in, then we need to give back to that community.” Phillip, like Gary, comes from modest means in a middle-class family. And working in the community is a constant reminder of the wide range of circumstances families experience. “Particularly with our property management, we see people who are living with very little. Working in this industry, beyond the glitz and glamour, can be a very humbling experience. “We find it hard to say no to anybody who comes to us for support. We do it because we deeply believe that charity – and supporting the social fabric on a local level – is important.” So each year, Phillip and the team donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to community organisations. From sporting clubs and disability groups to local schools and charities.

And beyond financial support, Phillip mentors from within. “We’re constantly bringing young people through our agency – helping them grow personally and professionally. “When you’ve been in the business this long, it’s such a joy to see people form their careers and build themselves a family and a life.” It’s all part of his drive to give back.

Values and hard work, grounded on the farm

On the farm, honesty, integrity, and hard work to support his family were the cornerstone of Phillip’s early life. And those values have remained with him, from Cootamundra to Caulfield.

“Gary and I bring those pillars to the business and to all our client interactions. We genuinely want to improve the lives of everyone we work with – and secure them the ultimate outcome.

“Being entrusted with people’s greatest asset is a huge privilege and an incredible responsibility to take on.” How does Phillip display those values to his clients? Through the energy and passion he brings to close each sale. And by ensuring that the wider Gary Peer family embraces and embodies those core pillars. “We employ people with like-minded values. And in turn, most people who join us stay with us. Whether it’s administration, sales or property management, we have one of the lowest staff turnovers in the industry. “And the community sees that. Many of our people are locals who have been with us for 10, 20 – even 30 years. They’ve had careers where they’ve grown in step with our business. They’ve bought houses and put their children through school.” When asked about the single secret to his success, Phillip has a simple response: We work harder than everybody else. “One of our early mentors said: You make a living through your first 40 hours of work each week. But you make a life by all the hours you work on top of those.” “Our strategy became: Let’s work as hard as we can and success will follow. And we continue to work hard to this day. Gary and I still put in 60 to 80 hours each week.”

Moving the goalposts further away

From humble beginnings, Phillip helped grow Gary Peer & Associates from two people in 1986 to 130 professionals today. And he forged the brand’s enduring reputation as the area’s premier real estate agency. So, what’s next for Phillip? “I want to double the size of the business, double the opportunities for our team – and double our impact in the community. “I don’t feel like I’ve achieved everything yet. To use a football analogy: when I’m kicking goals, then I need to move the goalposts further away.”

Phillip, the farm boy at heart who zipped around on a motorbike, ends the conversation by quoting Formula One driver Mario Andretti:

Gary and I remain energised about the future. We’ve got so much more to do – and so much more to give back.

If everything seems under control… …you’re not going fast enough!