How one bold woman built a renovation business, a team of investors, and six-figure profits in one year
Not long ago, Diamond Wonder Woman Suzanne Flanders was working as a funeral director, struggling with toxic management that was making her physically sick.
Today, she’s resigned from that job, bought three properties, built a team of investors, and added $300,000 in equity to her portfolio.
Her story is proof that when you back yourself and work the system, your life can change in just 12 months.
But this transformation didn’t happen overnight; it was born from crisis, fueled by determination, and built through strategic action-taking that most people would find overwhelming.
Here’s how she did it, and what you can learn from her extraordinary journey.
When Life Forces Change
Suzanne loved being a funeral director, but toxic management was taking its toll.
“I’m never a person that’s sick,” she explains, “so it definitely was a sign that I had to change my life.”
The catalyst for change had actually begun years earlier.
Four years ago, on Christmas Day, Suzanne’s house burned down. She and her husband were forced to move in with her mother in a 32-year-old unit.
Nine months later, her mother passed away, leaving them still living in the unit because market conditions made it impossible to move.
Instead of seeing this as just another setback, Suzanne saw an opportunity.
“We decided, let’s renovate mum’s place.” They tackled a complete cosmetic renovation themselves, working intensively for five weeks.
The result? They sold it in less than five days and achieved the top price in the area for a villa.
This first success was the proof of concept Suzanne needed. But more importantly, it gave her the confidence to think bigger.
The Game-Changing Deal: $140,000 Under Market Value
What happened next demonstrates the power of being in the right place at the right time and having the courage to act fast when opportunity strikes.
Ironically, it was Suzanne’s funeral director job that led to her biggest break. She had a lunch appointment with a colleague named Suzanne. “At the end of a five-hour lunch, we were standing in the car park, and I just happened to say, ‘What are you doing for the rest of the day?'”
The woman mentioned she was going home to pack up her father’s house because he needed to go into care. His wife had died six months earlier, and he’d “dropped his bundle.”
When Suzanne learned they hadn’t engaged a real estate agent yet, she asked if she could view the property the next night.
“As soon as I pulled up in the driveway, I knew this home was for me,” Suzanne remembers. “Yes, it needed a lot of work. But I just saw through all the mess and saw the diamond.”
The family had received a valuation of around $740,000, but they were emotionally exhausted. Suzanne recognised this as a distressed situation and made a bold move.
“We were game enough to put in an offer for $635,500, and we got it.”
One week later, validation came in the form of a “For Sale” sign across the road.
A similar but smaller property sold for $820,000.
This wasn’t luck; it was Suzanne’s ability to see opportunity where others saw problems, combined with the confidence to act decisively on an off-market deal in Perth’s notoriously hot market.
The $300,000 Equity Boost Through Strategic Staging
Ten months after moving into their new home, Suzanne needed a bank valuation for her next property purchase. Despite not having finished the main bathroom and laundry, she decided to get creative with “staging.”
“I staged the bathroom and the laundry,” she explains with a laugh. “I had fluting cut to measure on the walls, bought a floating vanity off Marketplace, put in proper lighting, and camouflaged the shower with divider doors because we didn’t have time to do tiling.”
The professional valuer came through “She was blown away from the moment she put her foot in the door,” Suzanne recalls. “She said it was such a privilege to come and value your home. She never had a clue that everything was just stuck there.”
The result? A bank valuation of $930,000—representing $300,000 in equity gain on a property they’d owned for less than a year. This creative approach to presentation would become a cornerstone of Suzanne’s strategy going forward.
Building Your Investment Team
Not everyone has the courage to bring investors on board, but Suzanne understood that leveraging other people’s money was essential for scaling. Her approach to building her investment team was methodical and relationship-focused.
She started with family. “One is my daughter,” Suzanne explains. “She works 100 hours a week and has a very successful business. She puts money aside for her taxes for three months, and that’s the money she’s lent out to me. So she’s earning money while she waits.”
The second investor required more trust-building. This Melbourne-based woman had lost $70,000 in a previous business investment. “The trust has been immense,” Suzanne acknowledges. “She stayed at my home, she’s seen what we do. It’s a matter of building the proof, trust, and rapport.”
When that investor finally committed $100,000, it was a huge validation. “I feel privileged that she trusts me so much. That was really heartwarming.”
The third potential investor, an engineer with $650,000 to invest, represents Suzanne’s most sophisticated relationship. “He’s very detailed, he wants all the T’s and I’s dotted and crossed. ” Now he trusts her judgment completely: “Don’t bother showing me anything, Suzanne, until it’s a deal.”
The key to Suzanne’s success with investors wasn’t just finding people with money,it was building genuine relationships, demonstrating competence through completed projects, and understanding each investor’s specific concerns and motivations.
The Ultimate Test: A Distressed Property Masterclass
Suzanne’s most challenging deal would become her greatest learning experience. It started with a phone call from a real estate agent: “Have I got a doozy for you?”
The property was in Seville Grove, an area with a median price of $680,000. The asking price was in the high $400,000s to low $500,000s. “I thought, this can’t be right,” Suzanne recalls.
It was a distressed situation involving divorce and addiction. What should have been a straightforward contract turned into a six-week ordeal. “What normally is a contract sale within 24 hours, maybe two or three days max, ended up six weeks, and we were just another number.”
Then came the real test. The agent made an address error and missed a signature, giving the sellers an opportunity to renegotiate. A new buyer emerged offering $520,000. Suzanne had to make a decision fast.
“I was in my car, and I said my final offer… $525,000. It’s on the table till midnight tonight, and then it’s off. They took it.”
But the drama wasn’t over. During the final inspection, they discovered an additional $7,500 worth of broken glass damage that had occurred after contract signing. With settlement scheduled for the next day, Suzanne faced a crucial decision: settle and absorb the cost, or delay settlement and risk the deal falling through.
“I had my hand over the phone in the dire moment of having to make a decision: do I settle or don’t I?” Both her finance broker and settlement agent advised against settling. But Suzanne trusted her gut. “I had that exact same feeling, so I took the plunge and I settled.”
Even on moving day, the challenges continued. The previous owner hadn’t vacated, leaving family members to clear the property while Suzanne waited. Instead of anger, she chose empathy. When she realized the family was dealing with addiction issues, she told the father: “I’m so sorry. I understand. I’ve been there exactly where you are, like 12 years ago.”
This difficult experience taught Suzanne invaluable lessons about managing complex situations, trusting her instincts, and maintaining humanity even in business transactions.
The Mindset Transformation
Looking back at her journey, Suzanne identifies resourcefulness as the quality that changed most dramatically. “I was resourceful, but this has really built me to be, you know, unconquerable really.”
One example stands out: with just four days before settlement on another property, Suzanne discovered her broker hadn’t even submitted her loan application. Instead of panicking, she activated Plan B, a Melbourne-based broker she’d contacted earlier as a backup.
“It was a miracle. It was absolutely a miracle. In four days, I settled on the planned date and time at 12 o’clock. He couldn’t even believe he did it himself.”
This experience reinforced a crucial principle: always have multiple backup plans. “I trusted my gut that I needed a Plan A, B, C,” Suzanne explains. “That was the only time I had to use Plan B.”
The transformation wasn’t just about developing new skills, it was about building unshakeable confidence in her ability to solve problems and create opportunities.
Practical Advice for Career Changers
For anyone feeling stuck in a job they don’t love, Suzanne offers nuanced advice that acknowledges different circumstances.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” she warns. “If you’re single, on your own, great, whatever. But if you’re with someone… I would never have got that first loan if it wasn’t for my pay slips working as a funeral director. That’s what got me across the line.”
Her recommendation is strategic: don’t quit your job until you have alternatives in place. “I wouldn’t recommend you give up your job with no income.” Instead, she suggests building enough savings to live for six months and finding money partners who can provide the capital you need.
“You don’t have to make a payment until the end, and that’s what your conditions would be,” she explains, referring to interest-only arrangements with private lenders.
The key is building your renovating muscle while you still have the security of employment income. Use your job as a stepping stone, not a prison.
Key Success Principles
Suzanne’s extraordinary year demonstrates several crucial principles that any aspiring renovator can apply:
Relationship-building is everything. Every major opportunity in Suzanne’s journey came through relationships, from the lunch conversation that led to her biggest deal to the agent who put a sticky note with her name on his computer screen.
See opportunity in problems. While others saw distressed properties as risks to avoid, Suzanne saw them as opportunities to create value. Her ability to “see the diamond through the mess” allowed her to negotiate deals others wouldn’t touch.
Act fast when opportunity strikes. Whether it was viewing a property the next night or making a final offer with a midnight deadline, Suzanne consistently demonstrated that speed of action often determines success in property.
Trust your gut over conventional advice. When professionals advised her not to settle on the damaged property, Suzanne trusted her instincts. That decision, while costly in the short term, kept her deal alive and taught her invaluable lessons.
Build proof through small wins. Suzanne’s five-week renovation of her mother’s unit provided the proof of concept she needed for bigger deals. Each success built the confidence and credibility for the next opportunity.
The Power of Backing Yourself
Twelve months ago, Suzanne was a sick employee trapped in a toxic work environment. Today, she’s a thriving entrepreneur with multiple properties, a team of investors, and the confidence to tackle any challenge.
Her transformation demonstrates that a dramatic life change is possible when you combine three elements: recognising that change is necessary, building competence through action, and having the courage to back yourself when opportunities arise.
“This project alone… my most resourceful moment,” Suzanne reflects on her latest deal. But resourcefulness isn’t something she was born with, it’s something she developed by consistently choosing growth over comfort, action over analysis, and opportunity over fear.
For women considering a similar transition, Suzanne’s story offers both inspiration and a practical roadmap. Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can. Build relationships, develop skills, and demonstrate your competence while maintaining the security of employment.
Most importantly, when the right opportunity comes along and you will have the courage to back yourself. As Suzanne’s extraordinary year proves, that decision can change everything.
