An interview with Kitty Long: eyes that have never shed tears cannot see clearly enough

Her parents enjoyed a harmonious marriage and gave her a happy childhood; school, university entrance exams and job hunting all went smoothly. When she decided to immigrate to New Zealand, she found a job with a large Western company within two months. In sales, she built a client base of more than 600 in just over a year. When she decided to change careers, she qualified as a real estate salesperson in six weeks and signed a listing the day after receiving her licence. She then tried leading a team, working alongside her elite Dream Team to sell more than 200 homes in two financial years… Many people in New Zealand have heard of Kitty. Long’s experiences and retell them as a satisfying tale of career success: a dazzling heroine, protected by her leading character’s halo, conquering each challenge and rising ever higher. It certainly sounds exhilarating and inspiring, but that is an imagined life above the clouds. Back down in everyday reality, nobody can keep winning without effort. Ups and downs, twists and turns are the normal course of life.

Kitty’s story charts a girl’s growth from gentleness to strength. It is an inspiring account of an independent woman pursuing her dreams without giving up, an exploration of women’s limitless possibilities, and an approach to life that combines an apparently delicate, vulnerable exterior with resilience and strength within.

 

Kitty’s tale of two cities

Chongqing lies in the Sichuan Basin, embraced by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. Mountainous, misty and humid, it is a city with an innate spirit of adventure. The women of Chongqing combine the expansive spirit of the Ba Mountains with the charm of the region’s waters, along with a dash of daring. They are renowned for their beauty, frankness and spirited confidence. Kitty is a quintessential Chongqing woman.

Kitty was born in the 70s of the last century. China had not yet introduced its family planning policy, and families with an only child were rare. Yet little Kitty was a cherished only daughter, receiving all her parents’ love and attention. She lived up to their hopes, becoming the ‘perfect child’ everyone admired. To others, she was pretty, independent, warm and generous, the top student in her class from primary through secondary school, with more competition prizes than she could count. She passed the university entrance examination and entered the foreign languages department at Chongqing University, a national ‘Double First-Class’ institution, firmly establishing her image as a quiet, well-behaved model student. Kitty, however, never saw herself as an obedient girl interested only in her books. She considered herself an outgoing, sporty tomboy. She began playing table tennis at five and fell in love with badminton at secondary school. These were no casual diversions from study: she pursued them with sustained concentration, deliberate practice and commitment. Kitty remembers that whether she was studying, playing sport or following any other sudden inspiration, her parents gave her unreserved trust and encouragement whenever she chose something she loved. They were ordinary intellectuals, but extraordinary parents. Their constant love and support gave their daughter the courage to challenge herself and try new things, helping her become an adult who dared to dream, act and venture into the unknown.

 

A lifelong habit of exercise also forged Kitty’s willpower and strengthened her outlook. She manages her emotions well and stays cheerful when difficulties arise. She has clear goals and a strong ability to teach herself. She does not dwell on the past or fear failure, but keeps running into the wind, believing that no path in life is wasted and that every road is a necessary part of growing. With these valuable resources, Kitty left Chongqing after graduating and travelled 1500 kilometres to Zhuhai to begin her ‘tale of two cities’. The year was 1997. How could a newcomer to working life, with neither experience nor contacts, easily establish herself in an unfamiliar city? During five years in Zhuhai, Kitty taught at an English language school, taught English part-time at Zhuhai Radio and Television University, and worked as an English interpreter and translator for a translation company. At her busiest, she held three part-time jobs simultaneously. She was exhausted but happy: she was earning money and growing. After more than four years of hard work, despite having no marketing experience, she unexpectedly secured a role as assistant to the marketing director at the joint venture MTU Maintenance Zhuhai. Over the next six months, she demonstrated her abilities and earned widespread recognition.

Just as her career seemed poised for a bright future, Kitty was leaving again. This time, her destination was Auckland, across a hemisphere and ten thousand kilometres away.

 

Without a dream, why venture far from home?

At life’s crossroads, one road continues the peace and security of the past; the other leads to an unfamiliar country full of unknowns, with few close friends alongside. Everyone has a different answer to that choice. At 27, Kitty chose the road others saw as strewn with thorns.

Older generations often raised girls to be quiet and obedient, find secure work and marry a wealthy man, preferably settling after marriage close enough for a bowl of soup to reach them while still warm. Kitty’s parents, however, believed girls could do anything they wanted. They wanted their daughter to be capable, independent and strong, and never confined her to a prescribed ‘good girl’ mould.

After all, Kitty’s mother was a quintessential Chongqing woman too.

Chongqing has been a major port since ancient times. Travel through the Ba and Shu regions was notoriously difficult, and Chongqing established its position as a city by becoming the hub for journeys out of Sichuan by water. The constant movement of boats created an inclusive, open ‘wharf culture’. Chongqing women have seldom accepted the idea that men are superior to women; they have long ventured out into the world with exceptional courage. The passion to ‘leave home and build a world of my own’ runs through generations of Chongqing women. Kitty was no exception, and her mother naturally understood her life choices better than anyone. Finger-guessing games, drawing lots, rolling dice… Kitty did agonise at this crossroads. In Zhuhai, her career was advancing and her family life was happy and settled. Accepting this conditional New Zealand work visa meant more than leaving her comfort zone and starting again: she had to secure a permanent job offer within 6 months to gain permanent residency, or pack up and go home. Once again, Kitty chose to leave comfort behind, deciding on New Zealand after countless conversations with herself. ‘Only by doing what I want to do and pursuing work I truly love does life give me nourishment and air.’ Studying further overseas and continuing her dream of teaching had always been ambitions for the young Kitty.

On 1 July 2002, her plane landed at Auckland Airport, and Kitty’s inspiring New Zealand drama officially began. Its opening episode was an instant hit: on her birthday, the heroine interviewed at a local top-50 company. A week later, she was offered a trial, and after two weeks she became a permanent employee, comfortably meeting the six-month immigration deadline. Just two months had passed since she arrived in New Zealand with a single suitcase. But the scenes this feel-good drama would omit were Kitty sending more than 40 CVs to education and training providers in her field and hearing nothing back. Even the occasional response ended in a polite rejection because she lacked a TESOL qualification, which would take 6 to 9 months of study. It would omit her marking opportunities in the classified sections of newspaper after newspaper, only to feel her hopes fade in the face of Immigration New Zealand’s complex requirements for jobs eligible for sponsorship. And it would omit her anxiety and embarrassment after finally securing a trial at local food wholesaler Bidvest Foodservice, when unfamiliar accents meant having to ask callers to repeat a sentence three times. Life is no television drama. Success never comes effortlessly; it takes steady, practical work. Drawing on her ability to teach herself and her refusal to give up, Kitty demonstrated the required skills within her short two-week trial, gaining permanent employment early and becoming the Auckland branch’s only Chinese employee at the time. After two years in the entirely unfamiliar accounts payable role, her outstanding performance earned her a promotion to head office, where she continued the finance work she now knew well. Yet Kitty understood that slack strings could never play life’s strongest notes, and she decided to leave her comfort zone again. After four years in finance, she applied internally for a completely different role: assistant to the general manager of national procurement. After gaining three years’ experience, she moved into imports, communicating with overseas suppliers and placing orders.

‘Once I had enough experience, my ambition grew. I wanted to apply for more senior management roles, and I was qualified to do so. But that was when I encountered the “glass ceiling” facing Chinese people and women. In a Western company, nobody wanted a Chinese woman in management. My ambition frightened a lot of people.’ If she stayed in a job with no path upwards, Kitty could picture the next ten years: secure employment, but a life like stagnant water, day after day of calm without a ripple. So, on 30 September 2010, Kitty resigned. She had worked at Bidvest for more than nine years; it was time to do what she wanted. Her wish list included further study, a long-held dream; starting her own business, which she began researching; and travelling the world on a long, leisurely holiday. But as she worked through these plans, life played an enormous trick on her.

 

How she built a client base of more than 600

Kitty’s favourite actor is Sun Li. Her series The Legend of Mi Yue includes this exchange: ‘What should I do now?’ ‘If you think it is a dead end, then it is. If you think it is simply a difficult situation you can get through, then you will get through it.’

Most accomplished people have lived through a period of deep darkness. For Kitty, 2012 was the most bewildering and challenging year of her life. Fortunately, her parents were beside her, always her safe harbour and support. But Kitty, her parents, her five-year-old daughter and her month-old son were renting a two-bedroom apartment. Their living conditions could only be described as straitened.

At that point, Kitty’s most pressing feeling was a lack of money. Childbirth had put her business plans on hold, and her previous steady employment had left her with little in savings. There was rent and a car to pay for, five mouths to feed, activities for her daughter and nappies for her son. Every waking moment brought another expense. Kitty had neither the time nor the means to grieve: she had to earn money. Her mind revolved around one question: what could earn the most money, fastest? A salaried job was too slow; investing required capital she did not have; direct selling was illegal… Then one day, she saw a sales recruitment advertisement on New Zealand’s largest Chinese-language television network, World TV (WTV). ‘Free training, unlimited earning potential’ caught her attention. The answer was taking shape: sales. She acted immediately. On Valentine’s Day in 2013, while others were enjoying romance, Kitty had a date with work. Smiling and conversational, gentle but firm, she spoke with the general manager for 45 minutes and secured the job. Finding work was only the beginning. Sales did have a low barrier to entry, rewarded ability and offered greater returns for greater effort. It was a way of making money within her reach. Even so, she faced plenty of difficulties: her son was still breastfeeding,

so she steeled herself and weaned him. She knew no sales techniques, so she gritted her teeth and taught herself. She had neither experience nor contacts, but as the saying goes, people find it hard to turn away a smiling face. Could she not visit businesses one by one? With a base salary of just NZ$1000, she set herself an annual earnings target of NZ$100,000 and raced towards it without looking back.

Driving was the first obstacle Kitty encountered on her sales rounds. Most businesses were in the city centre, with its heavy traffic and narrow streets. She had never driven there alone before. Besides being nervous throughout each journey, she received more than $300 in fines in her first month and had her car towed twice. It was a costly lesson. Give up? Certainly not. Kitty believed that incapable people always find excuses, while capable people work relentlessly to find a way forward. She rented a parking space at the Atrium on Elliott and resolved to explore the city centre on foot. Street by street, building by building, business by business, she canvassed potential clients. She surveyed every business in the city centre more than once and knew their circumstances inside out.

But this was nowhere near enough.

Earning a hundred thousand a year meant Kitty needed to sign NZ$1,000,000 worth of advertising contracts and sell $100,000 in advertising each month. Breaking down the target, she realised that selling advertisements worth NZ$5000 would require 20 clients a month. In reality, however, many clients found through street canvassing chose small advertisements worth NZ$1200, NZ$1500 or even NZ$600. She would need to sign at least 5 clients a day just to meet her target. Clearly, major clients were the key to reaching it quickly.

Kitty’s first target was KFC, which advertised only in mainstream Western media. Boldly unaware of her own audacity, she walked straight into KFC’s marketing director’s office and introduced herself. Naturally, there was no dramatic miracle: the director was polite but distant, and ‘We’ll contact you if we need anything’ led nowhere. Kitty was undeterred. To her, sales were about connecting people. ‘Whether or not the client accepts what I’m saying, if she hears all the product information I have to convey, it has been a successful visit.’ With that perspective, Kitty followed up with KFC for seven months, finally securing an order worth NZ$3000 a month. It was not a large order, but it was KFC’s first advertising in New Zealand’s Chinese-language media. Its confidence to test the waters came, of course, from Kitty’s diligence and refusal to give up.

Compared with the relatively uneventful KFC story, Kitty’s success in winning local chain HELL Pizza did have a touch of legend about it. Founded in Wellington in 1996, HELL Pizza had branches across both islands and even in both hemispheres. Its owner lived in Wellington and spent only a day or two a month inspecting Auckland operations. After a barrage of emails, Kitty managed to reach him and was invited to meet him at a central Auckland branch. She was astonished when she walked in:

‘The managers of all 50 branches were standing there together. The owner said, “Go on, introduce your event!” I quickly gathered my thoughts and explained WTV’s major events, particularly the Chinese newcomers’ singing competition I was seeking sponsorship for: who the target audience was, how broad its reach was, and how we hoped to work together to help build HELL Pizza’s brand.’ By then, Kitty’s sales skills were becoming polished. Not long after her presentation, she secured a contract to promote the newly launched ‘world’s hottest pizza’. On the day they signed, Kitty made a special trip to buy the pizza and took it back to share with her boss and colleagues. ‘My goodness, it really was hot!’ Even this Chongqing woman was left streaming with tears from the heat. Yet the taste that lingered in her memory was sweet.

Renowned local honey brand Manuka Health, the head office of the largest real estate agency Harcourts, Kiwi family business Kitchen Things, and top Barfoot & Thompson property consultants were all major clients of Kitty’s. When WTV needed sponsorship for major events such as its annual TVB singing competition, Chinese New Year carnival or G.E.M. concert, Kitty could sign more than a dozen sponsors almost every time.

As Kitty won client after client and signed contract after contract, including renewals, her income rose. Within just six months, she achieved her goal of earning a hundred thousand a year. When she chose to leave WTV in September 2014, she had worked there for 20 months and was managing more than 600 clients, including over 200 active ones. On the sales front line, Kitty had completed the equivalent of practical MBA training in remarkably little time, accumulating extensive sales experience.

In fact, alongside being a ‘sales fanatic’ working 12 hours a day, Kitty was a wife who had just experienced a family upheaval, a mother of two whose hormones had not yet returned to normal, and an ordinary woman who had to step up and keep going to support her family. ‘I’m fortunate to have faith. Every weekend, when I sang hymns at church, I would cry uncontrollably. I knew I was a child of the Lord Jesus and could rest in his arms for a moment. The Lord Jesus knew all my weaknesses, yet he still loved and watched over me. That gave me the courage and determination to keep trying.’ Perhaps true inner strength is not about shedding blood and sweat but never tears. Perhaps it is what Kitty does: cry, wipe away the tears, and keep moving despite her fears.

Recently, Kitty shared a video on WeChat Moments by Yi Gongzi, an arts video creator she admires. She wrote: ‘Yi Gongzi says the meaning of life lies in experience, in finding your own value even at your lowest point. Though “the body resembles withered wood and the heart cold ashes”, it is about forgetting the self and moving beyond it. Truly profound.’ Perhaps this captures Kitty’s understanding of that chapter in her own life. Life inevitably has peaks, troughs and rough stretches, but through her own abilities and effort, Kitty turned a poor hand into a winning one, reversing her fortunes against the odds and growing towards the sun.

 

6 weeks that laid the foundation for a lifelong passion

The first part of the Appended Statements in the Book of Changes says that people must first help themselves before others help them, and only then will heaven help them. It means that only by striving and strengthening ourselves can we gain more help and move from one success to the next. Without the ability to grasp an opportunity offered by someone who recognises our talent, we may fail to see that person even when they stand before us. Perhaps it was Kitty’s efforts to forget herself and move beyond herself in adversity that brought her such help. Like a fine horse finding the expert who recognises its potential, she met people who changed the course of her life.

The first person to recognise Kitty’s potential was Les Hoverd, owner of the Harcourts Flat Bush branch.

While working at WTV, Kitty’s habit of reviewing and analysing her work led her to notice that 50% of her more than 600 clients came from real estate. Seeing their enthusiasm when discussing work and their ready command of property knowledge, the challenge-loving Kitty could not help wondering: could I do that? But she firmly pushed the thought aside. ‘I had so many advertising clients who trusted me, and I had a responsibility to them. Besides, my income was already stable. After going through upheaval, I had come to understand how important stability was.’

At this point, Les added fuel to Kitty’s potential career change. He too was a client she had won through persistence at WTV. Impressed by her repeated efforts in the face of rejection, he decided to recruit her. ‘Kitty, come and work in real estate. Your drive would be perfect for it!’ After six months of persuading each other, Kitty secured an advertising contract for WTV with Harcourts Flat Bush, while Les obtained a place for Kitty on Harcourts head office’s scholarship programme, finally bringing this formidable talent into his team. The offer was so good that even Kitty’s boss at WTV supported the move, promising: ‘Come back if it doesn’t work out. WTV’s door will always be open to you.’

Kitty’s performance proved Les had an exceptional eye for talent. After 6 weeks of intensive study, she gained the real estate salesperson’s licence that normally took three months. The memorable date was 17 December 2014. On the 18th, she signed her first listing: a former WTV colleague, with complete trust in her character and ability, had been waiting for her to obtain her licence and begin selling.

‘During my 20 months at WTV, I mostly dealt with senior executives and attended countless business meetings. My sales and negotiation skills improved. If I could communicate well with them, I could win over homeowners too!’ Encouraging herself, Kitty began canvassing again. This time, she was in East Auckland, knocking on residential doors. What remained the same was her determination never to abandon anyone or give up, like the character Xu Sanduo. In her most persistent effort, she knocked seven times and heard six emphatic cries of ‘Not selling!’ before securing the listing for 1A Laings Road.

Within a few months, it seemed almost every homeowner in East Auckland knew the agent who knocked on doors so relentlessly. Other agents quickly remembered this hardworking newcomer too. In her first year, Kitty attended auctions held by almost every real estate company, taking extensive notes to learn which types of homes were popular and sold well, and observing the properties that interested different groups of people. Those willing to take the laborious route often possess real wisdom. Teaching herself and knocking on doors helped Kitty sell 19 homes in her first year. Of these, 7 were her own listings, more than half secured through door-knocking. In her second year, she again sold 19 homes, but her own listings doubled to 15.

Kitty’s efforts and achievements caught the attention of the second person to recognise her potential, Shao Cheng.

Shao Cheng was a Barfoot & Thompson salesperson and one of the best-known agents in Auckland’s Chinese community. By then, he had ranked first at the Howick branch for 6 consecutive years and among the company’s top 25 for 5 consecutive years. He had also been Kitty’s client and hosted WTV’s weekly Property Live programme. Listening outside the studio, Kitty had long admired his professionalism and dedication. His team’s foremost principle, ‘Never lie or sacrifice integrity to make money’, also made her feel she had found kindred spirits. When Kitty decided to enter real estate, her normally supportive parents had given her just one golden rule: be truthful and never deceive anyone. It became a boundary she would never cross throughout her career.

A larger platform, more opportunities, shared values and the chance to learn more from a leading agent: when Shao Cheng’s team repeatedly invited Kitty to join, she had every reason to accept. On 1 April 2017, Kitty officially joined Barfoot & Thompson’s Howick branch.

 

Kitty remained a tireless worker in Shao Cheng’s team, sending work texts from 6h in the morning and selling 24 homes in her first year there. Moving from working alone to being part of a closely coordinated team also allowed her to learn greatly from Shao Cheng’s management philosophy, skills and leadership style, laying a firm foundation for forming and leading her own team one day.

 

200 homes in two years: an elite Dream Team building dreams

Perhaps when you choose to face life with an optimistic smile and a love of living, life loves you back, offering rare opportunities and challenges that cannot simply be sought out.

Kitty spent two very happy years in Shao Cheng’s team and was pleased with her income. Just as she imagined she would keep working alongside her team leader indefinitely, Shao Cheng decided to make a fresh start, becoming manager of the Highland Park branch and moving from sales into management. Kitty and the other team members followed him to Highland Park. On 1 September 2019, they officially formed the new Dream Team, led by Kitty, who was not the most experienced member but had everyone’s trust and support. After all, Kitty was a Leo with blood type O, a decisive woman considered a natural leader.

The Dream Team’s slogan is ‘Making your dream of home come true’. Perhaps few people understand what that dream means better than Kitty:

Since arriving in New Zealand, Kitty had moved between rentals more than a dozen times. The hardship is easy to imagine. Watching her parents and children squeeze into two bedrooms, she silently vowed to buy a home of her own as soon as possible and give her family a comfortable life. That wish finally came true in 2013. A decade later, the excitement of finding the right home remained vivid. It enables her to empathise fully and provide attentive service even to the most particular clients, because she knows everyone has a unique dream of home.

Kitty’s own dream of home lies in East Auckland. She has lived there since her first day in New Zealand and has never left. She loves the area and regards it as her second hometown. ‘Chongqing is a mountain city, with steep terrain, slopes and steps everywhere. East Auckland is flat, with wide roads, and living here gives me a wonderful sense of ease. My ideal home is a relatively new brick-and-tile house, ready to move into and easy to maintain. It needs to be zoned for highly rated schools for my children. Supermarkets and shopping centres must be within walking distance because my parents don’t drive. Good sports facilities are important too: I’ve always played badminton and have represented Auckland in competitions. East Auckland meets all my requirements, and property prices are reasonable. It is one of Auckland’s more affordable areas.’ That is why the Dream Team focuses on buying and selling property in East Auckland. Kitty and her team recommend to clients who trust them a place they have loved for years and remain passionately attached to.

In its first two financial years, the Dream Team sold more than 200 homes. To Kitty, that means helping 200 families find homes they love. In particular, she has helped many single mothers find suitable homes. This has strengthened her belief that everything God has arranged for her to experience has a special meaning. Only eyes that have shed tears can truly see the world clearly while retaining an innocent heart.

Over three years, the Dream Team has grown steadily. Even amid a rampant virus and subdued market sentiment, it has maintained monthly sales of more than a dozen homes. Kitty is especially proud that helping clients fulfil their dreams also enables team members to achieve their own. But she takes even greater pride in the team’s culture of mutual trust and support. Character and values are her first considerations when assessing members. The team is like a family: as well as working together, they take their children out together and share holidays and trips.

During the interview, Kitty mentioned that Sun Li also played Fang Sijin in I Will Find You a Better Home, a fiercely competitive manager whose focus in running a branch was sales and profit. Kitty, however, firmly believes that human relationships deserve even greater care than money. The grace of the Lord Jesus, her parents’ love, the family-like bonds within her team, friendships with clients and gratitude towards everyone who has helped her all nourish Kitty, giving her the motivation and courage to keep moving forward.