Photos: From nothing to something! Chinese realtor makes it BIG in Australia

Ms Monika Tu, 57, caters almost exclusively to mega-rich Chinese high-rollers snapping up top-priced homes in Australia's most exclusive suburbs.

Her firm Black Diamondz sells more than $200 million worth of property annually and cleared about $85 million in just three months this year. Ms Tu immigrated to Australia from Shenzhen in China in 1988 as just one of thousands of international students looking for a better education. She spoke almost no English and worked as many hours as she could as a waitress and selling cosmetics while studying international trade at RMIT. She worked any job that would take her, seven days a week, even washing dishes for 12 hours straight.
After graduating in 1992 she moved to Sydney and began working at a computer shop in Paddy's Markets selling floppy disks, CDs, and electronics. Over the next 15 years she built the stall and its corner shop in Surry Hills into multinational electronics firm Laser Corporation. The company's products are now sold in Harvey Norman, Target, Big W, Aldi, and JB-HiFi and has operations in New Zealand, Hong Kong, and China. Ms Tu is herself well educated, speaking English, German, French, Mandarin, and Cantonese, but still wishes she had the chance to study more.
Another branch of the firm then helps the family of clients find lucrative jobs at top law firms or high-end retailers like Louis Vuitton.
Ms Tu's daughter is now 21 and just graduated from Bond University on the Gold Coast, so she devotes all her time to her business.

Ms Tu with her husband Jad, 20 years her junior, with whom she started the real estate business in 2009.