The making of a Christchurch power couple – Patrick and Saima Smith
Worlds and cultures collided when Patrick Smith met Saima on a crisp July day in Canterbury. One half a standout real estate agent and the other leading a team of six in family law – together they’re a well-oiled machine each with a fiercely competitive edge. Metropol editor Nina Tucker finds out how finding their forever home together became a lifelong commitment to do the same for others.
When Irish-born Patrick Smith locked eyes with Saima during a working holiday he felt a familiar longing – a restless desire to feel at home. The catch to their love story to be? Saima, with a law degree from the University of Canterbury and almost 10 years in the profession, had put her house up for sale and booked a one-way ticket back to India.
The pair both craved a sense of belonging, and out of eight billion people in the world, it was what brought them together. Some of Patrick’s qualities shone through (smart, intuitive, fast-acting) when he asked Saima to marry him just two months after they met and weeks before she was due to leave.
But Saima, an Indian Muslim, boarded her flight to India – and because her father wouldn’t speak to Patrick, an Irish Catholic, over the phone – he followed her there.
Saima had already been matched with multiple ‘suitors’ for an arranged marriage, but she fought to pursue her own path and independence. “You don’t need to depend on a man to be successful,” she says. Safe to say, Patrick’s Irish charm convinced Saima’s father to give up his treasured daughter. They were married the following March, and made New Zealand their forever home.
This month, Patrick and Saima wrap up what has been the most successful year in their respective careers.
That success would never be possible without the years of hard work, unwavering determination, and constant lessons learnt in growing as a family. “We are running a business at home as well. We each bring different qualities to our little family and hold one other accountable,” Saima says.
The duo came to rely on each other, and in their work, on themselves. When their daughter Alizéh was born, and then son Armaan, Patrick and Saima couldn’t call on grandparents or family to help. “The start was very hard.” They learnt to adapt and to communicate. “When you pack your entire life into a bag and leave your comfort zone to call a new place home, you learn how to adjust and adapt,” they say. Saima left India at 18 and Patrick left Ireland at 23, and they knew what it meant to be flexible – they just needed careers that accommodated it.
“We knew being employed wasn’t going to get us where we wanted to go,” Patrick remembers. “We needed flexibility.”
A go-getter since birth, Patrick took his competitive nature and leapt into the business of real estate. He was forced to rely only on his charisma and a background in corrections. With no connections, no experience, and no guarantees, failure wasn’t an option.
Real estate brought about his best traits – each successful sale sparked a desire to do even better with the next listing. “The driving point for me is that goal to always achieve more and more for the people I work for, and for my family,” he says. “There’s no better feeling than seeing a client after getting them a great result.” Within a year in the profession, Patrick was crowned Canterbury’s Harcourts Rising Star.
“When you pack your bags from your comfort zone and leave to start a new life, that really helps in adjusting to change because you’ve left a whole world behind.”
Momentum multiplied as Patrick’s grounded, personable nature felt fresh in a saturated real estate market and Saima built her own law firm from scratch. They enlisted a small team to help steer their family ship so that momentum could continue – Patrick maintains his “24-hour-a-day” availability as Saima navigates some of Christchurch’s most brutal family law cases. This lifestyle is not for the weak. “Success is not just monetary. Success is clients who trust you and come back to you,” Saima says of Patrick. “It’s your health, your children, your friends.
“How we juggle our careers and personal life is through a lot of give and take and communication. If Patrick has work, that work is priority. If I have a deadline, it’s the same,” Saima says. Patrick carries that understanding of life’s disruptions into each client relationship. “Life is constantly moving. Every family works on a different timeframe and I understand how to work with that.
I don’t shy away from 11pm phone calls,” he laughs. “For some, home is everything. It’s their life’s savings, you have to understand that and work at their pace.”
“We built everything from scratch. I think that helps Patrick understand how people feel and the emotional connection they have with their homes,” Saima adds. “The success of the people I am working with is my success,” Patrick says.
“He takes the values of raising two kids to work,” Saima says, “he’s sympathetic, empathetic to the families he finds and sells homes for.” Patrick knows the desire to find a home all too well – and the emotional attachment that comes with it when selling – because he’s lived it.
While Patrick’s competitive drive stems from building a beautiful life for his family, Saima is motivated by proving she’s enough on her own. “My pushing factor is to prove, not to just dad, but to all the other girls that get married, that you can accomplish something yourself,” Saima says. It’s been in her subconscious ever since. “I didn’t do what the society and the culture and religion wanted.” She left behind comfort and security for a better kind.
When they find time in their stacked calendar (which Saima organises ritualistically) the Smiths spend a date night together. They reminisce on the journey, the lessons, and the future they’ve nurtured all because of one familiar feeling: finding a forever home. Patrick’s sharp instinct and fire to help people move forward is why he’s a first choice when buying or selling property.
Summer with the Smiths
From wine, sun and swimming (the ultimate Kiwi summer) to running around one of Christchurch’s dog parks with their three fur babies, the Smiths celebrate surrounded by friends and family – with a quick family trip to Fiji in between. “We’ve seen Christchurch come down during the earthquakes, so seeing it filled with life again gives us so much pride,” Patrick says. Take a summer tip from the Smiths, and soak up this season in the city.
