The Blueprint x Grant Torrie
Earlier in 2025 I visited the Colliers office and sat down with their National Director of Marketing and Communications Grant Torrie. We discussed his career path into property, team culture and networking tips and tricks.
Grant graduated in 1993 with a Commerce degree from Lincoln University. This was a tough time for new graduates, with unemployment at 9%. Grant had built a life down in Canterbury and did not want to move back to Auckland yet. He began working in the first casino in New Zealand dealing blackjack from 9pm until 7am. While there are many amazing stories from this time you will have to hear those from Grant himself.
In 1996 he moved to Sky City Casino. During this time Harrah’s the American owners sold the casino, as part of the deal the new owners no longer had the rights to use Harrah’s intellectual property. This created a huge opportunity for Grant as he was able to use his experience and expertise in Marketing to help the new owners create a new set of material. While at Sky City Grant worked on some incredible projects with this team. From millennium night to shooting a TV commercial with rally cars in the Auckland domain. Grant’s career has spread across many industries, from roles in startups to teaching in China to secret projects in blackened out rooms at the New Zealand Herald it has been quite a road into the property industry. Today he is the National Director of Marketing at Colliers where he has been for the past 6 years.
Grant has focused on building a value-driven marketing team. I was curious about what this meant and how it was applied. He explained that to create a team capable of driving value, he prioritizes empowerment—providing support to help his team bring their ideas to life. “I like to focus on creating community within the marketing team and building a culture where everyone is empowered to succeed,” he summarized.
Grant doesn’t often work directly on individual projects; instead, he ensures the team is aligned with the wider brand goals. One of his key philosophies is “no single point of failure.” He explained that a strong team should function smoothly even when someone is away. “It’s like a stool—you can kick one leg, and it may wobble, but it will stay upright.”
When Grant joined Colliers, there was no central business marketing team. His challenge was to build a marketing culture from scratch. A key focus was ensuring diverse perspectives in marketing, which led to an emphasis on inclusive hiring. His non-negotiables for team members: care about your career, respect colleagues, and be a lifelong learner.
Grant believes these values form the foundation of a strong team, helping them connect the Colliers brand to the communities they serve.
Colliers supports their communities in so many ways, they have been avid supporters of AUPSS for many years, during our discussions Grant told me about the Colliers Gives global initiative. In New Zealand they support the community through regular fundraising events including the Blair Hargrave
golf day that started in 2006 in honour of the late Blair Hargrave. Blair was a popular early member of the Colliers team and still missed by those that had the good fortune to work with him. The Blair Hargrave golf day now supports the Graeme Dingle Foundation, Blair is also remembered through the Blair Hargrave Scholarship at the University of Auckland.
Grant and I discussed the Colliers open night which has consistently ranked in the top three AUPSS events since began. He was so pleased to hear that students have enjoyed the event and praised his colleague Bruce Gallie who is one of the biggest supporters of the event. Grant explained that Bruce cares so much about all the graduates coming through and wants to help start their career on the right path. Grant offered 3 tips for students looking to make a good impression:
Work the room: meet everyone you never know where your career is going to take you, “you might think I'm going to be a marketer. You might find after 18 months, actually I want to be a valuer”. Make your network as wide as possible
Be genuine and engage with the people. Grant said “Nobody at Colliers is made to go [to the open night]. Really! We all go because we care about you guys”
Don't be afraid to ask or reach out to people. The job market is quite challenging. It may not even be for you but if you've got friends that are finding it challenging reach out and offer to make an introduction for them. “Don't be afraid to ask. The worst that could happen is you get a polite No.”
Grant and I discussed the challenging job market graduates and young professionals are facing today. Grant was able to offer some great advice and perspective “Job hunting can be completely overwhelming. And if you're used to working every day, and then you go to not working. What do you do?” Grant followed this by sharing the advice his friend gave him which was “just make sure you do something every day that is about getting into your next job”. He went on to explain that it doesn’t have to be the same task but try different way to facilitate these new opportunities, but you can't force it to happen. Applying isn’t the only option: keep ‘networking, talk to interesting people, ask to have coffee’. You never know where it may lead.
It was wonderful getting to speak with Grant I learned a lot about the importance of culture, being a lifelong learner and pursuing opportunities when they present themselves.
Thank you Grant for sharing your time and expertise with us it was wonderful hearing your path to property. And if you want to test Grant’s advice: reach out to him – yes, he will meet you for coffee!
