From Paddy's Markets to private jets: How a broke foreign student who sold floppy disks to make ends meet is now one of Australia's premier real estate agents selling $200 million worth of mansions to China's elite

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Monika Tu reclines in the plush seat of a private jet ferrying her and a few well-heeled clients to Melbourne for a day at the races.

Dressed to the nines with a designer handbag and jewelry the price of a small car, the real estate super-agent is savouring the spoils of success - but still on the job.

'I always take a few people with me so they can experience luxury in Australia, and help my company through promotion,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I wish I could do it more often, but I thought we work hard, we deserve it.'

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

 Monika Tu, 57, takes a gaggle of clients to Melbourne for a day at the races - still on the job as she impresses the wealthy buyers and well-connected friends

Ms Tu 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.

But the BMW-driving fashionista wasn't always sipping Penfolds, strutting red carpets in designer clothes, and opening art exhibitions.

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. 

'People look at me now and think 'oh my god, you're a rock star'... you have all the luxury, bling blings, diamonds and stuff, driving the luxury cars. But where I came from was [different],' she told ABC series Almost Australian earlier this year. 

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.

Ms Tu shows of her pile of expensive Christmas presents last year including fragrances and high-end booze from satisfied clients

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

Ms Tu is pictured in the 1990s while she was working seven days a week at building Laser from a small shop to an international firm. She started there in 1992 (left)

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.

'You always need to have a vision, I didn't want to work in a market for the rest of my life,' she said. 

Ms Tu briefly retired in 2007 to enjoy life with her young daughter, but got the itch to start another company two years later.

Black Diamondz was originally founded to help Chinese immigrants as they adjusted to life in Australia - support Ms Tu didn't have when she arrived. 

But soon after she started, a friend connected her to a rich Chinese buyer looking to purchase high-end real estate in Australia.

Ms Tu scoured listings for the right home and offered to split the commission with the agent who advertised it. They sold it for $13.5 million. 

The enormous windfall helped her build the company from a staff of two into the more than 35 employees it has today, reaching $120 million annual sales by 2014.

Mu Tu appeals specifically to ultra-rich buyers who can afford a $5 million significant investor visa that allows them to buy properties usually forbidden to foreigners.

The BMW-driving fashionista wasn't always sipping Penfolds, strutting red carpets in designer clothes, and opening art exhibitions - she arrived in Australia as a broke student in 1988

Her firm Black Diamondz sells more than $200 million worth of property a year and cleared about $85 million in just three months this year

Mu Tu appeals specifically to ultra-rich buyers who can afford a $5 million significant investor visa that allows them to buy properties usually forbidden to foreigners

Many of them show up during China's annual 'Golden Week' holiday, a bonanza for real luxury estate with rich buyers arriving by the planeload.

Ms Tu tailors her open houses specifically to Chinese high-roller taste, including making sure the feng shui is perfect - something Western sellers usually miss.

The company's success is based off her not just flogging eight-figure properties, but helping clients find cars, boats, and schools for their children.

'A real estate company just sells you a house, it's very transactional, but they can get so much extra from me, we're a one stop shop,' she said. 

'New migrants need someone they can trust, who understands them and where they are coming from and help them make too many mistakes. 

'The first question I ask is about their lifestyle. From that I can pretty much identify what area they should buy in, what school is suitable for their kids, what coat they should be wearing at a barbeque, where they should go for cocktails, what cocktail dress they should wear.

'They can ask me and not feel embarrassed. They don't even have to buy anything, often I just give advice.'

Trust also pays dividends for her business - 80 per cent of her clients come from referrals and the trust is already built.

This enormous nine-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion on Chilton Parade in Warrawee, on Sydney's upper north shore, sold for $15 million in February

Not far away, this six-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Pymble sold for $6.5 million last June

This penthouse in St Leonards sold for so much last month that its listing won't even give a figure

Clients are regularly treated to fancy soirees to which they are ferried in a BMW, Bentley, or Maserati to rub shoulders with political and business elite.

These impressive bashes have even roped in the Sydney Dance Company, string orchestras and renowned painters to entertain hundreds of guests.

Ms Tu's clients are able to network, and the high-end brands involved can promote their wares to a room full of wealthy people with lavish tastes.

During the day Ms Tu will use her connections to get them private tours of art galleries, meetings with top executives, and anything else they need.

Ms Tu even takes clients to church with her on Sunday to introduce them to other members of the Chinese-Australian community. 

But she says what well-heeled Chinese want even more than bling is the best education for their children at Australia's top schools.

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 started as a waitress at university and a shop worker in Paddy's Markets - now she rubs shoulders with the likes of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull

Ms Tu said she got three or four invitations to events every night and already works as a promoter for BMW and Sydney's Museum of Modern Art

Ms Tu tailors her open houses specifically to Chinese high-roller taste, including making sure the feng shui is perfect - something Western sellers usually miss

To make all this work, Ms Tu is a self-confessed workaholic who admits she 'doesn't have a life' as even her passions like art are weaponised to help her job.

'I don't smoke. I don't drink. I can't even remember the last drink I had. When I get home, I just sleep, then get up and get going again,' she told In the Black magazine.

'I've come here with a purpose. I don't really have downtime. I think sleeping is wasting time. There's so much I can do, and I'm 55, so I don't have much time left.'

Ms Tu told Daily Mail Australia she couldn't imagine her life any other way, and that any day where she doesn't do something useful is wasted.

'I could retire today but it would be a waste of time. I think I will never retire, I'll work until I die,' she said.

'If I have a day off I don't know what to do with myself.

'I have small daily goals to maximise my production, so I don't waste time. I want to lead my community by example of being hardworking and successful.

'I work seven days a week, this job is my life. I don't feel tired, I love what I do.'

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 is a huge art collector, some of which hangs on her office walls, and even got this portrait of herself painted

Ms Tu's other secret weapon is her husband Jad, who she said marrying was the best decision she ever made

Though she struggled early on to break into a male-dominated industry, she believes women are better salespeople than men, particularly in real estate, 

She claims this is because they are more patient, honest, intuitive and nurturing, and lack the giant egos of their male competitors.

Ms Tu's other secret weapon is her husband Jad, who she said marrying was the best decision she ever made.

'If you've been through a couple of marriages like I have, and lost trust along the way, it's very important to get it back. He did that for me,' she told CEO Magazine.

'Plus, he's 20 years my junior and he's very good-looking. That gave me a lot of confidence.'

As a businesswoman and pillar of the Chinese community, she is also in huge demand for speaking engagements.

Ms Tu said she got three or four invitations to events every night and already works as a promoter for BMW and Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.

She's well-suited to both roles as a huge art collector, some of which hangs on her office walls, and poses with many high-end cars.

On Friday she took a Chinese movie star to the MCA to organise an auction of her calligraphy, which will raise money for the MCA's creative learning program.

She owns hundreds of art pieces, worth millions of dollars, and has so many she has nowhere near enough places to hang them. 

 Ms Tu with her husband and business partner in their World Square office in Sydney

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

Last year she announced she was embarking on a side career as a keynote speaker as she had 'always believed in the power of words'. 

'It's the personal stories we share that can have the most impact, make people think, challenge themselves and evolve,' she said.

Ms Tu is doing bumper business during the coronavirus pandemic, jumping 25 per cent from the first few months of the year.

Half of the sales, all homes costing $7.25 million to $19.5 million, were to Chinese immigrants already in Australia, while others are stashing their millions in property before the yuan is hit by inflation.

But even as the market waxes and wanes and tensions between Canberra and Beijing mount, Ms Tu is confident she is in it for the long haul.

'The Chinese will never stop buying property. It would be like Australians stopping eating Vegemite,' she said.