Former Broncos star Kerrod Walters burgeoning business career

When Kerrod Walters retired from footy, he didn't know where his next pay cheque was coming from. But now business is booming after a career change six years ago.

Kerrod Walters won two premierships with the Broncos.

ALMOST two decades ago, playing in the English Super League competition for a team called Gateshead Thunder, Kerrod Walters kicked his first and only goal in a rugby league career that spanned 14 seasons.

But since moving to the Sunshine Coast 16 years ago, Kerrod - in the publicity shadow of twin brother Kevin - has quietly established a burgeoning business career. And the former Broncos, Maroons and Kangaroos hooker has recently kicked quite a few more goals.

Along with wife Desley, who he claims has been the driving force behind his new-found business acumen, Kerrod now has a cleaning business and four retail clothing outlets, with a fifth recently opening.

"Business is a lot like footy - the more experience you get, the better and more confidently you seem to be able to perform," he said.

"And there are the other analogies - like training and teamwork. The better the team, the better the business; the harder we work, the more success we achieve."

Kerrod Walters in action for the Broncos.

Kerrod was very much a rugby league pioneer, and leader. He was a foundation member of the Brisbane Broncos when they kicked off in 1988, captained the Adelaide Rams when they were founded as part of Super League in 1997 and captained Gateshead Thunder in their lone English Super League season in 1999.

One of three brothers to create rugby league history by touring with the Kangaroos together, Kerrod played eight Tests for his country, seven Origin matches for Queensland, and also joined twin Kevin as a member of the first two Broncos premiership teams, in 1992 and 1993.

Like most professional sportsmen, when Kerrod ended his career with the Broncos in 1999, reality struck. The big, wide world was waiting and although he had dabbled in some business ventures, the unpractised electrician was uncertain from where the next pay cheque was coming.

"I finished my time as an electrician just before I was selected to tour Great Britain with the Kangaroos in 1990, and never went back to that trade," he said.

"So, when my career finally came to an end, I struggled with the reality of the big pay cheques stopping, but the bills still coming in. And there were some lean years."

The commercial instinct kicked in during 2002 when he moved to the Sunshine Coast and ran a restaurant at Golden Beach for 12 months.

He then worked in real estate with Henzells before joining a cleaning company owned by his former Queensland and Broncos teammate, Mark Hohn.

Then, in 2012, with Desley the driving force, Kerrod started his own commercial cleaning business, Pure Property Cleaning.

"I met Desley while working in real estate and although I thought I was pretty driven at the time, she changed my whole outlook," he said.

"Desley is a real goer. She has the most positive outlook on everything and has really fired me up to become the best I can be in business. And I am loving my involvement, and the challenges."

Kerrod Walters in action for the Broncos.

But it was no walk in the park for the couple. When the first cleaning contract became a reality, the rookie cleaners invested in a vacuum cleaner, brooms, mops and buckets, and jumped into the work themselves. Pure Property Cleaning now employs a staff of 12.

The couple opened their first Sweet Charlotte Studio in Caloundra two years ago, and have since opened two more boutiques - one at Warana and one at Cotton Tree.

And when they recently noticed a vacant store in the Rovera Plaza at Cotton Tree, they figured it was the perfect position to open a menswear store.

Shop 9 - the number Kerrod wore during his footy career - has been trading for just a few weeks with very positive results.

In fact, so well have Sweet Charlotte Studio and Shop 9 been received by the public, Kerrod and Desley have taken the lease on adjacent premises with plans to add to their fashion range.

"A lot of people say retail is a tough business to be in, and no doubt that is the case," Kerrod said.

"It is amazing how things start to fall into place, and success follows, when you are doing something you are passionate about. And we both enjoy the interaction with our customers. We are actually having a lot of fun."

But Kerrod said that without doubt the best thing - for them - about being in business, was the relationships they have nurtured with their staff.

"One of our favourite quotes is 'the success of a business is the direct result of the quality of its people'," he said.

"And our staff members are very much a part of our success. They have become like a family to us."