The American rapper is smashing up his office in a fit of excitement, screaming “I’m a savage! Whatever I want I have to get”.

It’s the second year of the event Rubinstein branded “What it Takes”, attended by some 500 agents and industry types from as far afield as New Zealand and Adelaide. They gather for a day of training and workshops which Rubinstein reckons is designed “to raise industry standards”.

He ropes in other big industry names to share wisdom and answer questions but ultimately the day belongs to the young agent who is, as the P Diddy video suggests, imbued with a frenetic and singular energy.

Here he is in the spotlight, the event underscoring the powerful brand Rubinstein has built via a prodigious entrepreneurial streak, natural showmanship and a relentlessly glamorous — sometimes flashy — Instagram account.

This year, Rubinstein was named the highest earner globally based on sales commissions at the Ray White franchise. He’d been the best performer in Australia for the business for residential sales every year for the six years prior.

Last year he sold a reported $50 million in property in 19 days and this year has continued to snaffle many of the crème de la crème of eastern suburbs dress circle listings. In June, he took it up a level selling the famous Bellevue Hill mansion owned by the Hordern retail family for $21 million.

It’s a meteoric rise after a mere nine years in the business for the diminutive agent born and bred in the east. Standing no more than 162cm tall, his smart dress and perfect manicure betrays no hint to the world that he grew up in a two-bedroom apartment (“with no parking”) in the then-working class suburb of North Bondi and was flipping burgers at age 13.

“I grew up in a very hardworking family. My dad was a pharmacist. We never went without but, say we never went away overseas as a family.

“We’d save to go away on holidays to somewhere like Terrigal by putting money away for months before in an envelope,” he tells the Wentworth Courier in a revealing interview for our cover story.

“Another great sacrifice — and it was non-negotiable for them — was to send us to private schools. It got my dad into debt up to his eyeballs but it also put me in an environment where I was exposed to certain lifestyles which I didn’t have.”

His parents exertions notwithstanding, Rubinstein “flunked school — I got poor results because it didn’t interest me,” he says. “I’m only motivated by things that interest me.” What eventually motivated the young Rubinstein was a desire to make money.

After the HSC disaster, he ran nightclubs for two years in London’s Chelsea and when he started making money, it made him want more. Selling houses seemed a good idea because he liked working with people — and could earn a lot of money without a degree.

The founding principal of Ray White Double Bay, Michael Finger, 64, a veteran of 49 years in real estate, says he initially turned away the ambitious 21-year-old jobseeker.

“I knocked him back the first time, but he kept on coming back so I thought, ‘I’d better give this guy a go’. He didn’t know left from right as far as property went and he rang pretty much every five minutes saying, ‘what do I do next, what do I do?

“But eventually the tap turned on for him and he just went for it.”

These days he’s immensely proud of Rubinstein, who is one of his “star pupils”.

“He’s really worked for it, there’s no downtime for him,” Finger says. “He’s very diligent around what he does, got a good system going and he follows up. Gavin’s created a brand for himself so he’s a standout.”

Rubinstein reflects that “it’s very rare to come by an agent that does the sales volume that I do who is not a principal”. He adds: “I’ve had multiple opportunities, particularly in the last two or three years, to buy into a percentage of the business but I’ve chosen to turn it down for the pure purpose of being able to focus on what I’m really passionate about, which is the deal.”

Rubinstein’s alarm goes off at 4.45am when he hits snooze button three times. At 5am he’s up, dresses in gym gear, leaving his apartment by 5.15am. He works out until 7am at Fitness First in Bondi Junction then its back home to shower, dress and pre-order breakfast at Michael’s in Double Bay to save time (usually poached eggs on Rye bread with a slice of avocado).

In the office at 8am, he goes straight into back-to-back meetings, lunch dispensed with at his desk or in the car. “I’m on the phone all the time — I’m seeing houses, I’m at houses shooting photographs of houses I’m doing videos of houses I’m negotiating deals — everything back-to-back, deep into the night”.

Dinner early in the week is “the easiest and tastiest option after my last meeting. Usually Uber Eats.” From Thursday to Sunday it’s Fei, Jai Fratelli paradiso, Matteo. “Home cooked meal my number one but I rarely have them.”

While his results of late seem to defy the slowdown, Rubinstein acknowledges the market shift.

Appearing last week on the popular #SundayNightRant weekly Facebook video hosted by Tom Panos, real estate coach and a Rubinstein mentor, he said some agents are doing it so tough that one he knows has “gotten out, back selling TVs in Terrigal”.

Rubinstein says he’s finding it “harder …. numbers are up but it’s tougher”, adding that he’s not worried. “I was on my training wheels doing the GFC — so I was standing at properties when no one was coming through. People are coming through properties now but it’s … price sensitive”.

Starting out the industry he looked up to giants like John McGrath — “we have a great relationship”. Asked who inspires him today, though, he looks further afield — “it’s shifted from people in the industry to other entrepreneurs, people who are successful at what they do are the ones I really focus on.”

Tucked up in bed most nights by 10pm, Rubinstein doesn’t have a girlfriend because he’s so focused on his career. He spends Saturday Nights watching his favourite American basketball team, the LA Lakers. He pores over interviews of famous athletes, NBA stars or famous salesmen on YouTube, “learning from their mind set”.

The phone is “always on”. “I like to capitalise on every opportunity … if my phone rings when in the shower I will literally get out the shower naked to answer it. I’m also on the toilet with my earplugs in my ears when it’s on — it is important — it is my business.”

Panos, who has trained Rubinstein informally for more than eight years, said: “I knew from day one that, 100 per cent, this guy here is going to become the king of his field. There’s not a real estate agent in Australasia that does the business that this guy does.”

One report last year said Rubinstein could be making up to $5 million a year but he laughs it off and makes it clear that he doesn’t want to discuss his commission.

“I’m a very very, very long way from where I want to be,” he said.

“I’m learning so much every day and I know I can be so much better as person and a practitioner.

A portion of his sales commissions goes to his Ray White Double Bay head office and he needs to pay his team — business manager Jeremy Srot; executive assistant Remi Quinlivan; project and development sales manager Cae Thomas and sales executive Oliver Lavers. He needs a team, he says, “with the volume that I take on — 10 — 15 sales a month it’s hard to do that as one guy so these guys … ensure that I maintain service to the client and that’s what it’s about, that’s all it’s about.

“It’s Rolls-Royce — first class service and every property that I list and sell I really have the objective of shocking and aweing the client. (Then) they tell every single person they know ‘if you’re thinking about doing anything property related call Gavin and this team’.” A big supporter of print advertising, he declares that “even if the print ads deliver only one extra bidder or buyer, the cost is a no-brainer”.

He won’t name clients, either but Corelogic data and media reports yield a litany of names: Larry Emdur, Roxy Jacenko; the publican Mitch Waugh and his wife, Harriet; Peter Stefanovic and Silvia Jeffrey; Patrick and Tamsin Johnson; Anthony Puharich and Angela Belle McSweeney

Jacenko, who bought a six-bed Vaucluse home for $6,515,000 listed by Rubinstein at auction last month, told the Wentworth Courier “Gav’s been a friend since my early 20s — back then it was his deadly dance moves on the nightclub floor, but now I can honestly say he has earned everything and more he has achieved in his career”.

“He is dedicated, driven and has a desire to conquer like no other. He has been an early adopter in the social media landscape and from this has set himself apart from his competitors.”

Rubinstein drops terms like “positivity” and “energy”, but knows the secret is keeping a level head, telling Panos: “I know that when I get listings and get sales I feel like Superman — it gives me a lot of great energy so I am not going to take on a property if it’s way overpriced with expectation, I stick with what I am likely to sell.”

All the signs of success are on show. The designer suits — he has more than 70 — from P Johnson in Los Angeles. Dining at Rockpool Bar and Grill and holidays in Capri. His Instagram looks likes the pages of Vanity Fair peppered with moments at European day clubs or restaurants.

He declares La Sirenusi in Positano a favourite hotel and drives a Range Rover. He owns prestige apartments in Potts Point and Bondi Beach — one in Potts Point is home for now. “It’s amazing — it will be very hard to get me out of there,” he said. “Maybe when I have a family.” He had a series of girlfriends during his 20s but says “it’s a very difficult thing to maintain a relationship when you are so focused on other areas”.

As for that motivation, well things have changed somewhat: “Of course money is a factor but this has moved down on the list — to be the best is now number one”

And if it all goes wrong he could revert to another career that has been suggested — a jockey. “You wouldn’t believe how many times I get that, ‘if you don’t work out the real estate you could be jockey! All the time!’