Think fun. Add a violin and a TV programme all about people, life and transformation. Sprinkle profusely with joie de vivre and colour. Then think of a lawyer connected to life’s energising aspects. Law, alas, does not seem to fit the picture at all, but Joseph Chetcuti has combined all these aspects, making him one of the most colourful and recognisable faces on our island.
Joseph is a successful lawyer who literally loves colour—all the rooms he uses have to be painted white with lots and lots of colour splashed on for true effect. He wakes and breathes colour. He believes our life is too short to let it pass by with no colour, no diversity, without following our dreams.
Arani Issa is the TV programme Joseph has spent most time on and which has given him unending satisfaction. It’s a labour of love—of logistics, of minutely planning a programme that, in its nine-year history, has seen about 1000 protagonists engaged in some way or other in transforming their life or their environment.
Through this programme Joseph has added colour to so many people’s lives, which is what has given him most joy in his life. On this programme, he has also reunited people who had had no contact for 40 years—sometimes driven apart because of an incredibly petty wrangle.
He has featured a boy whose life was unbearable because of a birth defect on his head that made him the brunt of all his schoolmates’ jokes. The boy couldn’t even play football. People saw him as a freak and he was constantly upset and lacked all confidence. The programme transformed the boy—now a man eternally grateful to Joseph— by funding three major operations. Today he is no longer a self-conscious person but a man with a future, dating girls and living his life to the full. These are the stories Joseph loves and thrives on.
Joseph admits he is the eternal child who never wants to stop dreaming and turning people’s dreams into reality.
Obviously, making dreams come true costs money and Joseph does have some dreams for himself—travelling and living well come at a cost.
While we are chatting about his life and times, Joseph briefly sheds his Peter Pan persona and admits that he does look out for investments to ensure he has a good nest in the future.
Until some years ago, Joseph never thought much of buying property as an investment or of estate agents—he thought agents were there to take you for a ride, show you only what it paid them to sell, take the vendors’ commission and run.
Then he met the people from RE/MAX. And he changed his mind completely about [intlink id=”16784″ type=”page”]estate agency and property[/intlink]. “RE/MAX have passion,” he says, “and that is what I look for in people. RE/MAX have a great philosophy and a great team. They don’t just give you a service—they took the time to understand what I wanted, what I care for and what makes me happy, then proceeded to show me property which fitted those requirements. I never felt hassled or pressurised by them—and I know, through many friends, that this is how they act with all their clients.”
Today he recommends Re/MAX because he feels they are well above all other agencies. Joseph believes RE/MAX offer a lifestyle and he feels part of the RE/MAX family.
He admires the two RE/MAX directors, Jeff and Kevin Buttigieg not just for their work but as loyal friends. Jeff has a great attitude and Joseph works perfectly with him and this is what he says about him: “Jeff exudes the right balance of professionalism and fun. He’s a real go-getter and he always has that winning smile.” “And Kevin is Kevin!” Joseph says. “Kevin is a volcano of energy which he passes on to everyone he comes in contact with—an explosive guy who exudes unending positive energy,” Joseph blurts out.
Joseph Chetcuti loves the RE/MAX energy mainly because he himself has that same energy. He is a man who smiles because he is happy with the way things have progressed in his life and in that of all the people who have been affected by his own positive nature, work and programme.