Breaking down barriers: the women driving change across the real estate industry

When a valued team member recently went on maternity leave, Nichola Emmins made an unconventional decision.

The Jellis Craig head of marketing didn’t put anyone else into that role.

“That was quite a controversial decision at the time,” Emmins recalls.

“A lot of people thought that would leave the team with too much work, but we outsourced bits and we recruited at a more junior level to pick up some of the slack.

“We also paused some projects because I wanted to make sure she felt that it was still her role and she didn’t have to come back into someone else’s shoes.”

Celebrating progress and acknowledging challenges

This year, Emmins is one of thousands of real estate professionals – men and women – celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8.

She says the theme, Accelerate action: advancing and celebrating women’s equality worldwide, provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate how far the real estate industry has come and recognise the work still to be done.

“I do get frustrated sometimes when people don’t necessarily acknowledge how far we have come,” Emmins says.

“It’s easy to go, ‘Oh, we still don’t have equal pay, we still don’t have equal numbers and we still don’t have this or that.’

“But I think of the positives and go, ‘Look how far we’ve come, we’ve achieved so much, there are so many women that have made marks and firsts in their field.’

“It’s good to celebrate how far we’ve come because that’s only going to drive more positivity and close the gaps even further.”

Before joining Jellis Craig more than six years ago, Emmins held top marketing roles in the automotive industry, including for major international brands.

But her desire for better saw her switch industries to real estate.

“That’s what drove me to leave [that industry] – the desire to work in an industry where I felt there was more flexibility and care for women, and I haven’t been disappointed,” she says.

“During my time at Jellis Craig over the past six years, I have seen a significantly high number of women going into senior leadership positions in our offices.

“Whether that’s deliberate or organic, I think it comes down to the fact that it is so acceptable and encouraged now to have a female in the mix of the classic male agent scenario to really bring a team together and to make it hum.”

Retaining top talent

Emmins has also worked to “accelerate action” and drive up the number of women in real estate in her own way.

She says many industries, including real estate, often lose crucial talent when women take maternity leave, and meaningful support for them to return to work is lacking.

“If you look at the average age when women have children, it’s at a distinct point in their career, about 10 to 15 years out of university,” Emmins says.

“That’s also about the time women are really starting to make their mark [in their career] and if that female isn’t encouraged to come back and be supported, that talent is lost.

“I think that’s where we have the biggest drop off in why women don’t get to the top.”

It’s for this reason Emmins decided not to “replace” her team member on maternity leave and she was also offered the opportunity to return to work incrementally.

Emmins says the Federal Government’s “keeping in touch days”, where employees on parental leave can remain connected to their workplace without losing their leave, are also crucial.

“I want to make sure they can come back into the office and participate in any meeting, project or team update,” Emmins says.

“I’ve done everything in my power to try to make sure my team member has the opportunity to keep up-to-date and stay connected with the team.

“It might be coffee, a walk or just bringing the baby into the office for 20 minutes so she can stay in touch with people.”

Once women have returned to work, Emmins says it’s important to allow flexibility so they can do tasks such as school drop-off and pick-up, or work from home if their child is sick.

She says it’s also important to highlight that the real estate industry offers a variety of roles, from sales and property management to marketing, administration, finance and more.

“I wouldn’t be in the role I’m in if Jellis Craig wasn’t as supportive and didn’t have such a flexible working environment,” she says.

Creating pathways for women in real estate

Marshall White director Desiree Wakim says there’s a lot more flexibility in real estate now than when she started as an agent in the late 1990s.

“We still had to be in the office when I started, but now you can work from anywhere and if you have a family, you can still work from home,” says Wakim.

“You can have a family and still be successful. Whereas in my day, I had to compete and be out there at 7pm or 8pm with the guys, so it is different and much easier now.”

Wakim says the real estate industry respects women, as do the clients, and attracting more women to the sector comes down to promoting the career paths available.

“The industry rewards intelligence and it rewards action,” she says.

“It rewards diligence and it’s a very fair industry. I think it’s about showing some of the younger ladies in the business that there’s a place to go and a career path.

“I have a team member who started in admin and I saw a lot of potential in her. It didn’t even cross her mind to begin with, but now she’s in sales and she’s going to be one of the best I’ve seen.

“I think one of the most important things is to support our younger team members and make them feel appreciated.”

Financial independence equals security

For Vanessa Jeans, who is Ray White Victoria and Tasmania’s head of people, real estate sales is one of the few professions that offers uncapped earning potential for both men and women.

“The wonderful thing about real estate sales is you can earn as much as you want, depending on how hard you work,” she says.

“There’s a direct correlation with your work ethic and how much you put in determines what you get in return.”

Jeans says she’d love to see the real estate industry partner with secondary schools and universities to promote the career choice and attract more women into sales roles.

“Women do sales phenomenally because they’re beautiful storytellers and provide a different level of communication and support through the sales journey,” she says.

“An important conversation to have with girls and young women is that financial independence creates security.

“Maybe it’s a matter of partnering with schools and universities to promote that real estate isn’t just a man’s career.

“I think the more we can showcase successful women in the industry, the more it will inspire the next generation.”

Supporting women with childcare solutions

This is an ethos to which Sydney Sotheby’s International Real Estate sales associate Harriet France also subscribes.

In real estate for 38 years, France says the industry could also “accelerate action” and prompt more women to join the profession if it subsidised childcare.

“I think we still live in a sexist society where women are the primary caregivers,” she says.

“So, if there’s further work to be done, it could be that the industry offers to subsidise childcare.”

France says real estate sales has somewhat flexible hours, but there are non-negotiables agents must attend to, and if a woman doesn’t have a support system at home, things are more difficult.

“Open for inspections must go on and auctions must go one, and I’ve never missed one of either, but you have to have a nanny or some other sort of backup and that generally involves money and cost,” she says.

In addition to promoting real estate as a lucrative career option for women through schools and universities, France says growing talent from the ground up is also important.

“I’ve had many young people that were considering [real estate as a career] come and work on a casual basis on Saturday, with opens and with that side of things,” she says.

“Real estate is a very rewarding career and you do make lifelong companions and contacts.

“It’s rewarding helping people achieve a higher price than [they thought possible], because every cent can really make a difference to people.”