With 36 years of experience in both corporate and selling real estate roles, Julie Ryan plans to pass on her knowledge and skills to the next generation as part of her new role as Principal at Ray White Commercial CSR.
Ms Ryan, who has worked in commercial property around the world, and previously at Ray White’s head office running the Elite program, has now teamed up with Ray White business owners Zishaan Omar, Azhar Omar, and Mukhtaar Hashim to launch the new commercial business.
While working across all properties in its main trade area, the business will have a strong focus on retail sales and leasing.
Ms Ryan said recruitment would also be a strong focus for the first six months of operation.
“Currently there are five people on the sales and leasing team, and we have the ambition to double that in the first few months,” she said.
“In my career I’ve been in both corporate and selling roles, and this is my fourth stint being in the field as an agent and I love it.
‘I want to pass my knowledge and skills to a fresh generation of agents.”
Ms Ryan said the team was very proactive in how they operate.
“Our core belief is that others wait, we hunt. We target who we believe should be there,” she said.
“We think ‘if this was our property, what would we do?’, then we do those things for our clients. This takes problem-solving creativity and a commitment to doing ‘whatever it takes’ to ensure the right people are engaged with the property.”
Building long term relationships with her clients was something Ms Ryan enjoyed most about working in commercial real estate.
“You’re dealing with the same buyers and sellers, and if you work hard to develop a great reputation of delivering on your promises, it makes the next bit of business so much easier,” she said.
“There is much more repeat business in commercial than there is in residential real estate.
“We have a client who is the owner of one shopping centre and the buyer of another, so we have 16 leasing deals and three sales in the pipeline for the one client.”
As a woman who has built a career in a male dominated industry, Ms Ryan encouraged other women not to be afraid to start working in commercial real estate.
“It’s easier to stand out and be remembered,” she said.
“I think women generally are far more relationship oriented than transaction oriented and, given how important relationships are in commercial, I believe we’ve got an advantage.
“We’re hopeful that being a female led business will assist us in recruitment.
“Training, staff development and mentoring are essential to this business. I’ve spent a substantial portion of my career being a mentor to high performing agents along with time in the field, so it’s easy for me to help develop the skills of our people.”
Ms Ryan said diversity was also very important to their business.
“Our marketplace is very multicultural. Between our residential and commercial divisions there are more than 20 languages spoken. We see this as an excellent way to help people who want to invest in commercial property but may struggle with language barriers.
“We are excited to bring freshness and energy to our marketplace!”
