We spoke to incredible women in the real estate industry who turned their failures into opportunities and succeeded against all odds.
If there is anything that these seven women knows it is that life is never a bed of roses, especially for women working in a world dominated by their male counterpart. There are numerous people in our lives whose struggles are proof of the extraordinary courage they possessed. Some begin with a modest dream – to provide for their children— that grew into a lifetime of success; While some set out to achieve a world of success from the get-go.
We set out to learn what inspired these women to prevail and turn their days of adversity into a lifetime of success.
1. Jasmine Teo, Team Manager of Tech Real Estate (SJ)
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
I started out as a property investor years ago, before I decided to make it a career. I discovered a passion in sales and property, which was the main driver in exploring far I can go and how much I can achieve in the real estate industry. It took me only a month to sell off the first property.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
The biggest test that I have to face as woman in this industry comes in the form of security. As most buyers or sellers are strangers, you’re always putting yourself at risk meeting them for the first time. To safeguard myself, I would usually set my first-time appointments with them in public places.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
My biggest achievement to-date is successfully managing more than 50 properties in terms of rental and sales throughout my years of involvement in this industry. I feel a sense of achievement when I receive good feedback from satisfied customers and when I get referrals who continue to appoint me as their agent, advisor or property manager.
I always equip myself with the latest information on the property market. This coupled with my professionalism as a real estate negotiator as well as the personal values I hold on to has led me to winning an award.
2. Meena, Senior Negotiator of Oriental Realty
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
My biggest inspiration was my uncle Mr. Jeremy, who through hard work and determination became successful in this business. I started my career as a Personal Assistant, and eventually with a lot of mentoring, became a Real Estate Negotiator two years later.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning as I relied on rentals as main stream of income, while I build my negotiation skills. But my family have always encouraged me to dream big and work hard and smart to reach it. My big break in sales only came a year later.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
The main challenge I face is being disrespected by clients because I’m a woman – they don’t have trust in me. I don’t let it get to me, I take it as a challenge to prove to them that they are wrong. As women we can’t avoid these challenges. My family was the backbone that supported me throughout my hard times. I was taught to turn my disadvantages as strengths or a challenge to achieve more.
I consider myself lucky that this happens on rare occasions, majority of them are very nice to me. It is just that everyone has to understand that a person’s success can’t be judged by their sex or age anymore, the world is changing.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
My biggest achievement is the strong network of people that I have built from my experience in sales. I believe this success is due to my being an area specialist, which requires strict discipline in following up and providing great service because if affects the branding. If our brand is criticized in any way, there will be a negative impact on our business.
READ: 5 tips and tricks to sell your house faster from real estate agents
3. Eva Tan (Johor Bahru)
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
It all started when I was facing a crossroad in career and met up with a friend who is a seasoned property investor. She shared her experience dealing with real estate agents with me and one of her top agents had earned more than RM 300,000 commission from her property investment transaction alone in a year, not to mention transaction with her other clients.
This has inspired me to give it a shot as I will never have the opportunity to earn such a substantial amount of income if I stay on with my previous job. Real estate marketing also allowed me to have more flexible schedule and better work/life balance.
How long did it take before you sold off the first property?
I spent 6 months in my first real estate agency with no results to show as the supports, guidance and training were lacking. I made the decision to change agency and that set the tone for my success. My manager then, whom I am eternally grateful for taught me all the basic of real estate industry from doing market research, prospecting, qualifying, listing, marketing, viewing to closing and client management.
In my first month, I successfully closed two rental and two sale cases with commission a of RM 10,000 and RM 100,000 respectively. Unfortunately, the sale cases was called off at the last minute. In my 2nd month there, I have managed to see through 15 transactions with RM150,000 commission and the rest is history. I have never looked back since.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I face as a career woman is finding the best way to have good balance between family and work. The work of a real estate agent is very demanding as we sometimes ended up working more than 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The peak time for residential property marketing is after office hours and during the weekend when clients are available for viewing. Unfortunately, this is also precious time for family bonding. My tight schedule has taken a toll on my relationship with my kids. So, I decided to switch to industrial property, which leaves me with more time for my growing up kids.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
I am happy to share that I have recently won an award for STAR Agent for Industrial Property (Southern Region) and I have been consistently ranked as Top 3 agents in my agency for the past few years. That to me is a personal milestone and breakthrough this year when I was selected as winner
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4. Jenny Liu, Senior Negotiator of Greenfield Properties
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
When I got married and moved to Malaysia, I found out that there weren’t many jobs that were very flexible like real estate agent, so I decided to give it a try. I needed that flexibility to keep a balance between work and family. It took me only a month to close my first deal, which was a Semi-D that was sold for 1.5 million.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
To me the biggest challenge was trying to keep a balance between my family and my career. It was the same struggle that led me to choosing this career path to begin with. I was lucky to have a husband who supported me relentlessly and acted as my pillar of strength the entire time.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
Winning the Agent / Negotiator of the Year (Commercial) and Star Agent / Negotiator – Area (Commercial) awards by iProperty is definitely my biggest achievement so far. I have also been made team leader recently, which speaks volume about the confidence and trust they put in me to lead a team. I love this job, and that genuine passion has been urging and motivating me to keep moving and to never give up
5. Biana Yap (Damansara Utama), Senior Negotiator of IQI Realty
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
I have always been passionate about properties. I bought my first property in 1994 when I was only 20 years old. From 2003 to 2012, I continued investing in properties, but I was a homemaker, so my options and ability were rather limited.
In 2013, I decided to step back into the working field and the first industry on my mind was real estate. As I have always been interested in properties, this industry gave me the perfect platform to explore different types of properties and understand the market. By the third month in the industry, I managed to sell two condo units and rented out two properties.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
As a single mother of 3, the most challenging part is time management. I have to juggle between taking care of my children, the household, as well as my business at the same time. I work 24/7 with no day off as I have to do viewings based on clients’ preferred time and this means I sometimes have to work late.
As a newbie stepping into the industry, I had little to no guidance. Hence, I had to find time to read a lot of books to improve my knowledge. I strongly believe that this is the business I wanted to do, and with that mentality, I took on the challenge and grew to where I am today.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
The biggest achievement to me is that I am genuinely happy at what I am doing. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a single day of your life.” From this career, I have gained friendship, a reputation, the ability to give speeches in public, and much more.
Of course, another big achievement to me is winning an award in the category of Star Negotiator for the area of Damansara Utama.
6. Janice Ng (Sierramas), Senior Negotiator of Tech Realtors Properties
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
Back in 1994 when I left my career as a stewardess, I was very clear that I wanted to join the real estate industry. I know the possibilities are endless in this field and I had set my mind to achieve nothing less than success. My mom was my biggest motivator and inspiration throughout all these. I was quite fortunate that I managed to close my first deal – selling a 2-storey terrace house in USJ 13 – within the first month. At the time USJ was a new and up and coming township, and it’s never easy trying to get people to buy into a new township.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
Any woman in real estate would tell you the same thing. In terms of safety, the risk of getting harassed, mugged or violated is a lot higher for women. Part of the job involves interacting and meeting up with strangers
How I minimize the risk is by filtering and asking as many questions as possible to my prospective clients before making arrangements with them. Also, our attire is very important. I dress meticulously, avoiding attires that may seem sexy or provocative.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
My biggest achievement is that since I’ve started on this career path is that I have become financially independent. Even with my humble background, I now able to invest in some good properties and I am many steps closer to achieving financial freedom. My passion in real estate and commitments to my clients and family gives me the motivation to work harder.
7. Christine Lim (Tropicana), Senior Negotiator of Tech Realtors Properties
How did your involvement in real estate begin?
I chose a career a in real estate as I saw potential and great opportunity for success. I have always been a driven person, so it wasn’t difficult making that decision, I knew I have what it takes to succeed in this. I underwent proper training and within just 2-3months of completing that training I managed to close a deal.
What was the biggest challenge you face throughout your involvement in the real estate industry and how did you overcome it?
Just like everyone else, safety is an issue. It can be difficult to determine a genuine prospect. You’ve got to have a good sense in sussing out a person with bad intention.
What was your biggest achievement throughout this career?
It’s all in the little things that you achieve, which eventually accumulates into a greater sense of achievement. Every time I managed to match my prospects with their dream homes that meet their expectations – that’s achievement to me. Being able to uphold my commitment and the good values that should be practiced by real estate negotiators is also an achievement to me.
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