The 10 Women Business Leaders Transforming Real Estate

Symbolizing Distinction

Gender never determines an individual’s leadership

abilities. Instead, organizations must assess leadership potential by evaluating individual strengths and personality traits. Regardless of the type of business, you're running, or even the industry that you're operating in, to say that strong female leaders are important is something of an understatement. In truth, they're essential - not only for providing a much-needed perspective on the direction that a business is taking but also in terms of the types of qualities that they bring to the table that you're unlikely to find anywhere else.

One of the most invaluable traits that female leaders bring to the table is their sense of awareness. They typically try to look at the bigger picture first, but then break a situation down into the finer details to see what is really going on underneath. Women in leadership positions aren’t afraid to see a situation from a variety of angles. They tend to attempt to understand a situation as organically as possible by asking the right questions at the right time, rather than bending a situation to their own will.

To be a great leader, you must not limit yourself to becoming an expert in your own industry only. Good leaders have the ability to see what bigger role they have to play. They take the time to look at the bigger picture and figure out how they can be relevant. Women always look ahead and ways to get opportunities for themselves and others.

Women have a vision, which allows them to stay ahead and be an inspiration to other people. And so, it isn’t surprising that when it comes to making illustrious career moves, you can always count on women to know what they are doing and what they want to achieve. These resilient leaders have been immensely contributing to enabling transformations in the modern industrial sector, the real estate niche being no

exception. The construction segment has seen a definitive rise in the number of female leaders making huge strides in the field.

Indulging in the innovations of these resolute leaders, Insights Success, through its latest edition, “ The 10 Women Business Leaders Transforming Real Estate ,” highlights the charismas who are symbolizing excellence and transforming the facets of the construction sector.

Flip through the pages and have a Wonderful Read!

Cover Story

Karen Simon

Success on the Extra Mile

Featured Person

Bailey Jordan CEO

Cara Atchison Director

Cassie Samons Realtor

Diana Magariu CEO

Jacqueline Crapp Director

Jaimine Johnson Director of Commercial Real Estate Asset Operations- Leasing and Sales

Joan Docktor President

Karen Simon Managing Partner (Tarrant County)

Kelly Davies Founder

Sherry Blinkhorn Owner

The 10 Transforming Real Estate Estate

W o m e n Women Business Leaders

Brief Company Name

The Jordan Group Jax at Navy to Navy Homes thejordangroupjax.com

1st City Real Estate Group 1stcity.com.au

JPAR Real Estate www.jpar.com

KeyOne Realty group KeyOneRealtygroup.com

Raine & Horne Berry & Nowra

DRK and Company Realty drk-realty.com

Bailey Jordan is a seasoned REALTOR® with an extensive history in the real-estate industry and holds a firm connection within the Jacksonville community.

Following over 12 years in financial operations and project management in finance and superannuation as a business analyst at MLC/NAB, Cara comes armed into Real Estate with an arsenal of client skills and troubleshooting know-how.

Cassie has worked with Investment groups all of the country, guiding them in every aspect of the Real Estate investing.

Diana is a passionate and skilled real estate leader. She stays true to her passion and serves not only the industry but also her clients with the highest level of integrity.

When dealing with a fast-moving and ever-evolving property market that demands a qualified leader, Jacqui Crapp is the type of person you can rely on always to meet the moment.

As Director of Commercial Operations, Leasing and Sales for DRK, Jaimine Johnson develops and implements long-term strategies for the commercial asset division in the investment management of office, industrial/flex, medical, retail properties.

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach, Realtors foxroach.comm

Emersons Commercial Real Estate emersonscre.com

Kelly Davies Homes Team kellydavieshomes.com

Blinkhorn Real Estate Ltd blinkhornrealestate.com

Joan Docktor serves as the President of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS®, the largest single market brokerage in the U.S.

Karen has been active in office, retail, industrial and land sectors in both leasing and sales in the DFW commercial real estate area for the past 27 + years.

Kelly is an Executive Coach and talent professional with over 20 years of progressive and impactful experience.

Sherry has an extensive knowledge and experience in the real property industry.

Cover Story

Karen Simon

Success on the Extra Mile

We try to connue to educate ourselves so that we have a good story to tell, that we know the market, and that we are able to convince people that we're a good choice. We’re not necessarily a beer choice because we’ve reached you, but we’re a beer choice because we’re willing to go the extra mile.

Karen Simon President & Managing Partner Emersons Commercial Real Estate

Buying a piece of land is a nerve-racking process. It is not an expense that can be made impulsively, and people proceed with a lot of reserve and caution. Generally, customers prefer to hire a real estate broker to help them in the process of making the purchase but often find themselves dealing with brokers who are perhaps more interested in making a sale than fulfilling the needs of the client. This is what sets Karen Leslie Simon apart from her peers—her client-focused outlook and willingness to go the extra mile.

Today, Karen is the President & Managing Partner of Emerson’s Commercial Real Estate in the Tarrant County Division, but it was not always so. Her coming to the real estate field has been a journey that led to having a three-decade voyage in the field. She became the first woman in Tarrant County to practice industrial real estate and the first female broker to be one of the highest producers state-wide in the industrial department of Henry S. Miller, then the largest real estate firm in Texas.

Karen specializes in office, retail, industrial, and land sectors in leasing and sales. She has been inducted into the prestigious Marquis Who’s Who biographical registry. She was also recognized by The State Women’s Chamber of Commerce as the ‘ Businesswoman of the Year’ on the basis of her position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in the field.

The Commencement

Karen came to the real estate business in 1983 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she was executive assistant to the regional administrator for Region 10, which was Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana. She was in charge of all public relations for the five-state region and all intergovernmental and congressional relations, and so forth.

One day Karen learned that anybody could take the broker's exam as long as they completed the required hours, most of which she had already done. So, she took two weeks’ leave to complete her semester hours, sat for the exam, and got her broker’s license.

Six months later, at a party in Dallas, Karen got the opportunity to meet with a gentleman, who was in charge of the industrial real estate division for the Henry S. Miller company. He offered Karen the chance to open an industrial real estate section in the Fort Worth office.

After some discussion and negotiation, Karen accepted the position as the head of the industrial division for the Miller organization in Tarrant County. She says, “ I was a bit unique. There were no women filling that role in the marketplace and no women filling a commercial division head role within the Miller organization. I found that in the

I have been doing this for so long that the old saying what goes around comes around has some real value. People will look to renew their business opportunies with you if they always know that you’re going to give them a fair shake.

real estate business, clients did not care whether you were male or female. What they cared about is whether you could help them, did you know enough, and whether you were willing to work hard enough to be of assistance to them.”

In the six years, Karen was with the Miller organization, she was the top producer in the division company-wide for three years. She was also singularly recognizable in the marketplace because she was the only one that was of the female gender.

Scaling the Growth with New Opportunities

In 1989, Karen’s office was closed down, and she was looking for opportunities that would enable her to maximize her value to the real estate industry. She joined hands with two other gentlemen involved in real estate and formed a corporation called The ReGroup Advisors Inc. It was a woman-owned company, and women and minorities were given preference in opportunities by the federal government at that time.

At that time, the RTC and FDIC owned a lot of real estate that they needed to dispose off, and they sent a request for proposal to various real estate companies to assist them. There were additional points for being a woman or a minority.

Karen recounts the time, “ So my partners let me own all the stock, and they had profits participations. As a result, we got the opportunity to handle a great deal of real estate for

the government. I learned a great deal, particularly about retail, land, office, as well as industrial.”

Karen has witnessed the rise and fall of the real estate market multiple times in her career. She has worked as the head of a division in various companies, but she was never afforded the opportunity to be the owner of the said company. It was in 2016 that she met the partners of Emersons while she was selling them a piece of land. They asked her if she was willing to open an office for them in Tarrant County in partnership. Hence, that is how Karen became the owner and partner of the Emersons Tarrant County.

Understanding the Secrets of Success & Growth

It is known that to achieve success, putting the client’s needs first is necessary. But big companies often lose sight of that goal and instead become driven by the bottom line. Karen resists that type of thinking. She thinks that Emersons’ success is due to the willingness of employees to be willing to show up when it's not convenient, to continue educating themselves beyond the required hours, and to assist clients in any form, even if it meant they required less space.

She says, “ In other words, how can you meet the needs of the people that you are working for, and how can you continue to improve your own performance? I think that sort of sets us apart, to some degree, from the big companies that sort of have a role model that you need to

We try to connue to educate ourselves so that we have a good story to tell, that we know the market, and that we are able to convince people that we're a good choice. We’re not necessarily a beer choice because we’ve reached you, but we’re a beer choice because we’re willing to go the extra mile.

follow. I think that you need to see how each situation may be different and how you can best meet the needs of those different situations.”

Emerson realtors make sure that somebody is available for the clients anytime, unlike many other commercial realtors. Karen says, “ If you need to see a property on Saturday, I might not be available, but someone else in the company may be. That means I actually have to split my fee because I’m asking somebody else to do something for my clients. We do it. We try not to put ourselves first.”

Karen also prefers to do as much business face-to-face as possible. Her office does a lot of cold calling on the phone and door knocking. She says, “I don't think anything is nearly as successful as a face-to-face dialogue with tenants or potential tenants. I think it is very rare that we get hired by people we’ve never met. So, I think it’s important that we continue for growth purposes, to outreach as much as we can on a face-to-face basis.”

Karen continues, “ We also try to continue to educate ourselves so that we have a good story to tell, that we know the market, and that we are able to convince people that we’re a good choice. We’re not necessarily a better choice because we’ve reached you, but we’re a better choice because we’re willing to go the extra mile.”

The values at Emersons are to be as successful as economically possible without reducing the service that is needed to be provided for clients. The realtors are very client-oriented in their outlook and never try to take

advantage economically of someone with whom they do business.

Karen shares her wisdom, “ I have been doing this for so long that the old saying what goes around comes around has some real value. People will look to renew their business opportunities with you if they always know that you're going to give them a fair shake.”

Surmounting the Adversities

Currently, the real estate market is facing a lot of challenges. Karen is of the opinion that the biggest problem that they need to overcome is fear of the unknown.

“What is the future going to hold? How long will interest rates stabilize? What effect does it have on mortgages? People, for example, in the residential market have to consider that six months ago, they could get a residential loan at 2% lower or more than they are able to do it today. So that has an effect on the home acquisition, but it also has an effect psychologically on their business. How are they able to make business decisions when they’re so insecure about their own personal decisions?”

Plans for the Future

“My plan is to help the people who work with me to secure business so that they are more comfortable. To help the people that work with me to row the boat. It means if they’re here working with me, I feel the necessity to help them work for themselves. And hopefully, we will grow our business. Our volume of business. Together,” concludes Karen.

My plan is to help the people who work with me to secure business so that they are more comfortable. To help the people that work with me to row the boat.

We strive towards a common organizational objective that is geared towards providing the highest level of customer service and achieving excellent business outcomes while doing so.

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Diana Magariu CEO Key One Realty Group

Diana Magariu

A Staunch Leader with Significant Traits

The world of real estate is transforming every day.

New solutions have solved many traditional challenges, permanently raising the bar when it comes to project quality and speed. That means client expectations are sky-high, and today’s leaders can’t afford to get stuck in the past.

To successfully chart a course, real estate leaders need to have a clear vision, not just for the organization and operations ahead but for future challenges and opportunities within the industry. Good leaders are masters of anticipation: they see problems before they become problems and they plan accordingly.

Any team feeds off its leader’s passion and expectations. Under a strong leader, workers understand their responsibilities and their role in overall operations. When employees are contributing to the cause of a leader they believe in, they work efficiently and diligently. That’s how great leaders drive results and morale at the same time.

Thriving with such exceptional traits, Diana Magariu , CEO of Key One Realty Group , is driving transformations in the dynamic real estate industry. Under her staunch leadership, Key One Realty Group excels as the premier real estate solution provider of high-quality services tailored to its client’s specific requirements.

In an interview with Insights Success, Diana shares valuable facts highlighting her professional tenure and her journey in the real estate niche.

Below are the excerpts from the interview:

Brief us about your career path as a staunch woman leader up until your current position.

I first started in the banking industry in Italy and then decided to take the opportunity to travel to Dubai to explore

different career options. I worked in the powerboat racing industry and after some time transferred to work in F&B in sales. That’s where I discovered my talent for sales.

During that time, Dubai real estate was starting to boom, and as a curious person, I studied the ins and outs of the industry and began selling until I started to see great success and decided to do it full-time. I started a small brokerage company with few skilled agents, and now we have 4 divisions under Key One Realty Group operating in the industry for 16 years.

What challenges did you face along the way?

During the course of our business, we faced 2 major world crises that put a lot of companies out of business.

But we always found the opportunity in the midst of these challenges and have been able to come out on top. I find that the tough times had given us more blessings and we are able to build back stronger.

Enlighten us on how you have impacted the Real Estate industry through your expertise in the niche.

When I established my company in 2007, I ensured that Key One was built on a solid structure. We had a proper business model with strong control and planning on our financial resources.

During that time, there were a lot of companies that opened for the purpose of making “fast money,” where they reinvested whatever profit or commission they got into a new property in the hopes of selling it in the next 2 weeks for more. This became a cycle, so when the market collapsed in 2009, their funds got stuck, and they did not have enough liquid assets to support them.

Since Key One had the right foundations in place, we could

The 10 Women Business Leaders Transforming Real Estate

navigate these circumstances—not only allowing us to overcome the crisis successfully but also helping our clients reduce the damages to their investment portfolios. We provided continuous support that led to strong business relationships and produced loyal clients who are still with us.

My story has also inspired women in the industry and those who want to join the industry. The fact that I have established my place successfully proves that women can do anything they set their minds on as long as they have a clear vision and work hard towards it.

Tell us about Key One Realty group and its foundation pillar.

Vision

We strive towards a common organizational objective that is geared towards providing the highest level of customer service and achieving excellent business outcomes while doing so.

People and culture

We believe in diversity and respect, and we aim to make our employees’ time with us fulfilling and purposeful.

Practices and values

We provide the highest level of customer service with full transparency and integrity every step of the way.

Experience and expertise

Our team of professionals are experts in their own rights in their roles at Key One. We continuously learn from the market and empower ourselves with new information, trends, and knowledge to provide our customers with the most accurate and timely information they will need in their real estate journey.

Goals and benchmarks

We have internal and external benchmarks and goals towards achieving customer satisfaction and business outcomes.

Sustainability and Innovation

We believe in incorporating new and innovative product offerings, techniques, and ideas to ensure that our products and services are competitive and beneficial to the customers and the company.

What strategies do you implement to promote gender diversity for various positions at Key One Realty group?

Gender has no merit in Key One. What we look at are the capabilities of the person and their skills and potential. In fact, our company is open to anyone, whether they have experience or not.

If you take a closer look, we have a lot of young people working in the front and back end. A lot of them did not have any previous experience, but we saw their eagerness to learn so we provided them with a place to thrive and prove themselves.

That is actually one of the reasons why we started “Key One Academy.” We launched a training and development workshop with the vision of upskilling real estate agents –both new and experienced.

What is your take on technology's importance, and how are you leveraging it?

Buying and selling properties, as well as managing them has never been easier. Technology has truly advanced the real estate sector, and Key One is using its full potential to make the lives of our clients and our employees easier.

Because of technology, we have increased efficiency and integrity with our clients. We have managed to expand into markets we have never been to because of its unlimited reach. And we have negated the hassle and inconvenience of having to leave your house just to invest.

What are your goals in the upcoming future?

We want to expand into more markets outside of the UAE. So far, we have managed to tap into Russia, Italy, Lebanon, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. But this year, we want to focus on Belgium, Austria, and Romania.

What advice would you give to the next generation of women leaders willing to venture into the modern business arena?

Never let your gender or age stop you from exploring your career or business options. At the end of the day, you have to do what is best for your future and listening to the limitations or what people are saying about what you can and can’t do will only hinder you from reaching your potential and goals.

Always have the courage to pursue your passion and work hard towards your goals.

The Exemplar of Client Experience

Jacqui C r a p p Crapp

Selling a property is not just about selling a piece of

land but engaging with the hopes, dreams, and ambitions that a customer has with that property. While a good realtor has to have a thorough understanding of the local housing market, a great realtor also manages to build and keep customer relationships while delivering clients their dream property.

Embodying these characteristics and more is Jacqui Crapp, Director of Raine & Horne Berry & Nowra. She has two decades of experience in the industry with expertise in negotiation, the local property market in Berry, an ability to produce top-tier results, and a great devotion to detail.

The Raine & Horne Group is a fourth-generation Australian-owned family business that provides a comprehensive and integrated range of property services. It is continually rated as one of Australia’s highest-profile real estate groups and is also an official Australian Superbrand. Within Australian real estate, the Raine & Horne network comprises hundreds of offices nationally and internationally. It is an award-winning network that sells more than $10 billion worth of property each year and manages over 72,000 properties across Australia.

In an exclusive interview with Insights Success , Jacqui Crapp shares her challenges on the journey to becoming a leader in the industry and the impact she has brought to her region by supplying impeccable services.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Briefly describe your professional journey up until now.

I joined Raine and Horne Berry as a Property Manager, coming from a banking career in Home Finance and Commercial banking of 21 years. I started in property

management, looking after only 16 properties at the time. As I am not very good at being idle, I grew the PM portfolio to 155 in just over 12 months.

During this time, I started to do some open homes to help the sales team and found that I really enjoyed sales. From there, I transitioned from PM to sales. About three years later, when my principal, Alex Cochrane, was thinking about retiring, I bought 50 % of the business. When he fully retired, he bought into the Nowra and Berry offices with his son Jared and his wife, Emma Cochrane.

So, I transitioned from Property Manager to Director of two offices. The team in Berry has grown over that time from 6 to 13 staff.

What challenges did you face along the way?

I faced so many challenges on the way. Time management was one. When you are looking after 15 sales properties and 155 PM properties, I had to learn that I could not do it all and had to choose where I wanted to go in the industry. I also had to learn to trust that my clients would be looked after by someone else – letting go and trusting is hard when you have built the relationship.

I learned that it's ok to fail so long as you learn from it.

We now have a thriving office, the Number 1 market share in the Berry region, and multiple awards. But this really means nothing if you are not looking after your clients and staff.

Also learned that there are always new technologies coming along, but not all of them will work for your business. Don’t be afraid to admit something is not working and pull the pin. Staff would prefer you acknowledge that you were

The client is at the heart of all we do. Through our services, we feel we have lifted the service levels in our area, so other areas have had to also lift theirs to compete, which resulted in a better experience for all our clients.

Jacqui Crapp Director

Raine & Horne Berry & Nowra

wrong than keep trying to force something to work.

What significant impact have you brought to the Real Estate industry?

Keeping it real. That the client is at the heart of all we do. Not the records or the number of sales, but how we impact each and every person we interact with, and this is what drives us each day. We feel we have lifted the service levels in our area, and other areas have had to also lift theirs to compete, which results in a better client experience for all our clients.

What methodologies do you implement that contribute to new growth opportunities?

In our industry, it is all about relationships. All new growth comes from servicing our clients where they are, with what they need. Whether that is reaching them face to face or through AI technology– we have a comprehensive contact program that keeps us constantly talking to our client base. We can’t help them if we don’t know where they are up to in their property journey.

Tell us about Raine & Horne Berry & Nowra and its foundation pillar.

Our motto is to put “people before property”– this is our clients, our staff, and our community. We have three pillars – honesty, transparency, and being clients’ trusted advisors. This is what all our business is based on. Fundamentally, if we are working with people and it does not serve this, then we do not do it. Sometimes not all business is good business!

What is your take on technology’s importance, and how are you leveraging it?

We use AI for our sales advertising and database management – contacting our 30,000-plus database to ensure we are keeping our clients updated and remaining relevant with them.

The leaps and bounds in Property Management technology have meant that timesaving allows our property managers to have much deeper and more rewarding relationships with our landlords that go above maintenance and rent conversations. We get to help plan their property journey and work with them on growing their property portfolios as we all are working on their goals.

What will be the next significant change in the Real Estate industry, and how are you preparing for it?

Whilst technology is great – it is also our biggest enemy. The only thing we have over technology is the human element. We can create and nurture a relationship that technology cannot. We have to remain relevant and demonstrate that we bring value to the table. Disruptors will come and go. We have to remember that people remain at the core of our transaction – and we must not lose sight of that. We have to keep reinventing ourselves as an industry to be relevant to the consumer.

What are your goals in the upcoming future?

To continue to grow our brand in our local region. As a team, we would like to organically grow our rent roll from 225 to 350. Of course, if any rent rolls were to come up for sale, we would be interested.

We would also like to grow the sales team by another two agents in the next 12 months.

What advice would you like to give the next generation of aspiring business leaders?

Resilience. I think that business is a lot harder than people think. There will be good and bad times. We are in an industry where you just can’t take it to heart. You will lose out at an appraisal; you will lose a listing you couldn’t sell; you just have to get up and dust yourself off and remember that tomorrow is a new day. Be proud of your work and go home and sleep well at night.