Emily Pendleton’s interest in commercial real estate began when she was a little girl. Coming from a family of real estate investors, she has strong memories of looking at listings online with her father.
Despite its reputation for being a male dominated industry, Emily jumped at the chance to start her career in commercial real estate, joining the team RWC Northern Corridor Group shortly after finishing school. Fourteen years later she is not only RWC’s top female agent, but one of the highest performing agents in the network overall.
Just six months into her first role in commercial real estate, a hybrid associate and admin position, RWC Northern Corridor Group director Michael Shadforth asked Emily to step up and become her own agent.
“I got stuck straight into it, and here I am now,” Emily said.
Emily has consistently been in the top six per cent of agents for the past few years, and claims leases, a good support team, hard work, and having thick skin are the secrets to her success.
“I have worked in commercial for 14 years but I have only recently built a team to allow me to work on larger asset sales and projects that allow me to think outside the box,” she said.
“I have had an average of 50-70 leases on the go at any one time since I went out on my own, so I brought an associate on to help me with leases.
“I now have two associates, Abi Rowlands and Kian Mayhew, and an executive assistant Bianca Nash.
“You need a supportive team where you feel comfortable, but also build a team you can be proud of.
“I was very close minded about having a team, but when I let that go and gave it a shot everything changed, and I wouldn't have it any other way.”
Emily said she would love to see more young women considering a career in commercial property.
“I think commercial is a bit intimidating for many young women,” she said.
“When I first started and then stepped out on my own I had a lot of nasty comments and a lot of men telling me I won't succeed, or people trying to take business from me.
“But once you show your position and show you’re not going anywhere, things start to get easier. You do have to have a tough facade.
“I had a lot of support from my team and my directors.”
She said there was a huge opportunity for women in the commercial property sector.
“Commercial property allows you to do both sales and leasing, while residential property managers look after leasing,” she said.
“There’s opportunities to help women business owners who are looking to lease property, think of beauty salons and hairdressers. There are so many businesses like that which are looking to expand after Covid.
“Once you've done a few deals you get to put your sold signs up and people start to see you as a real agent in the market.”
Another edge which Emily used to cement herself as an agent was using the latest tools and technology.
“A lot of older agents aren’t using all of the technology and tools that we have access to,” she said.
“Being able to be innovative and use the tools Ray White has given us has allowed me to show that I am better and quicker than these other people.
“Use the tools available and you don't need to fight other agents, do your work humbly and you’ll prove yourself over time.”
But at the end of the day, Emily said success came down to one simple thing - hard work.
“You have to put in the work. When you’re your own agent in control of your own time you can go get your hair done at 2pm if you want to, but you’ve got to have discipline and monitor your time and implement a daily schedule,” she said.
“You have to be willing to put in the work and the hours, you have to be willing to pick up the phone and make calls.
“But once you've done that hard work, and you've got a good team, you can step back and start working on the business instead of in the business.”
