Mentorship and resilience: How women can thrive in commercial property

“I fell into commercial somewhat by chance. That senior CBRE leader encouraged me to apply for a role in my second year of uni, and that’s how I landed in the tenant rep division, and got one of the four roles out of hundreds of applicants.”

Starting in tenant representation over two decades ago, Raymond said the industry was predominantly male, including her clients, CEOs and CFOs, whom she had to pitch, negotiating leases, and helping find and design spaces to suit their needs.

While she could have been overwhelmed by facing “big industry players”, Raymond said she never felt intimidated being the only woman in the room.

“Perhaps it was naive of me, but I always just thought, people are people and it doesn’t matter whether they’re a male or a female,” Raymond told REB.

“I’ve obviously learned a lot more now about gender bias and things that a lot of people experience. It does exist, but for me, it was just about being prepared, going in, opening, asking the right questions, turning up on time, and being visible.”

“It was all about being resilient, learning how to take criticism or learning how to cop the losses.”

Raymond said that her success in the commercial space stemmed from her ability to surround herself with the right people and learn from them.

She said that at the start of her career, she received pivotal mentorship from one of her senior directors, a woman who showed her the ropes and helped her build her industry knowledge.

“She was extremely influential in my career, gave me a lot of confidence as a woman, but I also had a lot of fantastic men who were my managers.”

As her career progressed, Raymond returned the favour by participating in an industry mentorship program herself, helping her mentee navigate challenges at work, leverage her broad network, and make connections across the often-siloed commercial property industry.

“I think it’s important as a woman to help other people who aren’t as confident as you find their confidence. So if you see women in your team or in the wider office, grab them and take them along to leadership meetings.”

“So whether that’s introducing them to your network, even just sitting and listening to them, whether they’re finding it tough in the industry as a woman, and helping them find their feet.”

While younger women can feel the pressure when they first join the industry, Raymond said that they need to learn to believe in their own strength and not let the men intimidate them.

“Women have a tendency to always look at their weaknesses rather than their strengths, and we need to learn to see our strengths and use them well.”

According to Raymond, women are particularly strong at building relationships and establishing trust and credibility with clients, which is important in commercial property.

Similarly, she said that women can juggle multiple priorities at once and be authentic rather than performative, making sure tasks are done on time.

“Men do that very well, but if you can look inside yourself and see what your strengths are, you’ll see that women are really good at building relationships with clients, which makes a big difference.”

While more women have made their mark in the commercial real estate sector, Raymond said leadership and board representation are still lacking, with the space remaining heavily male-dominated.

“It’s important for women in mid-career to hold firm on what we believe is right, and that women bring benefits to the table that men might not. I think that mindset and that relationship building skills that women typically bring are critical and long-term commercial partnerships as well.”

Raymond said the lack of women on boards isn’t due to a lack of talent but a lingering bias around visibility in the workplace.

She noted that women who leave the office earlier to manage family responsibilities are often overlooked for promotions compared to colleagues who stay late, despite doing just as much work.

While mentorship programs and greater inclusion in networking opportunities are helping, she believes the industry still needs to do more to genuinely value women’s contributions and create pathways to leadership rather than treating representation as a box-ticking exercise.

Despite the industry still needing to overcome some gender barriers, Raymond said that she wouldn’t change her career.

“You get to be involved in many different aspects, from understanding what tenants want, to negotiating leases and even design work.”

“I absolutely love commercial real estate,” Raymond concluded.