"There are around 60 people who will support your crazy ideas to solve problems, so bring them to the table and let’s find a way to make them a reality."

Vanessa Williams - General Manager of Marketing & Media

What is your role at realestate.co.nz? 

If you were to read my Slack profile, it would say, ‘I tell stories and sell things,’ which I think is a pretty good summary of what I do.  

My team and I ensure our brand is known to anyone interested in property through our marketing, advertising and communications. We also support people to make informed property decisions by sharing property market data and insights. 

With my other hat on, I help awesome brands who are relevant to the property search journey to put their service or product in front of property seekers. We sell product sponsorships and the opportunity to advertise to property-seeking people who are ready for a change.  

 

Where did you start? And how has your role grown and evolved over time? 

I started back in 2015 when we were on a recruitment drive to grow from 12 to 16 staff. I was hired as the Brand and Commercial Manager to build the realestate.co.nz brand and sell our media ad space through a third party.  

When I had set the brand foundations and our media revenue was humming, I had the opportunity to pick up the full marketing suite. I moved into the Head of Marketing role – an opportunity that grew as the business grew. I broadened this outside of pure brand marketing to grow all the areas of marketing for the business. I had the privilege of establishing and growing our communications channels, PR, advertising, trade marketing and social media over the next few years.  

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In 2018, our sales leader left the business, and I took on the leadership of our sales team and our customer service team – this was another opportunity for me to grow as the business grew. We had around 25 people then, and around the same time, I had the privilege of becoming the voice for realestate.co.nz as our official spokesperson. 

As the business continued to grow, I needed to let a few teams go, and in 2020, I re-focused on our Marketing and Media teams, moving into my current role as the GM of Marketing and Media.  

I have a passion for growth, so in 2021, I went back to school to complete my Masters in Business (MBA). The business supported my study eminently, and I feel very grateful to have (what I consider) the best job in the world.  

 

 

How has realestate.co.nz changed over your tenure? 

When I started, we only had 16 people, and everyone in the business picked up a bit of everything. If there was an issue, we all jumped in to solve it. When the groceries turned up, we all helped put them away. We were all in the office five days a week, and most of us had desktop computers and desk phones. Now, we have specialists and support in all areas of the business while we all still muck in to help (that is just our culture). There are now people far more qualified than myself to tackle problems and find opportunities – and a lot of the time, work is done from home.   

 

How have you changed since you’ve been at realestate.co.nz? 

Almost nine years ago, I was basically a junior Marketing Manager, and today, I run our media sales team and our marketing team that has specialists in digital marketing, marcoms platforms, social media, trade marketing, and PR & communications. I am no longer on the tools, and I take recommendations from my highly skilled team to find the best solutions. It’s been quite a challenge for me to learn to be more of a leader and think strategically, but I love working with our experts across the business to continue to grow and be innovative.  

What do you love most about working at realestate.co.nz?

One of our values is ‘Care’, and our team live by it daily, through and through. While I love our other two values (Excellence and Growth), Care holds a special place in my heart, and so do our people. Even after almost nine years, I am constantly impressed by how much our people care for each other. We care enough to have hard conversations and to call out great work, which I think makes us such a solid team. In all the businesses I have worked in during my career, none have had the kind of culture of care we have at realestate.co.nz.  

 

What is one piece of advice that you’d give to someone who is coming to work at realestate.co.nz? 

Your career here is what YOU make of it – find opportunities to save costs or increase revenue, and you can do whatever you want here. There are around 60 people who will support your crazy ideas to solve problems, so bring them to the table and let’s find a way to make them a reality.  


Enjoying Vanessa's story? Read more career journeys from our team.