Leading ladies improve wellbeing and longevity by connecting in Brisbane

Leading Ladies of Real Estate was started to encourage and empower women from across the entire industry. There will be five events held on the east coast of Australia, and New Zealand, across November.

Ray White property management business development executive, Kate Stewart, emceed the event, while Chair of the Leading Ladies Queensland chapter, Sally Patch, welcomed the attendees.

"Leading Ladies is a community to support and inspire women in the industry to chase their potential - both personally and professionally,” Sally said.

“We want to bring women together to form connections and opportunities for peer mentoring. We do this through a balance of face to face and online events, and are so appreciative of the incredible women who share their career journeys and advice with others. I'm really excited about the growing interest in this community and where we’re heading in 2024."

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said it was fantastic to see so many women rallying together as a strong community supporting one another, against the backdrop of the beautiful Calile Hotel.

“Ray White is leading the way with a collection of events designed to empower women in real estate, whether it be teaching pathways to financial independence or interpersonal skills to better serve their clients and communities, and to support one another,” Ms Mercorella said.

Allison Gough of Ray White Townsville said about the event “we work in a very male dominated industry so it’s good to connect.”

“We’re remote so we miss out on a lot of content, and it’s good to get out of our comfort zones,” Alison said.

At Thursday’s event, keynote speaker and Human Connection Scientist Dr Ali Walker shared her insight about the power of human connection and its direct correlation with our mental and physical health. She ran through an entertaining presentation about personality assessments, identifying connection types and motivational drivers in relationships.

“Everyone has different approaches to relationships, some people see it like a game, some people see it like therapy, some people see it as entertainment and for some people it’s a shared positive experience,” Dr Walker said.

She explained how human connections and interactions directly impact your wellbeing.

“Your level of human connection is the single biggest predictor of mental and physical health. It’s been found that being chronically lonely is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. If I want to live longer it’s all about healthy social connection,” she said.

Dr Walker explained that loneliness is a negative feeling that arises when there is a gap between what you want to experience and what you are experiencing. She said people correlate being alone with loneliness and it’s not the same thing; that loneliness looks different for everyone.

“If I want to live longer it’s all about healthy social connection.”