Her Story
About Simran
My journey in real estate has been challenging but rewarding. Initially, it was very hard because in India, it's more of a male-dominant industry. But when I started learning and growing my network, things started working out gradually. Big companies like Godrej, Mahindra, and DLF are very open and diverse in culture, and they do give support to females. These companies have really been helpful for me to grow and learn in my industry. Currently, I work as a co-host for Airbnb, managing approximately 25+ properties based out of Australia while working remotely from India. My day starts at around 5-5:30am and I work till 1:30pm IST, which is 10am to 6pm Australian time. Managing everything remotely is not as easy as it sounds - you're organizing and managing something which you cannot see physically, doing research on locations, understanding cultural differences between India and Australia, and dealing with guests from different corners of the world. Every day is another thrill for me, managing calendars, communicating with different guests, handling extensions, working with students who come for internships and people on corporate projects. One of my proudest achievements was 2 years back when I was working with Godrej Properties - I was one of the best relationship managers and got the award for generating more revenue throughout the year. Getting highlighted among the top 3 people in such a big company with so much internal competition was actually a milestone to be achieved.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Simran
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is to never settle for less. Never compromise and never settle for less, whether it's in terms of work or growing professionally. And never keep the ball in your court - because if you keep the ball in your court, definitely you'll get one or the other thing on your head. So let the ball pass on and let's keep rolling. Don't hold onto things, keep moving forward.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to all females, irrespective of the industry, is to never stop earning. I agree that when females get married, the ratio of working women drops from 100% to about 60%, and after having a baby, it drops to just 10%. But my piece of advice to every female is to be independent. Never, ever depend financially on anyone else - be it your husband, your partner, your father, your mother, whosoever you have. If you are educated, if you have skills, go step out of your comfort zone and work. Don't let anyone control you financially, don't be dependent on anyone. This is crucial for all women, regardless of what industry they're in.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the major challenges I personally face is that I have a small baby, and keeping a nanny is not that easy - I get some trust issues with that. But beyond my personal situation, the major challenge in the real estate industry is that there are very, very few remote opportunities. Real estate is an industry where it's more of a face-to-face thing, and very minimal work can actually be done remotely. If this industry expands more and gives more acceptance, then there should be a gradual shift, at least for females who are talented and skilled and who actually deserve that position. There should be some space for these females to work remotely, or at least in hybrid models - not complete remote, but at least hybrid. This would be a change that I would demand for the industry.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value in my work and in my personal life is loyalty. If you are loyal to your work, if you're loyal to your personal life, you will always achieve all the goals, all the milestones. Just be loyal to your work, just be loyal to your personal life, and everything will gradually fall in place. There are other values too - trust, honesty, so many things - but I would say loyalty is a must. That's number one for me.
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