Women in Estate Agency was formed to better support women in the sector and break down barriers to true equality. The committee is made up of 13 industry experts and entrepreneurs who give their time voluntarily to passionately promote change across the sector.
Liana has over 25 years’ experience in the property industry, having worked in both corporate and boutique agencies. She launched her own business in 2020, Liana Loporto Property, powered by eXp. Liana has been the President of Propertymark NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) and Regional Executive for London.
Liana was proud to become a founder of the WiEA Facebook Group and Podcast.
Clare has over 20 years’ experience in the residential property sector, focussing primarily on East London. She launched her own business in 2020, Clare Hughes Independent Estate Agent, powered by eXp. Clare was proud to become a founder of the WiEA Facebook Group and Podcast.
Verona has spent her 30+ year career in leadership roles across the retail, financial services, and property sectors in the UK and overseas. Currently CEO of Yopa, she is committed to creating an environment where everyone can bring their true, full selves to work and are valued for their contribution.
A mum of three, Verona is passionate about being a strong role model for her daughters and son, and supporting women to follow their passions in an equal world. Verona has coached and mentored a host of people, helping them create a life in which they can be both successful and true to their values.
Lucy has 20 years’ experience in lettings and estate agency, working with industry-leading names such as Belvoir, LSL, Hunters, and The Lomond Group.
She now runs a successful M&A business, Atomic Consultancy. Prior to forming Atomic, Lucy was responsible for M&A activity for some of the biggest names in the industry and now brings this wealth of experience to her growing customer base. Lucy is a founder of WiEA and a dedicated champion of women across the sector.
From her roots in holiday letting and estate agency, Sarah is passionate about property and people. A qualified trainer, she now focusses her time on projects that improve the industry for agents and consumers AND on work that enables her to improve the lives of many; coaching agents and suppliers with Allstars, leading a small team and 100s of volunteers as CEO of Agents Together and guiding the Board of her local NHS trust.
Clare Yates has built a solid reputation for training and consultancy in the property industry.
Starting out as a weekend receptionist in a local estate agent, she quickly moved into new-build sales, holiday cottages, panel management, and ultimately sales training. Clare now works with some of the very best law firms and estate agents in the country, helping them convert new enquiries into business, improve customer service, and create clients for life.
She is an innovative trainer and communicates in a “hands on” way, using real life experiences to stimulate empathy and understanding.
Kirsty is a freelance marketing director and marketing consultant, specialising in the property sector. As a senior marketing professional and board-level executive, with a marketing career spanning two decades, she has a deep-rooted passion for brand, communications, and storytelling.
Kirsty has a strong track record of delivering business results, supported by her unique mix of attributes, combining intense creativity with a commercial understanding and analytical approach.
Kirsty offers her clients a host of marketing services, including strategy, planning, delivery, and board-level direction.
Amy’s career began with a chance call to Romans in 2004, and progressed to management roles, including being the first female Branch Manager, which remains one of her proudest achievements. After 12 years with Romans, she moved on to an LSLi estate agency, Davis Tate, where she ran an office in a community-based village for 4 years.
In 2019, Amy took a leap of faith into the world of ‘prop tech’ to broaden her sales skills, learn B2B sales and continue to challenge herself while staying in the industry. Four years later, she loves helping agents achieve ROI with new tech or services, and helping them embrace change.
Ellie possesses nearly three decades of extensive experience in sales, lettings, acquisitions, and mergers. Over the past ten years, she has held various senior leadership positions with distinguished companies in the industry, including The Property Franchise Group, LSL, and Belvoir. Presently, Ellie holds the position of Managing Director at Martin & Co, where she consistently endeavours to empower and inspire individuals to attain their objectives, regardless of the obstacles they encounter.
Ellie is a strong advocate for fostering an environment within the sector that enables women, in particular, to embrace their true selves with confidence and comfort. She promotes the significance of providing support and recognition to women for their valuable contributions in the workplace.
Iain is the Chief Network Officer of nurtur.group and is directly responsible for managing the overall business environment for The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine & Country. Iain has over 35 years’ agency experience starting within the industry at the tender age of 17.
He quickly progressed through the ranks to become a Regional Manager at 26 years old. Three years later, he set up an independent estate agency called Complete Property Services. In 2011, he joined a large corporate as Managing Director, which grew year-on-year to a business of over 100 branches. In March 2017, Iain was appointed as the CEO of The Guild.
Simon started his career in national newspapers, specialising in creating and managing awards events. In 2003 he launched The Estate Agent of the Year Awards which quickly gained the nick name ‘The ESTAS’ (The Oscars of the property industry). The ESTAS established themselves as the most important and valuable awards for agents as winners were decided purely on service ratings from customers.
Recently The ESTAS Group has accelerated its development into a customer review and insight solution for agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers and suppliers. The ESTAS Awards celebrate their 20th anniversary in October 2023 when over 1,000 of the UK’s top property professionals gather at London’s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel. With the arrival of other key directors Simon’s role in the business has changed to concentrate on PR and marketing and provide support and advice to all areas of the company.
Catherine is a qualified lawyer and began her career specialising in corporate crime and regulatory before moving into Property Law. Having over 20 years experience in private practice, Catherine has established and led both volume and high net worth conveyancing practices, being a Managing Director of a law firm with a number of offices in London and the home counties.
Throughout her legal career Catherine has worked closely with Estate Agents and in 2022 Catherine took a leap of faith from private practice into an in-house role with an Estate Agency business. Catherine is currently the Legal & Compliance Director at Yopa sitting on their Executive Leadership Team. Catherine is a definite people’s person and is passionate about Property and best practice within the industry.
Elle Wood quickly rose to Director of Orchards Estates, Somerset. Winning the first EA Masters as Number 1 in Sales & Number 2 in Lettings in the UK had people asking “how?”. This led to her training estate agents internationally as well as providing Done For You social media & marketing services.
