Michelle Ralph

Woman | Wife | Founder of 'Woman up' | Sister | Mentor | Try-hard-triathlete

 How many identities do you have?

Woman, Wife, Mum of an enormous furbaby, Leader of 18 staff, Founder of WOMAN UP, Sister, Friend, Mentor, Amateur runner & try-hard-triathlete.

Tell us a bit about your story and how you’ve got to where you are now professionally?

I started working in the real estate industry when I was 23 years old, and knew from the very beginning that it was a great fit for me- a role that was all about building meaningful relationships and spending time in beautiful homes- yes please!  I started at an inner city agency focussing on investment strategies, development sites, commercial & residential property sales.  I then set up a property management department at another agency while continuing to sell, which was an invaluable experience where I learned so much about the business operations behind the agency.  This experience lead me to complete the study required to obtain my Triennial Licence.  I moved to Abode Real Estate in Cottesloe in 2013, and in 2016 when the owner of the business bought Paxton Hoad Real Estate in Subiaco, I was appointed as Licensee.  2 years later I relocated that business to Cottesloe and oversaw the merge of Paxton Hoad with Abode Real Estate, and I now run the merged business.  I still sell property and genuinely love meeting new people and working with them to achieve their goals with their home and investments, and I have also found so much enjoyment and satisfaction in coaching & mentoring staff, and creating a thriving business environment where everyone has the space to be great.  I love working hard, being busy, juggling many things at once, and I get such a thrill out of helping my clients & my staff achieve their objectives. 

As a female, what has been your greatest challenge in your career/business?

I’ve had some pretty hairy moments in the workplace in my career to date, many things said and done to me that had I been older & more confident I would have stopped.  At the time I knew that I wasn’t comfortable but I very much felt pressure to not be ‘difficult’.  Moving into real estate so young, I felt the need to die my hair brown, I only wore pant suits, and I tried to adopt a more assertive, masculine persona, all in a bid to be taken more seriously.  Over time I began to understand that my inherent values of kindness, empathy and compassion did not make me weak, but made me a stronger person, better able to connect with those around me.  I’ve found ways to uphold my boundaries and worry less about seeming difficult, and more about being true to myself.  Plus I’ve learned it’s okay to have fun while you’re working- I don’t know why I felt it necessary to be so serious all the time!

What has been the hardest personal challenge you have faced in life thus far?

From as early as 15 years old, members of my family have experienced ongoing & serious mental health challenges.  Seeing the people I love feel truly hopeless was scary, and the feeling of helplessness made me grow up very fast.  I learned what it looked like & felt like for my world to fall apart.

 How have you grown as a person, mentally, emotionally and spiritually since that challenge?

I learned how to be truly independent from a young age, to build my own world for myself, and this has been an ongoing source of pride for me.

But the biggest growth has been my ability to connect with others who are experiencing challenges in their mental wellbeing.  I want to provide a safe space without judgement so people feel able to share.  I passionately believe that community & connection truly help people suffering from depression & anxiety, and it’s important to me that I do my bit so that people who are experiencing these challenges understand they are not alone, and there are people around them who care.

 How do you plan to leave your mark in the world?

I have this idea that we are all out in the world learning and growing, and the whole point of it is so that we can share our skills & knowledge with each other within our community, to help each other to live our best lives.  This lead me to start WOMAN UP in mid 2019- a community on a mission to help women in Perth empower themselves and each other.  We hold events where we bring in speakers we can learn from & be inspired by, and I also launched the WOMAN UP Mentor Network which helps match mentors & mentees across all industries & skillsets to provide some structure & accountability to assist us in reaching our goals.  I want to help bring people together, increase our sense of community and encourage people to be kinder to themselves and each other.  There’s so much judgement and negativity out there, and I truly believe that just choosing to be kinder will make a massive difference in the world.