How two competitors and Premium members became business partners

We love it when brilliant women come together to achieve great things, and we love it even more when those women are members of our community. Amanda Falahey and Teree Clare were both working in the real estate industry and raising young families when something had to give. Amanda reached out to Teree, and in just three months of working together the pair created a six-figure business. This is their story.

Amanda’s story…

At 19, I started my first job in Real Estate selling million dollar properties in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs. I changed from residential to the commercial real estate a few years later, representing large corporates with their property leasing throughout Australia.

I had my daughter in 2013 and returned to full-time work, with a three-hour daily commute! It was tough, to say the least. A client asked me to take a look at the lease of their friend who had a pizza shop in Sydney. They had signed a really bad lease five years earlier that now meant they were going to have to close their business. It made me think about other small businesses facing the same result because they didn’t get professional advice when it came to negotiating their commercial lease. I realised that I could put my knowledge to good use and create a tenant representation business targeted to SMEs.

“We created Eve Property Group and within three months we become a six-figure business and are getting to work with dream clients.”

I reached out to Emma Isaacs for her advice and she promptly responded with positive and supportive feedback. Her encouragement helped me to move from idea to reality and that’s how I became a business owner. I started The Tenant Company in March 2015 (now Eve Property Group) and it was well received from the start. I was a sole Director and in April 2016 gave birth to a baby boy, which meant that I had to continue working straight after his birth (literally, I was responding to emails before my epidural had even worn off!). This put so much pressure on me and I suffered from postnatal depression and was hospitalised for treatment. It was a really dark time of my life in a period that is meant to be joyous. When I felt I had emerged from the dark tunnel, I realised something had to change with my business. I knew I wanted to continue with it as I felt so passionate about helping small business owners, but I knew I could no longer do it on my own. That’s when I reached out to Teree.

I became aware of Teree through a Facebook group and was surprised to see that she was also operating her own commercial tenant representation business. There aren’t many tenant reps around, especially women, so it caught my attention. For about a year I ‘kept an eye’ on her (maybe stalked), always reading her articles and I was amazed at how extensive her knowledge was. I contacted Teree to see if we could meet up to discuss working together. At the time I wasn’t even sure what that meant, I just had this feeling that we needed to meet.

At our first meeting we were apprehensive to discuss too much as we were essentially competitors, but within about half an hour we just gelled and it all came out from there! We talked about ideas we had for our businesses, the amazing clients we had worked with, raising kids and where to get good coffee. It was honestly as if we had known each other for years. We had the same values – about work and family life – and I think that just made us hit it off instantly. We talked for hours, which actually isn’t that hard for either of us!

Amanda and Teree

I came away from that meeting feeling invigorated. I knew that if we put our knowledge and experience together we could create an amazing business. I emailed Teree the next day and said, “I think we need to merge our businesses” and she wrote back, “I was thinking the same thing!”.

That meeting has literally changed my life. We created Eve Property Group and within three months we become a six-figure business and are getting to work with dream clients.

Teree says …

I started working in the corporate real estate world spending 10 years at a blue chip logistics firm. I absolutely loved the role and even though the firm was a bit of a powerhouse when it came to its bargaining power with the Landlords, I loved the idea of being on the tenant side, no matter how big you are, the tenant is always the underdog.

After having children, and moving to the Mornington Peninsula, I started my own business Red Flag Property Leasing.

Out of the blue, I got an email from Amanda asking if we could meet up and discuss how we might be able to work together. I had heard about Amanda and to me, she was the glamorous version of myself. The one who had her shit together, so to speak. At this stage, I was close to giving up my business as I really just struggled with the sales and having the confidence to get myself out there.

“Amanda is a public speaking extraordinaire and in any client meetings has a way of articulating herself that often leaves me doing a little fist pump under the table.”

We decided to meet up and introduce ourselves. Well, to say we clicked is an understatement. We sat in a coffee shop and just talked for hours. About our previous corporate roles, the struggles of running your own business, the ups and downs, our kids (we both have two kids who are all the same ages), and… finally just how amazing it could be if we joined forces. That was the beginning of our new exciting chapter as business partners and co-founders of Eve Property Group.

That meeting has changed the path of our lives and careers. Amanda and I are now both working together for the same goal. Well, we have many goals including getting on the Business Chicks trip to Necker Island. However, our overarching goal is to be a leading tenant representation service provider.

Considering 12 months ago we didn’t know each other, Amanda is now an integral part of my life. She is a workaholic and goddamn she’s focused! Amanda is a public speaking extraordinaire and in any client meetings has a way of articulating herself that often leaves me doing a little fist pump under the table.