Women in Leadership at The Agency Share Advice & Strategies for Success

To mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, members of The Agency’s leadership team engaged in a wide-ranging panel discussion, Breaking Boundaries: Women in Real Estate, held on Friday, March 7, 2025.

These traiblazers’ forthright and inspirational conversation touched upon their lived experience. how they faced and overcame adversity, defied the odds, showed up and did the work, and how they integrate their career and family lives. Breaking boundaries, according to these experts, requires consistency, resilience, persistence, and staying true to yourself. They live authentically, work collaboratively and lead with empathy.

Their conversation has been edited here for brevity and clarity.

Moderator:

Juliet Clapp, Senior Vice President, Managing Partner – North East, | The Agency

Panelists:

Rainy Hake Austin, President | The Agency
Michelle Schwartz, Managing Partner | The Agency Studio City, Sherman Oaks
Katia Bailey, Managing Partner | Waterloo Region, Oakville, Muskoka, Brantford, Toronto West, York Region, Niagara & Halifax
Traci Garantakoso, Managing Partner | The Agency Indianapolis

Real estate is one of the few industries where women make up the majority of the workforce. How has this shaped your experience as a leader?

Rainy Hake Austin, President | The Agency

At a very young age, I would go into meetings with executives from around the country and I was always the only female and the youngest by many decades. And so to be able to come into that room and demand a level of respect in order to integrate and have your ideas be heard was definitely something I had to learn to manage very early on.

One of the things that was really important for me from the beginning was maintaining my authenticity inside of that. The reason for me to be there was to bring my talents and bring my light and my energy that was different, to help them to see things differently…and to evolve. […] I was really leading with creativity and innovation and thinking not about how we’ve always done it, but how we could do things differently.

I knew my value and being able to come into the table and even if they didn’t know it yet, knowing that if I just kept demonstrating my value that at some point they would see that. I feel like that’s continued to be the case for me, even now in my career, because we’re still one of the very few women-run real estate brokerages across the globe. And so I’m really still continuing to push that forward and elevate other women into leadership—because they’re the best people for the job.

Katia Bailey, Managing Partner | Waterloo Region, Oakville, Muskoka, Brantford, Toronto West, York Region, Niagara & Halifax

I’m my own worst critic, I am my own biggest enemy, I place so much pressure on myself and to be surrounded by women at this level is amazing because only women understand, you know, what it’s like to be a woman. We have this special piece of empathy and we have this special piece of patience and humility that you don’t sometimes find with men at the top, sorry to say, and we are programmed to support each other and I think something this industry tries to suppress, in all kind of roles, because it’s so competitive. But I think the unique thing at The Agency, because we are about culture and collaboration and working together—being a woman surrounded by people who see that as a positive and not a negative is amazing.

Juliet Clapp, Senior Vice President, Managing Partner – North East, | The Agency

I think so many of us feel like we don’t belong in the role that we’re in. Like we haven’t achieved it. I think that’s a mental thing that we do to ourselves, often feeling like we’re impostors in our own role. I think that being vulnerable and sharing that is amazing because I think so many people feel that way. Katia is so extremely humble because she is an amazing leader and the way that she leads is so empathetic and disciplined. She is just incredible in how she attacks problems and how consistent she is and how she cultivates things. I love that those authentic traits about her that make her such a great leader. It can be scary if we feel like, how did we get here? Or do we belong here? And I think that imposter syndrome carries through a lot of us. So thank you so much for sharing that, and really, thanks for adding to that.

Michelle Schwartz, Managing Partner | The Agency Studio City, Sherman Oaks

First of all, before I got into real estate, I was in PR and marketing and I had my own PR firm, and that was female dominated. When I transitioned into real estate, it was very easy in that sense. I had that discipline of my own. I came into this industry on the heels of having kids [and entering into L.A.’s male-dominated market].

I never want to do anything half ass—that’s just not who I am and you know, essentially if I’m going to take time away from my family, or annyone for that matter, I better be doing it at a really high level. That’s just what I expected myself.

I also feel like because I asked for this role, I have to work that much harder to make sure that I maintain it because I’ve seen so many people that deserve the opportunity to be a Managing Partner more than I do, as far as numbers are concerned. But I know that from a business perspective, I know how to do this. And so I knew that I could bring something to the table

You’re constantly second guessing yourself, and so I think for me, this has been a really interesting career to be young and to have built it on my own and to be female and to have been in the position of running offices.

We have empathy that we can bring to this table to our clients and to our agents, and we have a way of pushing with a woman’s energy, right? A female energy has a way you of getting to YES in a way that men sometimes can’t. And so I love that. I love that you also said there’s space for everyone.

Juliet Clapp, Senior Vice President, Managing Partner – North East, | The Agency

I mean, being with Mauricio and Billy and then finding your way through and creating your own space and your own growth and your incredible career path, Michelle, my God have you broken boundaries! I mean, it’s very impressive and I so appreciate you sharing that with us.

Rainy Hake Austin, President | The Agency

(Speaking about Michelle Schwartz):

[Michelle] helps pull people together and helps with the collaborative culture that we have and a lot of that has to do with the tenacity and her journey that she’s brought along the way—and how she leads by example. And so I feel like those are all also really great traits for people to lean into. Her leadership style, I think, is unique to her, and it’s very special.

It’s been very effective. She and our team of leaders in the [San Fernando] Valley have created an amazing brand reputation and experience. By believing in the values and actually living them and not just talking about them. And so embodying that in everything she does.

Michelle Schwartz, Managing Partner | The Agency Studio City, Sherman Oaks

I’ll speak for myself, but I don’t think I’m that special. There’s nothing that I’m doing that no one else can do. I would want everyone to have access to all of it because I’m not special. I’m not different. I’m just doing it. And so and that’s I think what you mean by like ble leading, right like I’m showing what I’m doing because I want everyone to follow the path, not that they have to follow my path, but if I can do it, everybody can do it, right? Showing up is the first step.

Traci Garantakoso, Managing Partner | The Agency Indianapolis

Traci describes the moments in life when she discovered the value of community– when she became a mother and stepped into a leadership role in a new city.

The women that supported me during that time showed me who I want to be as a person and what I want to give back to people. We, as women, can tear each other down or we can build each other up and you have a choice. The choice that I want to make is that we all can be better by working together. I love that saying that at the top we’re collaborating and at the bottom we’re competing, right? I feel like what Rainy has enabled us to do as women in this company and in this culture is just incredible–giving me the opportunity to be the best leader that I can be by having all of these wonderful people surrounding me and walking into Forum my first time, and it’s like everyone embraces you. It’s not a lie. It’s a real thing. I think once you get into leadership, that’s your duty.

Juliet Clapp, Senior Vice President, Managing Partner – North East, | The Agency

At this point, Juliet shares that carrying it forward is at once a priority, goal, and responsibility for leaders.

So when you come from that authentic place, I’m sure that people around you are already feeling that from you, you know, and when I think about The Agency and how you just mentioned, you know, we’re not feeling competitive that you felt welcome, that we can all work with each other and help each other. This is what this brand has created, this community. It’s it’s just beautiful, and Rainy, I think that started from the top.

Rainy: It is amazing that the energy that resonates from Tracy becomes exponential with the group that she has, and I feel it’s because she attracts like-minded people around the vision and she leans into the community, but holds space to create more community and she holds herself responsible, I think, for adding to that community and adding value, and I feel like that’s a responsibility for all of us, right? Like paying it forward and all the experiences that we’ve had being mentors to others, I feel like it is super important and I feel like Tracy really embodies that in her evolution and things that she done just naturally and who she is, I feel like she gives back. She gives more than she gets in the exchange and I feel like if people walk away feeling like they’ve got value from her. and I’s like that’s a really important piece of her leadership style as well.

What challenges have you faced in your career? What advice would you give for women who are leaders and aspiring leaders in our industry?

Traci Garantakoso, Managing Partner | The Agency Indianapolis

Traci describes the challenges of having to start her business from scratch in Indianapolis after her family moved to the city for her husband’s job.Traci’s transition into a leadership role made her question if she was tough enough to excel. When someone told her the impossible couldn’t be done, it only motivated her more.