Staff retention remains a challenge across the real estate industry, particularly among junior agents navigating a highly competitive environment. Ashley Van Deyk's role was created to help address that challenge.
At 25, Van Deyk stepped into a role believed to be among the first of its kind in Australian real estate. Her role is to support the next generation of real estate agents to build their skills, train, and succeed in their careers in the long term.
As Associate Development Manager at Ray White Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches, she works with 35 associates, meeting each of them individually each week. She runs group skills and training sessions, leads onboarding, manages performance reviews, and oversees recruitment.
While there was no predecessor or blueprint to follow in this role, her efforts led her to be named a finalist in the REB Mentor of the Year awards in 2026.
An unexpected career path
Van Deyk grew up in Canberra, and after finishing school, found herself working in IT. It was a friend who worked in real estate who nudged her to change course and give it a go.
“She kept saying to me, ‘Ash, you need to try it. You can talk under water. Just give it a go because I think you'd be a really good fit,” Van Deyk tells Women’s Agenda.
Soon after, she was offered an admin-based sales assistant role, eventually relocating to Sydney to become a sales associate before working to earn her license as a real estate agent.
Within a month, she knew she had found her long-term career.
"After four weeks I went, yeah, this is me for the rest of my life," she recalls.
The Associate Development Manager position Van Deyk now holds didn't exist before she was asked to step into it. It’s filling a gap that’s common in small real estate businesses – where staff training is usually the first thing to fall to the wayside when things get busy.
Van Deyk says she was the first person in Australia appointed to the role.
The model has since been adopted by other franchises around the country, with similar associate-focused development roles being introduced.
The importance of mentorship
Her focus on development stems largely from her own experience entering the industry.
As an associate, Van Deyk says she had been part of a group of six. Today, she is the only one left in the industry.
"That stayed with me, because with the right support and structure they could have been incredible.
"If I could be the person I needed when I was starting out, someone who helps others stay the course, believe in themselves, and keep going, that would be more fulfilling than any sale."
Van Deyk says there are two key figures who have played the biggest roles in supporting her career and they are the principals she still works for today.
"I've always tried to surround myself with people who challenge me to improve," she says.
The first, David Walker, she describes as a performance mentor, someone who challenged her to break her own boundaries and regulate her mindset.
"He is the person who made me believe in actually going after my dreams instead of waiting for them to happen," she says.
"A lot of what I have achieved would not have been possible without him."
The second, Charles Caravousanos, taught her how to lead with humanity and balance integrity with genuine care for the people around her.
"So much of how I mentor today is based on how he has mentored me," she says.
"If I could be the person I needed when I was starting out, someone who helps others stay the course, believe in themselves, and keep going, that would be more fulfilling than any sale."
– Ashley Van Deyk, Associate Development Manager and Real Estate Manager of Ray White Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches
On women in real estate
Van Deyk believes the same support structures that improve retention can also help address leadership imbalances across the sector.
At the leadership level, real estate remains heavily male-dominated. But Van Deyk has always pushed against that grain and says investing in the next generation is key to seeing more women in these roles.
"Real estate is a rejection game. There's a lot of setbacks, a lot of highs and lows," she says.
"And I think that if you're a young person, it can be really hard to navigate that level of autonomy and still handle the ebbs and flows of winning and losing constantly."
Van Deyk says it’s critical that business leaders take proper care of their junior staff and offer the right support.
“There's a lot of quality candidates out there that get into the industry, and they could do really well, but without the right support or structure, they inevitably end up struggling to gain traction and end up leaving,” she says.
"If we can take better care of people in the earlier stages when they're starting out, when they're training, we will get more longevity across the industry.”
For young women considering a career in real estate, Van Deyk's advice is to just keep going.
"Real estate is a delayed gratification game. It takes about four years to really start seeing the results that you want," she explains.
"If you're quitting at the two or three year mark, you are so close. You've done the hardest part but you've quit a job you've never actually had."
And perhaps most importantly, Van Deyk says not to make permanent decisions about your career on temporary feelings.
“Nobody likes doing things they're not good at and whenever you're starting out in any profession, you're not going to be good at it right away. It takes years to master a skill."
For Van Deyk, the goal is not simply helping young agents stay in the industry, but ensuring they have the support to build sustainable careers. She believes agencies that invest in development early will be better positioned to retain talent, strengthen leadership pipelines and improve long-term performance.
This article was written in partnership with and originally published by Women's Agenda.
