Meet The Team

Fiona Blayney is CEO & Director of the highly successful consultancy, training, people and outsourced business Real+, specialising in estate agency services in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K and the U.S. Over the past 18 years she has developed a reputation for being one of the best business strategy, talent and growth specialists around.

Fiona’s energetic and motivational presence has ensured her popularity at industry events. She regularly performs keynote presentations, seminars, workshops, facilitated panels and acts as MC for many of the leading industry groups both in Australia and abroad.

Known for her no holds barred approach, Fiona believes her role as an Industry Thought leader is to push boundaries, challenge the status quo and in general “break stuff”, then work with her clients to get personalised results.

Passionate about Real Estate since her first day in the profession in 1992, it would be fair to say that whilst Fiona has learnt along the way, there are many a person and business that has benefited from time spent with her. Whether she is building a strategy with a start up, or mentoring a veteran through their exit programme, Fiona is a chameleon of talent.

With over 20+ years’ experience in Senior Leadership Suzanne is driven by working with a hands-on approach to developing processes and best practice, enhancing team productivity and supporting clients in streamlining workflows to increase efficiency and time.

Suzanne also brings with her an extensive customer service focus having developed and implemented Customer Service Standards and Service journey mapping. Her expertise ranges from financial management, process development, business scaling, sales and communication coaching across various industries, from VET Education, commercial property management, and Start-ups.

With extensive experience across these various sectors, Suzanne has been responsible for managing client relationships and deliverables for Optus, Heart Research Institute of Australia, Telstra, ANZ Bank, NSW Police Force, Rockend, Jones Lang LaSalle, and Vodafone.

With a Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Coaching, Suzanne’s skill in managing Operations and Finance is coupled with a focus on people and performance.

Sophie Lyon has over 30 years of experience in the Real Estate Profession. Having held numerous roles throughout her career, she has worked with several high-profile organisations, leading and developing Property Management teams, growing businesses both organically and through acquisitions, and driving change.

Her experience as a Director and Board Member of some of the largest rent rolls in Victoria, both privately owned and franchise organisations, gives her a unique ability to bring this experience into all sizes and types of businesses.

An REIV Director and Board Member for 10 years allowed Sophie to be involved with Government legislation updates and recommendations, including three updates of the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act, as well as VCAT and RTBA user groups.  Sophie was the winner of the inaugural REA Real Ideas Prize for Innovation and was also awarded an AREI by the Real Estate Institute in 2021.

Sophie’s passion for all things real estate, along with her enthusiasm and relatable personality have led her to coaching, training and mentoring roles in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the United States.

Her belief that successful business are built from embracing change, finding the good in every day, and recreating mindsets along with a fascination for innovational ideas and technology allows Sophie to bring a fresh approach to her clients and their businesses.

Forged in the fires of reception at her local agency, Samantha has been passionate about her Property Management career since 2003. Working for some of the most iconic Property Franchise groups in Sydney, at the coal face, on the executive team through to Franchise Head of Property Management.

The self-proclaimed “Mary Poppins” of Property, Samantha’s skills lay in fixing what is broken, finding efficient ways of working & building bespoke solutions for each agency she works with.

Working with REAL+ is a perfect fit for Samantha, providing the opportunity to help countless agencies every day in Membership, Training & Education.