Christina Nelson is a Senior Development Manager at Mirvac Retail, overseeing a team of two Development Managers and the National Manager of Placemaking & Design. Christina has worked on several of Mirvac’s urban retail assets, including Broadway Sydney and Rhodes Waterside in Sydney, and Moonee Ponds Central in Victoria. Since joining Mirvac in 2014, she has been focused on repositioning and reimagining Mirvac’s urban retail assets for strong future growth. She has led the project teams who delivered the innovative redevelopments at Broadway Sydney and Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet, and worked on large-scale
infrastructure and project bids.
Can you give us a brief history of your career path, prior to joining Mirvac?
After university I began my career as a graduate at Lendlease. I spent four years as a project engineer on large-scale construction sites and this provided a solid foundation for a future career in development. I then moved to Stockland in the role of Retail Development Manager where I was responsible for several retail projects, including the $395 million redevelopment of Stockland Merrylands.
Stockland Merrylands
When are you most creative?
One of the aspects I love about retail development is the opportunity to customise the project design and retail offer so as to resonate with and inspire, even emotionally connect with, our customers. I really enjoy the process of analysing the trade area research and understanding the local demographic, and this is what fuels my creativity for the project and the potential of what could be.
A great piece of advice you’ve received in your career and by who?
At the outset of my career, I had a very successful senior female manager I very much admired. She was very helpful in advising me and guiding me through that early stage of my career. One piece of advice she gave me was to identify role models, people I admire and respect, either male or female, and integrate aspects of their behaviour into my work repertoire. She said that this may be as simple as how they dress or conduct themselves to more significant aspects such as addressing important meetings or analysing difficult problems.
Which women inspire you and why?
I am inspired by Dame Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue since 1988, because she is a leading visionary in her industry. She is an original thinker and a non-conformist. Throughout her career she has been both lionised and satirised, revered and feared – and yet her tenacity and longevity in the fickle fashion industry is remarkable.
I am also inspired by the late architect Dame Zaha Hadid. Like Wintour, she was a leading visionary in her field of architecture and design. Despite being reportedly difficult to work with, in my opinion she was a “starchitect”. I think her expressionistic and futuristic designs are breathtaking and awe-inspiring and that she has left an imposing legacy for future generations. If you consider the world’s most renowned architects, both past and present, she is one of very few women in this male-dominated group, and she is the only individual woman to have been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in its 40-year history, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.
How do you foster creativity in the workplace?
I think that a great starting point is to hold a brainstorming session with my project team and suspend disbelief. In other words, I challenge the team to consider what we would do if we were completely unconstrained and could do anything at all. I also think it’s essential to build a diverse project team that includes people of varying characteristics such as gender, age, background and qualification. Further, it’s important to get out and about and experience what is happening here at home as well as overseas, as very little creativity comes from sitting behind a computer screen.
What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt along the way?
I believe that success is not only defined by achieving your career goals. Of course this is very important, however it’s also about personal growth and self-fulfilment. Be strategic and work hard, but don’t be too harsh on yourself. Don’t define your success by comparing this to what others achieve or expect. In my view, success is personal, because only you can know what’s important to you as a person.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get in to development?
Property development is a stimulating and very rewarding career. Not only is our hard work and contribution realised in the physical sense, it affords us a genuine opportunity to positively impact and shape local communities and the way people live, work, shop and play. Given that a Development Manager is the leader of a multi-disciplinary team of experts, be sure to gain experience in or exposure to as many aspects of the property industry as possible, from the acquisition and master planning phase through to project completion. In addition, I believe that it’s important not to take too many shortcuts to achieve your desired role – do your time in the trenches, so to speak.
Why do you think education is so important in advancing a woman’s career?
I believe that education is important for women in the property industry because, in what is arguably still a male-dominated and male-oriented industry, it affords confidence and garners respect from peers. Given the gender bias that exists within this industry, education levels the playing field.
In my view, the higher the education, the greater chance a woman has of overcoming this gender bias. Further, it simply justifies advancement on the basis of intellectual merit.
Broadway Sydney
What qualities make a good Development Manager?
I think that a good Development Manager possesses tenacity, resilience and strong risk-management skills, as well as the ability to multi-task and simplify complex problems. However I think that a great Development Manager is also an innovative visionary, one who can stay true to the project vision despite the many seemingly insuperable challenges often faced on a project.
What have you learnt about women supporting other women?
That empowered women empower women. I believe that if the culture of the organisation supports and promotes the development and advancement of all employees equally, this provides the framework for women in management to support and advance other women on the basis of merit. I think it’s also important to remember that we can learn from all women in the organisation, not just those more senior than us. I’ve witnessed poor behaviour of women towards other women as well as those that go out of their way to support other women, and I think this simply comes down to the personality and disposition of the individual.
What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?
Institutional mindsets, more specifically gender bias and stereotyping, which leads to the mistaken belief that gender differences make women and men effective in different roles.
How can women invest in themselves to support their career?
Success is not guaranteed for anyone and you must remain competitive and relevant to keep advancing. Challenge yourself regularly, do something outside your comfort zone or something outside your usual role to demonstrate your flexibility and the breadth of your skills and talents. Be the catalyst for change, don’t just be part of someone else’s journey. I believe that taking on new challenges and succeeding builds self-confidence and surprises people. In my view, confidence is something that can be acquired and for some, is a life-long pursuit.
