So, you walk into a real estate office with a plan to buy a house. You’re greeted by dashing men in crisp suits trying to woo you with the features of a house. This is a scenario that has been there for many years now. The real estate business is largely a male dominated one but with two sisters taking it head on, the times are changing. Dhruthi and Jyotsana Reddy Kasu are founders of a vacation home real estate company and have taken the real estate industry heads on. Talking to the sisters, we find how their journey has been so far.
The saying that travel really inspires you came true for them. Dhruthi says, “On one of our trips to Goa, we wanted to buy a house. But none of the homes we looked at matched our needs. Not having found anything, we left Goa with the idea and the realisation that there is a great demand for holiday homes.” Through the company Dhruthi and Jyotsana wanted to help customers find their dream vacation homes.
Jyotsana shares, “Our research threw light on many challenges faced by the customers and thus we came up with the company to address these issues.” On what it’s like being a part of male dominated industry, they share, “Most of the industries in our country are male dominated. The company not just disrupts the traditional treatments and procedure but also through the entire setup.”
The Reddy sisters are of the opinion that now is the best time, as women are bringing something different to the table every day. Jyotsana, a graduate of Singapore Institute of Management quips, “While we faced a lot of hurdles, we learnt a lot too. We feel that it takes real initiative to bring a challenge head on. And challenges spawn new creativity, growth and innovation.”
As women, they had to prove themselves time and again. Dhruthi adds, “Being young and women, we had to prove ourselves to people who have more years of experience than us. But, hurdles and learning are all part of the job.” The environment they say was very challenging but they still thrived. “When the industry went through a low period, we were affected too. But the confidence and belief that our family and clients showed in us is what got us through. While some of the job aspects came naturally, others we had to learn from scratch,” Dhruthi adds.
The girls had to face competition quite early on, when they had to deal with a competitor trying to imitate their designs. But rather than hanging up their boots, the girls took it as a compliment. Women wanting to make it big in the real estate business is quite a new phenomena. Dhruthi adds, “We have found that women these days are hardworking and motivated. They hone their knowledge and expertise to stand-out in a crowd. Always work well in teams as nothing can be accomplished alone.”
The girls plan to expand to other cities as well, Bengaluru in particular and other southern cities as well. With all this talk about real estate and business, one would think that the these sister are quite boring. But in reality, it’s the opposite. While Dhruthi spends most of her free time cycling, doing martial arts and even golfing, Jyotsana loves travelling, learning about new designs, architects etc.
