Twenty years after starting as a real estate sales assistant, Laura McKay helps lead a team of 150

Ms McKay has been elevated from the role of group managing director to the newly created position of chief operating officer.

"I will be more hands-on with the growth of the entire business," Ms McKay said.

"As managing director, I was overseeing the entire group, but the majority of time was spent with sales.

"This [new position] will entail working with our four offices - Cronulla, Sutherland, Taren Point and Double bay - and will include business growth, and that's something we are very focused on - the trajectory of the company over the next few years."

Ms McKay was in the top five ranked agents for REB's 'Women in Real Estate' in 2022 after being number one the previous year.

"The company likes to talk about those awards, but I get a bit embarrassed," she said, while acknowledging they were based on property transactions.

Ms McKay grew up in the area and attended local Catholic primary and secondary schools before entering the real estate industry as a sales assistant with an eastern suburbs agency.

"The wheel has turned full circle, " she said, referring to Highland's office at Double Bay.

The mother of two teenagers, Ms McKay works six days a week with the help of a supportive husband.

Ms McKay said, when she joined the industry, it was very male dominated. "We have come a long way since then," she said.

"Many of the people in senior roles in our company are women.

"Kylie West, our CFO (chief financial officer), is an incredible woman, who has been with the Group since opening, our head of HR is female as is our head of marketing.

"We have incredible men in our group as well. We are fortunate to have a really good balance."

Ms McKay said the industry had experienced a changing market but the "adjustment" depended on the price point of properties, and was not market-wide.

"I think it is a great time to buy a property. If you are planning on purchasing a family home for a long period of time, I don't think the market is so important. If you buy and sell in the same market it's irrelevant."