She Mastered Property Deals – Until She Realised She Had Devalued Herself
For women working in property investment and development, business is rarely just business.
It’s long hours, tight margins, shifting markets, often layered with the quiet pressure to perform twice as hard for half the recognition. Many women carry not only the demands of leading projects, managing teams, or balancing financial risk but also the weight of running households, caregiving, and holding everything together behind the scenes.
And often, that means one person gets pushed to the bottom of the list: herself.
In an industry that rewards grit and relentless forward momentum, the idea of self-love can feel indulgent, even irresponsible. But here’s the truth: without it, everything else begins to break down, performance, clarity, and long-term sustainability.
The Unspoken Reality
It’s not uncommon for women in property to operate in environments where being the only woman in the room is the norm, not the exception. There’s pride in navigating complex deals, delivering projects, and making bold investment decisions.
But the pressure to “keep proving” can create a cycle of overworking, over-delivering, and under-valuing one’s own wellbeing.
When self-care is consistently deprioritized, it’s not just physical exhaustion that creeps in. Emotional burnout, disconnection, and decision fatigue begin to show up, subtly at first, and then all at once.
You may find yourself:
- Making decisions more from urgency than strategy
- Feeling distant from your original vision or purpose
- Reacting rather than leading
- Struggling to stay present — even outside of work
- Questioning your instincts, even when they’ve served you well
This isn’t failure. It’s a signal. And it’s one that many women ignore for far too long.
When the Business Grows, But the Woman Shrinks
In the early stages of building a business, especially in a demanding industry like property, it’s easy to normalise sacrifice. Sleep, social connection, even health, can quietly fall by the wayside in the name of “getting things done.”
What begins as temporary hustle can slowly harden into a long-term operating system.
Many women find themselves managing risk in their businesses every day, yet ignoring the most critical risk of all: a slow erosion of their energy, clarity, and self-trust.
Eventually, this imbalance starts to cost more than it returns. It affects leadership presence, relationships with the team, the ability to adapt to challenges, and most importantly the connection to the very business that was built with so much passion.
The Case for Self-Love in Business
Self-love is not a trend or a talking point. It is a leadership discipline. A foundational piece of business strategy.
Why?
Because when women are well mentally, emotionally, and physically they lead differently. They see more clearly. They communicate more effectively. They make decisions from alignment, not survival.
And the business reflects that energy.
The environments women create for their teams, clients, and communities are only as strong as the one they create for themselves.
What Self-Love Looks Like in Practice
It doesn’t have to mean overhauling your life or stepping back from ambition. In fact, the most powerful acts of self-love in business are often the most practical and strategic.
Here are three examples worth considering:
- Protect Space to ThinkCreate room in your schedule that isn’t filled with back-to-back meetings or fire-fighting. Strategic thinking requires oxygen. Decision-making improves when there is time to pause and zoom out.
- Acknowledge the Quiet WinsNot every success will be public, dramatic, or celebrated. Recognising internal progress, resilience, or integrity-based decisions is a powerful way to build long-term confidence.
- Rest Without GuiltRest isn’t a reward — it’s a reset. Leaders who prioritise recovery protect their performance. It’s not weakness to stop. It’s wisdom.
These are not soft skills. They are sustainable strategies.
The Shift That Changes Everything
When self-love becomes part of the business culture — starting with leadership — everything shifts.
- The tone of communication improves
- Pressure is shared, not shouldered alone
- Teams perform better when their leader is clear and emotionally available
- Long-term growth becomes possible without personal depletion
Most importantly, the woman at the centre of it all doesn’t disappear in the process of building something powerful. She becomes more visible to herself and to others.
A Final Word
After decades in this industry, one truth continues to rise above the rest:
The most important investment a woman can make is in herself.
Because when you lead from a place of wholeness, the business follows:
The strategy sharpens.
The confidence deepens.
The energy becomes magnetic.
The team feels safer.
The vision becomes clearer.
Self-love isn’t selfish.
It’s not a distraction.
It’s the discipline that holds up everything else.
If you’re building something big, a business, a legacy, a life that’s meaningful, don’t do it at your own expense.
Build it with yourself in the centre.
