TL;DR: Theatre degree, law practice, then CEO of Queensland’s Real Estate Institute – Antonia Mercorella’s path makes perfect sense once you understand her philosophy. With over a decade leading the REIQ, she’s transformed a century-old institution by prioritising corporate governance over quick wins, making tough constitutional reforms, and creating platforms like RealWorks that virtually every Queensland agent now uses. In this conversation, Antonia reveals why her theatre training became useful for advocacy work, how conflict resolution skills transformed her leadership approach, and what she believes will separate top-performing agencies by 2032.
The Unexpected Foundation: How Theatre Training Creates Industry Leaders
Most people wouldn’t expect theatre training to be excellent preparation for leading a real estate institute, but Antonia Mercorella’s story reveals why creative disciplines often produce the most effective advocates and negotiators.
“Before doing a law degree, actually, my first degree was a theatre degree,” Antonia explains. “You learned about the origins of theatre, and you did lots of different things across in technical theatre. It was just the best time. And then I finished that and went to law school. And I don’t know that you could get two more opposed experiences, you know, going from a very creative environment, very collaborative. Law school is quite different.”
The pivotal moment came when she chose creativity over conventional career progression. Fresh from law school with an offer at one of Adelaide’s top commercial firms, she instead took a part-time role with the State Theatre Company of South Australia.
“I think it’s fair to say that people from law school thought I was a little bit potty,” she laughs.
But this decision became foundational to her later success. The skills she developed – public speaking, understanding human psychology, collaborative problem-solving – directly translate to her current role advocating for Queensland’s real estate profession.
“My background in theatre, obviously in this role, I do a lot of advocacy work. We appear at parliamentary inquiries, senate inquiries. I do a lot of public speaking on behalf of the REIQ. I’m in the media a lot on behalf of the REIQ. So that training and background has actually been really beneficial.”
Corporate Governance: The Secret to Sustainable Change
When Antonia became CEO in 2014, everyone expected flashy modernisation initiatives. Instead, she focused on something far less glamorous but infinitely more powerful: corporate governance.
“One of the very first things we did when I became CEO, I knew that we needed to get our corporate governance, that foundation stuff right. And that sounds really boring, but it’s critical,” she explains. “What I mean by that, when I talk about corporate governance, it means effectively what is happening in the boardroom, where it all starts. Because that’s how you set the culture for the organisation and it’s where strategy starts as well.”
This foundation-first approach required controversial decisions, including two rounds of constitutional reform to ensure the boardroom represented the diversity of REIQ’s membership.
“We had a boardroom that was representative of the people that we represent. And so that meant diversity in terms of ages, in terms of gender, in terms of sectors, in terms of regional, non-regional.”
The results speak for themselves. What started as boring governance work enabled everything else to flourish: quality events that became nationally recognised, a modernised training platform that moved from CD-ROMs to cloud-based learning, and strategic decision-making based on proper research and business cases rather than impulse.
“Once you’ve got that, you know, I keep saying foundation, but that’s really what it is, then from there, you can really build and you can, that’s where the magic really starts to happen,” Antonia notes.
The RealWorks Revolution: Building Industry-Wide Standards Through Strategic Generosity
Perhaps no initiative better demonstrates Antonia’s strategic thinking than RealWorks, Queensland’s e-signature platform and forms system. The controversial decision? Making it available to all Queensland agents, whether REIQ members or not.
“We are a membership body, but we’re also a peak body. So a decision we made a long time ago was to actually allow those forms to be used by all real estate practitioners in Queensland, whether they were members of the REIQ or not. And as a result of that decision, we now have virtually, virtually every practicing real estate agent and business using those forms.”
This seemingly counterintuitive move – giving away valuable resources to non-members – created something more powerful than membership revenue: industry-wide influence and standards elevation.
“What we’re able to do is we’re able to put together these forms that guide good compliance, that enable compliance, that reflect best industry practice. And as a result, we’re able to elevate all real estate agents in some way to a standard level.”
The strategic brilliance becomes clear when you consider advocacy power. With virtually every Queensland agent using REIQ forms, Antonia can legitimately claim to speak for the entire industry.
“As a peak body we’re in this really unique position that many membership bodies aren’t in where we’ve got this extraordinarily high level of engagement with the people we represent.”
The transformation from CD-ROM distribution to cloud-based accessibility might seem obvious now, but it was revolutionary for its time.
“I remember when I joined, our forms platform was being delivered by a CD-ROM. There’ll be people watching this webinar who are going, I don’t even know what that means. I’m revealing my age. And it was dreadful.”
Future-Proofing Through Cross-Industry Learning
When asked what will separate top performers by 2032, Antonia’s answer challenges the real estate industry’s tendency toward insular thinking.
“I would strongly recommend that real estate agents are thinking well outside the box of real estate. So real estate agents often go to training but respectfully they’ll often go listen to the same people. They’ll often focus on listening to people who are currently very successful in real estate.”
Her prescription is radical in its simplicity.
“What is happening in the broader world that has nothing at all to do with real estate? What technology is emerging in medicine? What trend is emerging? And so it’s about what’s happening in the broader world around us that’s changing the way consumers act and feel and what they expect.”
This approach challenges real estate’s copycat culture.
“Real estate agents tend to have a habit of following others. So there’ll be those trailblazing real estate agents who try something and then every other real estate agent goes, oh, I’m going to do what they’re doing.”
The solution?
“You want to be that trailblazer. You want to be doing something that nobody else is doing. And I don’t know that you’re to be able to do that if you’ve got this kind of very narrow lens around what’s happening just in real estate in my world.”
Looking ahead, Antonia’s decade of leadership offers a masterclass in sustainable change management. By prioritising foundations over flash, building industry-wide platforms over membership exclusivity, and encouraging broad learning over narrow specialisation, she’s created a template for lasting transformation that extends far beyond real estate institutes.
The lesson for ambitious agents and agency leaders is clear: lasting success comes not from chasing trends, but from building unshakeable foundations that enable you to adapt to whatever comes next.
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Resources Mentioned
- ChatGPT – AI assistant for content creation and analysis (http://openai.com/chatgpt)
- RealWorks – An e-signature and forms platform supported by real estate institutes, used by nearly every practitioner in Queensland for compliance and contracts. (https://www.realworks.com.au/)
Training & Education
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Training: A type of training focused on conflict resolution, negotiation skills, and mediation that Antonia found incredibly beneficial.
- Mandatory CPD (Continuing Professional Development): Compulsory training for real estate professionals in Queensland, covering risk/compliance and other flexible topics like negotiation and marketing.
- Steve Jobs’ University Address: Antonia references a famous speech by Steve Jobs about connecting the dots in one’s career journey. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BSbOc5VYY8)
Organisations & Government Bodies
- Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) – QLD’s peak real estate industry body, representing the profession for more than 100 years. (https://www.reiq.com/)
- The Forgotten Women Charity: An organisation for which Antonia serves as an ambassador to champion diversity. (https://www.theforgottenwomen.org.au/)
Connect with Antonia Mercorella
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Join the Conversation
Have you ever taken an unconventional career detour that unexpectedly benefited you later? What’s the most valuable non-real estate training or skill you’ve developed that helps you in your career? What’s the most creative way you’ve seen AI used in real estate marketing or operations?
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