This past weekend, our very own Lana Samuels, Director of the Bayside office, commanded the stage at AREC (Australian Real Estate Conference), delivering a powerhouse speech that left the event buzzing. Dressed in a stunning hot pink dress and armed with months of preparation, she wowed guests with her class, energy, and pinpoint execution.
Lana shared the stage with an extraordinary lineup of global figures, each delivering powerful insights, including: former Vice President Kamala Harris unpacked the intricacies of leadership during her Q&A; entrepreneur Steven Bartlett revealed how to build an authentic brand; big-wave surfer Mark Mathews explored the mindset of conquering fear; Global business leader Mauricio Umansky spoke about how to build and lead a global brand; high-performance coach Josh Phegan shared strategies for professional and personal mastery; and Olympic legends Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon spoke on performing at your peak. Amid these luminaries, Lana stood out as one of only two women to present on the Sunday – and her session, “The Birth of Business Media,” didn’t just inspire, it handed the audience a proven roadmap to turn social media into a revenue-driving powerhouse.
From “Likes” to Listings – her message was clear: Social media isn’t social – it’s business. With over 50%+ of her sales coming from Instagram directly, she broke down how she built a personal brand that works harder than traditional prospecting ever could:
• “Be seen before you’re needed” – Lana told a story about how a vendor chose her over an agent who hadn’t posted since 2024 and wasn’t actively on social media, because he’d been silently watching her for years and wanted an agent who was posting consistently and going to give his listing the most eyeballs.
• How one reel = $7.1M sale – She recounted how a Brighton home sold off-market in two weeks from a single Instagram video (no ads, just organic reach).
• Dressing for demand – She outlined her strategy of matching her outfits to her luxury listings (like the viral duck-egg-blue dress for a $17.5M Toorak home) and how she now has vendors requesting it.
• Consistency beats virality – 891 posts in 7.5 years, thousands of stories and 660K views last month alone (that’s six MCG stadiums of potential buyers viewing her content).
Lana’s journey mirrors WHITEFOX’s meteoric growth. As she touched on, as one of the first employees, it’s important to note how the company went from a tiny four-person team to 14 offices across two countries in only a few short years and how social media played such an important role. “We were laughed at for using Instagram,” she said. “Now, competitors study our content.”
A large contingent of WHITEFOX staff and agents flew to the Gold Coast to support her, a testament to her leadership and the agency’s strong team culture. Colleagues in the audience cheered her on as she shared how the agency’s bold, polished branding and relentless innovation have rewritten the rules.
And after 15 powerful minutes on stage, she left the audience with the ultimate takeaway: “Someone’s watching you right now and when they’re ready, will it be you they call?”
The rousing applause after she finished proved one thing: In a world where attention = currency, Lana is most definitely cashing in.
Want to learn from the best? Follow Lana @lana.samuels