Sean Hanneberry has his hands full transforming Aussie legacy brand Professionals Real Estate, but he still finds time to coach club and school footy.
From the sidelines of suburban footy ovals to the boardroom, Mr Hanneberry brings a coaching mindset that’s been shaped by belief, preparation and teamwork.
It’s an outlook forged from years of competitive sport, footy coaching and helping businesses adapt that’s led Mr Hanneberry to the top job at Professionals Real Estate, as the brand reinvents itself for a new era.
“Leadership, in its purest form, is about coaching people to realise their potential,” he said.
For Mr Hanneberry, who stepped into the chief executive role earlier this year, leadership is less about hierarchy and more about creating the right conditions for people to perform at their best.
It’s a belief that now underpins his approach to running Professionals, a membership-based real estate group approaching its 50th anniversary, with more than 180 offices across Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Starting out
Mr Hanneberry’s career began well before real estate entered the picture. He grew up in a family deeply immersed in marketing and advertising, an environment that shaped his understanding of brand, communication and influence from an early age.
That said, his first brush with property came at about 10 years old, delivering letterbox drops for a family friend’s real estate agency. Professionally, he spent his early career in advertising agencies in Australia and the UK, then moving into business and management consultancy.
Sean Hanneberry became chief executive of Professionals Real Estate earlier this year. Picture: Supplied
He entered the property world through his work at real estate CRM software provider Box + Dice, where he worked with national and boutique brands around the country. What surprised him was how familiar real estate felt and the sector quickly became more than just another consulting client.
“It’s a very similar industry to advertising and marketing, it’s all about people, connection and brand,” he said. “Those projects became more of a passion and they were the ones I over-invested in.”
Reinventing a legacy brand
Mr Hanneberry first started consulting with Professionals about a decade ago, and then joined the brand to lead its business transformation last year.
When Mr Hanneberry stepped into the chief executive role in February, he inherited a group with deep history in need of a refresh. He said Professionals was one of the pioneers of the membership model in real estate, long before franchising became dominant.
Outside of work, you might find Mr Hanneberry coaching on the sidelines of suburban footy ovals. Picture: Supplied
“It’s about relevance, this is a group with an incredible history and an incredible culture, but it hadn’t kept up,” he said. “It’s not just a rebrand, we are changing every aspect of how a head office works with its membership.”
Within months of starting, Professionals moved from concept to execution: rolling out a new brand identity, introducing graphic design tool Canva as a universal brand management platform, and building an in-house creative agency. Office fit-outs have been redesigned individually, involving architects and signage consultants rather than standard templates.
Mr Hanneberry has also been working to reinvigorate and modernise the culture at Professionals, reconnecting its membership with its collaborative, collegiate, and community-oriented roots.
“The bigger change, the cultural change, is the longer journey,” he said. “The culture is incredible here, but it’s not as visible, and it’s been delivered in a way which didn’t feel particularly relevant.”
Life beyond the office
Outside work, Mr Hanneberry’s life remains closely tied to family, sport and community.
“I come from a competitive sporting background, and I grew up in a family that loves sport,” he said.
“I played AFL to a decent level, and cycling was also a real passion, competing at the national level and overseas. It's about preparation, showing up and the people who you surround yourself with.”
His sporting background has sharpened his competitive nature and resilience, and taught him plenty of lessons along the way. And his love of footy has led him to coach teams at the school and club levels in the little free time that he has, sharing some of those lessons with the next generation.
“I talk to the kids about how you're never going to improve from just one training session,” he said. “It's the blocks of training when you start to see improvement and all of it builds belief in them.
“There’s a fantastic connection to real estate, in terms of competitiveness, passion and desire to win but also ensuring you're always surrounded by a great team.”
Mr Hanneberry and his team have been applying these principles and more to the business, with momentum building as it works through its next phase of change. But Mr Hanneberry remains clear that the transformation of Professionals is not a short-term project.
“Bringing a brand back into relevance is a major process, so I see this as much more of a marathon than a sprint,” he said. “It’s about replenishing and growing the membership, but with a focus on quality over quantity.
“It’s early days, but we’re getting momentum and that’s really exciting.”
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