Photography by: Rae Cabradilla

Multi-hyphenate woman Rhea Camille Chong on her life path, early career choices - from the stores of fashion to the boardrooms of real estate and shifting from selling houses to building homes. 

Rhea Camille Chong’s online real estate has your expected influencer accoutrements. It has a generous five-figure number of followers, tasteful branded product placements, and the customary sultry shots in often cosmopolitan settings.  

Her professional account however, is all business.  

Rhea’s realtor (@Rhealtor) instagram in particular caters to high-end clients that features luxury properties in major CBDs from BGC to Makati to Ortigas, and all over the metro from Quezon City ’til as far as Batangas City. Most tiles are a carousel of the individual property’s best views, as well as accurate details all for the discerning home-buyer. Occasionally, she also posts celebrity clients who trust her with their real estate needs.

“To be honest, I never imagined myself in this industry,” Rhea recounts. “I learned how to embrace the uncertainty, explore new opportunities for growth, and found myself [fast] in love with real estate.” 

As a young real estate specialist trying to break into a tough industry, Rhea drew support from her forever role-models: her parents 

“Growing up, I witnessed my parents work so hard - from starting the local homegrown brand Petit Monde,” she says of the fashion marque, “to running and managing clothing brands like Forever 21, G2000, Hip Culture, and Blue Navy.” The grit, perseverance, and product agility she gleaned from her fore-bearers serves her well to this day— in a field out of her comfort zone.  

From the Ground, Up 

Newly minted Magna Cum Laude in Business Administration from UP Diliman, Rhea started her real estate career at Megaworld Corporation. There, Chong would build her foundation of the industry’s fundamentals. “Selling real estate isn’t always quick and easy,” she reflects, “I learned how to manage my expectations because I only get to control the effort, not the results.” Learning quickly, she shifted to one of Manila’s leading brokerage firms, Top Realty— where learning on the job enabled her to become one of the top emerging contenders in the highly competitive industry. Any success, she attests, follows when the foundations are correct.  

Then comes the tricky part, for in a market saturated with brokers, how does one distinguish oneself? Inspiration struck from, one could say, love. 

Influencing Before It Was Cool. 

“When I was in college, I wanted to help promote our clothing brands— so I started posting photos of myself wearing our pieces on social media,” she says. “Later on, beauty brands started tapping me,” she went on to say. “I was surprised that I could actually monetize something that I love to do.”  

Applying the same rapport-building strategy to real estate turned out to be genius. Having a peek into Rhea’s lifestyle often establishes a personal connection between buyer and broker well before the two meet; while Rhea’s “Rhealtor” alter ego assures potential customers that they are buying from someone capable of being both personable and professional.  

But Rhea is just getting started.  

Housing Markets 

With 2023 moving forward and the Philippine economy on the uptick, Rhea’s followers will probably see more glamorous trips and fashionable looks, but definitely a whole lot more luxury real-estate.  

“I want to venture into more property investments and real estate development,” Rhea says. “I’ve been selling real estate for six years now, and tried flipping properties, too, so I want to take it to the next level and learn about building houses.”  

As a young adult bent on becoming a true renaissance woman, one could say Rhea is somewhat like a surveyor— venturing out into her space, mapping the limits of her existence and potential. “Being a multi-hyphenate woman is a conscious choice and effort,” she admits. “I don’t have to be limited to just one job title when I can be more.” It’s a statement directed at growth and expansion, from a young woman whose determination is set in stone.  

Get in touch with Rhea Camille via Instagram at @rheacamillechong and @rhealtor, Facebook, email and phone number at 0917 883 1588.

—alike.com.ph

Real stories. Real people.

We believe that life isn’t about a binary of ones and zeros - but about the sum of our hopes and dreams, our struggles and heartaches, our tragedies and triumphs.

The things that unite us are far stronger than the things that divide us.

And those stories are why we are alike