Property developers get a pretty bad rap. Some of them may deserve it. But Ashlee Berry won't tar them all with the same brush.
"The thing I love about Canberra is that the people who are investing [in property] actually care and want to make the city the best place they can for their families and communities," Ms Berry, the new Property Council ACT executive director, says.
"That's pretty exciting, but it also makes it hard. There's a lot of emotion."
Anna Neelagama, who has taken up the post of ACT Master Builder's Association chief executive, sees Canberra's potential for innovation stemming from the capital's origins as a planned city.
"Builders have had to work within the confines of a planned space. It's created a regional, thriving capital city," she says.
The pair represent what is likely to be a fresh start for Canberra's property sector.
Previous ACT housing minister Rebecca Vassarotti has lost her seat. The Liberals - often vocal on housing policy - have a new leader. The returned government's ministries are yet to be announced.
For Ms Neelagama, a role based in one place is the perfect time to dig deep into policy.
She travelled 20 weeks a year in her previous role. After needing to be across the movements of every government in the country, getting to know the territory more intimately was a "privilege".
"There are only 25 MLAs here," Ms Neelagama says. "You can make real [change]."
Ms Berry took up her new post five weeks before the territory election.
With the government returned, she has had some breathing space to consider the Property Council's next moves to address Canberra's housing crisis.
"It is really not an easy time to be in the industry," she says, pointing to development application wait times, rising construction costs, land release and the federal public service's net zero target, which includes a stringent energy rating for offices.
Ms Berry says the secret to managing in the industry is to let the balls drop. Don't worry, they're only plastic.
"If the kids are fed and happy, and work is going OK, no [glass] balls have been dropped," she says.
Her approach is gentle yet firm. There is work to be done, but not overnight.
Early cabs off the rank will be to seek positive outcomes from developer licensing laws and a strategy on federal energy efficiency standards.
That won't happen before the former solicitor knows what makes Property Council members tick.
Ms Berry took one of the Property Council's most senior jobs following a six-year stint as legal counsel at Master Builders Australia.
She says people were her primary focus.
"I work with such great people," Ms Berry says.
As a country girl at heart, Ms Neelagama wants the community to be at the forefront of all her work.
She grew up in regional Queensland but has been a Canberran for a decade.
It is her love of land - she has a background in sustainable agriculture - and community that made a role with Master Builders appealing.
"Builders have had to work within the confines of a planned space. It's created a regional, thriving capital city," she says.
But that's just the recent history of Canberra. Its future hangs in the balance.
It is going to take land release, effective zoning and - in Ms Neelagama's remit - training to reach the territory's potential, she says.
"My core motivation and purpose is that I grew up in a family business, so as I have gone through my career, what I have really done is advocate for family and medium-sized business, combined with a love of property," she says.
Both women have been tight-lipped so far on the policies they plan to push for in the new Assembly.
"But [we] are ready to succeed," Ms Neelagama said.
It is not just about strategic housing wins this election cycle.
Ms Berry said, as a female in a male-dominated industry, "it is absolutely incumbent on me to ensure I make it a little easier for the next generation to join and ultimately flourish in our sector".
It is an honour, a challenge and something that "doesn't come into my thinking," Ms Berry says.
Mr Neelagama said it would take the entire sector to strengthen Canberra's property pipeline and create ideal housing solutions.
"I have always been mentored and supported by men my whole career," she said.
"We need women mentoring women, yes, but also men mentoring women to help them succeed and navigate different environments which include male-dominated industries."
