From Failed Actress to CEO: Alice Bullard's Unconventional Journey

What do a failed acting career, a pair of high heels and a startup office above a sushi shop have to do with the future of estate agency? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield sits down with Alice Bullard, CEO of Nested, for a wonderfully candid conversation about ambition, rejection, leadership and why some of the most exciting changes in estate agency are coming from people willing to challenge the way things have always been done. Alice originally dreamed of becoming an actress. After studying drama and enduring the brutal reality of auditions, including narrowly missing out on a role in EastEnders, she found herself working as a Saturday viewing assistant. That unexpected career change eventually took her through Countrywide and John D Wood before she joined a very different kind of estate agency business in 2017. Nested didn't look or feel like the corporate agencies she'd known. There were trainers instead of heels, plywood meeting rooms instead of polished corporate interiors, and a leadership team that seemed genuinely interested in what she wanted to achieve. Alice even accepted a step backwards financially because she believed the opportunity was worth it. Fast-forward to today and she's running the business, having been promoted to CEO while pregnant. Nested has also just been named Best National Sales Agency at the Best Agent Guide Awards at EA Masters, making this a particularly timely conversation. Kristjan and Alice explore the rise of self-employed estate agency, why hyperlocal expertise and individual personality matter more than ever, and how traditional corporate structures can unintentionally hold talented people back. They also discuss the challenges of balancing leadership with parenthood, the double standards ambitious women can face, and why building a successful career sometimes means having the confidence to walk away from an organisation that isn't helping you grow. There's plenty of discussion about technology and AI too, particularly the difference between using new tools to make people more effective and using them lazily to produce generic, personality-free rubbish. It's a conversation about taking ownership of your career, creating businesses that treat people like individuals and remembering that, however much technology changes the industry, estate agency is still fundamentally about people. In this episode: Why Alice swapped acting auditions for estate agency Taking a pay cut to join Nested and trusting her instincts Going from a junior role to CEO, including a promotion during pregnancy Breaking corporate conventions and challenging the glass ceiling Why the self-employed agency model is gaining traction The commercial value of genuinely hyperlocal personal brands Balancing ambitious careers, leadership and family life Using AI to strengthen your business without losing your personality Whether you're an estate agent thinking about your next career move, a business owner questioning the traditional model or simply someone who enjoys hearing how ambitious people find their own way, there's plenty to take from this one. Guest: Alice Bullard, CEO of Nested Host: Kristjan Byfield, Co-founder of Base Property Specialists and The Depositary Find out more about Nested: https://nested.com/ Send us Fan Mail