Women For Women | Sheryl Song & Kd Dao - GRIT ED. 7 Your Next Move - Magazine - Page 27
Women For Women | Sheryl Song & Kd Dao
RYNA
"The first few months were difficult, I didn't know
anyone, I felt alone. It took me a long time to
integrate into Toronto and establish a social circle,
all while trying to excel at my new job. That's when
I knew something was missing in the rental market
for single female renters like me."
independent path and create a life they love. Tenants
can take advantage of the perks of renting through
Ryna like tenant support, furnished communal
spaces, stocked with basic home necessities like
cleaning supplies, and hosts social and educational
events from yoga or cooking classes to finance and
career tips.
Ryna was developed to resolve the challenges the
The tenants are not the only ones benefiting from
two female founders were personally faced with. The
Ryna's services. Ryna is capitalizing on underutilized
two have moved over 30 times across six countries
spaces to increase the cap rate upon purchase by
and eight cities combined in the past ten years.
identifying value add opportunities, with its partners
Looking for housing as a single woman is a struggle
seeing a 290+ bps CAP Rate. In addition, partners
for many. Scams, sexual harassment, unhygienic
are presented with home improvement suggestions
living conditions, nightmare roommates, unlawful
that can be monetized to unlock a
eviction and the inevitable feeling
of loneliness are what single “The beauty of being 30% + higher NOI, and provided with
females seeking a home base are a start-up founder is cleaning services and day-to-day
operational support.
faced with.
you get to come up with
Dao and Song first met six years innovative solutions to
ago through co-founding an NGO
solve challenges.”
called the Future of Real Estate,
SHERYL SONG & KD DAO
CO-FOUNDERS, RYNA
Next Founders, 2021
T
he game plan was seemingly strong,
that was until Ryna Co-Founder Sheryl
Song, was faced with an abundance
of limitations in finding suitable and
affordable housing aftter relocating from
Shanghai to Toronto for a new job opportunity.
Sheryl's first apartment in Toronto was a
shared space with two other roommates
with a windowless bedroom to call her own.
Three days into living in these conditions, she
was greeted by her new, unexpected rodent
roommates, back to the drawing board it was.
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GRIT
WOMEN
FOR WOMEN
For many women in any big city, it's a very uncomfortable experience
walking into a stranger's home to view a unit alone. Still, when
weighed against being homeless, women take the risk time and
time again. Hopeless and distraught, Sheryl ended up opting for a
studio apartment that cost about 40% of her salary.
"We started the business in Jan 2020. The rental
market was at its peak; two months later, the market
flipped upside down. Ryna experienced a real estate
life cycle that typically happens in 10 years, in 10
months."
When the province of Ontario announced the first
lockdown in mid-March, the once-bustling activity
in the downtown core came to a halt. The recession
that came along with the pandemic negatively
impacted lower-income earners, and in turn, the
rental market was hit much harder than the resale
market. By October, over 12,000 condominium units
were available for lease in the GTA — more than three
times the number of units available the year before.
Luckily for Song & Dao, Ryna was in the early business
stages, and the risk exposure they were faced with
was minimal.
Today, Ryna provides a co-living and apartment
rental platform that leverages technology to make
renting easier and safer for people who identify
as women, empowering them to pave their own
In the wake of the rise of smart cities & innovative/
diverse start-ups like Ryna, we will see a massive
digital disruption to the real estate sector in the
upcoming years.
Expanding into Ottawa and Montreal this
year, the future vision for Song & Dao is to
become a personalized concierge for providing
recommendations to enhance how women live in all
aspects of life. "We want our members not only able
to find a safe & beautiful home, but also find a sense
of belonging."
‘‘
aiming to celebrate diversity & innovation in the
male-dominated Real Estate industry. Sheryl, then
working in Executive search and KD working in real
estate private equity, the two quickly realized their
compatible working style while having distinctly
different skillsets & personalities. Sheryl brings
endless energy and ideas, constantly dreaming
what the future could look like. While KD is steady
and practical, she is a big planner and an excellent
executor.
With a consistent fluctuation, the
real estate industry was slow to
adopt new technology compared to
other industries. The sudden urgencies lockdowns
demonstrated the demand for digital adaptation to
meet customers' fundamentally changing needs to
streamline processes and facilitate innovations.
ADVICE
FROM A
FOUNDER
HAVE OPEN
COMMUNICATION:
A business partnership
is almost more like a
marriage. We invested in
a co-founder therapist
when we began to grow
to help us keep open
communication & a focus
on our strengths.support
PRACTICE
GRATITUDE:
We have a daily call
to list three things we
are grateful for every
morning. It sounds
cheesy, but it really lifts
you out of negative
emotions and set your
day off to a great start.
GRIT
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