KATINA ROMANO Head of Marketing, Legal X

WHEN it comes to business, Katina Romano knows relationships are “everything”.

With a start in the beauty industry owning two salons, Katina learnt the importance of establishing client rapport to achieve business success.

“With every customer that sat down in front of me in the beauty industry, I felt I had to quickly develop a relationship with them,” she explains.

The same philosophy carried over when she joined her husband Peter Romano at Legal X Group 11 years ago, to head marketing and promotions.

“I felt like it was exactly the same. It was all about relationships, all about communication and developing that respect, and so I just felt like it was the right role for me.”

In her position, Katina is focused on cultivating and nurturing business relationships with real estate agents in order to generate leads.

“I’m constantly about building new relationships and keeping those relationships going and just trying to make sure that the agents keep referring us work,” she explains.

“That’s the most important thing for me.”

The biggest lesson has been how integral it is to ensure the business remains at the forefront of agents’ minds.

“Dealing with real estate agents, they’re quite fickle,” she says.

“Basically, if you’re not front of mind, they just let you go.

“You have to keep making sure they refer to you constantly.”

Katina takes a more unconventional approach to marketing than industry counterparts, relying on social media as an integral tool to forge and cultivate connections.

“I love people. For me it’s quite easy – it’s just about building relationships and talking to people. I can keep the work coming in,” she says.

She has been influential in drawing industry members together to foster relations, playing host to parties, social events, dinners and one-on-one meetings.

“I’ll do a lot of organisation,” she says.

“I love to cook, so I cook for them, I host them. I do it differently to what most people would do.

“My idea, my philosophy is all about making them feel like a family, like part of the team, so it’s definitely less corporate.”

Legal X Group Principal Andrew Satsias says Katina’s role has helped the firm to maintain high visibility to loyal agents and brokers.

“As the principles of the practice, both myself and Peter often intend to catch up and maintain these valuable relationships, but often the focus on actually delivering the quality legal services makes us time poor to do this effectively,” he says.

“Having some assistance, whether it be putting together fruit boxes at Christmas time for our top referrers or simply decorating a venue for a staff function is valuable and often a role that does not get the recognition that it deserves in an organisation.”

Katina’s enthusiasm and vibrancy to help, entertain and cater a function – whether an intimate dinner or large Christmas party – has been an invaluable resource, he adds.

“Katina deserves to be recognised for all her hard work within this role.”

Katina is also a mother of four and juggling the demands of the job with home life means being well organised is paramount.

She describes her home as run like a tight ship where “everything is really organised, clean and perfect, like a machine”.

In the end, she says her family is her motivation.

“We’re quite ambitious and we want to achieve in life,” she says.

“It’s my livelihood.

“Right now being acknowledged for what I’m doing right now is definitely my proudest moment.”