Empowering Women in CRE - Read what HE/WE had to say!

The Women of Commercial Real Estate never disappoint. We are talented, amazing, determined women that work diligently and relentlessly in an industry that in the past, predominantly recognized mostly men. That is not only factual, but it is also safe to say the amount of women in commercial real estate today are slowly but surely closing that gap. More and more women are getting recognized as industry thought leaders, influencers, for the same accomplishments and that's what empowering women is all about.

Here is the kicker, when we say "EMPOWER" women, we do not just mean women empowering women. It's about everyone in the CRE industry recognizing women who are on the cutting edge, leading change, paving the way and thinking outside the box so they establish a recognizable and successful brand. I personally feel that I have given an inside look to everything I do and what my brand is about every single day on social media. You can also learn a lot about me by reading my online business publication, ELEVATE Magazine published by my company, Ruby Red Media . I am grateful and blessed that I have a tremendous amount of support from men and women all across the country.

My message is for everyone to understand that empowering Women in Commercial Real Estate does not take away your individual success, regardless if you are a man or woman. There is an entire chapter in my book, One Yellow Brick that discusses the power of influence and support. The people who truly empower others demonstrate the confidence in their own business. It is why I decided to not only create a Women in Commercial Real Estate Facebook group and page , but to create this monthly call to give these women the power to be heard, to create change, to believe in themselves, and to accept that celebrating wins with each other is applauded. These women on these calls are extraordinary and deserve everything they work so hard for. With every call, we continue to learn so much about each other and build our relationships.

This month's call was sponsored by Dotene Stephens with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Georgia Properties, Commercial Division. She is a great person to connect with because she is one of the most engaging people on LinkedIn and her 30-year career in CRE is definitely one to admire. To jump start the call, we always celebrate wins for the ladies. A quick shout-out to Danielle Haney, with DealPoint Merrill. DPM just purchased a shopping center in Iowa for $10M. Director of Communications, Haney stated, "We've been working on that for a few years actually. We were really hard to bring to the community and we don't want to go into an area without knowing we benefit, for both of us; both sides." Local Scottsdale, AZ. National Retail Tenant rep, Carol Schillne with Keyser also shared fantastic news. "We just got a national account for our super-exciting new franchise concept called 'Taffer's Tavern', said Schillne. The celebrity restauranteur Jon Taffer will be opening a few locations that require 5K SF pub concept and as Carol mentioned, he is well-known for integrating bar & kitchen technology to streamline restaurant operations. Real estate attorney, Corrine Wessel stated she would be closing a vacant lot for her client to develop a 100K SF office building that would be fully leased by one of her clients.

I also brought up a post on LinkedIn that I saw about how playing sports had contributed to the discipline in her professional career. In August of last year, I wrote a full blog series and interviewed a few CRE professionals about this very subject. So I brought this up in our September call and we were all excited to learn that Co-Founder & President, Marissa Limsiaco with Otso, played NCAA, D-1 tennis for West Point. She was a NCAA Woman of the Year candidate and played against some of the top tennis players in the country. "I definitely bring a lot of my discipline and mindset of what I used to do before I would go on the court," said Limsiaco. "The whole mindset really helped me set myself up for being an adult and go through the life."

I thought it was important to address a hot topic about some of the frustrating things that happen daily for us in the industry. It was a little quiet at first because I am sure we all had many things circling in our heads about what really frustrates us. But a really important comment and insight from Berkshire Hathaway, CORE Properties Managing Director, Christina Brooks came forward. Brooks said, "Just getting a response sometimes. I think when when we call or inquire, a lot of times in my email, I make sure my picture is not included so they don't know immediately know who is inquiring." Which is actually a big topic that comes up on Twitter all the time. You know who I see posting it? Men! The point is, as a real estate broker, both men and women go through these same issues. It is important to have advisors in the industry return calls more quickly. I cheerfully commented to that, "As cliche as this may sound, communication is key." So how we fixed that? Heather Cates stated, "You can get offers in your inbox. There is no communication. I strongly believe deals get done by picking up the phone to find out what the hot buttons are for each side."

We also addressed a few other topics about social media. I gave some advice about consistently posting to social media to build your brand but as Denine Attride with BHHS would explain, that she gets so busy during the day; returning calls, making cold calls, in meetings, getting deals done and admitted to not being as active as much as she should. She asked how can this be done better? Of course I weighed in with some marketing advice but we also received a lot of feedback from others on how to dedicate time in your week to help create more consistency. Take it from me Y'all, you definitely had to be on this call to hear these amazing people share their best practices, including Jan Gibbons with REATA Commercial Realty. She shared that she sets out specific times for her to create her content and creates a calendar on the day she would post her content. She also mentioned that she also sends out newsletters every month too and other social media strategies to make sure she stays relevant from week to week. After Dotene Stephens added to the discussion, she also mentioned some parts in my book about social media, another BHHS advisor, Mark Bigelow pointed out something very specific. Bigelow quoted right from my book, which of course always puts a huge proud smile on my face. This is what he had to say:

Melissa, on page 95 (One Yellow Brick), you said this. "The number one rule of effective marketing is paying it forward and reciprocating." ~Mark Bigelow, BHHS

Forbes Council contributor, Kristin Geenty with The Geenty Group in Connecticut provided such awesome feedback of what it was like growing up with the family-owned business. Now President and fully woman-owned real estate brokerage had many stories to share. Even the one that someone clearly had mistaken her marketing assistant as the person in charge of real estate. Well, that was right up until it was corrected. This was a priceless. You can always count on Kristin to be candid with her stories. Be sure to follow her on Twitter too.

I asked a few questions that came from our Women in CRE group as we approached the end of the call and as expected, these ladies had so much feedback and advice on best practices. From website links, to real estate apps and so much more. As I recapped all the wins, we also ended our call with giving ourselves an applause for each other and ourselves. Gender is not what makes a great commercial real estate broker. It is the determination and grit that someone possesses to earn the respect in the industry. It is dedication and long hours to become knowledgeable so they can provide the best representation for their clients. That, my friends and colleagues is what makes a great commercial real estate professional. These are the people that we can all empower.

BHHS National Advisory Chair, Dotene Stephens said, "Please find a mentor. Please don't go down that road of hard knocks." If you would like to learn more or would like to connect with any commercial advisors, please connect with Dotene on LinkedIn and she will be happy to assist you. If you are just looking to connect and engage, then that's awesome too! I personally wanted to thank Dotene and everyone who participated in the call. Remember to keep posting to social media and EMPOWER the Women in CRE. You do not have to be on our call to do that either. The more women and men that use it, the more we rise to the top together. #empowerWICRE

Be your best self. ~ Melissa Swader | Ruby Red Media