Proehl: It allows us 50+-year-olds to pretend that we are still in our 20s and 30s like the Young Professionals. NAIOP SoCal's goal for establishing the YPG program was to find a way to get more young professionals better connected to the commercial real estate industry by building a strong network of real estate professional colleagues. These events along with our mentoring program that we started three years ago help connect our YPG to our more seasoned real estate professionals, which allows the young professionals to hear and see how real estate executives have built their careers.

GlobeSt.com: Since you recognize how important mentorship is for young professionals' careers, who were your mentors as you were coming up through the ranks?

Proehl: One of my key mentors was Clarence Barker, past president of the Irvine Co. Commercial Properties. Clarence helped to expose me to many facets of commercial real estate early in my career and helped me to see that developing my leadership and communication skills is as important as developing technical knowledge.

GlobeSt.com: How does your personal life mesh with your CRE career? Do the two ever meet?

Proehl: Much of my personal life revolves around coaching my boys in youth athletics, where I have the opportunity to teach young boys the fundamentals of competition, teamwork, focus and how to deal with both winning and losing—similar things to what other young professionals will deal with in their real estate careers. I've had the opportunity to meet many other real estate professionals during my years of coaching both on and off the field.

GlobeSt.com: What advice would you give to young people just entering the CRE industry?

Proehl: Put in the extra time to learn as much as you can as quickly as you can to make yourself a valuable real estate professional. Work hard to build your network of real estate professionals through organizations like NAIOP, and be a leader in whatever you do.