ATLANTA—Creativity. Diligence. Positive attitude. Those are among the qualities April Hawkinson,associate vice president at Cassidy Turley in Atlanta, carries in an ultra-competitive Atlanta commercial real estate landscape.

“I believe that there is an opportunity to create your own business and specialize in an area that's best suited for your personality and skill set,” says Hawkinson. “It's critical to leverage people skills and develop relationships to create new business opportunities. You have a chance to work with so many different types of businesses and stay on top of development and growth in your community.”

Working with both tenants and landlords, Hawkinson was instrumental in winning the corporate services business for the State of Georgia's 195-million-square-foot portfolio, SunTrust Bank's 14-million-square-foot portfolio and Aaron's three-million-square-foot portfolio. She's been named a Cassidy Turley 2013 Rising Star and received the firm's national Cross-Selling Award for the past two years, among other accolades.