IRVINE, CA—“The opportunity to get to know influential real estate professionals has already opened the door to conversations I might not otherwise have been able to initiate,” this year's NAIOP SoCal-CRE Fellowship winner Camielle Compton Chou tells GlobeSt.com. NAIOP SoCal—the organization for developers, owners and investors of office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate—and the Center for Real Estate at UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business have awarded Chou, a senior management analyst with Santa Ana Homeownership Center, the prestigious fellowship.
The fellowship provides a combined learning experience to develop and prepare future real estate industry leaders. Awardees can enhance their formal education through a $7,500 financial award as well as attend NAIOP SoCal board meetings as a guest board member. Chou will apply the award to her studies at the Merage School, where she is enrolled in the Fully Employed MBA program and is pursuing the Center for Real Estate's MBA Certificate in Real Estate.
We spoke with Chou about the significance of this award and advice she would give to those entering the real estate industry.
GlobeSt.com: What does this award mean to you and your career path?
Chou: The award demonstrates that the Paul Merage School of Business at UCI and NAIOP SoCal recognize my past accomplishments and believe in my potential. This honor could have a substantial impact as I start looking for commercial real estate career opportunities, since both the Center for Real Estate and NAIOP SoCal are well respected organizations.
GlobeSt.com: How do you see the fellowship helping you now and down the road?
Chou: The interactions that I will have at board meetings and NAIOP SoCal events will prove invaluable—not only for the content I will learn about current issues facing the commercial real estate industry, but also for the human aspect. As a recent transplant to Southern California, my network is fairly limited. The opportunity to get to know influential real estate professionals has already opened the door to conversations I might not otherwise have been able to initiate.
GlobeSt.com: What advice would you give to young people entering the CRE field who want to advance?
Chou: Strive for excellence in whatever you do and balance those efforts with thinking strategically about your future regarding where you want to be. But no matter how busy you get, never neglect the human aspect. Relationships matter immensely. Help people when you can, and ask for help when you need it.
GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this award?
Chou: Each year, the recipient of this award represents the best in future leaders and the continuing diversity of the commercial real estate industry. As of December 31, 2017, the Center for Real Estate and NAIOP SoCal partnered to award $67,500 in scholarships to deserving industry leadership candidates, helping to launch a number of very successful careers. In this way, the award underscores NAIOP SoCal's and the Merage School's emphasis on being a provider of advanced training and education in this field.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
