Moderated by Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network, the leadership panel at the recent CREW Network Convention included Annemarie DiCola, CEO of Trepp LLC; Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust; and Nathalie Palladitcheff, president of Ivanhoé Cambridge.

ORLANDO, FL—During a morning program on day two of the CREW Network Convention here in Orlando, FL, distinguished leaders candidly shared their paths to success and discussed overcoming challenges including what they have learned through these experiences. They also offered their perspectives on what is needed to impact lasting, true change within the commercial real estate industry.

Moderated by Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network, the panel included Annemarie DiCola, CEO of Trepp LLC; Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust; and Nathalie Palladitcheff, president of Ivanhoé Cambridge.

DiCola was first up talking about her upbringing in the Bronx, NY, with first generation Italian American parents. She attended NYU law school and fell in love with real estate. "My goal absolutely was to become a partner at a law firm practicing real estate law. But then there was a serious recession and in the summer of 1990, realizing that my law firm wasn't going to survive, I needed to make a change. The world, at the time, didn't need another CRE attorney because deals just weren't happening."

What happened then, she said, was that she started receiving offers that focused on bankruptcy, but also received an in-house offer from Trepp, a client she had been working with.

"Sometimes your career will not take a perfectly strait path," she explained. "Sometimes your goal can be sitting in front of you, but something more interesting can come along." DiCola quickly learned the value of always having a plan B.

Up next was RLJ's Hale, who said that women are uniquely positioned to understand the struggles she faced. "I am a daughter who feels like I am running out of time with my parents. I am a mother of four children. I am a wife who is juggling making time for my husband. I can have it all, but not at the same time."

Hale talked about her insecurity as a child and how growing up in Los Angeles helped her grow up with determination and grit. "My parents instilled many values and a strong sense of responsibility," she said. "They also helped me develop the confidence to chart my own path in corporate America."

Hale said it is important to put yourself in a position to be extraordinary successful. "I took risks but only took calculated risks. As I navigated corporate America, I realized I couldn't compete head to head… I had to learn to establish credibility in my own way and run my own race." One of the key ingredients for Hale were the mentors and sponsors she found along the way. "They helped me open those doors," she said. "Mentor/mentee relationships need to be organic…My best mentor told me to look at the people who are doing what I want to do. My best mentor relationship are people I have been able to relate to."

For DiCola, the most valuable thing she said a mentor can do is to give direct feedback that references a specific example. "I have has mentors in my career who sometimes after a meeting took me aside and said 'In that meeting, these are the things you did well and these are the things you can do better next time.' Their comments were clear, direct and expected. Those are qualities that are helpful in a mentor."

Next up, we heard from Palladitcheff, who said "There are different ways to succeed, and it is interesting to see the path every woman takes." Her path took her entire family from France to Montreal when she joined the firm as CFO. When asked why she took the leap to move to Montreal, she said her boss was the reason. "I told my husband that 'I know what I can do and I know I am going to be useful in this experience and it would be a family adventure.'"

She added: "You need to always question yourself and improve yourself." As for her failures? Palladitcheff said you learn more from failures than from your successes. "It shouldn't be in a negative way."

Hale agree, noting that her failures have been her greatest learning experiences. "We, as woman, have a unique ability and intuition," she said. "When I have failure, I take time understanding why I failed and then I move on and let it go… But I know I learned something."

Keep checking back with GlobeSt.com in the coming days for more from the CREW Network Convention and read the stories below that you might have missed.

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Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.

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