How to Build Your Own CRE Brand

PARK CITY, UT—Building your own brand is important in every industry, including, of course, commercial real estate. Important enough to devote a session to the subject at last week’s GlobeSt. ELITE Women of Influence conference held in Park City, UT.

The panelists came to the table with multiple pieces of advice. For moderator Christine Espenshade, VP of investment sales of multifamily capital markets at Newmark, being relatable is key. “It is about that connectivity.”

According to Barbara McDuffie, managing director of Baker Tilly, engaging in outside organizations is important to building your own brand as well as your company’s brand. “I went from a local chapter of NAIOP to the national board,” she said. “That is part of getting yourself out there and out of your comfort zone and is the way to meet more people.”

McDuffie added that “We are serving our clients all the time. To build your personal brand, you need to expand yourself out of the office and get engaged. You really never know people’s stories…you don’t just meet people at industry events, but any other place in the community as well. You never know who you are going to click with.”

Brand building is arguably easier when you are female, the panelists also said.

“Women listen better to everyone at the table. We speak better. We compute things better in our mind,” said McDuffie. “As long as we have a voice at the table, we are a force to be reckoned with. We have to be prepared.”

Vanessa Herzog, a principal at Lee & Associates, also said being a woman was an advantage. “When I look back on my history on my important assignments, many of those people who hired me were looking for something different,” she said. “Women bring a different approach to the table.”

Brand building doesn’t happen in a silo, though, as Kristina Lynn, director of housing acquisitions and dispositions for the Americas at Nuveen Real Estate, pointed out: the company and the culture you work with is also important. “You have to surround yourself with those great people.”

And knowing your audience is important, added McDuffie. “My partners were always men and they recognized that it was a benefit to have me there with them. I have never felt that I was dismissed. Someone once told me that people remember more about what you have on than what you say. You never know who you are going to run into.”