My Story: Larry Heard

Transwestern CEOLarry Heardwas nearly finished with his finance degree atBaylorwhen he dipped his toe in real estate. He was captivated by thepace, thepeople, and thecompetitivenature, and33 years later, hes still loving it. (Either that or he's a glutton for punishment.)Larry (right, with colleague Chip Clarke) isa native Houstonian and interned atJoe A. McDermottthe summer before graduating college. In early1981,he joined that firm to focus on development and leasing. Three years later, he moved to Transwestern, which he says was then asmall entrepreneurial companywith lots of sharp young people. He leased properties Transwestern developed, and loved that he got to see thewhole spectrumof the business; he particularly enjoyed working with the variety of people.

During thefirst five yearsof his career, Transwesternbuiltas much office space as any other five-year period in company history.Of course, we all know how this story turns: Theoil busthit, a shock early in his career. But Larry tells us it taught him aboutperseverance, and it brought the Transwestern team together and set the stage for itsdiversificationand expansion. This year is Larrys30thanniversarywith the firm (and with his wifeCaroline!) and Transwesterns 35thanniversary. Its now in33 citieswith285M SFunder management and1,900 employeesdomestically.

Larry says the company is largely where it wants to be in the US, although hed love to enterBostonin the next few years. Some things never change: Hes passionate about his board service to theBaylor College of Medicineand is still a dedicated Baylor Bear. In fact, two of his three children followed in his footsteps to the university (pictured). One made it a bit farther--toMelbourne, Australia, which he and his wife now visit annually.