Power Women: Kim Brooks
Transwestern principal Kim Brooks is a team player who likes to keep things simple. It’s about being honest, sticking to the deal points, and avoiding the fluff that can get in the way. Simply put: she’s straightforward and works best with a support system of good people around her. (She’s like the female Tim Duncan of commercial real estate.)
At Transwestern for 18 years, one of her proudest professional accomplishments was making principal, she tells us. The firm’s corporate culture is family oriented, which is important for her as a wife and mom of two. (Luckily though, "family oriented" doesn't mean Transwestern folks have to drop their coworkers off at soccer practice.) Plus, she’s found a good fit with the team she’s assembled. She appreciates the partnerships. “We complement one another,” she says. “We have each other’s back and we can pick up the slack when it’s needed.”
Kim (here, getting some bunny ears from KBS’ Ken Robertson, along with Transwestern’s Scott Walker and Justin Miller) tells us that she enjoys selling a product and filling buildings with tenants. “I like to drive by the buildings I lease and think ‘that building was 50% and I took it to full in eight months’,” she tells us. At one point, she was responsible for overseeing leasing and marketing of more than 3M SF of suburban and CBD high-rise office space.
After graduating from UT, Kim (between Entos Design’s Kim Costigan, Transwestern’s Lisa Johnston, and Entos Design’s Susanne Brasuell) worked in the asset disposition department for Resolution Trust Corp before landing at Cawley & Associates doing tenant rep. There, she found two great mentors: Bill Cawley and Ran Holman. “They were great salesmen, great negotiators, and very passionate about their jobs. That was inspiring. They’re the ones who taught me to get to the point without all the extras,” she tells us. (We got the same advice from our English teacher in high school.) She was leasing the Centrum when Transwestern took over and asked her to come on board and take a leasing portfolio.
Kim advises up-and-coming professionals to meet a lot of people and soak up the advice from the experienced professionals. Most important: follow up with the people who say "Call me if you have any questions." When she’s not working, Kim can usually be found at a lacrosse game or a cheer competition. Here she is with her family at Fish Creek Falls in Colorado. During college football season, there's a bit of animosity at her house since she married an Aggie; it’s even worse, now that A&M is winning, she says.
