My Story: Tim Relyea

When Cushman & Wakefield executive vice chairman Tim Relyea graduated from UT in 1977, he took a job with Johnson & Johnson. But it only took a little over a year before he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and enter CRE. (If the shampoo works, there weren't many tears over the decision.)

Tim tells us his dad pushed him towards tenant rep, which wasnt a common path then. He joined Lou and John Cushmans newly-formed tenant rep firm, Cushman Realty Corp, and has stuck with the duo for 35 years. Tim says one of his most memorable deals was Devon Energys new HQ in OKC, which he believes might be the finest building in North America. His most demanding deal was probably Boeings HQ move from Seattle to Chicago in 2001. He had to run three cities simultaneously and was on a serious time crunch, so he didnt sleep one minute for the last three days of closing the deal. (And you thought all-nighters were over after college.)

Tim tells us he tries to work harder than his competition and says one thing you can control in a deal is getting in earlier and leaving later. He also likes to stay on top of things many brokers turn over to lawyers; he manages documents and new development trends. Tim used to hunt around the world, including Alaska, Spain, Russia, and Mongolia. Now he plays golf with his wife and takes part in as many outdoor activities as he can with his three daughters--last summer they all went scuba diving for a week--and looks forward to doing the same with his future grandkids. And Tim's excited to share that the family CRE legacy will continue: His eldest daughters became a dentist and a lawyer, but the youngest now works with him.