Meet Four Women Shaping Commercial Real Estate In Houston
March 8 is International Women's Day so we chatted with four of the most powerful women in Houston commercial real estate to learn about their career paths and what it's like being a female at the top of what is traditionally a "man's profession."
JLL SVP Chrissy Wilson broke into commercial real estate by accident. She was working temp jobs and one was at the Hines construction office at 1100 Louisiana. While there, she was exposed to The Horne Co, where she accepted an assistant’s position working in the leasing department. She’d found her niche and never looked back.
She'd worked on the tenant rep side for 15 years when she was approached by Hines' David Kelley to build up the company’s leasing department. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she grabbed it.
Like many women, she’s experienced the old boy’s club, but it's never slowed her down. She says if you feel excluded from something, figure out a way to add value to the situation rather than complain about it. Whining is not an admirable trait—don’t do it, she says.
Chrissy points out that women have a few more opportunities than men to break into the business. Traditionally, the majority of assistants are female, and she can name a lot of successful women who started their real estate careers in a support role rather than a straight production role. (She says it may be stereotypical, but the dearth of male assistants eliminates one option for males to get a foot in the door.)
HFF senior managing director Susan Hill (shown here with her grandchildren) is a perfect example of that. She graduated college in 1986 and accepted a job offer from HFF as a receptionist. She took advantage of the opportunity to get with a good company and grabbed on to opportunities along the way.
Susan says one difference between men and women in the workplace is that male counterparts often have opportunities to develop relationships outside of the office. While she doesn’t believe women are being discriminated against here, men like to hunt, fish, golf, etc., and that gives them more chances to develop external relationships with senior leaders. That's important because leaders tend to use their political capital for individuals they know that have earned advancement.
Women need to be aware and develop relationships in different ways, Susan says. (Or crash that fishing trip—Susan loves to fish, herself.)
Camden Living SVP of fund & asset management Laurie Baker is serving as the 2016 CREW Network president and is a past president for CREW Houston. Laurie spent many years working at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Washington, DC, when a fortuitous meeting with the head of a multifamily company in 1994 brought her back to her hometown of Houston and into a new career in real estate.In her 17 years at Camden, she’s worn a lot of hats.
In 2007, she was responsible for the creation, marketing and management of Camden’s first investment fund, which has $1.2B in assets today.Within the next two years, she plans to add a third fund with $500M in capacity.
She too has experienced the old boy’s club—but not at Camden. Like Chrissy, Laurie has no desire to sit on the sidelines and sulk. Instead, she says a key component to changing the discussion is engaging men, who can be powerful stakeholders in either maintaining the status quo or changing it. Laurie says organizations must focus on promoting talent without biases, regardless of gender or ethnic background, and to make sure everyone in the organization understands that you are going to offer opportunities that appeal to everyone.
CREW Network is about to release findings from its most recent benchmark study that shows lack of role models and access to networks make it harder for women, and organizations need to respond by looking more like their customers.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank executive managing director Lispah Hogan says we would absolutely see more female execs in the industry if more women were exposed to commercial real estate career opportunities. It's a career where dedicated hard work pays off, and there are many prospects for growth within the industry. However, there are challenges for both men and women early in their career.
Growing up an Army brat served Lispah well—it taught her how to make friends, cultivate healthy relationships, and overcome challenges regardless of the situation or location. She says she’s learned to work within predominantly male businesses, and that it will be less and less of an issue in the future.
The work is what matters, Lispah tells us. And her success speaks for itself.Lispah started her career in retail as an area manager over nine very large departments. In less than a year, she improved sales from 25% to 33% in all departments. She then worked at a bank and was introduced to her calling, commercial real estate. She finds the industry fascinating and her role allows her to use her financial, organizational and consulting strengths.
