New York Power Women 2018: Jillian Mariutti, Director, Mission Capital Advisors

Bisnow: What keeps you in commercial real estate and what makes you want to come to work each day?


Jillian Mariutti: I actually spent the early part of my career working in derivatives, and while I enjoyed that work, it also gave me a greater appreciation for the work I now do in commercial real estate. In my role as a CRE debt and equity broker, I still use my quantitative skills, but there’s also a much more interpersonal element. Even more exciting, I now have the opportunity to help shape the skyline by using my market knowledge and expertise to help developers structure the capital stacks for their new projects.

I’ve been at Mission Capital Advisors for over a year now, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be on such a great team. In addition to working hand-in-hand with my colleagues on the finance desk, I also have access to the insights of my colleagues in different parts of the business, from asset sales to consulting, [who] all have a wide breadth of knowledge.

What keeps me going above all else is coming into our open, collaborative office and learning something new every day. Progress equals happiness.

Bisnow: Have you had mentors over your career? Who are they and what influence did they have?

Mariutti: I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of mentors throughout my career, and I owe them each a huge debt of gratitude. When I started my career at Wachovia, my first managing director was Marc James, and Marc has remained an incredible influence on me throughout my professional career.

This sounds cliched, but Marc literally saw more talent and potential in me than I did in myself and helped put me on the path toward a successful career. When I moved into commercial real estate, Laurie Golub was instrumental in my decision process to make this transition.

In my new role, I’m very lucky to work closely with Jordan Ray and Ari Hirt, who head up the debt and equity team at Mission. Jordan and Ari have both been real mentors, helping me get acclimated to this side of the business and giving me advice on some of the technical aspects of the work we do as well as client relations. They’ve seen everything over their careers, and sharing their experiences has given me that much more know-how as I serve my clients.

Because of the impact mentors have had on me, I feel very strongly about giving back. I recently started mentoring a university student interested in real estate finance, and just a couple of weeks ago, I actually helped her land a great internship at a real estate advisory firm to get her feet wet in the industry. I have to say, that was an incredible feeling!

Bisnow: What's the one thing you would change about the industry and why?

Mariutti: One thing I would really like to see is greater participation in the industry from women. Despite the fact that New York has a number of extremely successful brokers and developers, I think that not enough women consider CRE as a career. This is something I’m trying to change as I mentor college students. I would hope that, in the future, I’ll see a 50/50 male-female split when I go to meetings and industry events.