Origin Stories: Ken Ashley On What's To Love About Tenant Rep Work This series delves into the myriad ways people enter the commercial real estate industry and what contributes to their success. Ken Ashley's path to a real estate career took a few zigs and zags. He was a university police officer, a part-time firefighter, a cash register salesman and a chief financial officer. In between all that, he found spare time to develop a passion for chasing tornadoes. But in 1996, Ashley discovered his professional calling as a commercial real estate broker. Ashley, an executive director in Cushman & Wakefield's Atlanta office, said he fell in love with being a broker as a way to glean the business strategies of his clients, especially given how commercial real estate typically is the second-biggest cost after talent for most companies. “Tenant rep is a complex job layered with compensation risk, but when the stars align, this is a wonderful career with great financial rewards and ultimate schedule flexibility,” Ashley said in an email. 
Bisnow: How did you get introduced to CRE? Ashley: I worked as CFO of a small family business that hired Lynn Carden [now an associate broker with I.J. Kapplin] as the tenant rep. I watched her work and fell in love with the process you go through to solve real estate…  Read the full story here. | 
