1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,880 This is the Real Estate Shop, where each episode will bring you a top industry expert to share their 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:10,400 current programs or projects that are making an impact in our communities today. Be sure to check 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:16,000 us out on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Welcome to the Real Estate Shop. In today's episode, 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,880 we are blessed to have Ms. Eric Scales, Senior Vice President for Social Responsibility 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,920 and Global Initiatives at NAIRY, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust. 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:31,360 For those who don't know, REITs are trillion-dollar investment vehicles within the real estate market. 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:38,240 Eris, how are you doing today? I'm doing pretty well, Steve. How are you? Good, good. So we took 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,320 a look at your professional background, which of course is off the charts. Can you tell us about 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,920 your background? Just lead us through your education years, starting when you were getting out of 10 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:53,920 college. Yeah, so I still chuckle because that was quite some time ago, and I'm trying to think back. 11 00:00:53,920 --> 00:01:00,320 I know every time I say I essentially came out of school over 20 years ago, it really makes me 12 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:08,000 think about how much I've become a seasoned professional. But I am, I would say a communications 13 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:14,560 junkie. So I majored in mass communication at Clark Atlanta University, ended up with a degree 14 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:20,720 in broadcast journalism from Kent State and a master's in public administration with a focus 15 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:27,040 on urban affairs and policies from Baruch College up in New York. And when I think about, you know, 16 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,560 how I thought my career would go and where it is today, it's actually pretty interesting. 17 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,960 One of the things that I think works to my advantage is that, you know, a tri-sector essay 18 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,680 professional, having worked in the public sector, having worked in government, having worked in 19 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,880 not-for-profit, and even though they're all different industries and different sectors, 20 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:56,000 there were a lot of commonalities. And I think that communications background, having really 21 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:03,200 dealing with community and dealing with a diverse group of multi-sector leaders to accomplish goals 22 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:09,120 has played out well for me. Excellent. What was your first professional job after undergrad? 23 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:17,360 My first professional job after undergrad was actually not a real job at all because, 24 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:23,520 you know, listen, I got my quote unquote big break after kind of beating the pavement, 25 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:32,800 doing a lot of internships and on-air reporting. I was hired by CNN to be a videographer and to 26 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:39,600 move back to Atlanta, Georgia. So at that time I was in Kent, Ohio, and they extended an opportunity 27 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:46,000 for me to move back to Atlanta, Georgia. And I was so excited. My family was so excited. We're like, 28 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,240 yes, baby girl has made it. Now, I wasn't going to be on air, but the fact that I was going to be 29 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:57,760 with CNN and getting my teeth cut in the industry there, we couldn't tell us nothing, right? So I 30 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:05,760 get back to Atlanta and AOL and Time Warner merged. So this was 2000. And when they did that merger, 31 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,880 they eliminated, I don't know, somewhere around 800 plus jobs, maybe more. But I'll tell you one 32 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:17,280 of the jobs they eliminated, it was mine. I'm like, wait a minute, I was supposed to be on my way to 33 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:24,160 becoming the next big, you know, Oprah, Barbara, Walters or somebody. And so at that time I had a 34 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:30,640 child, my baby was, I don't know, she wasn't even two. And I was terrified. I'm like, well, what am 35 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:36,400 I going to do? And I met someone who said, well, have you thought about corporate communications? 36 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,760 Have you thought about corporate marketing? And I was like, no. And they said, well, 37 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:49,600 you can come here and probably make about $45,000 a year. Let me tell you what, $45,000 a year for 38 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,880 someone who was, you know, early in their career back in that time coming out of communications, 39 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:01,520 plus bonuses, it sounded like a great come up. And I went into that role with a company called 40 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:09,120 CT Corporation. And CT Corporation was a global registered agent company. And they offer essentially 41 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:17,360 comprehensive regulatory compliance and due diligence solutions for major companies around 42 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:22,960 the world. Just saying that, right? Kind of puts you to sleep. And so every day I would go in there 43 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:34,720 like, oh my God, I am losing my soul. But also what happened during that time is that I would have a 44 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:42,480 lot of conversations with smaller companies and emerging entrepreneurs who were trying to use the 45 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:49,680 services of CT Corporation, but they could not afford the services of CT Corporation. And in 46 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,560 having those conversations with them, I would hear a lot about the challenges that they were facing 47 00:04:54,560 --> 00:05:00,240 as entrepreneurs and as small businesses. And so one day I said, you know, I've been at this now 48 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,840 for a few years. What I would really love to do is figure out a way to take my communications 49 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:11,040 background, this passion that I have, and now this knowledge that I have of working with businesses 50 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:17,200 on the compliance side and figure out how I can be more of a voice and a connector between like 51 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:23,440 community, constituent services, and public policy. And so that's when I went and pursued 52 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:30,640 my master's in public administration up in New York. Nice. And then how did you get involved with 53 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:36,640 the Walker's Legacy Foundation? Oh, Walker's Legacy. That was a nice little moment in time. 54 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:43,840 I was very familiar with the founder of that organization. And I think it was really a unique 55 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:52,640 moment because it was at the time where there was a lot of attention on Black, a lot of attention 56 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:58,320 on women and a lot of attention on entrepreneurs, right? We were on the other side of George Floyd. 57 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:04,640 We had a lot of major corporations and even federal government making major commitments 58 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:10,080 towards supporting some of these marginalized populations. And the founder, she had an 59 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:16,880 opportunity to go do something and she asked for me to essentially step in and handle her baby for 60 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:23,120 her while she went and handled some other things. And so it was great. As I think about the work 61 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:28,560 that I did at Walker's Legacy, it really was no different than the work I had been doing prior 62 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:33,360 leading up to that when I was doing a presidential initiative, Promise Neighborhood, under President 63 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:39,680 Barack Obama, or whether I was serving under these seven different mayors that I've been able to 64 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:45,680 support across the country. It was really about how do you create systems? How do you create 65 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,640 policies? How do you create opportunities to build these multi-sector partnerships to really 66 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:56,240 address complex social and policy issues? And so when I think about my career and I think about 67 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:01,920 what I've been doing and even what I'm doing today, that is the underlying theme. It's how do you 68 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:11,280 connect solutions to things that are extremely complex but require the input, the support, 69 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:20,560 and really commitment of multiple sectors and multiple industries and multiple types of partners. 70 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:26,160 Excellent. So you were pretty busy. I know, like you said, you did a lot of work for mayors. You 71 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:32,960 went in for Walker Legacy. Then at some point, you decided to found Able Vision, which is still active 72 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:37,760 today. Tell us about Able Vision and what led you on the path towards entrepreneurship? 73 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,000 I chuckle at that. I chuckle at many of these things. I just sit here and I've been reflecting 74 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:49,920 like, oh my goodness, how did I end up here and how did I end up there? And I think like many people, 75 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,680 you approach entrepreneurship from a couple of different lanes. Like either you are, you have 76 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:00,800 this burning passion and desire to be an entrepreneur because you don't want to work for anybody, 77 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,800 even though you work for everybody. As an entrepreneur, you got to work for your clients, 78 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:10,000 you are working for somebody. Or sometimes opportunities fall on your lap. And so what I 79 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:15,200 think about Able Vision, it was twofold. It's like people kept coming to me for services. 80 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,720 And when they would come to me, I'm going, well, I need to have a company so that I can capture 81 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:28,560 what you all are going to pay me. And the other piece of that is that I really am fascinated by 82 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:36,880 the kind of, you know, just like the grit and the functionality and the commitment and what it takes 83 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,440 to be an entrepreneur. Those are like literally some of my most favorite people that I look up to 84 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:47,920 and I admire. And so for me, it's like, I have a service, I have a network, I have a specialty. 85 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:54,560 I should go ahead and profit off of that. And so it's really been, I would say, a labor of love. 86 00:08:55,200 --> 00:09:03,120 In 2020, 2021 was extremely focused, grinding, committed, doing so much work that kind of at 87 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:10,800 some points had to turn down clients. And then in 2022, I came over to Naveri, and we'll talk a bit 88 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:17,040 about that later. And I had to step back a bit, right? And now I'm at a place where it's growing 89 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:23,120 where it's great because I have a wonderful cadence with Nareit. I have a wonderful team 90 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:29,360 that works with me at Ablevision. You know, those lives are separate and I'm able to lean in even 91 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:37,760 more in different ways. And so with Ablevision, we really focus on a few key things. At our core, 92 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,960 it's about how do you take things that are purposeful, but also make them profitable? 93 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,800 And how are we taking things that are profitable and working with our clients to make them 94 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:54,480 have purpose? And so we do a lot of outreach and engagement to connect companies, city governments, 95 00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:02,560 nonprofit organizations, to very targeted markets and target populations. We focus primarily around 96 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:10,880 women, women of color, emerging entrepreneurs, also really working to go in and sit with leaders 97 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:18,160 around how they develop out inclusive operations and strategic planning and evaluation and program 98 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:24,800 development. Because oftentimes, you know, in smaller companies and in smaller nonprofits, 99 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,280 they may not have that in-house thought leader or that in-house strategist that they can work with. 100 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,480 So being able to offer those services and that support. And then most recently, what I'm excited 101 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:42,000 about is beginning to offer more of a suite of curriculum and services around increasing capacity. 102 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:49,280 So it was one thing for me to work with you to respond to RFPs or to respond to proposals for 103 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:54,160 funding or to go after grants. It's another thing to help you put some systems in place and or 104 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:59,600 resources that can make it a little more automated and systemized for you going forward. But you know, 105 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:04,720 we've had a good year. We've just in the last few years have helped organizations and companies 106 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:10,080 raise, you know, nearly five million dollars, have worked on some great strategic plans. 107 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,720 And I'm proud of the work and looking forward to seeing what we can do next. 108 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:16,800 That's an awesome story. Thank you. 109 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:24,720 Yeah. Before we get into your role, your current role at NAREIT, just for the benefit of the 110 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:30,160 audience, do you mind talking about the industry reach US as well as globally? 111 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:38,240 Yeah, this is too massive is the right word. And I often share that, you know, I've been in 112 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:44,560 economic development, community development for now at this point, like we said, almost two decades, 113 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:52,160 a closer to decades and dealt with a lot of developers, negotiated a lot of deals and just 114 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:58,400 everything in this space. And prior to joining NAREIT, you know, I'll be honest, I hadn't even 115 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:05,360 heard of a REACH. And now that I know what REACHs are and what their intent was, I am absolutely 116 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:10,880 fascinated. And I drank the Kool-Aid every single day. So, you know, just a little bit of context, 117 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:19,360 US REACHs were established in 1960 by Congress. And at the end of the day, the thought was that 118 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:24,960 this was going to be a vehicle and an opportunity that would give essentially all investors, 119 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:30,400 especially what we call small investors, access to income producing real estate. So it's like a way 120 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:39,120 to democratize real estate investment and then regulate it by the SEC. So it's something that 121 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:45,440 you can, you know, when you're investing into, I don't want to say, you know, investing is always, 122 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:50,080 you're taking a risk, right? And there's always some level of feeling unnerved about putting your 123 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:55,280 money into things. But this is an industry that's regulated. It's an industry that's been around for 124 00:12:55,280 --> 00:13:03,840 quite some time and continues to grow and scale. And so within the REACH industry, there's 14 125 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,720 different sectors. And so when I tell people that I essentially work and represent commercial real 126 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:13,600 estate, they're like, oh, they immediately think about office. Oh, okay. Right. Or people think 127 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:20,960 about housing. But there's so much more to REACH into this industry than just office and housing. 128 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:27,360 I mean, it's covering things from industrial, it's covering things like self storage and data 129 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:34,480 centers, healthcare, lodging, timber. Like it just goes on and on and on. And so what I think is so 130 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:40,960 amazing about that is that it gives you an opportunity to figure out which of those sectors 131 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,280 is most palatable for you, you know, kind of understanding what the returns and the growth 132 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:53,280 is within those sectors and how that aligns with your investment and your growth strategies for 133 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:59,680 what you're trying to accomplish. But globally, I mean, trillions and trillions of dollars is 134 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:06,960 represented. And then NAREIT, which is an amazing organization, you know, represents, I think, close 135 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:15,440 to 90%, if not more of that industry here in the United States. And so REACH themselves own over 136 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:25,760 $4 trillion in gross assets across the U.S., about a trillion. And public REACH have more than $2 137 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:32,960 trillion in assets. So it's a massive industry. And I think there's amazing opportunity to begin 138 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:39,760 to further work with this industry to connect it to more diverse populations and communities and 139 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:44,320 to get those communities connected to REACH. Wow, that's awesome. It's kind of hard to get your 140 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:51,440 head around trillions. It is, right? Because we hear billion. Right. And I'm blown away by that. 141 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,920 Right. You actually put an S on that. Trillions. Trillions, yes. Exactly. Yes. So you guys 142 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:05,760 represent roughly 90% plus of the industry. What does NAREIT do on behalf of all these REACHs? 143 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:12,480 So NAREIT, you know, at its core is a trade association. We're a membership-based organization. 144 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:20,480 And I think about it in these kind of following buckets that, you know, as such, we are advocates 145 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:27,440 for the industry and for our members. And so we do a lot of advocacy. We manage a lot of relationships 146 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:35,280 and engagement with congressional members and politicians and even the public to be aware and 147 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:42,320 have accurate and timely information as it relates to the industry. Obviously, we're doing 148 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:49,600 as much promotion as possible and making sure that we're highlighting the positive outputs 149 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:57,360 and opportunities that the industry is advancing. We convene a lot. And when we do our convenings, 150 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:02,560 it's really with a purpose. The purpose is to educate and inform our members. And so our 151 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:09,520 convenings are, you know, conferences throughout the year that are bringing thought leaders and 152 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:16,880 educational information for our members. And we're producing research. And so we do a lot of research 153 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:23,200 so that people are aware of the industry, that they can understand the industry, and more importantly, 154 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:29,680 the way that this industry is performing to be able to debunk any kind of myths or misinformation 155 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:35,200 that gets circulated. And as of late, and I won't say, you know, in the last few years, 156 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:42,720 we're doing a lot as it relates to making sure that we're advancing kind of this collective social 157 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:50,320 impact and social responsibility of the industry on behalf of the industry across various communities 158 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:55,680 in the United States. And I would just add to that. You mentioned convening and conferences. 159 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:01,440 I don't want anybody to think that this is just a United States thing because global initiatives 160 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:06,400 are attached to your title as well. Can you just briefly talk about some of the places 161 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:13,920 that you've convened at on behalf of the organization? Yeah, that is a great point 162 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:20,480 because even though we are representing the United States, I mean, REITs and this regime 163 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:28,400 are, you know, depending on which source you're looking at, you know, are also established or 164 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:35,920 represented in more than 40 different countries around the world. And obviously, all of those 165 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:42,560 markets are at different levels, right, in terms of sophistication, in terms of advancement, 166 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,960 in terms of the number of REITs that they have and even like their market cap and assets and 167 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:55,440 their value. But at the end of the day, it's amazing to see countries like Kenya, countries like China, 168 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:05,120 Japan, parts of, you know, really across Europe, the Asia Pacific, where somehow I just recently 169 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:10,880 came back from Singapore, Canada. I mean, we could just go on and on and on about how other 170 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:18,480 countries have also recognized the value that REITs bring and can bring to their economy. 171 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:24,800 And something that I find very interesting is that, you know, in some of these more emerging 172 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:30,960 markets, we will see how they're really leveraging REITs or they're looking at REITs as a way to help 173 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:37,280 to further advance their economy through infrastructure. And so again, when I talk about 174 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:45,840 REITs and the power and the reach of them, it's so diverse and it really ranges. And so we have an 175 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:54,080 alliance that we have been able to stand in partnership with, which consists of our counterparts. 176 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:59,120 And when I say we, being neighborly, our counterparts in Asia Pacific, from Australia, 177 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:04,640 Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United Kingdom, they formed what is called the Real Estate Equity 178 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,800 Securitization Alliance. And at the end of the day, you know, their goal is to make sure that they are 179 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:16,320 using their brain power, that they are using their infrastructure, that they're using their 180 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:21,920 thought leadership, that they're using their resources to continue to support these other 181 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:27,520 countries in terms of advancing their regimes as well. And so it's been very fascinating 182 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:35,120 convening them twice a year. We were just recently in Singapore. Before that, I think we were in 183 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:42,800 Paris or London. So each of these amazing associations steps up twice a year to host and to 184 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:51,360 bring together these leaders to really have conversations around complex tax issues and 185 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:57,200 complex matters that they're trying to address from a legislative perspective, from a mental 186 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,920 health perspective, from a membership perspective, looking at things such as ESG, which is globally, 187 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:09,360 you know, impacting companies and countries. So it's an amazing resource and an amazing 188 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:14,640 alliance to see that power. If you don't mind, what will help the listeners understand what your day 189 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:24,480 to day is like? I'm like, is that a trick question? Because there is no day to day. But, Carmen, I love 190 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:30,720 that question so much. I'm serious. And one of the things that I've been trying to do more of, 191 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:41,120 honestly, in the last month and a half, two months is be a little more transparent and share more 192 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:47,040 about the work that I'm doing. Steve was saying I'm seeing you everywhere. And the reason I'm doing 193 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:54,320 that is because honestly, I've been asked by so many emerging professionals and even established 194 00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:01,280 professionals who either want to transition into more roles around social responsibility 195 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:08,960 or who want to better understand what it's like to be a Black woman working in this industry. They 196 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:14,000 want to understand and see more of like, what do you do? How do you do it? And so for me, 197 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:21,120 every day, it's pretty different because the work that we're doing here at NAREIT in this vertical 198 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:28,400 is relatively new. We're building it and executing it at the same time, which for me works well, 199 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:33,520 because if you look at my background, that's pretty much a big history of doing that. And so 200 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:41,280 I have a lot of meetings with potential partners working across all the different verticals here 201 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:46,960 at NAREIT, our comms team, our memberships team, our meetings team, our public policy team, 202 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:51,680 looking at where we have intersectionality to advance the work that's happening. 203 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:58,880 I now have a portfolio of nine amazing national organizations that we just started to fund 204 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:06,480 in the last year. So interfacing with them and understanding programs that they're trying to 205 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:12,560 execute, how we can connect that back to our members, making sure that they're on track and 206 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:22,640 feel supported. So it's really, my job does on a day to day vary, but it's also consistent. 207 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:29,440 As I think about my days when I was in the public sector, running agencies or being a political 208 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:35,280 appointee, my goodness, it was like drinking out of a fire hose every five minutes. And here, 209 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:43,360 it's not a fire hose, but it is definitely a drip that comes on a consistent basis. And my job is 210 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:50,640 to make sure I have the cups that catch it and release it. Excellent. So what I found amazing 211 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,680 about your organization, and I think our listeners really well, is its dedication to diversity, 212 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:01,040 equity, and inclusion. So starting with the supplier level, tell us about the initiatives 213 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:06,400 you all have that are diversifying the commercial real estate industry from the supply chain level. 214 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:17,920 One of the things that really attracted me to this role was when I was informed that 215 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:26,320 we were looking to establish essentially another alliance or consortium that would focus on 216 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:34,320 connecting women-owned and diverse-owned businesses to our members. And we've already 217 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:40,320 talked about the magnitude of this industry and just the different sectors that are represented. 218 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:47,200 And so when you think about the procurement and the buying power of these companies and them saying, 219 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:56,080 we want to be in a position to understand how we can better support, how we can better identify, 220 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:02,640 how we can better onboard, how we can better procure with diverse vendors, I was all in. 221 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:09,840 And so last year, we piloted because we wanted to make sure that we can use a couple years, 222 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,520 because this is brand new. This has never happened really across any other industry, 223 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:18,320 and it certainly hasn't happened here. But how do we use this time to collect data, 224 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:23,520 to beta test, to roll things out, and to really build the momentum and work out any kind of tweaks 225 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:29,840 that we may have as it relates to making sure that diverse vendors are being connected and that our 226 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:37,440 members are ready to be able to expand these types of skills and services to bring into their 227 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:45,520 supply chain. And so what we launched is a consortium called CREDS. And that CREDS consortium 228 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:52,080 is comprised of NAREIT International Council of Shopping Centers, so ICSC. I know many of 229 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:58,240 your listeners are familiar with them. MBA, which is the Mortgage Bankers Association, NAOC, 230 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:04,880 the National Multifamily Housing Council, the Real Estate Roundtable, and CRU, which is the 231 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:10,160 Commercial Real Estate Women's Network. So when you think about these organizations all coming 232 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:16,400 together, and that's like a common theme that I think is happening across the work that I do, 233 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:22,480 is that, and that we're doing here at NAREIT, is that it's about building collectives. You know, 234 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:29,200 we can go out here independently, but if we can go out as a collective, we really feel that our 235 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:36,400 reach and our impact is more sustainable, and it's going to be far more far, far reaching, right? And 236 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:46,160 so collectively, what we are attempting to do is to create this blueprint that allows for our members 237 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:51,200 to be able to have a single source. Right now, we're using a company called Supplier Gateway, 238 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:59,120 which is a Black-owned company out of Chicago, and they are being directed to that platform 239 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:06,800 to go in to identify different types of vendors, contractors, even looking to figure out how do we 240 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:12,960 use that to, you know, possibly support joint ventures and other types of collaborations. 241 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:20,480 And so it's, I'm excited, you know, right now we have about 20 companies who have made that commitment, 242 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:28,320 and these are 20 major companies who have amazing buying power. And so we're continuing to scale 243 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:33,200 that and figure out what the next phase of that looks like. And so for any of your listeners, 244 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:42,400 who obviously are suppliers, vendors, contractors, etc., the first thing I would 245 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:50,400 encourage them to do is to go to Supplier Gateway and to register their companies on Supplier Gateway. 246 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:57,440 It's free, it does not take a lot of time, and it's something that we're pushing and continuing to 247 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:04,160 to figure out how we leverage as a vehicle to support our members with bringing more diverse 248 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:10,800 businesses into their supply chain. Do you have to be a member of NAREIT? 249 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:18,800 No, you do. So that's the thing. So Supplier Gateway, which is the portal and or platform, 250 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:28,960 whichever terminology one wants to use, is free and open to any body. So you can literally go on 251 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:35,840 there right now and register your company to be in that portal. And so what that means is, 252 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:43,360 you know, let's say you're offering accounting services or maybe you are, you know, a contractor, 253 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:49,520 you do commercial contracting, whatever it is, we are asking our members who have signed up 254 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:54,960 and subscribe, our members are paying a subscription, they go in and now they're trying to do a search. 255 00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:02,800 Okay, I need X, Y, and Z, because they've made a commitment to maybe put to market or to bid out a 256 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:10,000 certain, you know, a certain set of services. And so we're saying, hey, let's all utilize Supplier 257 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:17,280 Gateway to see how collectively, you know, we can begin to move the needle or shift this narrative 258 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:23,280 and be able to bring in more diverse vendors. And so you do not have to be a member, you don't have 259 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,440 to do anything to register your company onto Supplier Gateway. 260 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:34,320 Okay, that's pretty neat. And that's just, you know, and that's just a part of it, right? And so, 261 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:43,440 because certainly, what I say is great, we can have a gazillion companies in that portal, but we 262 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:50,080 also understand the importance of making sure that the companies who are in these portals, you know, 263 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:55,360 next up is like, how do we continue to increase their capacity? How do we continue to increase 264 00:28:55,360 --> 00:29:03,280 their capacity? How do we continue to foster trust and connectivity between, you know, our members 265 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:09,280 procurement teams and companies that they haven't necessarily ever done business with before? So 266 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:16,480 that doesn't sound like we're, you know, as through this pilot, we're able to see what is working, 267 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:25,280 where we can continue to improve. And it's also what I say is like one of many tactics to address 268 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:32,480 this strategy. And so even with Supplier Gateway, and the work that we're doing as this creds 269 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:38,240 consortium with all the organizations I just named, you know, we're also we being a read through our 270 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:46,880 foundation, making investments into nonprofit organizations that are working to increase the 271 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:52,880 capacity of diverse vendors and creating opportunities to connect their, you know, their 272 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:59,120 clients and the folks that the businesses that they serve also back to the industry. So we're taking, 273 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:08,080 you know, I think bold steps. We all know that these types of changes don't necessarily happen 274 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:14,320 overnight. It's going to be a tough people. This is marathon work, not sprint work, even though we 275 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:21,680 would love for it to be a sprint. But at the end of the day, I just I get so excited. Sometimes I 276 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:29,840 get chills when I think about the actual magnitude of what we have before us when we think of think 277 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:37,840 about these procurement and capital opportunities for diverse and women owned, black owned, brown 278 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,800 owned, whatever we want to call, right, whatever terms we're using these days. But for those of us 279 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:48,640 who have not traditionally had these opportunities to now begin to have these opportunities to create 280 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,600 what I say is like generational wealth building, wealth changing business. 281 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,440 And it seems like there's a feedback loop to talk to the vendors and say, hey, 282 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:04,640 what's going on? Is it working? Where's some of the roadblocks? And you continue to make 283 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:11,920 make the cycle better. That's the goal. And so we're actually assessing now, you know, we're 284 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:19,120 we're we're conducting surveys with our members or setting up one on ones. We're having conversations 285 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:27,440 with the administrator supplier gateway. We're sharing our feedback collectively as a consortium. 286 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,800 And and that's what I value, because we could certainly just say, oh, we piloted this for a 287 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:39,840 couple of years. And here's what happened. Here's what didn't happen. And we didn't make any attempt, 288 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:44,800 right, to make it the best in class or to meet the goals that we initially set out with. Like, 289 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:51,200 everyone takes this extremely seriously. And even our members, they have given us a lot of feedback. 290 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:56,320 And that is something that I continue to value is that we get we have members who are vocal. 291 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:03,520 They are very vocal. And we see it as a responsibility to make sure that we respond 292 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:08,480 to what they vocalize to us. And that's really how we ended up doing even this initiative. And 293 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:13,600 many of the initiatives that we are launching, because they've shared with us through this 294 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:20,080 amazing council that I get to coordinate, caught our dividends through diversity, equity and inclusion 295 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:27,920 CEO Council. So this is almost 30 CEOs who run some of the largest REITs in the world. 296 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:34,000 They convene a multiple multiple times a year. And they say, hey, here's what the priorities are 297 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:38,800 that we have in this space, here where we see opportunities, and here's where we see gaps. And 298 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,480 so, you know, pipeline development and recruiting young people into the field has been a big issue. 299 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,120 I don't want to say issue, but a big priority for them and making sure that they're retaining that 300 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:55,120 talent, making sure that we can support them on their journey to diversify their supply chain, 301 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,760 among several other priorities. And so what you see, the work that I'm doing, the work that we're 302 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:06,400 doing at NAREIT is really in direct response to what they have shared that they want additional 303 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:14,080 support, resources and opportunities around. Wow, that's pretty awesome. But you guys go 304 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:19,760 beyond just the supply chain, you're also increasing diversity at the individual level as well. Do you 305 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:25,680 have some some programs at that level? You know, we do and we don't. And I would say indirectly. 306 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:33,760 And I really another question that I value, Steve, because when I think about the individual level, 307 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:41,760 you know, I'm thinking about like individual investors who can, you know, start making those 308 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:52,720 contributions into REITs, which absolutely can happen. And we have yet to really, I would say, 309 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:59,840 hunker down and hyper focused to that level. But indirectly through an individual level, we are, 310 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:06,880 you know, to your point, supporting because of partners like Project Destin, partners like the 311 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:14,080 U.S. Black Chamber and or the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, any of the I would say nine grantees that 312 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:20,560 were funding through our grant program under this initiative, certainly touch individuals. And so 313 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:29,040 today, just even I got to spend the morning with Project Destin and some amazing, 20 amazing 314 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:34,480 students that we are taking through a new program that they designed in partnership with us, 315 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:41,200 which is a REIT Bridge program. So it is really like a six week immersion course for these young 316 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:47,680 people who have an interest in careers within the REIT industry. And so they have curriculum that 317 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:53,840 they go through to have these classes. And then we're coupling that with mentors and speakers 318 00:34:54,400 --> 00:35:02,240 and site visits. And so today we were at JBG's national landing down in Virginia. JBG is a member 319 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:08,320 of ours. Actually, their president, CEO, Matt Kelly is the chair of our board. So that was phenomenal. 320 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:13,440 They're one of the contributors and donors to our Dividends through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 321 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:20,400 grant. So, you know, that is absolutely, I think, an individual impact. And I heard that three of 322 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:27,680 those young people are actually going into jobs when they graduate at REITs. And so that was like, 323 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:40,400 wow, okay. I mean, again, when I say it's marathon work, and I say to folks, every win for me, every 324 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:46,960 bit of a chip at this big mountain that we're trying to break down is literally a win, because 325 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:56,000 those are three young people who would not have probably traditionally had opportunities to go 326 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,680 into these roles, right? And so now they're going in, they're prepared, they're exposed, 327 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:10,720 they're confident, and they don't necessarily look like and or possibly come from some of the same 328 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:15,760 background or pedigree that we traditionally see within the industry. And so I think that that's 329 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:22,320 progress day by day, you know, one person at a time, one business at a time. It's just, it's a lot. 330 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:28,800 Now, I would definitely say so. You're right, there's the individual level in terms of investors, 331 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:33,280 but actually the folks who want to start a career, you know, in these types of industry, that's 332 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:41,440 absolute. I can say even a drip level, it's more level. That's right. So no, excellent work. 333 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,640 I know we touched on this a little bit, but what do I have to do to become a member? 334 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:55,600 I tell people, if you want to become a member, the first thing you should do is send an email 335 00:36:55,600 --> 00:37:00,880 to member at nareet.com. We have an amazing membership team that's 336 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,760 led and supported by a group that's been around for quite some time. That's one of the things I love 337 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:14,560 about NAREIT. You know, when I was coming here, I was like, wow, folks have been here for, you know, 338 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:19,360 some years, but that's great, because they know the ins and outs of the industry, they know the 339 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:25,280 ins and outs of the organization, and we're able to create a lot of different types of 340 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:33,360 state programming and resources in response to what our members need. But we do have two different 341 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:40,240 types of membership. We have our corporate membership, which is for REITs and publicly 342 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:46,560 traded real estate companies, so, you know, more of the large scale companies. But then we also have 343 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:54,800 individual level members, and those are really people who are, I would say, stakeholders who 344 00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,320 support the REIT industry or the commercial real estate industry. So a lot of, you know, within 345 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:08,960 that space, we'll see various professionals from either consulting or companies who individually 346 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:14,320 want to join or other types of professional service companies and or people who have their own 347 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:20,880 businesses and are looking for opportunities to further network and connect with industry leaders. 348 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:28,960 And so that individual membership, I'm pretty certain is just under $1,000 for the year. But 349 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,840 again, if people have questions or they have an interest in becoming a member, they should 350 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:41,760 definitely reach out to member at NAREIT, N-A-R-E-I-T dot com, and they'll give them all the 351 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:51,520 specifications. Nice. So this position has taken you all over the world. And like I said, I know 352 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:56,480 you a little bit, so I've seen some of the places you've been to. The question I have is, how do you 353 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,520 handle work-life balance? You know, I realize that's a relative term, but what does balance look like 354 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:17,600 for you? You know, that is not work-life balance. I love, I like the terminology and theory, but 355 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:25,360 it's not one that I actually really use, because when you think about balance, in order to balance 356 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:31,360 something, I mean, you have to essentially give equal attention to multiple things. And to me, 357 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:38,480 that is counterproductive to what it is that we're trying to achieve. Like we're trying to get to this 358 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:44,800 place of feeling like zinned and relaxed. And if I'm having to give as much time to work and as 359 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:49,680 much time to my personal, I don't know, it just doesn't, it just seems like I'm giving, giving, 360 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:58,720 giving. And so one of the things that I try to say to myself that I practice now is work-life 361 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:06,480 boundaries. And I really did have to learn that even coming into this role last year, the last 362 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:11,200 year, I gained like 22 pounds. People will say, oh my God, you know, you're traveling, you're 363 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,280 having all these meetings, you're doing X, Y, and Z, and they want to glamorize it. And I say all 364 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:24,720 the time, I feel so fortunate and blessed to be in this role, but there are some things that come 365 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:30,000 with that, right? Like you're eating out a lot, you're sitting on planes for a long time, which 366 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:37,120 is impacting your circulation. You're, you know, I'm a fitness guru, my workout routines are 367 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:44,000 disrupted. So it was really hard on my body. And there were things that I had to give up, 368 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:49,440 but giving that up didn't give me balance. And so what I'm now doing is like, I literally have 369 00:40:49,440 --> 00:41:00,960 boundaries and I'm okay with that. I say no to many things. And I'm finding that when I'm saying 370 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:08,240 no, I don't feel like I have to give to either or it's just like, this is where I'm at right now. 371 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:13,360 And I can give all of my time and attention to just sitting down and turning off, which I 372 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:19,600 do, but you know, I aspire to do, but boundaries is a lot easier for me to manage than trying to 373 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:26,240 have what some refer to as balance. What about the fear of missing out? Do you feel like in this 374 00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:32,480 announcement, you didn't go to networking? Never, I never, ever, ever feel like I'm missing out. 375 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:39,200 There's no FOMO in me. And one of the things that's very, I have to debunk this with people 376 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:45,840 all the time. People think that I'm an extrovert. They think that I am external and I'm doing all 377 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:51,920 these things and I'm everywhere. Nine times out of 10 heiresses at home, like you might see a 378 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:58,720 smidgen of what I'm doing and it looks like all the time I'm doing something. I am a homebody, 379 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:06,800 an introvert. I never fear like I'm missing out. And one of the great things that I do value is 380 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:18,320 about this role and the leaders and the team that I work with is that I don't feel like 381 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:26,160 that pressure like you feel when you're working. And I would just say for me, like in the political 382 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:33,040 circuits that I was in or some of the really brutal corporate environments that I was in, 383 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:45,600 here we do work hard, believe you me, but I do value that they value how we feel. And sometimes 384 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:51,520 my supervisors, she'll call out sometimes and be like, you can say no heiress or I need you to just 385 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:56,560 sit down. I need you to slow down. And I'm like, okay. Even when I first came in, I had these big 386 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:01,040 goals and I was laying out all these things I wanted to do in our system and I was like, 387 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:07,040 okay, you can spread that out. And I was like, really? Because I'm so used to coming from 388 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:13,280 environments where that was just not a thing. And so you did fear like if you weren't producing, 389 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:21,200 even if you weren't really producing real outcomes or impact, you were always trying to do 390 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:26,960 something. And so one of my favorite CEOs that I worked for, Andy Zop at World Business Chicago, 391 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:32,720 when she first came in, she said, I see a lot of activity, but no strategy. And I was like, 392 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:41,600 ooh. And so when I think about FOMO in terms of the workplace, you do see places and there are 393 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:47,920 cultures that will create that fear that you got to constantly be looking as though you're doing 394 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:52,320 something for the sake of doing something, but you're not really having an impact. And so 395 00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:59,840 I value one being a person who never fears that I'm missing out on some social event or some 396 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:08,560 activity. And I value being in an organization that does not make you feel like if you're not 397 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:14,800 just producing a lot of busy outputs, right? Like you're not accomplishing something. So no, 398 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:16,320 no FOMO over here. 399 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:24,320 What's your networking approach as an introvert? How do you network in that relationship? 400 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:35,280 Yeah, I network differently now than I did before. And I think that that has a lot to do with kind 401 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:46,800 of where I am professionally and where I am even personally, right? What do I have? I asked myself, 402 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:52,240 it used to be one of the driving questions and people are saying like, why do you do something? 403 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:58,400 And I think that's an important question to answer why, so you understand what's behind it. But I 404 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:03,040 also really focused on the work that I do. And I think that's one of the things that I've been 405 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:09,680 behind it. But I also really focus a lot on to what end. And so when I say that it's, you know, 406 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:17,840 I want to say how much networking can one do, but it's like how much networking can one do, 407 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:24,640 right? My goodness, I have a couple of girlfriends, it's like every other day they are at some event, 408 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:30,960 trying to network. And I'm like, you've been a professional for over 25 years. Like what is left? 409 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:38,160 You are already at X level, what is left? What are you doing when you're in those rooms? And so for me, 410 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:44,960 when I'm networking, and I don't like to use this word, because we can overuse it here in the States, 411 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:53,760 but it really is with intentionality. Like I have to be there because there is really some value in 412 00:45:53,760 --> 00:46:04,240 terms of a potential contract or a new client or a new, you know, there has to be a direct tieback, 413 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:09,920 and not just to be there in hopes that I might meet or I might. And so I don't know that, 414 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:16,480 I just, those days are over. And I think too, in the past, I used to have a lot of responsibility 415 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:23,360 that required me to do a lot of events and activities because of the roles that I was in, 416 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:27,200 particularly when I was in, you know, working like in the mayor's office or running agencies, 417 00:46:27,200 --> 00:46:33,200 you had to always be somewhere. So now it really is, it's just a, I try to be a lot more thoughtful 418 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,280 because I got to, you know, have those boundaries so I could have some energy 419 00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:47,600 to do the things that I'm trying to do. But you have to know, and I was talking with a young lady 420 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:54,000 recently who was telling me to, she's like, I go to all these different things, but nothing is coming 421 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:59,120 out of it. And I said, but what's your priority right now? Like, what are you trying to focus on? 422 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:07,280 Because if your goal is to bring more, like you're trying to bring more money into your 423 00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:15,600 organization, then why are you spending your time going to events that are filled with the room 424 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:21,280 that looks just like you with everyone who's doing what you do? You're not at the event 425 00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:26,480 there's funders, you're not at an event where there's grant tours and donors and she, you know, 426 00:47:26,480 --> 00:47:34,080 so again, it's like, you have to really think about why and what. And so I always just encourage 427 00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:40,800 folks to think about who they want to be in front of. Just to add to that, so what, what 428 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:49,520 organizations are you a part of now? Now that you are more mature in your career? Yeah, I am, 429 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:57,760 you know, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. And even just the past 430 00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:05,920 weekend, you know, it was such a blessing. We had our economic empowerment expo here in DC at 431 00:48:05,920 --> 00:48:11,200 Martha's table. And they said, heirs, would you come and kind of share your story for what you've 432 00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:18,960 done to build wealth throughout, you know, your life story around building generational wealth 433 00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:24,800 and your commitment to kind of breaking these, you know, I say financial curses that can impact 434 00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:30,160 us. And can you talk about REITs and, you know, the work that you do? And of course, I'm happy 435 00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:34,880 to do that. And it was beautiful to see that room full of women absorbing that information 436 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:40,240 and the amount of women who followed up. So anytime Delta asked me to show up, I'm going to show up, 437 00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:45,920 you know, I'm the president and the chartering president for the National Coalition of 100 Black 438 00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:54,880 Women. And so that works me like no other. That works me to the bone. Okay, they have me all over 439 00:48:54,880 --> 00:49:00,720 the place, trying to, you know, advance the mission and make sure that the work that we're 440 00:49:00,720 --> 00:49:04,960 doing to advocate on behalf of women and girls here in the district. So I'm always going to show 441 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:10,480 up for that. And so there's a common theme with me, really, entrepreneurs and women, you know, 442 00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:17,120 I'm super passionate about, you know, giving back to women and supporting entrepreneurs. And so a 443 00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:28,000 lot of my civic support and my philanthropic personally, support goes within those buckets. 444 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:34,480 But other than that, not much, because I've said no to a lot of things and rolled off of a lot of 445 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:39,920 boards. I serve on the board for philanthropy DMV. So we're an organization that wants to, 446 00:49:41,040 --> 00:49:49,040 not wants to, but aspires to support donors here in the DMV foundations, high net worth and 447 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:55,200 institutional donors who are making investments into organizations, looking to address a lot of 448 00:49:55,200 --> 00:50:02,960 the socioeconomic disparities that we have here in the region. So that's it in that show. 449 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:07,440 All the stuff you do, you really don't have to go out and network, just the organizations and the 450 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:13,840 events that you go to, it's almost organic, I would think. Yeah, it is. It is. It is. 451 00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:20,800 The other thing I would say that was probably beneficial to you, it's a difference between 452 00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:25,920 networking and relationships. And I know you've had some high power jobs, you know, in the district 453 00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:31,040 and the political scene. So I always tell folks at the end of the day, you can network all you want, 454 00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:39,760 but it's a big difference between networking relationships. Yeah. And that is, that for me is 455 00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:47,920 a lot more meaningful than, oh, I went and met 15 people at a surface level versus, you know, 456 00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:51,920 I was able to connect with one person, even if I connect with one new person a month, I mean, 457 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:57,440 that's 12 people a year. That's a lot on top of what you already have. Like, and then you got to 458 00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:07,680 cultivate that. I mean, it takes a lot to properly network. And I have, I don't know, maybe 30 people 459 00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:15,360 a week, I'm not even exaggerating, who reach out to me wanting to speak or connect or talk. And 460 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:20,320 sometimes I'm like, and I was like, what exactly do you think connect? And I don't mean it in a 461 00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:26,240 nasty way, but it's like, what exactly are you expecting from this interaction with me? Like, 462 00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:30,720 why you? Because sometimes they haven't even done the research, they might just see a title or a 463 00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:37,040 name or organization I'm affiliated with, and make an assumption. And so I'm really trying to 464 00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:44,960 save them time and energy because you don't get in front of me and ask what and say what. 465 00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:51,280 So I hear you. So I would say just to kind of wrap up the question that you mentioned talking 466 00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:57,440 to young folks as part of what you do. But overall, what advice would you give to current 467 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:01,280 students or young professionals starting out in their careers? You know, if you had to start all 468 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:05,920 over again, and if you had to start all over again, would you do anything different? 469 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:19,200 Would I do anything differently? I, you know, hindsight is always 2020. And I can't think of 470 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:27,920 what I would do differently because what I did was navigate the hand that I was dealt. And, 471 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:33,280 you know, I knew what I knew. I had a lot going on as a child. My father passed away abruptly 472 00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:37,760 when I was 13 from a heart attack. And I was actually living with my father at the time. And 473 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:45,840 so there was a lot that I was just carrying with me. I probably was not the most joyful, brightest 474 00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:51,680 young person to be around. So to even have accomplished the things that I was able to 475 00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:57,360 accomplish is, you know, nothing but the grace of God and some amazing counselors and an amazing 476 00:52:57,360 --> 00:53:04,800 mother who was very patient with me. But I do think, you know, there were times where 477 00:53:06,240 --> 00:53:15,920 I shrunk a little bit because it wasn't cool to be smart. You know, it wasn't cool to be 478 00:53:16,720 --> 00:53:23,200 the girl who was into things that the majority of my peers were not into. Like I've always, 479 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:27,280 you know, I'm a little bit of an outlier. I already talked about being a social, 480 00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:34,720 like being socially awkward and an introvert. I really loved art. I loved poetry and writing. 481 00:53:34,720 --> 00:53:42,880 So some of those things just were kind of counter to what my peers were into. And so I definitely 482 00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:48,720 tried to fit within those molds. And that's a little bit unfortunate. And so, you know, 483 00:53:48,720 --> 00:53:55,360 for young people who are starting out their careers, I think more than anything is not to 484 00:53:55,360 --> 00:54:01,920 compare themselves to others. That comparison is the thief of joy. That's what I tell folks. 485 00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:08,880 Comparison is the thief of joy. And more so than ever, I think in this day and age, there's just 486 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:16,720 so much through social media, which is all a lie, first of all, that makes you think that, oh, 487 00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:23,440 if I haven't hit 30 under 30, you know, I'm lost out. Or it's like, what? Like 30 under 30, 488 00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:28,400 don't we? Like, wow, you're 28 and you're an expert. And I'm not saying you can't, 489 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:34,320 but it's like, yo, you got to put in some work. And so when you see those types of narratives 490 00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:41,920 being pushed, I think it makes young people have a certain level of distortion. And so my thing is, 491 00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:50,800 your lane is your lane and you have to be comfortable, literally comfortable walking 492 00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:56,640 in your lane because trust you, me, half of what you see or half of what you think or what they say 493 00:54:56,640 --> 00:55:02,960 is now the new norm or the new standard, you know, in a few months, it's going to change. And so, 494 00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:10,080 as my daughter told me when she was coming up on her sixth year for her four year degree, bless her, 495 00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:16,960 bless her, she said, my race, my pace. I said, okay. And that really struck me though. I mean, 496 00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:24,240 it is your race and it is at your pace. And I think that's the biggest piece of advice that 497 00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:32,960 I would give them. And so lastly, have high standards. You know, I really like show up fully. 498 00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:40,400 Today, when I was out there with those young people from Cedric Bobo's program, Project Destin, 499 00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:50,000 I was blown away. I'm talking about the level of excellence, the high standards, the quality of the 500 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:56,160 questions and just their presentation. I was, I couldn't, I'm like, you're in college, get out of 501 00:55:56,160 --> 00:56:03,440 here. I hadn't seen that in quite some time. So kudos to him and kudos to them. But you know, 502 00:56:03,440 --> 00:56:10,000 you got to show up in a manner in which you really want to be received. And so I think when we see 503 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:17,680 these young folks who come kind of lackadaisical or, you know, not really going a little bit above 504 00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:22,240 and beyond or hitting these high standards, and then they get frustrated because they're not getting 505 00:56:22,240 --> 00:56:27,760 the kind of due respect or opportunities that they think they deserve. I'm like, well, why do 506 00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:33,600 you think you deserve it? You just like you turned in a document that was full of errors or fully 507 00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:40,160 think through, you know, so have high standards, show up and don't compare yourself to others. 508 00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:45,200 Yeah. And I, it was a, you probably realized that you said another golden nugget that I really have 509 00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:49,680 to highlight it. I mean, you said you navigated the hand that you had dealt with. That's right. 510 00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:53,920 Yeah. And I got to just, for the sake of those out there, I want to highlight that because life 511 00:56:53,920 --> 00:56:59,840 comes at you fast and you really do have to, it's up to you to negotiate those choppy waters. 512 00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:09,280 You got to, you got to and have the grit and the desire if you have it to really figure it out. And 513 00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:14,160 so some days I go, man, I should have figured this out, you know, years ago, or I should have been, 514 00:57:14,160 --> 00:57:19,360 I should be at X again, right back to that comparison or just me being so hard on myself. 515 00:57:19,360 --> 00:57:24,480 And it's like, okay, well, who in your family had ever been exposed to some of the things that 516 00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:29,040 you're accomplishing or that you're experiencing now, right? You, you, you don't know what you 517 00:57:29,040 --> 00:57:34,640 don't know. And so that's another thing when we talk about networking and we talk about, you know, 518 00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:42,640 moving forward, do not be afraid to be around those who are in the spaces and places that you 519 00:57:42,640 --> 00:57:47,600 aspire, or at least you think you aspire to be, because the only way you're going to find out 520 00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:54,240 what's, you know, what works or what doesn't work or how you succeed or excel is by immersing 521 00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:59,040 yourself in those uncomfortable places. And so when you talk to me about networking, like 522 00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:02,640 Curvin, that's where I'm at these days. I'm in the places where I'm so uncomfortable, 523 00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:07,760 rooms that I never thought I would be in. That's where I want to be, not the ones that are familiar 524 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:13,040 and comfortable. It's like, I can do that. I've done that. Now I need to be continuing to push 525 00:58:13,040 --> 00:58:17,840 myself and to elevate, not just for me, but for my daughter and my nieces and, you know, trying to 526 00:58:17,840 --> 00:58:23,920 be an example for other young ladies. Excellent. Well, great. Well, that's going to wrap us up 527 00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:28,240 with another episode of the Real Estate Shop. Aris, thanks for stopping by and chopping it up 528 00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:33,360 with Curvin and I, and we will definitely look forward to dropping this and make sure you get 529 00:58:33,360 --> 00:58:38,320 pushed out there. All right. Thank you. I love it. 530 00:58:38,320 --> 00:58:44,160 I love it. Another day at the shop, content they can't get anywhere else.