Career Path of a Vice President at Catalyst Commercial Real Estate

My college path began at San Diego State University. I had no idea what I wanted to do in the future, but I wanted to pursue something in business. I assumed marketing was the best route.

It turns out that marketing experience has been very helpful in my career. However, after starting in marketing, I learned a lot but realized it wasn't what I wanted to do. I graduated later, but not until I attended a real estate society meeting.

The energy I felt from the brokers and developers there really attracted me to the industry. Then, during my first internship with Matthews Real Estate Investment Services, I discovered a connection through seeing projects in real life. I would drive around with brokers who showed me buildings they sold, or developers who pointed out buildings they had built.

This became my end goal around my junior year of college: I wanted to build something that I could point to as I drove around San Diego. This ambition was also attractive because the industry is very lucrative, offering a good balance.

I started my career in brokerage and took that internship at Matthews, which led to a full-time role. I worked there for about a year, putting in 12 to 14-hour days, always dressed in a suit and tie. My job involved cold calling, making a hundred calls a day to commercial real estate owners, looking for those willing to sell their shopping centers.

I was involved in multi-tenant retail and shopping center brokerage. I learned an unbelievable amount in a short time. Though I made a hundred calls, I only spoke to 10 to 15 people a day. These conversations with individuals worth millions taught me exponentially more than I could have learned in college or other roles.

I still believe starting in brokerage is the best way to enter this industry. It's a fast track to speaking with people much further ahead in their careers. My goal, however, was to learn how to develop buildings, and I knew brokerage wouldn't provide that experience.

I sought a role in private equity or with a developer, but no positions were available due to a tough job market. I ended up joining a property management firm that was also an investment firm. They owned about seven deals themselves and managed approximately 1,250 units for outside clients.

In that role, I began to understand real estate operations more. Brokerage taught me how to communicate effectively, while property management taught me how to operate buildings, maximize cash flow, and interpret financials. I learned where to make changes that would genuinely improve a building's performance.

This role was also the first time I could go on-site, examine physical buildings, and talk directly with tenants. I learned what we could do to increase efficiencies or improve the building's appearance to attract tenants willing to pay higher rates, thereby increasing returns for investors.

While in that role, I was also cold calling for new property management clients. This is how I encountered the founder and CEO of Catalyst, my current company. I was trying to win his business for property management at the time.

However, a role opened up at Catalyst, and I decided to pursue that instead. This path has led me to my current position.