Our executive team, including President Antje Gehrken, President-Elect Sarah Ware, Treasurer Drussy Hernandez, Immediate Past President Nykea Pippion McGriff, Appointed Director Erika Villegas and CEO Michelle Mills Clement answered questions from the audience during the lunch portion of the Titans conference.
Here are quick nuggets of advice they had to share.
“I do commercial real estate because it feeds my head, and I do residential real estate because it feeds my heart…I think there’s a direct path from residential to commercial.” Antje Gehrken, President
“Tell your story consistently and constantly in different rooms. Hopefully it will inspire just one person, because that’s the goal…We want diversity of thoughts, and we only do that if we replace ourselves as we go along.” Sarah Ware, President-Elect
“I always want to make sure that whoever I’m engaged with is part of the network of the future. I was mentored into this role, and I want to do the same for others.” Drussy Hernandez, Treasurer
“For me, it’s been about replacing myself, even at the committee level. I have intentionally stopped to say, ‘If I’m no longer on this committee, who can I make a recommendation for.’ And I’ve been very intentional about that every step of the way.” Nykea Pippion McGriff, Immediate Past President
“Find mentors. Find someone that believes in you, that sees your potential, that you can call and say, ‘How do I ask for a raise,’ or, ‘How do I get into that group?’ Because sometimes, we need someone who’s been there before us to help us.” Erika Villegas, Appointed Director
“If you get an opportunity for a commercial deal…and you see it’s a little bit different, get help…There are so many people that do this work, and that’s someone that you can latch on to and learn from.” Michelle Mills Clement, CEO