Gender Disparity: Interviewing Female Leaders in Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) regularly tops the list for industries with clear gender disparity. The numbers are substantial: per the 2015 CREW Network White Paper, white men represent 58.5% of all professional CRE positions, 68.9% of mid-level positions, and 77.6% of senior executive positions. The imbalance extends beyond just opportunities, as the 2015 median annual compensation for men was $150,000 while the 2015 median compensation for women was $115,000, a 23.3% gap. A significant portion of this wage gap may be attributable to gender wage disparity in general, but it may also be attributable up to the types of roles that women tend to occupy within the industry.

Most of the women that make up the 35% of the CRE industry work in asset management, where wages tend to be lower than in other CRE roles. The sub-sector of CRE with the highest percent of women is asset, property, and facilities management, where 51% of the workforce is female. These roles are critical to the success of any CRE business.

In this article we interview Danielle Miner (Head of In-house Property Management) and Kristy Greene (Midwest Asset Management), both senior leaders within the Watermark Partners Real Estate team that have come from different backgrounds and take distinct approaches to their roles. In our Q&A we examine their role within the company and attempt to understand some of the barriers that they face as women in a predominantly male industry.

An Interview with Danielle Miner and Kristy Greene

Q. What first attracted you to working in Commercial Real Estate and what has kept you here?

Kristy: I have always been a problem solver and love tough challenges. This business is most certainly a challenge. Every day is a new adventure and ends up in a story you can share.

Danielle: Real estate has always been my passion and CRE is the next step from residential where I started. The challenge has kept me here. There is always something new and exciting. It is never dull or monotonous as every asset is different and there are nuances to each property, so it never gets boring.

Q. What experiences best prepared you for your job in CRE?

Danielle: I have a unique mix of experience from being a personal real estate investor to having been a police officer and in the military. It has allowed me to best understand how to manage physical assets and lead teams. My background and experiences have given me the tools to handle a tremendous amount of conflict, something that is a constant in this job at my level.

Kristy: I started off in the business at the bottom and moved up quite quickly. I began in the low income and tax credit world and loved the mental challenge. I moved up the chain very quickly into compliance and “fixing distressed properties.” I was a single mom who became extremely independent and I craved more and more. I was able to balance a very busy life and then it became my normal. My super competitive background has been a huge asset in this industry.

Q. Why do you think that you see women working in more asset/property management roles?

Kristy: Stronger women tend to stay busy by juggling multiple things at once. In order to succeed in this business you have to be able to multitask. I have found that being able to utilize this skill to overcome challenges is highly rewarded.

Danielle: I am a “doer” rather than just a “talker” and so I naturally gravitated towards a hands-on job with a significant operational focus. There are women with every type of different skill set, but generally women are more nurturing and so perhaps that draws them to jobs that involve a more client/resident focus. I think that women are very strong multitaskers and the roles that they tend to take on, such as property managers, tend to require higher levels of multi-tasking.

Q. As a woman in real estate, what advantages do you think you have compared to your male counterparts?

Danielle: I can relate to other women but also to men really well, maybe from being a police officer and being in the military. I am very good at leading both men and women. I can talk the talk, hang with the boys, and have been doing so my entire life in my prior careers, which were always in predominately male dominated fields. The fact that I am a woman that can relate well to men gives me an edge.

Kristy: Being a mom I tend to pay closer attention to feelings and details, and I have a welcoming aura to which people gravitate. I am able to sympathize more often and understand situations even if I do not agree.

Q. What advantages do you feel are you not afforded as a result of your gender?

Kristy: I am not always afforded immediate respect like my male counterparts.

Danielle: Men tend to assume that I am a secretary or in some other administrative role. Men, and in particular brokers and other property owners, will look my male counterparts in the eye, shake their hands first, and direct questions to them, but not me. I kind of enjoy that because when they realize that I am in charge they end up being really embarrassed which puts them on the back foot. Interestingly, this happens less with maintenance workers. The other disadvantage is that I often feel I have to prove myself more, that my ideas have to be demonstrated with greater evidence than if a man said the same thing.

Q. Women interviewed as part of larger studies have described the industry as still being an “old boys club – even today,” have you come across this in your career?

Danielle: Yes, with CRE brokers especially. Charleston in particular tends to be a more challenging market to work in as a woman with a lot of old-boys clubs. I have accepted that sometimes I’m going to have to be in a room full of all men smoking cigars, it comes with the territory.

Kristy: Because I am newer in this role I think I am more accepting of those ways because I have always seen it. It is what it is. I don’t let it stop me. I have never been a “yes” girl so there is a different level of respect that has been given to me.

Q. Have you noticed a changing environment since you started?

Danielle: I have seen things change over the last few years and have seen more women try to take on larger roles. I think the opportunity for women is there, the question is if they want to go for it. Now more than ever there is a lack of talented people in general in the industry, so that leads to opportunity for anyone that can reach out and take it.

Q. What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced building a career in asset/property management?

Kristy: Being a short and younger woman I tend to be ignored at times. I tend to wear higher heels in meetings and come across extremely tough in order to get a normal point across.

Danielle: I used to have to fake that a man owned my property management company because people would just assume that a man ran the business. Being a female hiring manager and leader, I have been able to staff with a more diverse team including men and women and people from different aspects of life. In the short term it brings more viewpoints and in the long term it will help change the industry.

Q. How can the industry make itself more appealing to women?

Danielle: Employers should actively encourage more women to apply. More female leaders should actively try to be mentors and role models for more junior women to encourage their career growth. Close the pay gap!

Kristy: Throw some sparkle and glitter on it! I don’t know if you can. The tough ones have to continue to fight the battles then in the future it might be a bit easier.

Q. What advice would you give women starting out who would like to have a successful career in Commercial Real Estate?

Danielle: Always be learning. Find someone in a position that you would want to be in and have them mentor you. You just have to be yourself unapologetically and have the confidence to know you deserve a seat at the table.

Kristy: On the job training will best prepare you for a job in CRE. Don’t quit, don’t give up, fight until you get where you want to be. Then fight the battle and succeed daily. Giving up is not an option.

Post Script

At Ballast Rock Capital we help originate and distribute investments from real estate sponsors that are conscientious and responsible in their corporate hiring policies. Please feel free to connect to learn more about how we work with experienced real estate professionals to offer investors the opportunity to invest in income producing assets with a positive social impact.