Real Perspectives Podcast

Jessica Musick is a Principal in the Oakland office of KTGY, an architecture firm she joined in 2003. Since her start at the firm, she developed a diverse portfolio and plays an integral role in establishing the design vision and carrying projects through design approvals. Focusing on urban-infill mixed-use projects, Jessica believes that architecture should be deeply rooted in the community where it sits, responsibly responding to client goals, community needs and the urban context. Having served as lead designer for residential and mixed-use developments, Jessica’s experiences have given her the insight that good design is the product of many factors and puts a priority on communication, process and understanding project economics.

David Greschler is the Co-Founder & CEO of Nomad Go, a company he founded in 2016 with an initial focus in the food-service and retail markets. Since then, Nomad Go's capabilities have spanned across verticals, serving customers in the commercial real estate, entertainment, hospitality and education markets.

Nomad Go's real-time data capture using computer vision, machine learning and edge processing offer a unique solution for customers looking for scalable, accurate and cost-effective spatial intelligence. We sat down with David to understand the business better and how he’s been helping the commercial real estate industry create smarter buildings and better-informed end-users.

Donna Clark is a Senior Managing Director of the Northern California/Nevada Region for Kennedy Wilson. She is responsible for the operations, leasing, business development and asset management for more than 10 million square feet of office, industrial and retail properties throughout Northern California and Nevada. Her team includes construction managers, property managers, accountants and brokers.  

Donna is also the 2020 President of the NAIOP Sacramento Valley Chapter.

Rhonda Diaz is an Executive Vice President in the Food & Beverage, Hospitality, Entertainment Retail in JLL’s San Francisco office. She is a native to the San Francisco Bay Area and has a deep understanding of retail, food and beverage urban hospitality-oriented environments, trends and psychographics. Some of her recent high-profile assignments include Chase Arena, Piers 1.5 to 5, the Historic Pier 70 and City Center Bishop Ranch. Mixed-use, retail, and hotel clients include W Hotels, Pebblebrook Hotel Group,  Ritz Carlton and Kimpton Hotel Group, to name a few.

James Cook serves as the Americas Director of Retail Research at JLL, based out of Indianapolis, IN. He oversees the production of national retail research and also serves as the voice of retail research in the Midwest region. His focus includes the development and implementation of research strategy, methodology, platform deliverables and broad sector analyses for the retail property markets in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He creates industry-leading research and thought leadership for both owners and occupiers of retail developments.

Today’s guest on the pod is Henry D’Esposito. Henry is a senior research analyst with JLL in their National Construction and Project & Development Services group. He is based in the firm’s Washington, DC office, and he recently helped author a study that looked at the national trends impacting the construction market with a special emphasis on construction technology. We sat down with Henry recently to go over some those drivers of technology in an industry that is best known for its legacy methods and is not very quick to change. But this pandemic may be just the force needed to initiate such a transformation.

Jay Olshonsky has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of NAI Global since December 2012 when C-III Capital Partners LLC acquired the firm. Jay is responsible for the all operations of NAI Global, as well as an active leader on the NAI Global Capital Markets Group, which focuses on the disposition of individual assets, notes and portfolio sales in a number of property sectors including office, industrial, retail and hotel.

NAI Global is one of the largest commercial real estate firms worldwide and a top five global brand. The company has consistently generated over $20 billion in annual transaction volume, operates more than 375 offices, manages over 1.15 billion square feet of properties and facilities and has 6,000 + professionals in 41 countries.

Kay Sargent is a director of HOK’s global WorkPlace practice. With a passion for using design to transform how and where people work, she spends her days (and many nights) working with clients on workplace strategy and design.

Based in Washington, D.C., Kay leads project teams that solve clients’ business and organizational challenges related to real estate business process, strategic planning, workplace strategy and change management. She collaborates with organizations ranging from tech startups to Fortune 500 companies to optimize their real estate portfolios and create the most innovative work experiences.

Today, we talk to Brandi Susewitz, the founder and CEO of Clear Office. Brandi and her team are looking to transform the commercial office space industry by providing an easy to use platform where used office furniture, often just a few years old, can be sold and reused. This eliminates millions of cubic feet of waste and it helps companies find ways to repurpose a perfectly functional piece of furniture.

Brandi has been in the furniture industry for over 20 years, but it wasn’t until this year’s pandemic that she found herself in a situation to innovate out of necessity. To learn more about Clear Office, we welcome Brandi to the pod!

Today, we sit down with Mark Gilbreath, the CEO of LiquidSpace, which is the largest, real time network for office space serving individuals and teams from over 109,000 businesses in 2,700 cities.

The LiquidSpace Network transforms the entire commercial real estate process by connecting growing teams and professionals looking for space, directly with venue partners, space providers, real estate professionals and service providers. The company’s online tools simplify the discovery and transaction of office space, and their reimagined legal framework eliminates the cost and complexities of traditional leasing. Through LiquidSpace, office space can be yours with a click, and you can pay by the hour, day, month or longer. No lease, no hassle.

I am joined today again with my co-host Jack Seymour of Transwestern for our joint startup stories podcast. Today, we speak with OKCoin’s Bob Lehto, the International Head of People at the company.

OKCoin is on a mission to make crypto investing and trading more accessible to anyone around the world. Founded in 2013, OKCoin is a global exchange numbering 250 employees with its headquarters offices in San Francisco, and local offices in Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. The company is a collective of global citizens with a common passion to help decentralize finance and level the economic playing field for everyone around the world.