She's WILD

Today’s guest is Kate Hutson, Life & Career Coach at Shattered Glass Coaching. Kate is an Executive Life Coach providing trusted coaching for professional women to show up with confidence and take control of their careers. After years of passionate work as a business leader, teacher, and coach, Kate turned her passion for mentoring others into practical knowledge for the real world-- skills that executive women can use in their everyday lives to help them create a mindset for success, hone their leadership skills, and achieve peak performance. In her free time, Kate enjoys hiking, eating tacos, and reading novels on the beach.

Kate Hutson is a successful life coach with plenty of tips to help you find your confidence and change your life for the better. In this episode, she walks us through how she coaches her clients to success. You can gain so many great tools from this one podcast episode to change your life for the better. It’s time to start making progress and eliminate those limiting beliefs that have been holding you back. Listen now and gain the inspiration you need to move forward!

Memorable Moments:
4:34- When I was able to cross that finish line and get my Spartan medal and stand there and say I did it. I think it unlocked this whole new level of confidence that was translatable not just to my physical goals, but it's also impacted me personally and professionally and unlocked a new confidence in my business.

13:21- Whatever it is, you're striving for, find somebody who you can verbally articulate your goal to and have that source of accountability, no matter what area of your life. It is.

19:10- If you don't have impostor syndrome, you might not be pushing yourself out of your comfort zone as much as you should be.

23:24- When I see women making real changes in their lives that are getting them closer to what they truly want and desire for themselves. I'm thinking, this is why I do this. And that is something I'm really proud of

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Kate:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katehutson/
Website: https://www.shatteredglasscoaching.com/
Instagram: @shattered.glass.coaching

Kate’s Book/Podcast Recommendations:
Robin Sharma
The 5am Club, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and The Leader Without A Title
Brian Tracy
Eat That Frog, 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Start Getting More Done
Simon Sinek
Boss Babe Podcast
https://bossbabe.com/podcast/

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild the Podcast. Today’s guest is Anita Verma-Lallian. Anita is the CEO and Founder of Arizona Land Consulting, where she provides full concierge services for land seekers and developers of all types of sites and assists investors in discovering viable properties in the West Valley. Anita founded Arizona Land Consulting in 2020, a year after she co-founded land development and investment company, Equity Land Group. She also holds the title of Director of Marketing at her father’s company, Vermaland, where she also heads the company’s solar division. Anita graduated from the University of Arizona in 2004 with a BS in Business Administration and a double major in marketing and finance. She received her MBA from the University of Southern California in 2007. Anita has been recognized as a leader in real estate including being named Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate in Arizona in 2014 by Arizona Business Magazine and a Global Real Estate Leader by the Phoenix Chamber in 2018.

Growing up Anita was exposed to real estate projects at a very young age and was fascinated by them through helping her dad with his business and seeing the sites develop into the final product. Throughout today’s episode, Anita talks about how being exposed to her father's business sparked her desire to start her own land consulting company. Anita and I also discuss the power of relationships and how important they can be to having a successful business. To learn more about Anita, tune in to today’s episode!

Memorable Moments:
4:30- What really resonated with me was that my dad would take me to go see a vacant piece of land with nothing there, and then years later, you would see a bustling development. So that was always very interesting to me, and I always knew I wanted to get into that business.

13:40- One of the benefits to working with our group is we can move very quickly once we know the properties. So a lot of landowners like to work with us for that reason.

16:31- I knew I always wanted to go into business, I knew I wanted to have my own business. My father has had different businesses ever since I was young, and that's kind of what's always attracted to me to have a business.

18:27- When the market crashed in 2008, I was all about solar at that time because that was the highest and best use of the land. So, it keeps changing, and after solar, it was residential. So it hasn't been one thing, but at this moment, I'm all about industrial.

20:12- It's such an amazing feeling to see something that was just dirt, there was nothing on it, and then to see something where it's benefiting the residents of that community. It's a very fulfilling feeling.

29:28- I think that that would be my advice, just become knowledgeable, and it starts with making as many calls as you can to different landowners, brokers, and agents, and then learn by looking at these maps as much as you can because it really gives you so much insight as to what's available and where the growth can go.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Anita
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-verma-lallian/
Arizona Land Consulting Website: https://arizonalandconsulting.com
Verma Land Website: https://vermaland.com/

Anita’s Book Recommendation:
Smart Women Finish Rich, by David Bach
https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Women-Finish-Expanded-Updated/dp/0525573046

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast hosted by Nancy Surak! Today's episode is all about what I've learned since I decided to start this podcast. The She’s Wild Podcast started because I wanted to create a platform where I could interview women in commercial real estate, land and development and have them share their career stories. I am so grateful for the support I have received and new relationships I have formed throughout the last 20 episodes. I have loved shedding light on women in this industry and sharing each of their unique stories. Each of my guests has brought something different to the table, from sharing their favorite deal to explaining how they began their careers.

Although each guest has been from a different sector of the industry, all of my guests have given women who are not currently in this field a new perspective about working in commercial real estate and in land and development and challenging the idea that only men select this career path. I am so eager to share some of my biggest takeaways as I review everything I’ve learned so far since I decided to start this podcast and I thank you again for the continuous support as I shed light on the amazing females working in this industry.

Memorable Moments:
Thank you to every woman who has reached out to me, who has sent me mail, emails, LinkedIn messages, Instagram direct messages, or that I have seen in person. When you say to me, “Your podcast is meaningful, I'm so glad you're doing it.” “Thank you so much for giving a voice to women.”. That's what keeps me going.

Women in commercial real estate, and in particular, land and development are total badass chicks. You guys rock. This is a hard business, and we all love it, but man, y'all are awesome women who work so hard for yourselves and for your companies and your investors. You deserve to be recognized.

You do not have to have a degree in real estate, in construction, or in development to get into this business and to be crazy-successful as a woman or man in this business.

I've heard this my whole life that your network is your net worth. And it's really true, the value of networking and the friends you can make in the business and people that you can lean on is really impactful.

All of my guests felt like our industry, and our companies could do a much better job of bringing more women forward in boardrooms and on stages, and in training women in particular, to take on those roles.

I love hearing how important it is for you to hear other women's voices in our industry. And I will continue to do this show for as long as I can because of that. So please do give me feedback, and please help spread the word about the podcast.

The show is currently being listened to actively regularly in 14 different countries in the world. So this little bitty show that I called She's Wild for women in North America that are in land and development now has listeners every week, globally, which is a little mind-blowing for me to know that my content has meaning across culture, right? It's really cool.

If more people can see someone that they can identify with up on the stage, or in a leadership role, more of us will know that we can be that person, we need our role models. And honestly, that is 100% what this whole show is about.

One of the goals that I set originally when I decided to do this podcast was to make sure that women are not misplaced in the industry. I do feel like the woman's voice is getting lost in some conversations, and I think it's important for us to continue to fight for parity in our industry and in potential leadership roles, and especially on board seats.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild the Podcast. Today’s guest is Lesley Deutch. Lesley is a Managing Principal based in Florida for John Burns Real Estate Consulting. She has more than 25 years of experience consulting with executives in the finance and real estate industries throughout North America. She works on a wide spectrum of development projects, including apartments, for-sale housing, high-rise, urban projects, single-family rental, and commercial developments.

Throughout her career, Lesley has always been drawn to data. As a result, she's made a name for herself as a trusted consultant to major land developers and for leading all custom consulting projects in the Southeast. In today's episode of She’s Wild, Lesley and I discuss her career journey and how her team collects data to provide valuable insights to their clients. We also talk about the unique ways in which they use data to help their clients make better decisions. Throughout the conversation, it's clear that Lesley is passionate about her work and truly believes in the power of data. As a result, she is an inspiration to all women who are looking to make a difference in their careers.

Thank you, Lesley, for sharing your story with us!

Memorable Moments:
6:30- My favorite type of project would be to take a large piece of land and say, what should go here? What's the path of growth? Where do we see the world in 10 years? And what kind of real estate do we need?

10:30- We have a whole building products division that's still forecasting double-digit increases in construction costs over the next year, and that's going to be very difficult for builders to push that through. So I think that's a very big concern. We're watching it closely.

12:34- My job right now is probably the hardest it's ever been to really understand what the market is because it's all over the place.

17:58- I think being able to learn from other people, whether they're just out of college, or the most experienced people, 30 years in the business, everybody has something to teach you.

22:07- Every young person wants to get to be a developer, and that's really exciting, right? That's a really great job. And it's, you know, super high end, but I think learning how to do a deal, learning how to research a deal, and all the pros and cons behind it really helps you understand.

23:05- Really the key to staying employed, to getting a job, is showing someone what you can do for them, and what your worth is.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Lesley
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleydeutch/
John Burns Real Estate Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/john-burns-real-estate-consulting/
John Burns Real Estate Consulting Website: https://www.realestateconsulting.com/

Lesley’s Podcast Recommendation:
The Big Man Can't Shoot
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-big-man-cant-shoot/id1119389968?i=1000371650194

She's WILD Sound Production by: Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast! I’m so excited to have April LaMon as our guest on the show today. April is an experienced entrepreneur and technology expert with a penchant for developing innovative digital platforms, software solutions, and operating systems that seamlessly connect real estate developers and their communities with residents, prospective home buyers, and local businesses. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Alosant, she pioneered the creation and growth of groundbreaking PropTech programs and services for over 70 residential and mixed-use communities nationwide.

In today's episode, April and I talk about the origins of Alosant and how she didn't have any experience in application development when she was approached to develop an app that connected real estate developers and their communities with residents. Today, April leads the company and provides developers with a competitive edge by configuring PropTech solutions that offer future residents an immersive experience of what life will look and feel like at a community before it is fully developed as well as solutions they can use once they move in.

April's story is an inspiration to anyone who has ever been told that they can't do something because they don't have the right experience. With hard work and determination, anything is possible.

Memorable Moments:
22:28- We're finding that developers are coming to us earlier and earlier in the process, because they want a way to share that story. They want a way to take their vision and make it more tangible to people even before it exists.

26:46- I think the biggest challenge then, and to some degree, it's starting to get a little easier, is convincing people that this vision of making your community this relevant, generating this much awareness that people will download and use and engage, and it will, it will lead to a better experience in the community.

28:38- One thing as I coach young people is really listen to that voice deep inside of you. Because even if you don't realize it here, there is something here that's guiding these decisions.

31:18- You can always, always benefit by being curious, be curious, things aren't always what they seem, or there's a lot more there than might appear at the surface. Take the time, allow yourself the time to be curious and really explore whether it's a problem that you're trying to solve. The first and quick answer might not be the right one. Take the time to be curious and go deeper.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: https://nancysurak.com/

Connect with April:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprillamon/
Alosant LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alosant/
Alosant Website: https://www.alosant.com/

April’s Book Recommendations:
My Life in Full by Indra Nooyi via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BzYYV0

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast hosted by Nancy Surak! Today’s guest is Sally Riker, partner at Lowe’s Engineers. Sally has 25 years of experience in the A/E/C industry and was named by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2020 to their List of Women Who Mean Business. Sally was recognized as one of the most influential women in A/E/C in Georgia 2018-2022. She was named to the “40 under 40” list of leading professionals by Georgia Trend magazine and she was recently appointed to the Urban Land Institute's America’s Women’s Leadership Initiative Committee.

Sally's career journey has been filled with success and she’s long been recognized as a strong leader. She attributes her leadership skills to being involved in team sports in her youth and dives into the lessons she learned being a fast-pitch pitcher on her softball team. She is proud to be a woman in the STEM field and works to lift other women up in traditionally male dominated industries. Today’s episode will leave you feeling empowered and ready to step outside of your comfort zone and into a position or career path you might be thinking about.

Memorable Moments:
4:50- When you're playing team sports, you learn early on how not only to lead but support, how to cheer others on. It's something where every person on the team is a critical component to your success. So it’s the same thing here at work.

7:29- So the biggest thing that I always tell people is to be responsive and communicate. That is one of the biggest things that will help a project or help a client understand where you are with the project. If you don't communicate with them, you're not responsive, or you don't pick up the phone, it lends to a lot of problems that perhaps you could have nipped in the bud, to begin with.

12:18- I feel like it is so important, especially for women, to raise your hand, get involved in those leadership roles, don't just be a member or participate, really get involved. There are not enough women out there that get involved with nonprofit organizations, professional organizations that really raise their hand and say, “Hey, I want the opportunity to lead”.

21:42- One thing that I have to say is women are strong, we're resilient. I feel very, very honored and privileged to be here at Lowe, I'm the only female partner.

27:05- I really never thought I would be in a STEM field growing up; I thought I was going to be on Broadway or a news anchor or something like that, but, you know, it is possible.

36:00- Put yourself in the arena, make yourself bigger, you know, and at the end of the day, it's you that counts. You're your own worst critic, and you're probably the one that holds holding yourself back in the long run.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Sally:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-riker-f-same-1b1a1943/
Website: https://loweengineers.com/

Sally’s Book Recommendation:
Daring Greatly Brene Brown via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OAbK8T

She's WILD Sound production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

In today’s episode of She’s Wild Podcast, I am eager to introduce you to our guest Danielle Cobo. Danielle is an award-winning Career, Leadership, and Sales Performance Coach who spent 15 years in medical sales. After earning four consecutive awards for top performance as an individual contributor, and leading a historically poor performing sales team to #1 in the nation within two years, Danielle decided to leave corporate America to follow her passion of coaching others. She has taught thousands of professionals to accelerate their careers, increase sales performance, and create a connected company culture through her keynote speaking, corporate workshops, and one-on-one coaching.

Throughout the episode, Danielle and I discuss her transition from leading the number one sales team in the nation to starting a career coaching business from the ground up. Danielle explains what it means to be a career coach, and gives examples of how she has helped her clients throughout their journey of either excelling in their current role or finding their dream job. This episode will leave you feeling inspired to invest in yourself and eliminate some of the limiting beliefs you may be telling yourself.

Memorable Moments:
5:44- People don't get promoted for doing their job. Well, they get promoted for the potential that others see in them.

10:13- There's so much value of being able to have open, honest conversations with people who can be mentors to you, where you don't have to feel like if you're talking to an internal employee, that your job may be in jeopardy.

11:21- It's all about having a thriving career: So that you can have an abundant life. So that you're living a life of purpose and joy and happiness.

18:45- Find every way to say yes, while also setting the boundaries of when you're going to be doing either that task or that phone call or that email.

23:06- I'm a big believer that if there's a certain goal that you have in mind, the quickest way to get there is to invest in yourself and somebody who's been there before.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Danielle:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniellecobo/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedaniellecobo/
Website: www.DanielleCobo.com
Podcast: Dream Job With Danielle Cobo: https://www.daniellecobo.com/podcast

Danielle’s Book Recommendation:
Harness Your Inner CEO via Amazon - https://amzn.to/3RGIPCF

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast hosted by Nancy Surak! I’m so excited to have Meg Epstein as our guest on the show today. Born and raised in California, Meg is now a leading real estate developer in Nashville, Tennessee. She has over a decade of experience creating efficient, modern lifestyles for people where it matters most: their homes and neighborhoods. Meg founded CA South in 2016 with the idea of bringing Nashville her sense of design and style of building honed from her days constructing in California.

Over the course of her career, she’s been involved in the development and construction of over 1 million square feet of residential and commercial real estate, representing over $780 million to date. Today, Meg is the CEO of CA South, a licensed Commercial Contractor, a licensed Residential Contractor, a CCIM candidate, and she’s also a licensed real estate agent.

In today's episode, Meg and I talk about the power of cold calling and why it is an efficient business strategy when you are getting into development or real estate. We discuss the booming market within Nashville, Tennessee, and why that began to grow exponentially during the pandemic as well as other market trends that are making it a great place for real estate development. Meg sheds light on CA South and how her company is shifting its focus into the industrial market for the foreseeable future.

This episode is great for anyone looking to get into real estate or development as Meg talks through the challenges and wins she has encountered throughout her years as an entrepreneur.

Memorable Moments:
7:03- Cold calling was how I got my first deal funded, my first over 100 million dollar deal funded, during the pandemic, and I've never even met them, but I cold-called them and I had been cold calling them for many years.

10:53- I tend to think really big, I think that's another big lesson I've learned that you have to kind of keep your goals really high and continue coming back to them.

22:00- Well, in this market, deals are really tough to make work. So you have to be creative and find the right opportunities because there's always inefficiency.

28:35- I think that it's been a really tough struggle, the supply chain issues and the cost of construction with the high expectation for land value.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: https://nancysurak.com/

Connect with Meg:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/megepstein/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/megaubaleepstein/
Website: www.casouthdevelopment.com/

Meg’s Podcast/Book Recommendations:
How I Built This with Guy Raz
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297
Speaking from Experience via Amazon - https://amzn.to/3c75wQc

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business via Amazon - https://amzn.to/3ysqC2W

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast hosted by Nancy Surak! Today’s guest is Carol Stricklin, AICP, the Director of the Pinellas County Housing and Community Development Department. Carol is responsible for the Community Development and Planning Divisions. Her department manages the County’s grant-funded affordable housing programs and is administering $80 million in sales tax funds set aside for the production of affordable housing. Carol has over 35 years of experience in public and private sector planning in Florida. Her areas of expertise include economic development, redevelopment, and affordable housing.

Carol has had an impressive career journey, starting in Orlando and eventually becoming the Director for Pinellas County Housing and Community Development. She's seen how the market has changed within Pinellas County over the past ten years, and she's got a lot of insights to share. For starters, she explains that the "missing middle" is a big problem when it comes to affordable housing. Basically, there's a real lack of options for people who don't qualify for government assistance but still can't afford market-rate rent. It's a complex issue, but Carol is optimistic that they can make progress if they continue to work together and focus on finding creative solutions.

Memorable Moments:
7:20- We're trying to spread a wide net, not just reaching out to our traditional affordable housing development partners, but to but to the market rate developers to try to get some mixed income projects. So putting that money out there to help leverage deals is a lot of what we're doing.

9:26- If you attract a workforce, and then can't give them an affordable place to live, you can't continue to grow your economy.

17:48- Planning is a long game. So sometimes it takes 10 years to be an overnight success. But to go back to communities and see those projects is, is one of the most rewarding things I do.

24:40- If, you know a young career professional has an opportunity to work in that sort of transformative part of the real estate industry where we're looking at energy efficiency, green building sustainability, climate change, you know, I would say go into the industry and focus on that that sort of that future ESG initiative.

27:13- Looking outside of the sort of purely the professional associations to look at the other segments of the industry, I think has just been really beneficial to my career.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com

Connect with Carol
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-stricklin-47128013/

Carol’s Book Recommendation:
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OPPk3X

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]

Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast hosted by Nancy Surak! I’m so excited to have Danielle Atkins as our guest for today’s episode. Danielle is the owner of Land & Ladies, the first forestry consulting firm focused 100% on serving women landowners. In addition to offering forestry management plan development services, Land & Ladies host seminars and provides educational content in relatable, every-day terms, for women landowners who are looking to gain knowledge of various forest management and landownership aspects.

Danielle earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Forest Resources in Wildlife Sciences from UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and a Master’s of Forest Resources. Prior to Land & Ladies, she worked for the Georgia Forestry Commission and with the nationally awarded Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Program. She has been working with women landowners, developing women-focused workshops since 2016. Danielle currently lives in Brunswick, Georgia with her husband and three children.

In today's episode Danielle and I talk about why she focused her firm on helping women landowners and how she leverages her social media strategy to educate her followers on forestry issues in a fun and exciting way.

Memorable Moments:
15:11- Sometimes I'll get, you know, some haters out there, which if you don't get haters, you're not doing something right.

19:52- Nine times out of ten, you probably do have the right plan. But how do you know unless you ask the right questions? And that's where I set them up.

22:53- People will spend two weeks researching the right toaster and then sell their trees to the first person that knocked on their door because they're in this emotional state, and so that's where I come through. And I'm like, here's how you ask the right questions, here are some red flags to look for.

25:32- I think I'm most proud that I'm able to show you can be a mom in work that type of career at the same time. The second thing I'm most proud of is, seeing these women take action onto their property, seeing women kind of light up afterwards, that really felt discouraged and didn't know how to go about it.

28:54- The worst thing you can do is be someone that works on the computer making business decisions and never having actually been in the field and understanding operations.

Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: https://nancysurak.com/

Connect with Danielle:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/landandladies/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landandladies/
Website: https://www.landandladies.com/

Danielle’s Podcast Recommendations:
The Jasmine Star Show: https://jasminestar.com/podcast/
Mind Your Business Podcast: https://www.mindyourbusinesspodcast.com/
The Ramsey Show: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9kYXZlcmFtc2V5LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiY9Livuq74AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en

She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: [email protected]