Tenant Experience Network (TEN)

In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Rita Tené Ellison, Associate Director at T. Dallas Smith & Company. Rita’s career journey started out in her junior year of college with an internship at T. Dallas Smith & Company. Upon graduation, Rita was offered a full-time position at that same firm but respectfully turned it down to pursue other opportunities at larger firms. As of November of last year, she rejoined T. Dallas Smith & Company. Rita acknowledged the uphill battle African Americans face in the industry and shared how T. Dallas Smith & Company has a mission to involve more women of color in their business. She does believe that hybrid work is here to stay, however, says it is not new. Employees are wanting flexibility now more than ever, and employers are responding by empowering their teams, resulting in improved productivity. Rita is firm in the belief that an office presence is critical to support culture and engagement. Buildings are not just a place to work and are beginning to offer more of a live-work environment. Using the office lobby as an example, she points out that they are now becoming places for people to collaborate, socialize, and more. She explains that access to local amenities is becoming more of a driving factor in real estate decisions, causing smart landlords to become more attentive to tenant needs, and respond with appropriate programming. With a “client-first” mentality, her firm has maintained a consistent approach throughout the pandemic in responding to the evolving needs of its customers.

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Jamie Petten, President & Executive Director of the Kanata North Business Association. We learn about Jamie’s career journey, having spent the last decade working in Kanata North Technology Park, Canada’s largest technology park. She initially worked for the L-SPARK Accelerator program, transitioning more recently into leading the Kanata North Business Association and Hub350 Accelerator. Her story began on the west-end cliffs of Jamaica, supporting two Canadian entrepreneurs building a boutique destination hotel, restaurant and spa. Jamie draws on her experience in the hospitality industry as she continues to guide KNBA into the future. She discusses the need for human connection to feel our best mentally, but also highlights the need to think more globally and embrace the changes in thinking around how we live, work, play, learn and innovate. Since launching Hub350 in October 2021, Jamie shared that it has seen over 6,000 visitors – connecting in person for hot desking, larger events, community town halls, company gatherings and more. She facilitates a dialogue around how the technology park will continue to evolve in response to emerging needs. In order to attract and retain talent, a big part of the conversation amongst all of the stakeholders is adding new opportunities to live and play at the park, and making new investments to enhance physical workspaces. Jamie is very enthusiastic about the opportunity for HILO to play a role in helping to connect all the partners in the park and promote all of the park’s activities. She loves innovation and Kanata North Technology Park's role in supporting its community members!  

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Jamie Petten, President & Executive Director of the Kanata North Business Association. We learn about Jamie’s career journey, having spent the last decade working in Kanata North Technology Park, Canada’s largest technology park. She initially worked for the L-SPARK Accelerator program, transitioning more recently into leading the Kanata North Business Association and Hub350 Accelerator. Her story began on the west-end cliffs of Jamaica, supporting two Canadian entrepreneurs building a boutique destination hotel, restaurant and spa. Jamie draws on her experience in the hospitality industry as she continues to guide KNBA into the future. She discusses the need for human connection to feel our best mentally, but also highlights the need to think more globally and embrace the changes in thinking around how we live, work, play, learn and innovate. Since launching Hub350 in October 2021, Jamie shared that it has seen over 6,000 visitors – connecting in person for hot desking, larger events, community town halls, company gatherings and more. She facilitates a dialogue around how the technology park will continue to evolve in response to emerging needs. In order to attract and retain talent, a big part of the conversation amongst all of the stakeholders is adding new opportunities to live and play at the park, and making new investments to enhance physical workspaces. Jamie is very enthusiastic about the opportunity for HILO to play a role in helping to connect all the partners in the park and promote all of the park’s activities. She loves innovation and Kanata North Technology Park's role in supporting its community members!  

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Jennifer Djurkovic, CEO of Djurkovic Investment Properties. Jennifer started her career journey at The Real Deal magazine and built her network from there. She eventually connected with Bob Knakal, who asked her, “do you want to read about the rich and powerful, or do you want to live it?” She later joined his team as an Associate Broker and stayed with the firm even after it was acquired by Cushman & Wakefield. Jennifer knew she had the entrepreneurial bug and would eventually start her own firm, inspired to go out on her own and never look back. Jennifer shared a wonderful story about her family and their early experience with real estate. She has a wealth of knowledge in the CRE industry in New York City and is always tapping into the pulse of the industry. She offered insights into what people really want from buildings and how building operators are responding, emphasizing the need for innovation to support new talent and retain current employees. In our closing speed round, Jennifer shared a touching and powerful story about the tremendous impact the pandemic has had on her family.  

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Dara Friedman, Managing Director at BentallGreenOak. Following her graduation with a liberal arts degree, Dara started her career journey in investment banking, where she was given a choice between focusing on technology or real estate. Since choosing real estate she has never looked back and now specializes in investment management. Dara points out that many of the phenomena we face today have been around for many years – shorter-term leases, more flexible spaces, making live-work-play a priority, and the issue of affordability. Building operators and occupiers must focus on tenant engagement, creating alignment through their approach. Amenities, health and wellness, energy use and reducing operational costs, are all key drivers of supporting human capital and contributing to the delivery of great customer experiences. Dara shared a bit about completing a merger amid the pandemic, and how the company created opportunities to socialize and integrate people across the globe. I appreciated Dara’s reflection on how difficult living through the pandemic really was.  

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Nicole Dallas, Global Head of Technical Services at Cushman & Wakefield. Nicole started her career journey by adopting the “fake it until you make it” strategy, which led to her first position as a Chief Engineer at a hospital. Nicole now focuses on leading engineering and operations platforms for service providers. She recognizes that she does not know everything and therefore has come to rely heavily on those around her to bridge the gaps, including the engineers that she works so closely with. I love Nicole’s “bottom/up” philosophy, which comes from being in the field and engaging with all members of her team. During the height of the pandemic, Nicole did not slow down for a minute. Quite the opposite, she had to accelerate a process to develop the next generation of expert facility engineers. While COVID was causing tenants to add walls and plexiglass, Nicole and her team were busy adjusting air systems to reflect changes to the physical floor plate, and later repeating the process as these barriers started to come down. Nicole has always worked remotely with her team located around the world, however, she does recognize the role that amenities play in helping define great tenant experience, largely due to the need to increase tenant “choices”. Her line of business has actually ramped up with new demands to manage buildings that are “idle”, but still need to be maintained and ready for reactivation as needed, bringing about new challenges and opportunities for her team.  Subscribe to TEN so you never miss an episode of the Tenant Experience Network.

In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Marcie Williams, CEO of RKW Residential. Marcie started her career journey in CRE as a leasing consultant in multifamily, eventually turning her focus to operations where she worked her way up the ranks to her current role as CEO. Marcie was actually encouraged to get into real estate while working as a bartender, and she has never looked back. Her natural confidence and comfort around people have contributed to her industry success. Marcie shares insights from her experience managing over 4,000 homes in planned communities and finding a work/life balance in the hybrid world. Creating community has become RKW’s #1 priority, with residents 70% more likely to renew if they connect with just 6 people in their communities. To achieve this goal, multifamily spaces are evolving to accommodate new use cases and provide more outdoor offerings. While Marcie is focused on meeting the new demands of their core business, she also prioritizes the changing needs of the corporate work environment through the introduction of new programs and activities that keep her team connected. I loved hearing about Marcie’s “hotel industry” training program, inspired by the importance of adopting a hospitality approach in real estate. As Marcie describes, thinking about what people need entirely sums up her job. 

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Rasheq Zarif, Co-founder and COO of ReWyre. Rasheq shares his career journey to the Proptech space after 2+ decades in the automotive and mobility industry. Rasheq saw that commercial real estate was ripe for disruption and that many of the challenges were similar to the auto industry, so he was able to apply his experience and methodology to disrupt CRE. Rasheq is now partnered with Ricky Chera, co-founding ReWyre, to support the property technology that is leading the digital transformation of the industry. Rasheq and ReWyre envision an ecosystem that contributes to a common cause by creating a neutral party to help transact for multiple solutions. Data will be a big driver for CRE to see the bigger picture, and according to Rasheq, this is where HILO is uniquely positioned to be able to better understand the customer’s needs and provide a higher level of service. I loved Rasheq’s thinking around buildings as environments, rather than assets. This way of thinking aligns with mine, as I’ve recognized for some time that buildings are really places for people. The only way to optimize real estate again is to solve the root cause of the problem, challenging building operators to create better workplace environments that people will want to spend time in. Rasheq views Tenant Experience, Safety and Security, and Climate Change as three main components of the Proptech ecosystem that are driving demand for emerging technology solutions. I am convinced that Racheq’s unique background is going to allow him to see opportunities where others don’t, helping to “ReWyre” the built world and future-proof buildings through enhancement, without having to make major changes to the infrastructure.  

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Michael Beckerman, CEO of CREtech and CREtech Climate. Michael shares his career journey from public relations for commercial real estate to launching a small news aggregator that has grown into something much bigger, now CREtech. Michael saw an opportunity to put a spotlight on innovation in the built world and create a global audience of startups, commercial real estate operators and venture capitalists. Michael understands the stakeholders' pain points in the CRE ecosystem and felt he could provide helpful added value. In our discussion, Michael notes the significant change in power from the landlord to the tenant and the new recognition that customer demands and preferences are going to evolve the industry to deliver a hospitality approach to service. Now more than ever before, real estate companies must think of themselves as a brand. For Michael, it is less about how many days people are in the office, and more about the experience that is offered when they are there. Michael’s perspective on the rate of technology adoption by CRE provides an insightful context to better understand the pain points for stakeholders. I love Michael’s thoughts about the fluidity of the workplace, while he noted the paramount need to focus on the experience people receive no matter where they choose to work. Michael gravitates to the “hard things” and I so enjoyed our time together and learning about where he sees the industry going in the future. 

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In this episode, host David Abrams is in conversation with Amy Carroll, President of Trademark Properties. Amy's family built custom homes, so it was natural for her to begin her career journey in an entry-level position at a multifamily real estate business. After 8 years of learning all she could, Amy leveraged that experience and transitioned to commercial real estate and property management, which led her to Trademark Properties and ascending to the position of President on her 1-year anniversary. Amy is a lifelong learner and feels strongly that this characteristic is essential to success. As a supporter of the new hybrid workplace, Amy has personally adopted this approach within her company. We discussed the need for buildings to be more competitive, especially when stacked up against newer construction. In Amy’s words: “Commercial Real Estate is a dinosaur.” Technology has been focused on the operations side of the business, but it’s not enough. With HR managers now involved in every real estate decision, now is the time to tap into what is most important – delivering what tenants really want. The operation of the building needs to be better connected to experience. I loved hearing about Amy’s early response to the pandemic, and how she and her team positioned the company for success during a time of tremendous upheaval.  

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