Beth Bleser | Senior Project Manager
Why did you decide to go into commercial real estate?
I have had an affinity for design for a long time; if you go anywhere with me you will notice my habit of touching all the textures and sitting in every chair I see. When I found a major that combined interior architecture, furniture design and product design, I really felt that opened the world to all the design options I could imagine. A couple jobs into my career I landed at an architecture firm on a team that focused on Landlord Tenant Improvements, and I fell in love. The fast pace of getting plans done to fit the timeline of the deal, getting to work with a wide variety of business types, and working with the same client team made this the right business for me.
What was the toughest challenge you faced when you were starting out?
When I graduated, jobs in the field of architecture and design were hard to find. I interviewed and had my resume out to a lot of companies. One company in Kansas City expressed interest but took a couple months to finally offer the job. I put in my time following up and staying on their radar to get that job and relocated from Illinois to take the job. It was difficult to be so persistent and to move far away from family. However, I will always say it was worth it, I gained an invaluable amount of knowledge that I have leaned on in every job since.
Tell a story about a time in your career where you did things differently than how a colleague or mentor did or advised.
Earlier in my career, when I was just starting to manage employees, it was very important to me to check in with them and make sure that they were happy with their career path. Because of this approach, I did learn that an employee was not enjoying the project type that my team focused on. As a result, I worked hard with her and leadership to get her onto the right team for her future. It was not a quick process, but that employee was patient and appreciated my efforts to help her achieve her career goals. That was not an opportunity I had ever been offered in my career, but it felt important to me to offer it as a manager.