Today’s guest is Jaimee Reinertsen. Jaimee is the co-founder of SparkFire Branding, a full-service agency specializing in marketing mixed-use and residential real estate. Jaimee is an award-winning creative director, and has been using her passion for place-making to help developers build distinctive brands for over 20 years. Before opening SparkFire Branding in 2015, she was the Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Wallace & Company and Ecendant Interactive, as well as the Vice President of Milesbrand. She is an active member of the National Town Builders Association and Vice Chair of the Urban Land Institute's Community Development Gold Council.
Welcome back to the She’s Wild the Podcast for Women In Land & Development. Today’s guest is Jaimee Reinertsen. Jaimee is the co-founder of SparkFire Branding, a full-service agency specializing in marketing mixed-use and residential real estate. Jaimee is an award-winning creative director, and has been using her passion for place-making to help developers build distinctive brands for over 20 years. Before opening SparkFire Branding in 2015, she was the Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Wallace & Company and Ecendant Interactive, as well as the Vice President of Milesbrand. She is an active member of the National Town Builders Association and Vice Chair of the Urban Land Institute's Community Development Gold Council.
In today's episode, Jaimee and I talk about SparkFire Branding, the real estate marketing agency that she and her husband created to combine their talents of technology and design. Jaimee walks us through some of the projects she has worked on over the years. Listen in as we discuss her career path, as well as things that she's seeing in her business right now. Jaimee is an incredibly talented individual with a passion for helping businesses grow. It was inspiring to chat with her about all of the work that she and her team are doing at SparkFire Branding. It's clear that they are making a big impact in the real estate industry, and I'm excited to see what they do next!
Memorable Moments:
9:05- The name of the game in the last few years has just been being as nimble as possible. So, we're looking at things week to week with what's the engagement level in the market? What websites are people spending their time on? What are their questions? What are the frustrations they have? How can we communicate better? And it's really been such a dynamic time in the last couple of years, that it's just been so unpredictable and fun in that regard.
12:01- Because of COVID, people really started to think very critically about what their home allowed for, what the shortcomings were, and having kids at home through school. So there were just so many different decision-making factors that went into it. And that really altered and I think, made the buying decision so much more urgent.
13:22- For a while, it felt like the computer was the thing the world lived in because that was your interaction with humans. So changing how we took information centers, basically online, and created virtual presentations, that you would have always wanted to be in person before.
18:44- At the end of the day, we want to work on places that everybody's committed to be proud of. And it just makes for a much more collaborative, enjoyable, and creative experience.
21:34- We're always trying to get people to change the value equation from price per square foot to quality of life. And the more we understand how the developer came to it, the more we can help build that value.
26:36- Our motto is to share recklessly, because we want to give back to the industry that, you know, has been so good to us.
26:57- It's such a long game with business development in this industry because it's all about relationships, and things come back, and we truly believe that. It's fun to just share with people; it's something we love to do. It kind of all comes back around. So sometimes, we need advice from people, and we want people to share with us.
27:41- The most fun I have is traveling to places I would probably never get to if I were vacationing, right? Like I probably wouldn't necessarily end up in Liberty, Missouri, for a vacation, right? But I remember going there and meeting the people, and we were doing a city rebranding, and just hearing about their history and what they're proud of, and what they love.
35:10- Real estate's such an interesting thing to market because most of the time, in the early days, as you know, we're talking about things that aren't there yet, right? And we're asking people to trust us that they're coming.
Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com
Connect with Jaimee:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeeabbott/
Spark Fire Branding Website: https://sparkfirebranding.com/
Jaimee’s Book Recommendation:
HANDLING YOUR FIRE: Passion, Burnout, Routines and Resilience
https://robbell.com/audio/handling-your-fire-passion-burnout-routines-and-resilience/
She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: surakproductions@gmail.com
Nancy Surak 00:00
Welcome to She's wild, the podcast for women and land in development. I'm your host, Nancy Surak. I created this podcast as a way to collect conversations of women in the land and development industry. I've been a land broker on the west coast of Florida for nearly 20 years. And I love to empower other women and to tell them about this amazing industry. But I find often that there just aren't enough women being featured on big stages, whether that's at local conferences, or nationally. So I set out to find these women myself that are killing it in my business across North America that are changing the communities that they live in every single day, whether they're building condos, multifamily, single family, office, or industrial projects. I hope that you will find this space to be inspirational, motivating, and educational. From time to time, I will feature women who are not only in my business, but also career coaches, and motivational speakers. Today's guest is Jamie Reinertsen. of Spark fire branding out of Virginia. Jamie's company focuses on real estate placemaking technology and branding for masterplan communities. listen in as we discuss her career path, as well as things that she's seeing in her business right now. Enjoy the show. Hi, welcome to she's bought the podcast for women in land in development. Today's guest is Jamie Reinertsen, of Spark fire branding. Jamie, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself. I'm so excited to get into our conversation, learn a little bit more about you and all the great things that you're doing in the real estate space.
Jaimee Reinertsen 01:45
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me. I am Jaimee Reinertsen. I am the co founder and creative director of SparkFire Branding. And we specialize in branding and marketing for masterplan communities throughout the country.
Nancy Surak 02:00
So you you don't only do the master planning, though, right? You also do commercial and some other types of project as well as I correct?
Jaimee Reinertsen 02:09
We do. So we a lot of times with, with the communities we're involved in, they will either have, they may be mixed use development entirely, or they'll have a mixed use component. And so we will do the marketing for their commercial aspects as well.
Nancy Surak 02:25
Great, thank you for clarifying that. So you guys are really kind of where real estate meets tech meets branding and bringing all those components together. Tell me how did you originally get to a decision in your career where you decided I'm going to focus on the masterplan space or the real estate space as part of my marketing your marketing or advertising background?
Jaimee Reinertsen 02:51
Yeah, it was a long road. But interestingly enough, I sort of fell into it. Originally, I had majored in Journalism at Penn State and then had an internship in Colorado, working in telecommunications, and they invited me back for a full time job after I graduated. And it was supposed to be about a year because AT and T was buying the company. But I got there in the buyout when about four months. And I was like, Okay, I have to find a job because I've at least now, and I knew I wanted to be in advertising. And through a friend of a friend got a copywriting job at a real estate marketing firm. And I thought, well, I can do this for about a year, you know, I'll probably run out, run out of things to say about houses in a year, right? How much can there be. And I really fell in love with it. Because it's such an emotional purchase decision. You know, it's really like, multi layered decision in terms of what drives people to make a move, whether it's primary, home secondary. And I've always just been really fascinated and what makes people do what they do. So, you know, the more different kinds of real estate I was exposed to just the more interesting and nuanced that became. And so I worked for a firm that at that time, just had a lot of different turnover in different sections of the agency. So agency life is kind of divided into the creative side for copywriting and graphic design, and then the account service side, which is more of the strategy and project management. And as people left I would end up sort of filling in their positions for a while, either temporarily or over time and I ended up kind of this position sort of molded around, you know, different strengths that I had, which was cool. And I got to do a lot of brand development and travel a lot at that point which was fantastic in my 20s and so you know that took me till about 2008 with that firm, and then we all took a little break. But even so stayed involved with a number of different things on a freelance basis and, and then went back to a firm that worked with real estate developers in 2012. So in 2015, some of those relationships over time, I mean, at this point, I'm 15 years, at that point, at that point, I was 15 years in and just had a lot of relationships over time that people went on to different projects, and they, you know, went into different places in the country. And they started to call and say, hey, you know, what are you working on these days? And so I thought, you know, just the timing was right. And if I always thought I would, I would start an agency. But at that point, I was 38. And I thought, well, when are you going to do that? You don't start thinking about that soon. So my husband and I actually started it together. He was in, he worked for Microsoft, and some tech companies. So he had more of the, the kind of technology side, and I had more of the creative, and media side, and more of the real estate background. And so we kind of put those together. And, and, you know, it's been, it's been really rewarding, because, as I said, some of those relationships came forward into that. And so I've gotten to work with some of my very favorite people on incredible projects, and, and build a good team in the process. So
Nancy Surak 06:32
What's it like working with your husband on a daily basis? I question a lot, I don't work with my husband, but we're in relate in a related field. So people ask us in we built like a home together and constructed it, and people say, Well, what was that like? And I'm like, Oh, it was great. But I'm curious, you know, what's that? Like, for you guys? When you have that dynamic? And then a team under under you as well?
Jaimee Reinertsen 06:54
Yeah, it's interesting. You know, I think the key for us has been to establish pretty well defined swim lanes, you know, things that he's great at things that I'm great at who makes the decision in one round, who makes the decision and another. And, you know, certainly there's a lot of collaboration, and then just really respecting each other's strengths, because there are things that I'll go headfirst into. And he's like, wait, wait, wait, you know, and a lot of times, he turns out to be right. And, you know, vice versa, sometimes you want to move into things, you know, maybe on gut, you know, a little bit more from from experience. And so, we tried to just kind of balance that together. So, but overall, it's been it's been really good.
Nancy Surak 07:41
That's cool. No, I admire people, couples who can work together, I think it takes a very special type of communication pattern to be able to do that.
Jaimee Reinertsen 07:49
Yeah, there's for sure a learning curve with it.
Nancy Surak 07:53
And you can sound like you, you know, you You're different. You have different sides of the brain, you know, that kind of snapped together? They really complement each other very well.
Jaimee Reinertsen 08:01
Yeah, we always joke that it's a left brain, right brain team.
Nancy Surak 08:04
Yeah. Which is great. Because you get the strengths of both, you know, for your clientele, take me through what, what's a typical week or a typical month like for, for you or for the business?
Jaimee Reinertsen 08:16
Oh, gosh, I think what I love about it is there really isn't a typical one. I am just somebody who needs a lot of variety and novelty in what I do. So, you know, it could be going to, you know, to tour a client's property when it's just raw land, you know, and helping them, you know, envision and work with their full team on what that can be, and what some of the opportunities are, what the market might look like, in three years, you know, who knows, but by the time we get to actually marketing it, you know, what those market force forces and drivers are going to be? It could be, you know, fine tuning media campaign based on I mean, right now, we are so responsive. It's just the name of the game in the last few years has just been being as nimble as possible, you know, so. So, you know, we're looking at things week to week with, you know, what's the engagement level? In the market? What are people spending their time on on websites? What are their questions, they have an information center, where, you know, what are the frustrations they have, how can we be communicating better? And it's really been such a dynamic time in the last couple of years, that it's just it's, you know, been so unpredictable and fun in that regard. That, you know, we're always kind of trying to read the tea leaves, right?
Nancy Surak 09:45
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So you touched on a few things there. You touched on in how much it's changed in the last two years. I mean, we all lived the COVID shutdown in early 2020. But what was that like for you guys with the masterplan communities that you're working on, I mean that that's so severely impacted or, I mean, it's just the impact was incredible for the builders and those developers that have those massive projects. What was that, like on the marketing and the branding and website side?
Jaimee Reinertsen 10:21
It was, I mean, at first we thought, oh, boy, okay, are we going to be in a shutdown? You know, situation, you couldn't sell a house you because you couldn't show it? So how could you move, and I think the assumption was that people would just get very conservative in their decision making, you know, but what we, you know, didn't see coming in those in that initial month or two was that suddenly, you know, people were prioritizing home in a way that they just had not been able to before. And they think the major change was the location independence of remote work, you know, they could suddenly be anywhere, you know, people who are knowledge workers or you know, have have jobs that allow for that could suddenly be anywhere. And I think what it'd be really interesting to see is how companies manage that going forward. I think most of you know, a lot of them are trying hybrid models, but a lot of them have also understood that that model has worked has just changed, and people wanted to prioritize where they live, and also who they live near. You know, I think we saw a lot of things happen with elder care. And people thought, Okay, let's, you know, I want to be have my, my aging parents close to me, I want my kids close to me, we don't all necessarily want to be living together unnecessarily. But, you know, where can we all kind of agree on the lifestyle and be together. And so we just saw this massive, you know, migration pattern, certainly towards Florida and warmer, warmer states and, you know, places where you could still be outside, regardless of the year, so people really started to think very critically about what their home allowed for, what the shortcomings were, you know, having kids at home through school, so there were just so many different decision making factors that went into it. And that really altered and I think, made me made the buying decision so much more urgent. So, you know, I think it'll be interesting to see how those communities are affected over time. But I, you know, in terms of, I guess, just, you know, there's a lot of regions that have been impacted by major growth. So, you know, adapting to that is a big challenge for them, for sure. But I, you know, I think we didn't see that level of movement anticipated to begin with,
Nancy Surak 12:57
From a messaging or branding perspective, though, was, did you see just an increased amount of consumption of information or data before people made those decisions? Or oh, how did it impact how you guys changed or encouraged your clientele, to improve their message? Their messaging?
Jaimee Reinertsen 13:16
Yeah, well, obviously, I mean, everything was online, we were, you know, I heard somebody say, and I thought it was so true, it was like, for a while, it felt like the computer was the thing the world lived in, you know, because that was your, you know, interaction with humans. So changing how, you know, we took information centers, basically online, and, you know, created virtual presentations, that you would have always wanted to be in person before, you know, you would want to try to get them to a certain level, and then really encouraged them to come in. And suddenly, we couldn't do that. So how do you create that hands on feel because people still really did want, they wanted somebody to hold their hand a little bit through that decision, because it was, you know, you're making a huge decision. It's a scary time, it's really uncertain. And wanting that expertise. So we took a lot of things like that online, we took a lot of lifestyle programming online, like yoga classes, and, you know, music and all of those kinds of things. So, and, and then just really communicating with people understanding what their fears were. And showing to you know, we had some communities who really did a good job at showing how they were supporting their local communities through that time, you know, I mean, I remember, Lakewood Ranch and just highlighting what people were doing and how they were living there. You know, at Lakewood Ranch, they had the, a lot of the community. People in the community had gone out with sidewalk talk, you know, and wrote messages of support and love and hope. And there were some aerial photos of that and it was just like it really highlighted how people came together in those communities. And it was it was kind of special to see that happen.
Nancy Surak 15:07
Yeah, yeah, I saw that even where I lived, where, you know, we I just increased walking outside because I was like, I can't be in the computer, like you said all day long. Like, I didn't work like that before. And I was like, No, I gotta get out. And at least in Florida, this the weather in March and April of 2020, was unbelievably fantastic. I mean, we had a beautiful, beautiful spring that year. And we have it every year, but I don't think we've had a spring like 2020, since like, it was just a very low humidity really nice temperature, you know, this this year was a little bit warmer. So but I leaned in, and I would tell clients, I was like, Listen, I'm gonna go on my hour and a half walk, because I'm never gonna get this time again. Like the world had slowed down so much that I was like, I am taking advantage of the opportunity to focus on my wellness. So it's, it's interesting that you were able to incorporate sort of some of those things in helping your clientele with their messaging. You touched on lifestyle and real estate. And I know that those are, I think those are two funnels of your, your services or business. Can you explain what's the difference? Like how did what are the differences of those two things will you know when somebody says I need branding for real estate versus I need branding for lifestyle?
Jaimee Reinertsen 16:28
Oh, as categories so. So most of our work is with real estate. And then and but when we talk about lifestyle brands, it's a lot of times offshoots of the things that our clients are, are adding to their communities. So for instance, Lakewood Ranch, developed a farmers market that they were seating for their waterside place opening, and it started as a Wednesday night at the at the Polo Club, and then it became a Sunday on Main Street, and then as that grew it, then it was ready to go as they open their waterside place. Town Center. So we so we helped with the branding of that, and the messaging around that and all of the signage and, and communications to get that up and running. So that when, you know, it got to waterside place, it's really a fully fledged, you know, incredible destination. So that was really pressured on their part to think about that, you know, years in advance. And so we so we did the branding for that, and they've also got a Golf and Country Club. And that model had really changed, you know, more to, you know, being family focused and services and prepared foods and, you know, annual traditions as well as, you know, incredible championship level golf. So, you know, we got to help rebrand that as well and get the word out about that. So those are the lifestyle components when they're sort of separate business models, then we'll do the branding elements for that as well.
Nancy Surak 18:04
Do you have a, like a minimum size project that you guys try to work on it either unit count or acreage?
Jaimee Reinertsen 18:11
We really don't, you know, it, we worked on everything from you know, 300 unit communities to, to, you know, 50,000 acre, so there's really not a minimum, it's more, we look for people who are really passionate about placemaking. And you can do that, you know, you can do incredible things and 80 acres. And you can do incredible things with big land. So, you know, but but at the end of the day, we want to work on places that everybody's committed to be proud of. And it just makes for a, you know, much more collaborative and enjoyable and creative experience. So, you know, I think things can get. Because because the business aspect of things make sense. You want to find a repeatable model of things. And at the same time, our job is to find what's unrepeatable about a community. And that really takes some digging and some commitment and some vision. And that's what we love to do. So we like to work with people who who kind of go into it with that same mindset.
Nancy Surak 19:23
Yeah, so tell me how do you figure that out? When you say digging, do you do like focus groups? Or how do you really get into this? Kind of this? The insides are the meat of what's going to move that community forward?
Jaimee Reinertsen 19:35
Yeah. Boy, more of its intuitive, and it probably shouldn't be. But yeah, I mean, sometimes there are focus groups, sometimes there's market studies, but as you know, by the time you do a market study, by the time it actually gets to market, it may be an especially now. I mean, we're seeing market studies that were done in 2019. And it's like, Well, that does didn't really, you know, I mean, if if everything has gone up, you know, your base price has gone up $130,000 competitively, like, you may be looking at a totally different psychographic to target. But, you know, it's, it's a lot of it starts with the vision of the developer. And that's why we look for those people. And it's one of the reasons, you know, as a firm, we don't really do spec work. So sometimes the agency model is to ask agencies to come in and pitch you know, three different creative concepts or something, we don't do that, because my experience is that most developments take, you know, seven to 10 years of planning, and sometimes more, you know, so, I have always said to our team, I just think it'd be very arrogant to come in and say, without having talked to the developer, or the team, and the people that have been planning this for that long, what was it that drove those decisions, understanding the nuance of that, how they, you know, designed it around, you know, protected, stand of trees, to, you know, create open space, or, you know, the parks that go throughout the courtyards in the and the community, and, you know, so we try to get deeper than sort of the mechanistic view of just what went into it, and really understand what drove those decisions, because then we can help create the value and transfer that value to the mind of the consumer, you know, and create more. We're always trying to get people, you know, to change the value equation from price per square foot to quality of life. And the more we understand how the developer came to it, the more we can help build that value.
Nancy Surak 21:48
Right? So I think that probably sped up really aggressively for you guys with COVID, as people were really fleeing towards a better quality of life, right, so that you could absolutely really tap into those sorts of things. I noticed on your website, you guys talk a lot about storytelling. And that that sort of ties into getting to the heart as of what the developer really wanted for that community or that area, what's something that you're super proud of, or that you worked through? And you said, you know, we nailed it. That's it.
Jaimee Reinertsen 22:24
I gosh. I think one that really stands out for me is Willowsford, which was one of the first agrahoods in the country. And that model was, you know, just very different. And I started that work with the firm I was at previously before starting spark fire, and then and then after some time, at Spark fire, we refreshed the brand for them. But I think the seeing people live with a farm in their backyard, and the kinds of amenities that that that created for them. And, you know, hearing stories of how the farmers had little walkie talkies, and the kids would have walkie talkies. And they would call down the farmer dad and say, Hey, are we waiting today? You know, and she'd say, yeah, come on, down, and they come we eat and, and they, you know, suddenly, we're eating asparagus, because it tasted really good, because they picked it themselves, you know, and getting to tell those kinds of stories and the difference in your quality of life, that and what your kids might get exposed to, because of some of these planning elements, and really helping people understand, you know, and show them the pictures and show these little anecdotal stories of what that could mean. It makes it much more emotionally connected than simply saying, we have a farm.
Nancy Surak 23:50
Yeah no, I mean, I'm just listening in my mind and imagination goes right to how great that must be for people to have their kids getting excited about pulling weeds.
Jaimee Reinertsen 24:01
Yeah, right.
Nancy Surak 24:04
I used to, I am, one of my hobbies is gardening, or used to be a lot more than what it is now, because it's so darn hot. But I used to tell people that pulling weeds was really therapeutic for me. Because, you know, you had sometimes would have to work really hard to get it out of the ground, or, you know, it was just such instant gratification. But my kids hated it growing up. So I'm like fantasizing here as I'm hearing you speak and I'm like, awesome for people who, you know, are able to see that in their children. Because I think, you know, the art of or the physical process of pulling a weed is really meaningful for life. You gotta get out the bad stuff in order to make room for the good stuff.
Jaimee Reinertsen 24:53
There's a great metaphor.
Nancy Surak 24:55
Absolutely, so speaking of the bad stuff, is there a a particular challenge that you've reached either in your business or on a project that you, you know, you really learned from that you'd be willing to share with our audience of something that just helped you get better at your craft, but that you had to go through kind of the, the achiness to get there.
Jaimee Reinertsen 25:20
I am absolutely sure. There are a number of things, it would be okay to come back to that?
Nancy Surak 25:29
Absolutely. We certainly certainly can. So another thing I noticed on your website was that you guys used in your motto, sharing help, I know, we gotta find that.
Jaimee Reinertsen 25:42
Share, share recklessly.
Nancy Surak 25:44
What does that mean?
Jaimee Reinertsen 25:47
That means we will share anything with anybody who calls about and wants to brainstorm and wants to know what we would do, or what we might recommend. One of the things that I learned from an early mentor was that you can tell people what to do, and it doesn't mean they can do it. So you don't necessarily have to worry about losing business, or you know, that somebody's going to steal your idea, or, you know, and most people, even if they could do it, if the if that idea came from you, my experience in this industry is they're either going to work with you to execute it, or they will give you credit for it, you just don't have to worry about it as much as people think, you know, from a competitive set. And so, you know, our motto is to share recklessly, because we want to give back to the industry that, you know, has has been so good to us. And, you know, sometimes people call and we have great conversations, and I don't hear from them again, in five years from them, they call back and you know, they just remember that conversation, and it helped them out in some way. And so wherever say, it's such a long game, you know, with business development in this in this industry, because it's all about relationships, and, you know, things come back, and we just truly believe that. That, one, it's fun to just share with people, you know, it's something we love to do. Makes it more enjoyable. And, and, you know, it kind of all comes comes back around. So and sometimes, you know, we need advice from people and we want people to, you know, share with us.
Nancy Surak 27:27
Yeah, definitely. That's great. So you talked about fun. And I know, you talked about the Agrihood, but what's something that you've done that has been really fun in your business?
Jaimee Reinertsen 27:40
Gosh, you know, the most fun that I have is traveling to places I would probably never get to if I were vacationing necessarily, right like I'm probably wouldn't necessarily end up in Liberty, Missouri, you know, for a vacation, right. But I remember, you know, going there and meeting the people, and we were doing a city rebranding, and just hearing about their history and what they're proud of, and what they love. And you know, just every time I travel, I think, Man, there are just so many different ways to live in the world and different, you know, communities and we're such a diverse and interesting nation and people. And so to me, I'm just that level of fascination and just getting to drop in for a time and sort of deep dive with people for a little while, is really a p rivilege. And it's very, very fun for me.
Nancy Surak 28:37
And it gives you the opportunity to bring, you know, those best practices to other places, too.
Jaimee Reinertsen 28:43
Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Nancy Surak 28:44
Which has got to be like, really rewarding. And because I know, when I travel, and I look at something, it just, it helps me just with my just education and my mindset of Oh, wow, that worked there. And then my wheels get to turning have you know, will that work on something that I'm working on from from Oh, yeah, you know, and to tie back to, sorry, to tie it back to storytelling, you know, I always say the storytelling when I have something listed, it starts there, because I'm like, Oh, this community needs this type of project. And you know, then I'll target those sorts of buyers, you know, and kind of get those wheels turning early.
Jaimee Reinertsen 29:22
Right. Yeah. Right. Who's gonna connect with that? Who's that going to be really meaningful for? Yeah,
Nancy Surak 29:29
yeah. So tell me what are you seeing right now in terms of any emerging trends, you know, our demographics are really changing in our country. There's going on the millennials are now buying homes that are really coming forth in their careers. The great resignation is ongoing. This huge reset, what are some of the trends you're seeing in your specific space that, you know, you think we should be paying attention to?
Jaimee Reinertsen 29:58
I think the location independence for sure, I think will continue to be a big driver. And I think there is a demand from the younger generations for more work life balance that we haven't seen quite at the same level, you know, that for the Gen Xers that wasn't like really loud to ask that question. You know, but And so we're seeing that, that shift, and I think that's definitely taking hold, as, you know, as we just rethink the workplace. And then, you know, how that how that changes, where people want to live, I think, you know, cities, it's been good to see cities coming back after the pandemic, you know, it just We wondered, you know, were we going to see this big shift to suburban markets, and we certainly did, and even ex urban markets, because if you're not tied to the workplace, you can go further out. And I think that that will probably continue, especially as you know, those are where some of the land deals can still be made. But you're seeing a move back in as well. So. And I think this multigenerational trend is probably here to stay for a while, as people want to be near your friends and family. And they're really thinking about, you know, I think heaven forbid, it happens again, but if it did, you know, where, what are the people who are the people that I really want to be with who's in that bubble? And, and what's really important from a family standpoint, and, and places that support that lifestyle, indoor and outdoor, and the community fabric, I think we're seeing a big shift toward that. And, you know, there's definitely some frustration in the market with corporate investors, there's, you know, so much interest in single family homes, from corporate investors, that's making it pretty tough for people to compete. So, you know, interest rates are rising, that's going to probably drive some demand down, but the supply is still so limited that I think, you know, from the sales side, it's still, it's still probably pretty solid for a while. But, you know, it's interesting, because just two weeks ago, I mean, the market seems like it's changed in two weeks, either just with interest rates going up, and seeing what the stock market did last week. So it's really it's such an interesting time from that. week to week. Look at okay, how are we feeling this week? What are people doing? How are they changing? So what that overall trend line looks like is it's going to be another interesting year, look back on I think,
Nancy Surak 32:45
I would agree with that, you know, I have people that prod me, because I'm so early in the in the deal. I had a consulting company asked me maybe 10 days ago, you know, like, what was I seeing? Buyers pull back? And I'm like, not yet. Not saying yet. But they were telling me, Well, we're starting to hear these sorts of things. And I was like, Well, I'm hearing those things. But I'm not seeing the result of that concern just yet. You know, and I've been warning, you know, my sellers, like, hey, this is coming. But that's based on just my past experience of what happened previously, when, you know, like you said, interest rates go up, people get nervous about the economy, there was a war, you know, people tend typically to become a little bit more conservative. And I'm more not really seeing that behavior yet. Although I think everybody's sort of bracing for it. We'll see what this week, like you said brings, because the stock market keeps doing this, you know, but real estate is not doing this. So I'm like, right. And for those of you listening on just the audio, I'm moving my finger up and down. You know, when I say this, you know, it's like, just big, huge swings. So, Jamie, I usually wrap up the podcast with three questions before do I want to just go visit briefly back to any failures, they anything come to mind? Did you think of anything? It's okay. If you did, but I'm going to ask it anyway, again, or challenge doesn't have to be a failure can be just something you you've really learned from.
Jaimee Reinertsen 34:24
Let's say I, you know, I think there were a lot of lessons in the recovery from the 2008. Recession. And, you know, one of the things I remember about Willowsford was that the developer, they they chose to put the amenities in up front because of the trust that had been lost with you know, masterplans. And that was, I think, an important lesson in terms of how how we can to knew to tell stories through hard times. And how we show people what we're committed to and let them see, you know, on the ground, I mean, real estate's such an interesting thing to market. Because most of the time, in the early days, as you know, we're talking about things that aren't there yet. Right. And we're asking people to trust us that they're coming. And they have disclaimers, that things could change, and they do change. And yet we're painting a vision that we want people to, we need them to believe long term, and then we need to show them as as soon as possible. And so how we build that trust, create that trust, and then come through on our promises, both, you know, from the, from the communication side, and you know, what actually goes on the ground. Those are the development teams I've seen do best over time. Who know they sort of have a contract with those, those buyers before and after the sale. And, you know, people are investing their livelihoods and a lot of trust into us. So it you know, it matters what we promise, it matters, how we execute. And, you know, I think we're in another time when people are feeling so uncertain that trust matters more than ever. And so the developers again, who, who show that they come through over time, I think, again, are going to be the winners in the long term.
Nancy Surak 36:26
I know that that's a great way of answering that question. Because it is a challenge is to make sure that you can do what it is that you say you're going to do. Right. And that's a lesson really, for all of us, right is not getting too far out beyond our skis on what we're promising, whoever that is, whoever our client is. Okay, so we're going to dive into three quick questions here. If someone were to reach out to you and say, Hey, I'm really interested in marrying my love of real estate with my marrying my love of advertising or marketing. And I love what I heard, and I'm really interested on trying to figure out how to create a career in that space. But I don't know how to get started, I'm looking for some advice, what would you tell them?
Jaimee Reinertsen 37:10
In the agency world, I would ask first, what, you know, whether they're, you know, on the creative side, or on the account service and project management side, but, you know, I think it's, it's about really loving how how people make decisions around how they live, and asking a lot of questions. I was thinking about this earlier. And I think something that's kind of underestimated when you're starting out is your you're rightly focused on trying to learn and establish expertise. But that's hard to do. That takes time. And there's no, you can't really shortcut that. So how do you make an impression? While you're figuring that out and learning? And, and I think, you know, asking questions, you know, so often I see young people in a conference room, and they say nothing, because they don't, they don't want to say the wrong thing. They don't have the expertise just yet. But the ones that I see kind of go faster than others are the ones who ask questions. And I think it shows engagement, it shows that you're thinking critically, and that you're trying to learn, and people will take the time to share a lot with you. And they'll take the time to mentor you, if you ask questions. So you know, you don't have to be the expert really fast, as long as you're willing to be a collaborator, and then show that you want to do that.
Nancy Surak 38:43
What a great piece of advice. I couldn't agree more. I think that is an excellent. An excellent series of words of of answering that question is really be inquisitive. Because that's really where the learning occurs. You know, and being willing to take the risk of saying, you know, asking a question that you're thinking, but maybe no one and you're maybe a little bit afraid, but But it's asking, you know, I always tell people, if you don't ask, there could be, you know, other people in the same meeting with the same question. You're the brave one, saying, right, what about this? So great, great advice. Okay, so that question number two at the end is I always ask, is there an inspirational book, or a podcast or something that you have read or consumed, that helps you in your career or that inspires you in your life in general terms?
Jaimee Reinertsen 39:39
Yeah. Gosh, I listen to so many different podcasts. And I really try to listen to different points of view and points of view that I don't agree with or expect I won't so that I can, you know, kind of understand and also, it's this kind of lifelong interest in again, motivations and what drives people at different At times, but one book I read recently, well, it was an audio book by Rob Bell called Handling Your Fire. And I thought it might be good for your audience because I think it's subtitled something about passion routines and burnout, and sort of the, he's somebody that I respect for the, you know, volume of, of creative output he has had. And, you know, it's kind of the long term relationship with your talent, your skills, the things you love, and the seasonality of that, but also, I like to learn about people's routines, and habits, you know, for people who do a lot of a lot of great work over time. And, you know, he talks about, he calls it the thread and the setup, and it's that your life has your personality, your character has certain threads and things you would probably be doing, regardless of the format you're doing it in. And the format is the setup. So those setups change over time, and over the course of your career, but the thread can be the same, and I think it's that I've certainly seen that in my life and, and a lot of other people as well. And it helps you kind of, or it's helped me anyway. strike that balance between giving everything to something like really giving it your best, and holding it kind of loosely at the same time, because you let it change, you let it more you can just approach it more with curiosity. And, and that, to me is just a lot more life giving over time.
Nancy Surak 41:44
Oh, thank you for sharing that. I am not familiar with that book. So I'm gonna put it on my reading list. And then finally, I like to ask, Where can listeners keep up with you or your company? I'm sure you guys are really active on social media has, do you have a? Are you active on LinkedIn or Instagram?
Jaimee Reinertsen 42:00
We are on LinkedIn. And so sparkfirebranding.com. And then LinkedIn is probably the best place to connect with me or with a company.
Nancy Surak 42:10
Alright awesome, well thank you so much for joining us today. I can't wait to see what your company does next in the communities that you get involved with. And I appreciate all your insights, and sharing your career story and your business story with me and my listeners.
Jaimee Reinertsen 42:24
Well, thank you so much. I can't wait to hear from your other other participants in this is a great podcast. So thanks for joining
Nancy Surak 42:31
Take care. Thank you for joining us for another episode of she's wild the podcast for women and land and development. If you enjoyed today's show, please go out and rate us so that we can be found by other women in our industry. And if you know women who are working in land and development, please share this podcast with them. And if you know a total rock star woman, badass chick who is killing it in land and development anywhere in North America. I want to know who she is. Please reach out to me so that I can feature her on an upcoming episode.