In today’s episode, Laura Cole, Senior Vice President Lakewood Ranch Communities, LLC, shares her journey into real estate and the top 3 trends she’s seeing as a result of the pandemic.
Laura leads the residential arm of Lakewood Ranch, the nation’s top-selling multigenerational community in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. She oversees a 16,000-lot residential portfolio under active development by 20 builders with 2,000+ annual home sales. Laura also directs marketing efforts for LWR Commercial and the Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club. Before Lakewood Ranch, she was vice president of marketing for Willowsford, a 4,000-acre “agri-hood” community in Northern Virginia. From 2002 to 2007 Laura served as vice president of corporate development for RCLCO in Washington, DC, and before that, held positions with the Urban Land Institute, Greater Houston Partnership, and IBM/CB Commercial.
In today’s episode, Laura Cole, Senior Vice President Lakewood Ranch Communities, LLC, shares her journey into real estate and the top 3 trends she’s seeing as a result of the pandemic.
Memorable moments:
11:07: I love the idea of “I haven't been here before”. But let's draw from what we know, or try to find some analogues that that even come close to this.
12:32 I like thinking long term and you have too in these communities because we won't have homes on the ground for potentially five years. So you better be betting on the right market segment for when that's going to arrive in five years. We are being really tactical and I like the challenge of that.
13:46: The biggest thing right now that we're confronting is the growing caution by the consumer tied specifically to pricing.
15:09: People are looking not only to come to Florida because of the tax advantages and the quality of life, but there's a perception that living in a masterplan community creates an additional layer of security.
15:36 The nuclear family is moving with their extended family. We're seeing these multi-generational moves. One family moving here becomes three or four. They've determined that this is the place where they want to put roots down and it's really rewarding to know that this is a place they want to call home.
28:19 The development industry is particularly well suited for women because everything we do is multidisciplinary. We're good at multitasking and being able to bring in a lot of different facets into account in our decision making.
29:36: I always feel like in our industry that being yourself pays huge dividends…Be yourself and add value.
Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com
Connect with Laura:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-cole-8158526/
Website: https://lakewoodranch.com
Laura's Book Recommendation:
A Land Remembered https://amzn.to/3OAbMyu via @amazon
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 guests is Laura Cole, the Senior Vice President of Lakewood Ranch, Laura leads the residential arm for the Lakewood Ranch community, the nation's top selling multi generational community and 2018 2019 2020 and 2021. Laura oversees a residential portfolio consisting of 16,000 Lots, under active development by 20 different builders. She is an amazing, professional, and share so much of her insight and stories in this interview that I very much hope that you'll enjoy. Hi, everybody, today we have a very special guest, Laura Cole from Lakewood Ranch in Florida has joined us, she's going to share her story about her career, what's happening like wood ranch, and how she originally got into this great world of land and development. Laura, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate the fact that you're making time in your busy schedule to share your story with us if you could just dive right in and tell us who you are. Give us a little bit of your background, maybe just give us an introduction that kind of came from and what you're doing now.
Laura Cole 02:21
Well, thank you for having me on this podcast. And thank you for taking the initiative to do these interviews. I think it's terrific. And I'm sure they're gonna get a lot of interest is as you keep going here forward. So my name is Laura Cole and I am currently Senior Vice President at Lakewood Ranch, my responsibilities fall along the lines of our residential program here. So I have a fairly large portfolio of builders and, and different residential product types that fall under my purview. And most recently also picked up the asset management piece for the remaining town centers that exist here in Lakewood Ranch. And along with that, the lifestyle program that really is what I call the software that community. So I find that my job just becomes more and more interesting and entertaining, along with challenging as well. But so my my role here is is really is is diverse, and it's growing, in terms of in terms of scale, I think is we've had a really, really strong market, obviously. But my background has really always been in the real estate space. I started at the University of Arizona, I took a geography class and fell in love with urban geography, and ultimately ended up with an urban development degree and did a fair amount of undergraduate economic development work. And so I just kind of like everything that had to do with why, you know, why the built environment is the way it is. I particularly love cities, and I love how you know how spaces are, you know, can uniquely drive traffic and connections with people. And so I really love the idea of the built environment and placemaking overall, that's been kind of a thread throughout my whole career. And I've had the opportunity to work in multiple settings, we're, you know, I've been able to work on the public policy side of the equation with the Urban Land Institute and did an international work in Central Europe and at the very early stages when they were privatizing their real estate land markets. And that was super interesting to me because again, it's you know, we think of real estate is, you know, really sort of very specific to what we do here in United States. It's very different around the world. I also was able to, to mix around my career, the opportunity to to do market research because I've worked with a firm called RCL go for a while And that was terrific, because that gave me really kind of the fundamentals, the why and how do you you know why real estate is viable at certain times and in certain locations. And so that's been, I think, a real core part of, of how I carry, you know, I carry, the body of work that I do here always has to be founded in and data. And for better or for worse. I really enjoy that that piece of it. So there was the public policy piece that I kind of started with moved into more of the market research piece. Along the way, I was able to do different projects that were more focused on economic development, which again, is really interesting, from from my point of view, because in most markets, not necessarily the one I'm in right now. But you know, employment really drives demand in the housing industry. And so that was always something that was very interesting to me, how you how places evolved and became very different, certainly in Washington, DC, where I spent 25 years of my career, it went from a sleepy government town to a really young and vibrant and very much diversified economy. So that created all types of opportunity for new places. And then I would say sort of the final thread here in my career as a final but I'm where I am right now is really putting all those pieces together and, and in doing community building. And it's you know, it's it's the it's what drives demand here, economic development, but also because we're a destination as we are in Florida, is really looking at the market gaps that exist, and also the opportunities and how to capitalize off of that. So that kind of in a nutshell, tells you you know, how I got here professionally.
Nancy Surak 06:45
Awesome, thank you. So taking you back a few years before you took that geography class when you were a young girl, did you ever think that you would end up being you know, over such a huge masterplan community that's been ranked number one, I don't know how many times for residential development in the United States did you that that 16 year old Laura realize,
Laura Cole 07:08
no, I didn't know about my communities. No, actually, for a good part of my life. So I was born and raised in Spain. I'm from Madrid originally. And so I grew up in a city, I love cities. I traveled a fair amount around Europe. And so I always thought I knew I had this sort of this, you know, this love for, for urban areas, and how people in parks just like just love parks, you know, and happy and I just love watching people in parks. And I always thought I was going to do urban development once I kind of found my niche within that geography class. So I had big aspirations to, to work for, you know, big urban developers, particularly ones that like Heinz, I actually have a very funny story about that, where my life was going working with a developer of that scale out of Houston that was going to do you know, big projects, and Latin American and Europe, and so that I had really big aspirations to do more urban work. And I really didn't even think that there was an opportunity to do community building or master plans. And I guess in Europe, that would have been more like new towns, right, like they do have those type of new towns, but I don't think it was really exposed to it. So I didn't know that I would have an interest in it.
08:24
Like, so. Did you come from Spain directly to Arizona?
Laura Cole 08:27
I did. Yeah. That was the first time I lived in the United States at 18.
08:32
So that's really bold.
Laura Cole 08:36
Well, it was, you know, I, my father was American. So he, he was in the Air Force way back when and he went to Spain and stayed there, and my mother is Spanish. But all my brothers and sisters end up spending two years in Spain, and then they came to college, you know, and, and their junior years. And I don't know why I just was insistent I was gonna go to college for the first year. And, you know, I was an American, essentially, that they had never really stepped foot on, you know, the continent. And so I was really eager and being fourth born, I was ready to fly. Yeah, so
Nancy Surak 09:13
just say fourth, number four. Number five, so not too dissimilar, where I was like, I'm going away, and I'm going at least this many miles away. Nobody's gonna stop me. And then I went away, like 90 minutes away and then I moved to Florida, from Louisiana for my master's degree and, and everybody was like, Well, why are you moving to Florida and I was like, because everybody should live in Florida. I'm, I didn't even give it a second thought. You know, I was just like, of course, that's where I'm going and I'm gonna make the best of it. It's gonna be awesome. And it has been I did move away after college after University of Florida but I came back. So back to kind of what you're doing now with Lakewood Ranch mean, it sounds like your position is really changing. And and I would imagine just because when you get into land development as you develop in houses are built and apartments are built it you become more of an asset manager, which I think you sort of touched on. What's it been like for the last like, several years since since the pandemic hit? How has that changed in your career from what it was like before?
Laura Cole 10:21
Yeah, I mean, if you know, I don't know, if it's, I'm just getting at a stage in my career, or maybe in life where, where you kind of look back and you and you realize that life has there's something patterns that repeat themselves just either either as human beings, we seem to repeat things over and over. But to me, the pandemic was just so different than anything that I had envisioned. And so, you know, certainly, I mean, you probably remember this, like, do you know, after it's announced, you know, that we're gonna basically, as a, as a country be confronting this, you know, all of us kind of went back and said, what, you know, all we could see really was, you know, a good project was really negative consequences, right to what we were doing, and how would the consumers possibly, in an environment like this, ever even consider making any type of investments, you know, in anything in particularly, and something so significant as relocating, you know, to a new area and buying a new home. So, what the pandemic meant for me, and it made me it kind of, I think it may be played a little bit on my strengths is, I love to be challenged, I love the idea of haven't been here before. But let's draw from what we know, or try to find some analogues that that even come close to this. And so, you know, after I think, you know, we sort of stopped and I remember, I mean, we were forever re forecasting here, you know, during the pandemic, you know, in terms of, oh, our sales are gonna just drop off the cliff to No, no, no, we're gonna, you know, we're going to, we're going to really go on a ride here. But it just it I think the pandemic overall surprised me, number one, human beings, how quickly, they could make luck, very significant life changing decisions. You know, it to me, the pandemic was all about psychology. So how do you, you know, at different points, you know, there were, people felt more threatened or felt more like they, they were fleeing from something felt like now toward the end of the pandemic, am I made the right choice, because prices have gone up so much. And now I'm putting myself in a very competitive environment to purchases is the right thing. So, you know, it's humans just constantly surprised me. And I think it's just been a great and fun ride, to basically say, in this moment in time, I'm very much history, you know, I like thinking long term, and you have to kind of in these communities, because, you know, as you know, like, we won't have homes on the ground for potentially five years. So you better put the, you know, be betting on the right market segment for when that's going to arrive in five years. I think, you know, here, it was really tactical. And I like the challenge of that I, and every, you know, I would just walked out of a meeting right now, with my team. And it's just been like, every week, you read the tea leaves, you're reading what people are feeling, what people what we're seeing on a global scale, what uncertainties are. And then you really kind of say, Okay, this is where this these are the tactics for this week. And I've never felt that way. In my career. I've been like crafted be so focused on a week to week sort of, you know, strategy versus really thinking long term.
Nancy Surak 13:33
Yeah. So what do you what are the biggest trends that you're seeing right now, given? You know, like, everything that's happening? What are ya? What's happening in your space? Maybe two or three?
Laura Cole 13:45
I would say, you know, the the biggest thing right now, what we're confronting is, I think, I think there is starting to be growing caution by the consumer in terms of in tied specifically to pricing. So pricing has obviously gotten so, so beyond what anybody had anticipated. And of course, the inventory shortages is causing a lot of that in pricing and creating that pressure. So I'm seeing I'm seeing consumers become more cautious and wonder, is this the right time to buy, given where pricing is today. But then at the same time feeling like, well, we know interest rates are going to rise. So if we don't buy now, you know, what, what does that portend for the future? So I think one is just I do feel like, it's since the pandemic began, I'm seeing more caution, and certainly frustration. I think the other trend we're seeing is we're starting to see different parts of the market that we didn't see before, and that can be geographically. Certainly we've been seeing from California, as you and I've talked about in the past, but now we're seeing Seattle. We're seeing Colorado for some reason. So we're seeing different geographies, open up and very interestingly I think a lot of those are tied to we hear safety or security. So that's a trend that we're hearing from our, from our prospects that come here that people are looking not only to come to Florida, because of the tax advantages and, and the quality of life. But there's a, there's a perception that living in a masterplan community creates an additional layer of security. So that's a trend that we've been seeing. And I think thirdly, what we're seeing is, and we saw since the beginning of the pandemic, and I'd mentioned that, but it's still really strong as we're seeing. And sort of the nuclear family move with their more extended family with their their sisters and brothers, you know, so we're seeing what we call multi generational moves here, we're still seeing that, and pretty significantly, so for us, you know, one family moving here becomes three form families moving here, and, you know, incredible stories of people operating their families that had been in a location for generations. And all of a sudden, they, you know, they've determined that this is the place where they want to put roots and I think that's, to me, that's, that's really compelling that somebody would make that decision and, and more so with, bring with them. So many, you know, other parts of their families that that, that it's really rewarding to know that this is a place they want to call home again, and set roots. Yeah, that's
Nancy Surak 16:23
really remarkable when you think about the generational impact that a community like wood Ranch is making. And that I mean, how many 1000s of acres? Was it? Is it 20? Or
Laura Cole 16:34
more than 2030? So we're 31,000 acres, so
Nancy Surak 16:37
31,000 acres? And okay, so you said to Manhattan's almost the size of two Manhattan's Yeah. And how many years when did it originally began?
Laura Cole 16:47
So we are in our 28th year, right now. And we've got about probably close to for where we're at about 49,000 units that are and either you know, developed or in planning or are in the entitlement process. And we're about halfway through build out at this point.
Nancy Surak 17:09
So how many builders Do you how many active builders do you guys currently have in the community,
Laura Cole 17:13
we have 20 active builders, and within those include, you know, like polti, Del Webb, and, you know, so a builder that has multiple brands, but operates, you know, has different operating divisions. So there's 20 different builders, and we have currently, I think, 21 villages that are selling new homes, two of which just opened this last weekend. So there's been a lot of activity. And we've been, we were fortunate that probably about six years ago, six, six or seven years ago, we started, we started opening parts of the communities that we thought actually were going to only be viable in the next market cycle. And which is just kind of crazy, because I remember we were having those conversations, because we we are financing structure for our infrastructure requires us to make big bets on okay, we're opening this area, we're going to put in the stewardship district and go raise bonds. And so we go all in with the infrastructure for you know, an area that can represent 910 1000 homes. And so we have to feel pretty comfortable that the you know that the market is going to bear that and that we're going to have the builder segmentation that's going to support where the demand is at, you know, the time that those villages come out of the ground. So it's been, you know, a lot of it has to do with luck, as you know, in this business, you know, to kind of look at the future and hope that you've got the right product for, you know, for that point of time.
Nancy Surak 18:39
So let's talk about product for a little bit. Because I know that unlike some developer, I mean, some masterplan developers really do get into talking about segmentation with their builders. But you guys seem to have a very strong lead in that direction as to how you want your overall community mix to look what you want it to look like. So what I'd love to know is, you know, in the year of 2022, like, what are you seeing in terms of differences, like how you you touched on the multigenerational is, are you guys encouraging or asking your builders to build from that perspective, or is it just a matter of this community? Is this that the next community over is something else?
Laura Cole 19:18
Yeah, we have a little bit of everything, because, in a way, we're kind of, you know, as you may know, we were in two different counties. So we're in Manatee County, and we're in Sarasota County, and Sarasota County is probably very different from what we've developed in the past and Manatee County. We were originally the master not only the master developer for Lakewood Ranch, but we actually used to design and develop individual villages and then we only used independent custom builders and would do you know, lot by lot sale. So imagine, you know, the loss of, you know, the inventory that we're talking about, you know, doing lawn bylaw development that was that was that was not something that could probably go on into perpetuity. and, and really the downturn kind of took care of that, because a lot of our independent builders just couldn't get financing after the last housing downturn. So we moved more in really, in Manatee County, we more toward what we call Bulk Sales. And while we became sort of remained the master developer for all of Lakewood Ranch and kind of the connective tissue between all these villages, we moved to selling anywhere from 500 to 1500, even 1700, lots to big public builders. And so when we, as I mentioned before, when we kind of opened up areas for development, say, in the northeast quadrant, let's say of Lakewood Ranch, we looked at what we had already in the community, we look very strongly at demographic shifts, and you know, what's driving demand in Florida because it's different, it's we're not employee based on demand here in the Sarasota area, as much as we really kind of draw from all over the country. And so we we kind of make bats with our, you know, we look at the table and we say, we're going to set it with the builders that we think are going to be able to, to introduce price points and product types and amenities that are going to attract demographic that, that we'd like to see here. And we just had been really fortunate because we have really good leadership with the public builders that exists in this area. And you know, that's really important, you can have, you know, it comes down to the leadership. And so they've also just sat at the table with us and said, you know, what, you know, we'll do you know, we understand what you what you're looking for, and they've pushed back when they think they have something different and better. And, and so that's worked out really well, in Sarasota County, it's a very different and kind of really interesting process, because that's, that's been much more of a hybrid, it's between us between the developer and between the pawn sales, we do much smaller sales at a smaller scale around our town center project there. And we've and it's they're much more integrated neighborhoods. So there's a lot more sort of oversight and how those all those neighborhoods relate to one another. And we've been able to introduce, I think, for us kind of an evolution of our housing products, because we're doing denser product down there. We're looking at what unit we're introducing workforce housing in that area. And really the central amenity instead of being a, you know, a golf course or you know, what, Tiki Bar or something like that, really the central amenity in in Sarasota, in our waterside product is the town center. And so that really has driven all of the, you know, sort of the the segmentation there. And that's also driven. It really kind of driven the premiums in those areas. Yeah,
Nancy Surak 22:43
so I know, I've paid attention. Well, the world actually has on just the increase in sales price and increase in rental rates. And I know that I think the last time you and I were on a panel, maybe a year ago was about Bill for rent, and there was some concern as to can these rental rates keep pace at the time? And I'd love to know, not eight or nine months later, what are your thoughts about what we're seeing in just the apartment rental rate? Space?
Laura Cole 23:12
Well, I probably was really wrong when we were because I probably said how much further can up can they go. But you know, I think we're just in such a unique situation. Because we can't get enough homes on the ground. I mean, we have lots here and you can you know, you can travel, they're all like wood ranch, and you can visit some of the newer villages. And you can clearly see that there's land there for development, and the lots are entitled and everything, but we can't get them to market. And we have but yet we're still a really hot market that's driving people from again, increasing numbers, geographic areas that have much higher values than we have down here. In some cases, LA is twice the area median income than Sarasota. So we're still in their mind and still value. And also people have, you know, have have sold their homes and they have their equity and they're moving here, even if they can't buy a home. So I think the rental market it has a lot has has more runway, because there's not going to be a resolution here, you know, that's around the corner. That's one thing and then, you know, you had add to it that that those dynamics mean that pricing has gone up so dramatically on the on the per sale side, that actually rentals are the you know that it may be by choice, but it's also by default, the the choice that people have, because they they're more and more being priced out of the for sale market. So, I mean, I would have said I can't you know, I couldn't believe that you could go up more than 15%. You know, probably when we were talking back then I just did an analysis and waterside and on average, I think in the last six months, rates have gone up 55% In the larger units, it's gone up as much as 95%. And so if you were a 12 month, my mind rental rate Yeah. And so if you would have told me that that remember we have we have the single family for rent townhomes in the town center. Right now the highest price point in there is $6,000 a month for those for rents at a I want to say it's like a 1700 square foot Townhome. There's no, you know, I just might have just just didn't call wouldn't have gone there. And so, you know, you're, you know, we, we've doubled the number of rental units and Lakewood Ranch that, you know, that we had two years ago. And my concern was are we going to get to a point where we're going to have excess inventory here and now I you know, I'm certainly more comfortable with the notion that I think we're gonna we're gonna have a good balance, I think will be 18% of the residential stock will be rentals. But that number, you know, kind of that may have been comfortable, but maybe because of if this continues into the future, we may need to have more rentals.
Nancy Surak 26:00
Right? Yeah, it's really mind blowing, I think for all of us that are just living it in. You touched base on the fact that you see people coming from new markets now. And when you're referencing now, you're these are people who do not currently live in Sarasota or in Florida, they're coming from across the United States, for markets that haven't traditionally been a generator for us. Right. Right. Right. It really is. It's a little frightening, you know, at least for me, because I have adult children. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, like, are they? Where are they going to live?
Laura Cole 26:37
And I think that's the record. That, you know, I was thinking, I know, I agree with you, 100%, I think this is what you asked me what keeps me up at night, I say, you know, good good on us if we can attract those people to relocate here. And that's terrific. They can buy here. But all of those people need services. And they may need, you know, teachers for their kids. And you know, when they want to go to hospital, they want to make sure that there's nurses there and all of those things, I just I don't know, what will cause that, that breaking point. But it strikes me as as being, as we're getting closer to, you know, to having to sort of to really have to answer for that inequity, that's gonna, that's starting to just be so so acute,
Nancy Surak 27:19
right. And I think you guys should see it much more pronounced down in your market than, say, in the Tampa Bay region. Although I sit in a part of Tampa, where it's very evident. But when you get into some of the larger masterplanned communities, maybe to the north, it might not be as obvious, but it's certainly there. So I appreciate the fact that you that you shared that with us. So going back a little bit to people, women in particular that might be listening, that are in different development roles are thinking about it. What would you what do you think is most important when someone's considering a shift either into our industry, or maybe going from like a beginner entry level position is to middle management? What are the keys to success for someone, or in particular, a woman who wants to be in the land development industry?
Laura Cole 28:09
Yeah, I mean, I think there's, I mean, our industry is huge, right? I mean, it's it, there are so many different avenues that one can take in it. And I think it's kind of particularly well suited for women, because I think, you know, everything we do is, you know, it's a multidisciplinary industry. So whatever, you know, particularly on the real estate development side of things, certainly, you know, my kind of angle into a lot of, you know, to working into masterplanned community was on the market research side, but then I kind of really loved the marketing piece of it, and the creative side of it. And so that, that opened up terrific opportunities for me. But I do think we're kind of good at multitasking and being able to, to, you know, bring in a lot of different facets into account in our decision making. And so, you know, I'm not saying that men can't do that, but I just think that we're particularly good, you know, I think that we're suited to do that really well. And I'd like to see more women in real estate development roles, we are seeing it more and more. But I think that's, that's traditionally been viewed as a very male dominated part of the business. I've, you know, I have to, I have to admit, I never have, I've never thought of myself as having limitations in advancing it in, in this industry. I just haven't and I don't know if it was aware, but I, I grew up with great modeling behavior from my mom and even my grandmother was very female dominated. And, but I always, you know, feel like in our industry, that I think being yourself, pays huge dividends. So, you know, it's it is it is it, you know, certainly you know, there there's there's characteristics of what we do, whether it's in the financial side or or in the land acquisition or that there's sort of there's there's elements that are that are that you can see that are similar And each one of those are people who are working in there. But it's not in any way. I think like, you know, people who go into accounting or people who go into, you know, to the investment banking world, there's they're really similar personalities, I think and attributes. And I always feel like in our, in our world, like, it's kind of like be yourself and and add value. And I think you know real estate is always about adding value. And so for me, every position that I've ever had, I've looked at it as if it wasn't a defined position, you know, and I don't think I ever looked back again, in my job description anywhere I just kind of thought looked at the situation and said, Where can I add value and differentiate myself? And it's, it's worth I think, until now pretty well.
Nancy Surak 30:39
Yeah, no, that's, that's great. That's a great way to look at it and think about it. Because you know, what I would say, I think the common thread that I see is that people who really just want their communities to be a better place. And that is so consistent, whether it's somebody who I'm talking to, that's trying to move the needle, to change zoning in their neighborhoods, so that they can build an accessory structure that they can maybe rent, versus somebody like yourself who's you know, responsible for the number one community in the nation, it's that you just want to live in a place where you can be really happy. And that those around you can be really happy. And I see that no matter who I talk to, it's they typically love what they're doing, no matter what the current challenge is, it's like a, it's like a puzzle that we're all trying to solve. In our independent, you know, works or sections of what what exactly that we do. So, so we talked a little bit about the challenges in your model, your mix of product type, I'd love to know, you made a little comment about your mom and grandmother, but where have there been influential, influential people in your life that you can really say, I got to where I am today, because of, you know, these two or three really, really impactful people?
Laura Cole 32:04
Yeah, well, my mother, my mother is probably my biggest influence. She, I mean, she's, she's a really bright woman who, you know, when she married, my father certainly fell into kind of more of a traditional role. But she was, she knows college educated and very ambitious, and just incredibly witty and gregarious and never sort of ever tried to be somebody else. I mean, she just, she's sort of a force. And I used to get to see her when, when, when I was growing up, she used to work on the, on the Air Force Base in in Madrid. And so I would go to work with them in the morning, and then went to see my dad, and then in the afternoon, after school, I would, I would go to her office, and then I would go home with her. And so I got to see her and I didn't I realized this over the years, how impactful it was, I got to see how she operated as a professional with other people. And it was people of all and i She treated everybody the same, it was anybody who was coming in, she actually used to manage the housing program. So I guess I was partly it was meant to be but she would treat, you know, an airman that would come in to general that would come in the same. And it was always professional, but she always went, no matter what she would always have somebody came in, she would always introduce me and make sure that I that I knew that I was still the most important person in that room to her at that time. And I I've sort of kept that really sort of close to my heart. But she advanced very quickly though she started later in her career. And she's just she, she always just I think she was a person that knew how to add value. And she did it with a lot of humor, which I think goes a long way if you can, again, allow yourself to be yourself and and treat people well. So she she was an incredible model for me. My dad was I think, and he does pass a few weeks ago but he was a great motivator for me because from when I was little, I used to be very athletic and so he would put me I was always on boys teams for most of my you know, until high school really. And so I was I consider myself and I still consider myself to be somewhat of an athlete and it's not an athlete in the sense of like you know, I still play tennis and things like that but it was an athlete in that you're part of a team you're you show up for practice you you know you play and you you keep sort of pushing yourself to get better and and it was kind of fun doing that with boys you know when we were little you know being in that same environment. So I I give him a lot of credit for I do think young women or girls who have had sort of athletic experiences or have been part of a team or I think that ends up I think of that influencing my my business career a lot for some reason that are who I am Um, and then of course, my grandmother was just somebody who had gone through a lot in the Spanish Civil War and with her family, and she was just always look forward, always look for, there's no point and looking back, you know, you can you're, you know, a lot of people can claim to be victims and different things in life, but you always look forward. And she was always one that, you know, nothing that I would go through whatever compared to anything she had to go through. So, and she was always really joyful. So that was kind of the, the more personal side of who I am, is, you just kind of keep moving forward.
Nancy Surak 35:35
I think that's a great, and I'm probably going to, I'm certain I will take them forward all week, right, just keep moving forward, you can't worry about things that maybe happened last week. I mean, there are lessons and everything, but just keep, keep trucking forward. And I have to remind, you know, those around me and my kids have that quite frequently like to you can really just beat yourself up a lot. The world is hard enough. Don't beat yourself, just keep you know, brush yourself off, get yourself back up and get back into the game. Right. So those are great, I appreciate you sharing with me those those really personal stories that exercise, it's really wonderful to know that you had strong women examples, you know, I had that as well. And a bunch of older sisters were, you know, I learned from the things that they went through, and I paid attention, not that I didn't have my own situations, but I tried not to repeat their problems if I couldn't,
Laura Cole 36:33
that's when your fourth or fifth born. That's what you do, right? There's a lot of observation. And
Nancy Surak 36:40
absolutely, like I remember, you know, my sister, came home after college and moved back in with us, my mom and dad, and I remember watching her like, in her early 20s living under my parents role. And I think I was like 16 or 17. At the time, she had the same rules I had. And I was like, Oh, I am not doing this, you know, and, and I didn't, you know, so it's just kind of funny. The that's just a small lesson. So I again, I love I could talk to you forever. I do have three final questions. Number one, if a young woman were to call you and say, Hey, Laura, I'm, I'm going to jump in, I want to do development project. Give her some advice. What would you tell her she needs to focus on? Yeah,
Laura Cole 37:27
well, you know, and maybe this, I'm gonna tie this even to your last question, because while we talked about people who were very influential, I have to say there was an organization that's been hugely influential throughout my professional career, which was, of course, you and I have met each other. Because of that, and it's the Urban Land Institute. And that has been the consistent thread throughout my whole career, it's quality people quality mission, you know, you, you you give you give, you give, and somehow you get get back tenfold in terms of relationships and mentoring and things like that. So I would tell somebody, a young woman who's coming in to the, to the field or into real estate, and not exactly sure maybe where they're where she's going to land, I'd say, first of all, get it get, you know, honestly get get involved with the Urban Land Institute, because I think that is the preeminent Real Estate Organization and the people there are, are really top notch that you're going to meet with, so you're going to be the best and the brightest in the industry. And that's kind of always been like, I feel like I've never been, you know, never got to the best that had the best grades, but University best, but it's made a difference being associated with the best in, in the industry through this organization and through projects that I've been able to connect with. So that would be one sort of sort of bit of advice that I would give them. And then I would honestly tell them to, to I know that sounds so trite, but be yourself No, no, in the room where you stand out among those others, and make sure that other people know that, you know, don't don't kowtow to, to anybody in the room, just, you know, make sure that that what you're good at, you get to you get to really show through whatever project you're doing or whatever activity you're doing. And then also open yourself up to the possibilities of different lines of work in real estate because there's just so many different areas that one can go in. And as you know, as I mentioned, you know, I started off in public but I you know, I've kind of gone and I think at the end of the day, why I love what I do now is because I get to use all those different you know, all those different experiences that I had along the way so for me, the process matters. And sometimes I think especially if sounds like you have kids in mind, you know, it's I keep explaining to this it's like there's no shortcut to things or you know, I think now everything has to be well you know, we want to get it done. We wanna get it done quickly and why can't we advance faster and and you and I are probably like, you know, the you know, process matters, right like you You've gone through these things to gain experience. And it helps you peek around the corner in the future when, you know when when other people didn't have that same experience you can you, you kind of shine in those moments.
Nancy Surak 40:12
Yeah, I 100% agree with that. You can't cheat the process, and nothing is a straight line. I, especially in our world, especially for women, and which was one of the reasons I really wanted to start this whole podcast was because there were so many women like yourself across North America that are doing these amazing things. And they didn't necessarily, I mean, you're a little bit different, because you went to school for it. But most women that end up in our world didn't go to school for urban development, or finance, I mean that the backgrounds are so broad and diverse that they either sort of fell into it, or they fell in love with something in their community and said, I think I want to do that, you know, even my story, you know, I tell people, I didn't grow up in a real estate family, I wasn't really exposed to it. And my only exposure was a negative one. And so for me, it took to my mid 30s, say, I want to be a land broker. And people were like, why? And I'm like, because I've always been fascinated with the front end of development deals. But I didn't really think I had what it took to be a developer, you know, I was and I love the sales process. So to me, I'm like, I'm right where I'm supposed to be, I love it. And I can tell that you love what you do, too. So for those that are listening to you, where do you get your inspiration from? Do you have a book that you've read recently that you might want to share? Or a podcast? Like where do you kind of keep your motivation on point?
Laura Cole 41:43
I and I guess it ties a little bit back back to you ally days, I will say that I probably never done anything one original thing in my life, I think I maybe again, because of where we fall in the in the family chain, it's about sort of looking at other experiences and, and learning from them. And so I love kind of how you like to be in the front end of development, I love to think about a market where it is and think about nationally, were other markets that are ahead of it, and look at projects, you know, look at trends that are there how to, you know, develop or take advantage of those opportunities there, and then bring them to a market that maybe is a little bit behind that per se. And you know, there's always a market or a project that's doing something innovative, and different. And so I love that idea of kind of stealing that idea. And, and, and bringing it to a market and, and seeing it you know, and seeing it being successful. So I love I love disrupting markets, but I'm, I'm conscious enough that I take examples that have worked before. So I can't say I'm at the Front End of Innovation as much as I'm probably at the front end of taking the idea of something, you know, somewhere that has been tested and, and trying to enter a new market. i That's kind of what I enjoy doing.
Nancy Surak 43:03
Nice. So do you have any? Any books that you've read recently that you could refer anyone to? Or is it really just I get to like,
Laura Cole 43:12
books a lot. I mean, especially with what's going on in the world right now, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's I tried to get as you know, as objective sources as possible. But so I finally this was, this was probably two months ago. And here since I've been here. I've been in Florida for six years. And since I've been here, it was like, Oh, you have to read this book. It's it's called a lane remembered. I think it's about Florida history. And everybody's read it and and so I finally because I'm like I'm not a fiction person. I like reading biographies and things like that. And and I read it. And it was so interesting to me because it talks about you know, it's a fictitious but it really sort of talks about Florida's history and how it's developed over time with this different industries and the like, and what strikes me and maybe going back to your question about the pandemic is just how quickly things change. Right and so, and, and how you don't have once particularly what we do, I mean, it's really rewarding, I think, why we like what we do is because you look at the land in its raw state or whatever, you know, condition is you think of, you know, what it can be, and when it becomes that and you can touch it, it's really, it's kind of this magical moment, right? Like you're like, you know, I did this little piece of it or you know, and look at it, people are enjoying this now and and that's really an awesome feeling. But at the same time, if you don't make the right choices, it's on the built environment for a long time and therefore and so that struck me with this with this book was you know how quickly things can change but also how how important your decisions are for things that are going to be on the ground here for decades and you know, in potentially, you know, what the what it impacts the you know, all of the land news around it so, so that's I finally read it.
Nancy Surak 44:53
It's a great book. I'll make sure I have that in the in the show notes when I when I post this it's a really good book and I think for you in part two Killer. The Geography that's discussed in the book is your project. Yeah, right. Yeah. I mean, it's like kind of, or maybe just south of it. So you know, when they talk about crossing Florida, it's like, Oh, I know where they're talking
45:13
about, you know where that Yeah, that's right. I
Nancy Surak 45:16
know what's there now. You know, and it's that it's a good book, you know, I do, I did enjoy it as well, I've read it a couple times. Makes me want to pick it up again, actually just talking to you. It's been a few years since I've read it. But I have read it a few times. I think when I first got into doing land sales, I was handed a copy. And I was to read this. And I was like, okay, and I do more like business mind and motivation and inspiration type reading normally, but I really did definitely enjoy that one. So other than like, Lakewood Ranch, if there's a listener who wants to reach out or follow you, where do you? Are you active on social media? Do you have a LinkedIn, we're chipping?
Laura Cole 46:00
I'm on LinkedIn. And I'm actually not very, very active at all in social media. Part of it is because I think we use Facebook so much for marketing purposes. And I just do it. Because I know what it can do. And it's so I kind of separate myself from that. But no, I LinkedIn is, is a good place to find me. And and I do from time to time do updates on that.
46:22
Awesome. Do you have any speaking engagements coming up?
Laura Cole 46:26
No, I don't actually I regularly speak mostly Uli events, or some of the other large landowner events that are organizations. But
Nancy Surak 46:37
maybe we'll have to change that maybe we'll have to put something together. After this, you know that I tell people think of what's ultimately your goal for the podcast. And I said, ultimately, it's to interview as many women as I can find, and then bring them all together and introduce them. That'd be great. Because some of the folks that I'm talking to are, are just really remarkable and super passionate about the projects they're working on. So with that, I'm going to wrap up, I want to thank you for your time. I know you're super busy. I want to congratulate you on all the awards that Lakewood Ranch gets, I know it's your fingerprint all over those projects. I know you have a team with you. But I know when there's a really strong leader, really awesome things happen. So thank you for that. And thank you for your awesome example. And we'll see you soon.
Laura Cole 47:24
Well, thank you, Nancy. I mean, this is terrific. And I'm looking forward to your when you circulate the other podcast and like you said, if we can get all together, then that would be amazing. So
Nancy Surak 47:34
yeah, it will probably be a Uli meeting, I think I'm targeting quite a few Uli members. And for those who are not, I'm telling them about like, oh, you should be a new ally. Because there's just such a great wealth of resources and information there. So for listeners who aren't familiar with that, we'll make sure that that's linked in the show notes as well. But again, thank you so much for your time, and I will talk
47:56
to your debt for doing this. So thank you very much. Same.
47:58
Thank you.
47:59
All right. Take her in and I
Nancy Surak 48:02
thank you for joining us for another episode of she's wild the podcast for women in 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.