Today’s guest is Stephanie Rodriguez, Regional Senior Vice President for the state of Florida for Duke Realty.
Stephanie is responsible for leading and directing the leasing, property management, and marketing of Duke Realty’s growing industrial portfolios in Central and South Florida as well as new development opportunities.
In today’s episode, Nancy and Stephanie discuss Stephanie’s unconventional path to the top of the real estate ladder, interesting scenarios that have happened during her career and advice she offers up-and-coming real estate professionals to help them accelerate their journey to success.
Memorable moments:
17:07: As we try to attract new talent, it's important for us to maintain a really strong reputation in the market so that we have a leg up on our competitors in that way.
29:54: You need to build your network of people who can be advisors and experienced resources in the space. Put yourself out there be vulnerable and be a sponge. I think the more you learn, the more quickly you gain respect in the market.
31:23: You can be confident in yourself and know what you bring to the table. But you also have to be willing to know that you don't know everything and that you need to learn, and that will make you better in the long run.
Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com
Connect with Stephanie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie_rodriguez_7/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-weyandt-rodriguez-4b384b8/
Website: www.dukerealty.com
Stephanie's Book Recommendation:
Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World by William H. McRaven
https://amzn.to/3rUkQ7N
She's WILD Sound Production by:
Luke Surak, Surak Productions: surakproductions@gmail.com
Nancy Surak 0:00
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. Hello, and welcome to shoes while the podcast for women in land and development.
Today's guest is Stephanie Rodriguez of Duke Realty in Florida. She is the regional senior vice president. And I'm going to jump right in Stephanie, welcome to the show. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background? And we'll dive into all the goodies in the good question.
Stephanie Rodriguez 1:30
Sure,sure. And thanks for having me, I appreciate the invitation. It's always great talking to another lady in the in the land business. So I enjoy this tremendously. So my role at Duke realty is that I oversee our Florida operations. And that includes our acquisition, pipeline for development projects, the development of the projects, the subsequently thing and the ongoing property management of the project. So I have a team of really great people across the state who are the boots on the ground to handle all of those different disciplines. And I just get to dabble in all of the above. So my background is really unique and interesting. I did not study real estate, I did not study business. I went to college at Penn State. And I have two degrees, one in Russian and one in political science. Neither of which I use today. But I started in the real estate business as a receptionist at a REIT in Washington, DC. And fortunately for me, I was surrounded by initially a great female mentor who gave me some opportunities to learn and grow. And I worked my way through the operation side of the business, transitioned eventually here at Duke Realty to the leasing side of the business, then started working on development, and then eventually was promoted to oversee all of all of those fun things here in Florida. So that's my story in a nutshell.
Nancy Surak 1:34
That's awesome. I love the story of you didn't come in through a real estate degree. I can't even tell you how many women I get on the show. And that's their story. They're like, yeah, I didn't study real estate or planning or urban design. In college, I was a finance major, or I had a guest that is also has a war history degree. And I'm like, wow, like, how did you end up? Like? How exactly did you end up? So it's great to hear that you ended up? You know, you started as a receptionist. Yeah. And you've made your way up the career ladder, which is phenomenal. So congratulations on that. Thank you. When you I always love to ask, because you didn't study it. When you were a young girl. Now looking back, do you see where your interest in real estate? Like maybe started as a young girl? Do you have any stories of your childhood where you're like, oh, yeah, I was always fascinated with buildings or places. Because Is that something you can relate to?
Stephanie Rodriguez 4:04
Totally. It's funny. I have a photo of me on one of my dad's job sites. And it happened to be an expansion that he was putting, like, he built an addition onto our house when I was growing up. And my dad was a contractor. So construction was always sort of something that I was very familiar with and comfortable with and knew was really critical to our economy, you know, but my dad when he built the addition onto our house, he would pay me to do little odd jobs. So there's a photo of me with my naturally curly hair and a little tank top and gym shorts barefoot on the job site with $1 in my hands, because I had just stacked a bunch of bricks that my dad asked me to stack up for him to get off the ground or what I don't even remember the reason but so I was just kind of like grew up in that field. So the fact that I ended up in development and you know, later so much later in life, it's almost like it's all come full circle for me. And, you know, I just I remember as a child growing up going to, to jobs with my dad, whether it was climbing ladders, or, you know, whatever. But still to this day when I smell sawdust, or wet concrete, or drywall mud, I think of my dad, which is just like, it's just conjures up great memories for me. So I think it's sort of natural that I ended up in this business, but something that I never intended to do.
Nancy Surak 5:39
That's a great story. I often asked, you know, who are your biggest influencers in life, too, and most guests, when I asked that questions will say their parents, yeah, you know, one or two are both one or the other, or both. So who, who other than your dad who have been some of your biggest influencers, as you've kind of risen through your career,
Stephanie Rodriguez 6:02
I would say my mom, also, my parents divorced when I was younger. You know, my mother never went to college. So she, she certainly had her own challenges to overcome when my parents divorced, and she went to work for the first time in her adult life, she eventually found her way into selling advertising for a newspaper. And she became very successful at it. And I watched her through that process, because I was in my formative teenage years at that time, and how she worked really hard, she never let setbacks, get her down. She carried herself very professionally, she took pride in her work, you know, a lot of those things really influenced how I operate to this day, her grit really was embedded in me. So I would say, you know, both of my parents certainly had an influence. And then I would just say women in general, in real estate, we are still fairly underrepresented, especially in the sector, where I focus in the industrial world. So it's just to see other women who are thriving, not just, you know, doing well, but really making their mark in the industry have been an influence over me over the years. So I enjoy watching people like you who are tackling you know, the land side of the of the business, people like Julia Silva, and in Tampa with JLL, you know, she, she knocks it out of the park every day, I'm lucky enough to get to do business with her. I've had great female mentors and sponsors over the years. So I just really feel like there's a lot of inspiration with those women in my life. And I in turn, want to inspire other women to really look at this as such a great career opportunity and something that you can really have fun with and be successful at.
Nancy Surak 8:02
Yeah, it's same, which is the whole purpose of this podcast is for me to collect these conversations because I, I feel like when you're not in the industry, it can look from the outside. So intimidating, because there are so few women, particularly in your space, industrial, particularly in my space land, particularly in development. I don't know about you, because there are actually quite a few women in the industrial space. But still, I find myself quite often the only woman in the room at different meetings or with a client or I'll say to somebody, oh, yeah, 95% of my buyers are men. And there's not a problem with that. But it I don't even think about it anymore. But I know in the beginning, I had to like hype myself up to walk into certain rooms. And now I'm like, if it's old, it's old practice again, don't even it doesn't intimidate me. I don't. I don't even though if I give it consideration, it's just part of the business. For sure. I know if I was 22 or 25, or 30. Like, you have to kind of pump yourself up to walk into that. And it hasn't really changed a lot. Although it has gotten I think a lot better. Right? In and I would love to know, just I think if I remember correctly, Duke got a big, big award last year at the Globe street event for diversity, right? Is that what it was for? Tell me about when you guys are onboarding and you may not do it any differently for a woman. But is there a difference when you are onboarding a woman to your team versus a man or is it just you want diversity and inclusion and everyone's treated the same?
Stephanie Rodriguez 9:36
I wouldn't say there's anything different when we're bringing somebody in are one of our most recent hires on our leasing team in South Florida. She came in about a year ago. And she had worked for another local developer for about five years. And when we brought her in, you know, we we didn't hire her because of diversity. We hired her because we knew she was going to be great, you know, she would be a great fit. She, you know, had some good experience under her belt. And we thought it would just be a really great add to our team. When we're bringing somebody in. The focus is always on diversity, inclusion, no matter, you know, what gender you are, what your ethnic background, maybe any of the different diverse categories that we could talk about. Our team in South Florida is extremely diverse from ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, gender, age, I mean, it's, it's amazing, I take a lot of pride in the fact that we've assembled such a phenomenal team of individuals that can bring different experiences to the table. So it's important for us to make sure that we're listening to everybody and valuing their opinions and insights on a daily basis. And I think that's really more where the focus is. Having people feel like their voices heard having them feel like they're contributing, and adding value to the team every single day. So that's a big focus of mine, as the leader of the team, within our organization.
Nancy Surak 11:13
Thanks. Thank you. So take me through a typical day or a typical week, you are touching every part of the business, right from land acquisition all the way through engaging your tenants tell me what what is a week or a day like for Stephanie?
Stephanie Rodriguez 11:29
If only I could say, I think because as you know, the real estate business, whether it's development, whether it's the leasing, whether it's the property management, you have, you wear so many hats, so you're a jack of all trades and a Master of None, right? So and in my role now, because I touch all of those different aspects of what we do. It's, every single day is different. And that's one of the things that attracted me to this business, really, I didn't have to sit behind a desk, and look at spreadsheets all day, I do do some of that. But I also get out there and get, you know, people energize me. So I think that's one of the most attractive things about this business for me is that I get to interact with so many different people every single day. But I would say, you know, a typical day, if I don't have first thing in the morning meetings outside of the office is coming in checking emails, checking in with the team, any you know, finding out if there's anything new or anything that's burning, you know, anything that's on fire first thing, and a lot of it is just sort of touching people. So there's there are some administrative and reporting roles that I have. But a lot of it is just sort of making sure that everybody has what they need to be successful in their role, and providing support as needed. That's a little bit general. But really, truly, that's what it is, I try not to get in the weeds with our head of property management, who oversees you know, all the managers across the state. She knows what she's doing. I'm here to add support, I'm here to approve or, you know, brainstorm solutions for things. So I let her do her thing with her team. Our leasing team is seasoned, they know what they're doing. But I'm here to sort of help them also come up with creative ways to do deals, and give them the perspective of what we as a company are trying to accomplish when doing the deals and structuring them to make sure that we're maximizing, you know, our returns for our shareholders, development. Same thing, just you know, I mean, we're just, I love being able to touch all the things I've done through my career. So I've never really, ever gotten rid of what I used to do, coming up through the business. So there's just really a lot of that, and a lot of external contacts with brokers, folks, like you, you know, making sure that we're top of mind for everybody. It's a big deal. So I helped build our brand across the state and make sure that when somebody has a deal or a site or something to be considered that we're their first call, because that we've proven ourselves over the years, and we're fun to do business with.
Nancy Surak 14:21
So I love that fun to do business with. It can be really challenging environments like today, like there's so many things happening and coming at us in so many different directions. And you touched a little bit about finding solutions. I would love to know what are the biggest challenges that you're facing in your business right now?
Stephanie Rodriguez 14:42
I think that there are a few that come to mind. Number one, it's extremely competitive. So we are seeing a lot of players who are new to the industrial space or to the Florida market. Who because and industrial is the Darling sector, you know, since COVID, and now everybody who used to snub their nose at those of us who walked warehouses every day. Now, they all want a piece of the action, right? So instead of the typical handful of competitors that we used to have to, you know, sort of vie for sites for it's doubled in size, you know, so it may have been 10, strong groups across the state, and now it's 20. And so that, so that's made it increasingly difficult, you know, you're you're sort of underwriting deals and hoping to sell the rent growth dream that, well, I'm going to pay double for land when I paid a year ago. So I have to make sure my rents are going up to match that right, the levers have to be pulled in a way that you're still going to make money on that development deal. And that's just becoming increasingly more difficult. dovetailing into that is construction costs, labor issues, supply chain issues. So that's something that we're also sort of contending with in this space. It's taking longer to build projects, you're not sure if you're going to get steel or roofing materials on time. So you'd have to be really ahead of the game there to make sure that it's not impacting your schedule, because you're ordering things ahead of time. So there's a little more inherent risk, I think, but with more risk comes more reward. Right? So we're all hoping, yeah, so we're all sort of betting on that right now. That's a challenge. And then I would say the last thing is really just how competitive the talent pool is. It's really, you know, challenging to find great people for your team. And we are growing, and you need people to help that along. And it's really very competitive in the marketplace, whether it's on the construction side, or even the leasing and development side, everybody's looking to hire great talent, we feel we have great talent, so we want to keep it. And then as we try to attract new talent, it's important for us to maintain a really strong reputation in the market so that we have a leg up on our competitors in that way.
Nancy Surak 17:16
Yeah, you touched on several things there that I want to go into a little bit more detail. So you talked on hiring really great talent, what do you think are the key skills for success in your space in your business? What does somebody and I know? That's a really wide question, because you oversee so many different parts. So if you want to just pick one area, whether that's development or leasing, what do you think that that person has to have to be successful?
Stephanie Rodriguez 17:43
I mean, a strong work ethic goes without saying, I think, but I think one of the skills that I don't think it can necessarily be taught is creativity. So, you know, whether you're working in property management and solving a customer issue or a building issue, or you're in leasing and development, trying to get a deal across the finish line, or whether you're in our construction group, and they're trying to find ways to handle things that always inevitably come up as you go. I think creativity is something you know, we trying to find a way to get to yes, really. And a lot of that it's not the way we've done things before, you know, the world has evolved and changed. So you have to be able to be flexible and creative and finding solutions for all of the different things that we do in our office every day.
Nancy Surak 18:41
I love that. So, the other two questions that kind of popped up in my head, which I think is really helpful is what is the average size of a development deal for you square footage or, or pert, you know, building prices, whatever you want to tell me, what is typical that you guys would be building?
Stephanie Rodriguez 18:59
You know, it's so varied. I mean, it really depends on where our land pipeline is at the moment. Seems like lately, the 100,000 to 200,000 square foot building is sort of a Florida sweet spot. We just developed a 500,000 square foot project in Miami. And subsequently, I mean, we already leased it, so that was a great win for us. But those large buildings are sort of an anomaly for this market. We see a little more of the larger buildings in Central Florida, but I would say overall Duke realty is very much an infill developer. That's something that we do most of our work is on infill projects. So in Florida, that 100 to 200,000 square foot buildings are sort of our sweet spot and that's anywhere from let's call it six acres to you know, 11 acres in size for the site. And what's the typical
Nancy Surak 19:58
timeline from The moment that you're you begin or your team begins working on the land acquisition, to the point where you hand over keys to a tenant. Well, how long is that timeline?
Stephanie Rodriguez 20:09
So and that varies to based on Central and South Florida, and South Florida, where I sort of cut my teeth and the business. You know, your land acquisition, let's say it takes 90 days, from due diligence initiation, you know, where you've signed the contract, and you're ready to roll to closing. So once that 90 days has passed, then you have to go through, you know, design permitting and and, you know, entitlements, that can take 12 to 18 months in South Florida. So you're holding that site and not monetizing it for an extended period of time, you're just carrying it in your land bank, then beyond that, a building 100 to 200,000 square feet, it's about a seven month construction timeline. So if you pull that trigger, say you're 12 months in to owning the site, and then you've got another seven months, so 19 months, 20 months is probably the average time period before the shell is complete. And then you have to build out the tenant finish. Hopefully, you've already identified and signed that lease while your shell is on your way so that you can sort of do that simultaneously. But if not, that's another, you know, let's call it six months, just because of design and permitting times there too. So it requires some patience, Central Florida's a little quicker, we can usually, instead of that 12 to 18 months, we can usually pull the trigger on development within about six, assuming zoning is in place.
Nancy Surak 21:38
And that is a function of the municipal, local municipality, and how fast they can move. Okay, yes, because in my market, it depends on which municipality that you're located. Right. And most people want an industrial, most of those organizations are like, bring it because they view that as jobs, a job or activity, and that fuels their economy, which is great. So you guys can typically move a little bit faster than what I would see in some other asset classes. So but I really appreciate you giving me that timeline. Because in my business, from the time I meet with a landowner, or a buyer to the time that they are finished, could take four to five years. And depending on the municipality, like even my part of the deal can take three years. And so I tell people, you have to be really patient. I used to tell my kids when they were little I was like, listen, I use all my patients at work. I don't have any left. So don't be bad. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Like I just I can't, you know. So what? Love to throw this out? What is the strangest thing you've ever encountered on one of your deals? Oh, my.
Stephanie Rodriguez 22:47
That's a great question. And we can come back to it if you need a minute to think about it, too. Yeah, I, I don't want to have a lot of like dead airtime here. That's okay. I feel like I'm, well, here's one. So Miami is a unique market, of course. And because of the density and the fact that you've got the ocean on the east and the Everglades on the west, you only have about 20 miles of developable bull land in between. So everything is is changing, new sub markets are cropping up. And we were under contract for a site in Hialeah Gardens. This is a number of years ago. And it was an assemblage and as part of our due diligence, we were doing, you know, tree surveys and things like that, that were required. And Topo. And so we were, we had some consultants going out, and you know, they would do work and Mark Mark their plans. And then a few days later, they were back and they were like, wait a minute, it's changed. Like they're taking out trees. They're, they're doing all these things. And please call the seller and tell them to stop doing work on the site, because we can't finish our surveys because it's ever changing conditions. So we contacted the seller, and said, you know, look, we have our consultants going out to the site, and they're trying to do tree surveys and things like that. But one day a tree is there the next day, it's gone. Can you please like I don't know what you're doing. But can you please stop. So the backstory is apparently, the local municipality had gone and done, you know, sort of a code visit a code compliance visit to the site. And there were people living on the site in hand constructed structures growing marijuana. So they were told that they had to get rid of that and clear out the site so that it wouldn't conceal All that sort of operation on the on the property. So it was a marijuana growing undercover operation that was going on on the site that the seller had no idea was happening because he lived in South America. So, you know, just things like that, that you uncover as you go, you know? Yeah, people make jokes about buried bodies, but it's not. It's not uncommon.
Nancy Surak 25:23
Well, no in land, like that's happened to me, like I have those stories where I'm like, I luckily knock on some wood. I'm not discovered it myself, but it's been there. Right. And I've gotten the call from the sheriff's office. Yeah, where somebody is investigating something. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Or I've been on a site that somebody's past. They've seen me and they'll text me and be like, hey, yeah, those are those the bodies were dumped there. And I'm like, what do you what are you talking about? Yeah. You know, or abandon RVs? I mean, I've seen it. I've seen all of that. Right. Which is, which is really wonderful have also dealt with a lot of folks living illegally on properties with with vacant landowners. And what I tell people is, you know, the population that does that are wicked smart, because they know, like, if I had to kick people off of properties, right before closing to say, like, you can't be here, because in the state of Florida, there's some laws that protect them. So I'm like, you can't you can't be here, you got to move along. Say, I know, I have permission from the landowner and Lebanon. And I'm like, No, you don't. Right. But I'm like, How is it that they know the landowner lives in Lebanon? How is this even possible? So somewhere along the line they've been given? Or they've done their own research? Pretty amazing? And I'm like, No, okay. Yeah, you didn't have permission, but you still gotta go. Right. But when they talk to, you know, somebody else who doesn't necessarily know all the ins and outs, they'll get away with all kinds of stuff. It's so it's really interesting that you had a whole like, Operation how, yeah, remember cultural operation of Lagos? state of Florida? Yeah. So that that's so fun. So you have touched every single part of the business? What is your absolute favorite part
Stephanie Rodriguez 27:15
of the deal? Making? Nice, yeah, the deal making is still my favorite part. I used to love the operation side, just because you could always see the fruits of your labor, but the deal making the dance, you know, the, you know, trying to make sure that everybody feels like they got something in the end, there's an art to that. And there's a little bit of science that goes into it as well. So I'm just I think over the years, I've been really, really fortunate to make some great relationships with the deal makers in the markets. And just kind of working toward those solutions in the end is really just so fun. And, you know, it's so exciting as you're going through it, and then you're happy when you close it, and then it's almost like 24 hours later, it's gone. Right? And you're on it. And that markable Yeah, it is it is and it could take you years to work that deal. And you finish it and you're like, This is the best thing ever. And then like within one day, you've already moved on to the next. So it's um, you're forever chasing that. That Hi, I suppose you can say yeah, I mean, it's addictive.
Unknown Speaker 28:30
It definitely is. I think that that's probably what motivates me more than anything else. Yeah. It's the chase. Yeah. You know, and I love it. And I love when things come together, and the parts snap together, and we get a deal done. Yeah. And then only and I have to be really patient but when it closes like I don't even I have to remind myself to celebrate because I'm on to the next deal. How am I gonna know you can't rest on your laurels? You gotta have something else in the pipeline. That's wrong. But yeah, I to do also love the art of the deal. Yeah. In the in the dance that goes on and the psychology behind it. For sure. You know, and I've seen some really interesting personal psychology issues like when we used to be able to do things in person more fantastic. Now everything is over the phone or computer and it's I miss that piece along. Yeah, where I have some sellers who are like, I don't want to do a zoom call. I don't want to be on teams. I don't want them to see my face because I'm giving up too much information.
Stephanie Rodriguez 29:29
Isn't that interesting? Yeah.
Nancy Surak 29:31
It's it's it's really interesting, new dynamic and new challenge, right? So if a young woman were to call you up blindly and say, Hey, I'm really interested in the built environment. I'm really interested in development or in land, and I'm just looking for some career advice as I get started, what would you tell her to
Unknown Speaker 29:54
plug in? You need to build your network of people who can be advisors, you know, experienced resources and the space, put yourself out there be vulnerable and be a sponge. I mean, that's just really, I think the more you learn, the more quickly you gain respect in the market. I found that to be the case for me. So I think when I, when I switched into leasing from operations, it was it was a struggle for about two years, I felt like I was flying blind. And I had left a position that I knew how to do everything without second guessing myself once. And then I transitioned into a role where I'd never done it before. I was struggling to find good coaching, as I went through learning the new the new role. And I second guessed every single thing that I did, but one of the things that I found was the more I educated myself, and the more I learned, so I had to be vulnerable, I had to be open, I had to absorb, take the good leave the stuff that wasn't beneficial to me. And the quicker I did that, the more I gained the respect in the marketplace. And that made my job that much easier. And I think that's really just such a critical thing like you, you can't come in,
Stephanie Rodriguez 31:23
you can be confident in yourself and know what you bring to the table. But you also have to be willing to know that you don't know everything, and that you need to learn. And that will make you better in the long run.
Nancy Surak 31:36
Great advice. So I always like to wrap up the podcast with two pretty simple questions. And I tell them, I guess if it doesn't apply, it's okay. But we'd love to know what is a book that you've read recently, or a podcast you've listened to that has been really inspirational to you.
Stephanie Rodriguez 31:55
So it's funny, I don't listen to podcasts very much, because I'm a music and my car girl. But I do read a lot. So I have a goal to read 50 books this year. And I'm like, wow, yeah, that's a lot. So I everybody's like, are you watching this on Netflix? The answer's no. I'm like way behind on all the Netflix because I watched most of it during the pandemic. And now I've moved on. But I was talking the other day actually about this. So probably six months ago, I read the book, make your bed? Have you read it? No, it's actually a, it's not a big book. And I think you can get it on Audible too. But it's written by a retired Navy admiral who was a seal. And it talks about simple things that you can do every day to set yourself up for success. One of the big takeaways in the book that I liked, was, you know, and he was in a Navy admiral, you cannot paddle the boat alone. So sometimes I think women are like, I can do this, I got this, you know, like, I'm not asking for help, because I don't want them to think that I don't know the answer or can't do this on my own. But it talks about, you know, you can't paddle the boat alone, you need to surround yourself with a team of great people who can support you along the way. And I feel like that's something that I think about a lot here. And my role. So I think that's a great book. And it's an easy read.
Nancy Surak 33:26
I can't wait to I can't wait to download it. And yeah, all about it. And then finally, if if someone were to be listening to this, and they just want to sort of keep up with your professional life or personal life, is there a place on social media? Are you active on social media that you'd be willing to share? Like, how could they keep up with your life is Stephanie Rodriguez at Duke?
Stephanie Rodriguez 33:45
Yeah, I mean, I'm on LinkedIn. So most of my professional posting is there. And then Instagram I use heavily, you know, the younger generation in our business is really leaning heavily on social media. And so my personal account also serves as my professional account on Instagram. So you do have to submit a request. So sometimes in direct message letting me know that you've seen this podcast and you want to follow my account is great. Because I do like to keep some of the riffraff off my account, but I thought about separating the two and I don't know how you handle this, but I found that my professional contacts getting to know me a little bit personally, has actually facilitated more business because they feel like they know me as a person. So So
Nancy Surak 34:37
I for years, I kept Facebook personal, and LinkedIn professional and I rarely crossed the line, very barrier. But during COVID I did a big personal branding exercise and I was like I need to marry these two and I am really uncomfortable doing that in the current spaces like they just don't feel right All right, so I was like, you know, I'm not active on Instagram. I'm gonna make that where I, where I really just live my life. Yeah. And so that's what I did I transitioned. And that's where I'm like, if you want to know what deals I'm working on, or like, what life is like, as a land broker, like follow me there, and it varies. Sometimes I'm super active. I mean, I think I followed you on Instagram, you're very, very active, which I think is phenomenal. Yeah. But I have weeks where I'm like, super active and weeks where I'm pretty dark, just because I'm so flipping busy. I can't Yeah, I just don't have time. Yeah. But I do show the personal side of my of my life. And what I've noticed is that that's where people connect. And like, my clientele are like, Oh, my God, you know, that's fantastic. Or, you know, I'm standing in my lounge at my house, and people love that. And I'm like, Yeah, who would have thunk that? That they would care? But when I say oh, yeah, no, I'm I'm a craft cocktail enthusiast. They're like, Oh, my God, tell me more. Give me a real restaurant. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Yeah. Meanwhile, I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. But I have some good recipes. Yeah. So yeah, no, I love that. And I appreciate the fact that you clarified it the way that you did. So with that we're wrapping worked on. And I so enjoyed this time to get to know you better, and to have you share your story with with my audience. And, you know, I wish you the best of luck in your career going
Stephanie Rodriguez 36:23
forward. Thanks, Sam to you, and I appreciate the invite out. Thank you. Thanks, appreciate it.
Nancy Surak 36:26
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.