On today's episode of She’s Wild, I sit down with Taya Cook and Sherry Larjani to discuss their 9-story, 200-unit, condominium project, Reina. Sherry and Taya are inspiring female leaders in the real estate industry who have managed to carve out their own niche, despite being surrounded by males. These amazing ladies share stories throughout their careers that helped to inspire them to form the first, all-female development team in Canada to build the Reina condo project in Toronto, Ontario. Reina, named after the Spanish word for “queen,” is about leading women building a better condo by doing things differently — through community collaboration, new perspectives, and a commitment to multigenerational living.
Welcome back to the She’s Wild Podcast! I am so excited to introduce you all to Taya Cook and Sherry Larjani. Taya Cook is the Director of Development at Urban Capital where she has played a lead role in developing condominium projects and seeing them through to completion across Canada. Sherry Larjani is an experienced real estate developer and entrepreneur, who’s main focus is to create beautifully designed spaces that bring her visions to life. Sherry is the President and founder of her own real estate development firm, Spotlight Development Inc.
On today's episode of She’s Wild, I sit down with Taya Cook and Sherry Larjani to discuss their 9-story, 200-unit, condominium project, Reina. Sherry and Taya are inspiring female leaders in the real estate industry who have managed to carve out their own niche, despite being surrounded by males.
These amazing ladies share stories throughout their careers that helped to inspire them to form the first, all-female development team in Canada to build the Reina condo project in Toronto, Ontario. Reina, named after the Spanish word for “queen,” is about leading women building a better condo by doing things differently — through community collaboration, new perspectives, and a commitment to multigenerational living.
I loved sitting down with these ladies and can’t wait for you to hear the entire episode!
Memorable Moments:
7:22- Sherry L: “I wanted to show everyone on the site working with me that I can be just like them. I am an equal. I am willing to do the hard work, or pick up that piece of metal, or wood, or drywall, or whatever the case is.”
9:08- Taya C: “I think being a woman working in this industry for so many years to not have one woman who's at the top, or is highlighted in such an obvious way, it was upsetting, it was really upsetting.”
11:12- Taya C: “I think a lot of people look at the industry and say, “Oh, now there's lots of women who work in it.” But when you actually look at the leadership, roles and positions, there really isn't. And the people who are making decisions on these huge projects, typically, it's a roomful of men.”
22:08- Sherry L: “I think we carried that throughout the project, even sitting around the table, all of the consultants, if they had something to say, we were willing to hear it. And you know, it wasn't just a saying. We actually paid attention and tried to see how we could incorporate it into our design.”
23:33- Taya C: “I could ramble on for like an hour of all the details. But I think the main thing for the building was that it would be a space where it was accommodating to all age groups and to families specifically.”
26:20- Sherry L: “You have to have confidence in your own abilities, whatever those are, whatever you're good at, because if you don't have that confidence, and if you're lacking it, you can't sit at a table and prove a point, because if you can't talk the talk, nobody's going to take you seriously. And if you don't have the confidence, then you won't be able to carry a conversation and answer questions.”
29:14- Taya C: “Because especially most of us who, you know, are not going to put ourselves in risky positions are not going to really put ourselves out there. We can really afford to put ourselves out there at least a little bit more, and just go for something instead of just waiting until we're 100% sure it's the right decision.”
Connect with Taya Cook:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taya.cook17/
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/taya-cook-55382b32/
Website: http://www.urbancapital.ca/
Connect with Sherry Larjani:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slarjani/
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-larjani-37644949/
Website: https://www.spotlightdevelopment.com/
Learn more about their project Reina:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reinacondos/
Websites: https://www.reinacondos.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/business/women-real-estate-development.html
https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/eight-women-transforming-canada-multi-residential/
Connect with Nancy:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancysurak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysurak/
Website: www.nancysurak.com
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.
I am so excited to bring you today's episode. When I first decided to create she's wild the podcasts I did a bunch of research of women who were doing awesome things across North America. And I read an article in The New York Times about two women who created an all female development team up in Toronto, Canada. After becoming super frustrated one day, I managed to get these two ladies to sit down with me today to talk about their project called Reina and also share the stories of their careers. What keeps them super excited and pumped, and even share some words of advice. I hope that you love this episode.This was a pinnacle for me, I couldn't wait to get them on the show. And I just thoroughly enjoyed the time that I spent with them. And you know, just listen in and share your thoughts and let me know what you think. Hi, welcome to she's wild the podcast for women and land and development. Today's guest come to us all the way from Toronto, Canada, I have Sherry Larjani, the president of spotlight development, and Taya Cook, the development director with Urban Capital. Ladies, welcome to the show, I cannot even tell you how excited I am to have you here and how fortunate I feel that you are sharing your story with our audience. So we're gonna dive right right in. Why don't you guys each tell me a little bit more about yourself. Go ahead and introduce yourselves and tell me a little bit about your background.
Taya Cook 2:43
Sure, I'm Taya Cook. I'm the Director of Development at Urban Capital. I've been with Urban Capital for about 18 years now. And Urban Capital is a condo development company here in Canada. So we're based out of Toronto, but we also do projects pretty well all across Canada, so and Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan. So we have a pretty broad reach. But we're a bit of a small company, which is nice. So we have our hands in everything.
Nancy Surak 3:15
How about you, Sherry?
Sherry Larjani 3:17
So I'm Sherry Larjani, I am the president of my own company, which is called Spotlight Development. And I started in the industry, not necessarily in the hires industry, but in the overall industry of you know, design and build sort of start about 2012 I lost count in a number of years. And I've sort of worked my way up to get into the condo development, and I was lucky enough to be able to, obviously create partnerships that have been the ways that I have actually put myself through education about this field and how it works. And, and, you know, that's the way. I've got to where I am, which is, you know, having couple of projects around the city, and good locations, and, you know, obviously always looking for more projects.
Nancy Surak 4:12
So I know a little bit about the project that you guys did together. So we'll get into that in a little bit. But before we do that, I like to ask my guests, you know, a little bit more about your background in terms of you know, did you come up through the real estate industry where you was around when you were younger girl or did you go to college for any of those things, or did you just kind of find it along your way?
Taya Cook 4:37
Yeah, I went. I did my degree on neuro psychology, so nothing to do with real estate. And Urban Capital was actually I was the first hire so they were looking for a summer student when I was in third year university. I thought sure I'll do it for a couple of months. And I just ended up loving it and especially real estate was definitely not something I would have ever thought as a career, it just wasn't on my radar of something you can do. I mean, you could be a sales agent, of course, but I didn't understand the whole world of development and all the different industries that are related to it. And so yeah, I completely fell into it, and never left.
Nancy Surak 5:18
Amazing. How about you?
Sherry Larjani 5:19
Sure, I don't come from a family or background that does this, either. But I did study architecture. So I did have a little bit of a design and, and background that has something to do with, you know, obviously building and, you know, obviously design, however, the development industry wasn't something that I ever thought I would be able to get into. Because the idea of, you know, a developer has always, you know, from, from what I knew was always this older white gentleman who has a lot of money. And it was always some sort of an idea. But it was something I was always striving for. And I love to do. So I think I've tried knocking at every door possible so that I can get there. But it wasn't something that I just, it was something I always love to do. But it wasn't something that I knew how to get, how to get it done, and how to find a way to, you know, become a developer. So I had to basically find my own way.
Nancy Surak 6:21
Tell me about the first project here for dead.
Sherry Larjani 6:24
So the first condo project you mean? or the first,
Nancy Surak 6:27
The first development project that you got involved with.
Sherry Larjani 6:30
So if we can call that as much of a development project, as you know, one of the condo projects I'm working on now, I started by buying a very small property, a house. And I designed the permit design the house and I actually built it myself. So I was basically everything from A to Z. And I was standing on the construction site supervising the construction working with the guys on site, you know, sometimes helping them carry drywall around or, or, you know, clean up the site after to be honest. And that's how I started.
Nancy Surak 7:01
Sherry, I think I read an article that you said, you know, if something needed to get done on the site, you would just do it, you would just jump right in.
Sherry Larjani 7:08
Yes, I did. And I you know what, it was always the concept of either I have to do it, or I have to find someone to do it. And I didn't always it wasn't always easy to find someone to help. And it wasn't always something I wanted to do to be honest, because I wanted to show everyone that on the site working with me that I can be just like them and I am an equal not in just the way that you know, I know about this industry, but I am willing to also do that you know, hard work or pick up that piece of metal or wood or drywall or whatever the case is. That that needs to be done just to get the job done. And I think also motivated guys, too. So the one I started to pick up to be honest with you, whenever they were throwing stuff around and not picking up after themselves. And I would start doing it, it would get them all motivated to just you know, get up and be macho man and go around and clean up. So it's like, you know, also something that I try to do as often as possible, especially when I was about eight, nine months pregnant that I was on a job site, I kept on doing it even more because I knew they would all get up and about to just make sure that they actually get that done. So I used that as a as a motivational tool for the guys on site. So yes,
Nancy Surak 8:17
That's hysterical, I love it. So tell me about how you guys originally began to work together and in the project and how that came together and what was really the origination of the idea.
Sherry Larjani 8:32
I'll leave that to Taya.
Taya Cook 8:36
Yeah, so the project came about. First of all, Sherry Sherry had this great site in Toronto, that she's being demure, I guess. She's got huge sites like amazing sites in the city. So she had one site. She'd never worked in development before on condominium side and Urban Capital had a project across the street. So she'd reached out to David Wax, who's the one of the owners that Urban Capital about doing a project. And for whatever reason, we'd already sort of done that neighborhood. So that didn't go ahead. But she was on the radar as this, you know, such a strong woman to just make a cold call like that. And then when the idea for Reina came about that was there was an article in Toronto Life that said, here are the top developers in the city and it was 20 men. It was called the Kings of Condos. And it was just so upsetting. I think being a woman working in this industry for so many years to not have one woman who's at the top or is highlighted in such an obvious fashion Toronto Life magazine that goes to most houses in the city. It was upsetting it was really upsetting. So I went into the office that day and spoke to Dave and said you know this is ridiculous there's no and he was on the list of course is the top 20 developers. So we should do we got to do something, I want to do a project that's all women. And to his credit, he just said, Yeah, you're right. Okay, go for it. And that was it. There really wasn't much more discussion. And then, of course, the first phone call was to Sherry, because she's just the perfect partner for something like this. And so we've been working together on it for I guess, two, three years now.
Nancy Surak 10:28
Your, your team is female, right?
Taya Cook 10:31
Yes. So that was the whole idea was that everyone, it wasn't just developers that are tend to be mostly men, but it's also all of the disciplines that we hire. So our architects or engineers, finance, our lawyers, it tends to all trickle down based on who the developers are hiring. So the whole point of Rena is to put together a team of women, who are all in leadership, senior positions, really at the top of their game. And show that we can be in these positions as well, because I think a lot of people look at the industry and say, Oh, now there's lots of women who work in it. But when you actually look at the leadership, roles and positions, there really isn't, and the people who are making decisions on these huge projects. Typically, it's a roomful of men. So we want it to be very strong, and that it's not just women getting together and working. It's women who are making decisions and who are taking the leadership in this project in the
most senior way possible. So it's been great.
Nancy Surak 11:32
It's very inspirational, you know, I reached out to you guys all the way from Florida, because I'd read about you. And I thought, you know, if I'm going to do this podcast, I want these women to tell this story. Because that's the whole point of the podcast is to inspire other people. And I know, at least on the west coast of Florida, I mean, we're fortunate to have some women in some pretty good positions, but I don't see what you guys have done here. You know, and I am, I'm a land broker. And I often go to different events, and we'll sit with my women friends, and we'll go around the table, and we're like, why aren't we doing a project together? I think we have everybody we need at this table. And then for one reason that people will get excited, and then it never really comes to fruition. So I give you guys a ton of credit, because and I know it's hard, because then you're deciding well, do we ask this person or that person? And does this person have the experience and I know just from paying attention to ULI and the Women's Leadership up in Toronto, you'll have a very deep pool of women who were killing it up there in the development space. So I'm already a huge fan of your market and like I'm going to Toronto one day if someone in need. But tell me what what were some of the bigger challenges in the beginning or throughout the project that you guys face? Not necessarily as women, but just in general? No.
Sherry Larjani 12:52
I was just saying sell to someone not to like I was just making sure they don't come in and start talking to me.
Nancy Surak 13:05
That's the challenge we all have on these zoom calls and live recordings. It's life. It's not a big deal. But I thought you were waving me off like that intention. So back to the question, what were some of those early challenges or even challenges that you're dealing with more
recently?
Sherry Larjani 13:25
So if I were to talk about the challenges, I think what wasn't a challenge was definitely finding all the capable woman we found and all the consultants that we put together, so we didn't have any difficulty finding anyone in any role that we wanted. And that's an absolutely amazing part of the project, because it showed us even as people who had been in this industry, obviously Taya a lot a lot longer than me, for the time I was in it, that we're used to working with, you know, men around the table that Oh, wow, there are these woman and they are doing the exact same thing.
So it was a breath of fresh air. But there was, obviously the challenges that we faced was, you know, the comments that we sometimes received, or, you know, the feedback, and unfortunately, most of it came from people that were closer to us rather than from far away, because you rarely hear it, but when it comes from far away, and it just becomes, you know, background noise, but when it comes from people that are closer to you, actually, you know, I remember one of the guys that I who I was speaking to and I was like excitedly talking about this project and saying how we're doing this project isn't "Oh, wow, you guys are gonna have such a hard time selling it because it's all woman." And yet it was just like raising my eyebrows. Why would this person even talk about that? So I think the challenges weren't any different than the challenges that any project has. Just because it was all women, but we did have the chance. Challenges of wanting to make sure that we obviously prove a point. So I think it was a lot of pressure on us, as you know, the two people who were pioneering or initiating this sort of cause, but it was also the fact that, you know, we, we were getting comments sometimes that were unkind and uncalled for, which, you know, was nothing but more ammunition for us to just push ahead. And that's how we took it, which is, you know, which I'm glad we did. And I'm glad we just went ahead with everything that we did.
Taya Cook 15:32
So I have to say the comments of the states are way worse than Canada. Articles. Oh, we were in like in New York Times, and Huffington Post and Oprah Magazine, and like a whole bunch of really great media outlets. And if you read like, I don't know, you guys have a very active online comment.
Nancy Surak 15:53
Well I'm sorry for that. But I, you know, I have to say, I'm not surprised. I've learned even in you mentioned it earlier, I'm often the only woman in the room. Yeah. And I just, it's never really bothered me necessarily, like, I'm aware, right, obviously, like, it's, it's obvious, but I just keep pushing forward. But I have heard in some of those rooms, comments about other women in my business, and it always made me like, so uncomfortable. Because I'm like, Well, wait a minute, especially if it's a friend. All right. I'm like, that's not actually true. But you know, and I've had people warn me to not get close to other women in the business are like, well, you should be really careful of her reputation. And I'm like, what do you what are you talking about? Yeah, you know, and I never had somebody tell me that about a man. Right?
Taya Cook 16:46
Yeah. Well, I think that's it too, when we said, you know, it's gonna be an all female team, there's a bunch of, you know, the normal, stupid, ooh, they're gonna be catfights are you all gonna get along? As if we all have to be best friends to work together, right? Like, like us working together as like a slumber party of just hanging out, you know, paint each other's nails. Like, it's ridiculous, we have the exact same job to do as we do on any other project. It's just a serious, there's just as much money involved. It's, you know, all those things. But I do think there's that underlying whatever the word is just ignorance, that, you know, we're like playing a role. It's like this whole, you know, oh, you're a girl boss. So, personally, I hate it. It's like we're playing dress up and pretending to do our jobs. I find it so offensive. So I think there's a lot of that, like, it's, it's well intended, sometimes, or hopefully, but just lands so poorly.
Nancy Surak 17:46
Yeah. I mean, you're fully capable. Right? I mean, you've been doing this before the project. I would imagine everybody on your team, you said it was senior leaders. So they all had an incredible resume, no doubt. I mean, otherwise, you probably wouldn't have chosen them. I mean, there's a lot riding on saying, you know, hey, I want to do this and I want it to be all women. Sort of proving a point that it can be done, and it's gonna be amazing and amazing project.
Sherry Larjani 18:11
And we had, we had options to choose from, you know, a few men who were doing the same thing at senior level, which is another point to mention.
Nancy Surak 18:21
Kudos, kudos to you guys. And I'm, I'd love to know, like, have you heard from other women teams? Anywhere else that's trying to do this?
Sherry Larjani 18:33
Yeah. So after our project, I have heard of two, one in Vancouver, which I, I read about, and then I was actually called on a social housing project that was being done by a woman for woman in another city in Canada, that I was told that they're doing that. And it was interesting to see that that shift is sort of happening and our project is having that much of an effect, and is
carrying that message for.
Nancy Surak 19:05
Right and look, I'm calling all way from Florida years after your initial publication. So it's going to continue the show will continue to expose A. that can be done B. that can be done incredibly well. So I want to talk a little bit about the project specifically in what the influence some of the things you guys learned through the design phase, when you're designing as women sitting around the table versus men because that's been a big beef of mine personally where I'll say I go to an event and I'll have a nice stiletto heel on and the next thing I know my heels getting caught in the in the boardwalk or the stress joint in the concrete and I'm like, okay, when is a woman going to figure this out? This is killing me and my nice shoes.
Taya Cook 19:47
You haven't come to a Sherry party, she thinks of everything with her parties.
Nancy Surak 19:53
Yes, I'd like just you know, what are some of the things that when you guys were sitting around in the design phase, you were like, I want to make sure this happens?
Sherry Larjani 20:01
I think we have a lot of stuff that happened through talking and listening. So we, you know, you bring up the the the topic that you're doing something like this and that you're willing to hear from others that, you know, that have lived in condos how they feel and what they see as problem. And people start talking. And I think it feels like they've never been asked to talk about the problems they've always been asked to say, to talk about how pretty a condo is, or that the statics were more important than the details. And, you know, one of the things I remember that, that, you know, to me, what's interesting is that we were doing an interview with one of the TVs in Canada. And, you know, we finished the interview, and the lady who was sitting across from us chat said, Can I got it now that you guys are talking about all this collaboration? Can I guys give you my idea or my opinion, and you know, he says, Sure, and she started talking about all she lives in a condo, and she hates her laundry, and she doesn't have any storage, she doesn't have any room to put anything I was like, see you asking you get you listen, and and you people start talking. And you know, we did a lot of collaborations, we did it with different groups, we invited everyone from the community, from the people we knew from the industry to come and sit around the table and actually doodle things on on a paper or do drawings, you know, and leave it for us. And it was such an exciting, interesting experience for us to see how much comes out of that. And then we went to Girl Guides, which is, you know, a group of young girls who had clever, amazing ideas and to see how their brain works and what they actually see as things that are missing in a project was absolutely amazing. And, you know, we kept on doing that. I think we carried that throughout the project, even sitting around the table, all of the consultants, they if they had something to say we were we were willing to to hear it. And you know, it wasn't just a saying, Well, you know what, we'll hear it. And we'll probably just ignore it, we actually paid attention and tried to see how we can incorporate it into our design. And I think I leave it to to to tell you those examples, a few of the things that we've done. Well, I think
Taya Cook 22:22
It also I'm really realizing just as context is that your listeners might not know what our project is. So it's a condominium project. And it's it's a nine story building with 200 units, so quite substantial. And right near downtown Toronto, so just about a 15 minute drive from the core of downtown. So there's lots of opportunities within a building that size to make a bunch of changes. So we did I feel we did some really interesting amenity spaces, we offer at least 25% more than what a typical building would have. In terms of square footage, a lot into amenities, we spent a lot of time in terms of putting together systems in place so that there's a good community atmosphere there. So we have a budget already in place. So the people who can activate the spaces, we have one experience I had I know when I had my son was working out was just a disaster. Like if you want to go work out, you basically have to have someone wants your child if you're staying at home with them. Like for us we have Matt leave if you take it. So it was next to impossible. So we have a kids gym, for example. Or sorry, we have the adult gym and a kid's playroom, side by side with the glass wall so you can watch your children as they play. But you can also work out there's a room that came from the Girl Guides, which is a snack shack a lot of the teens that said they really want a place to go eat and hang out with their friends. So we made a Japanese style vending machines. So the girls or guys can go down there and, and just hang out within the safety of the building, but also have a place that they feel is kind of cool. We have a meditation room and a room for music for instruments. So if you want to have music lessons for yourself or your kids, there's space. There's I could ramble on for like an hour of all the details. But I think the main thing for the building was that it would be a space where it was accommodating to all age groups and to families specifically. So I know a lot of condos here, especially in Toronto are really marketed to like 20 to 30 something year olds with the idea that okay, you can live there while you're single and then you move on. But we really wanted to create a place where families would feel comfortable or if you're living with your parents, or elderly. We have some in law suites. Really just thinking on how we can accommodate the general public.
Nancy Surak 24:49
So now do you guys do you maintain the ownership in your development team or did you are you building it and selling it through like a merchant program? Because they're gonna end up being owned by an investment company
Sherry Larjani 25:03
No, so it's gonna be owned by individuals who are purchasing the unit.
Nancy Surak 25:07
Okay, so that's kind of for purchase for sale. Okay. Yeah, not rental, no.
Taya Cook 25:13
Majority sold already, which is nice. And now we're going ahead with the with construction.
Nancy Surak 25:20
Nice. So where are you guys in the construction phase?
Taya Cook 25:23
We just started. So we just took down our sales center in February, and we're just getting underway.
Nancy Surak 25:28
Oh, wow. So now the fun is really beginning. And you said was nine stories, right? Yeah, that congratulations, that's a great project. Those are fun is going to be you know, that's big enough that will have an edge Toronto has some pretty good sky-scraping sized buildings. But I guess you want to get further out or probably does do that step down. So it'll be a nice addition to the skyline. So congratulations on that. So having put this team together, and based on you’re your own personal and professional experience in the business, what do you think are the key skills that young women or women in general, really need to hone to be super successful in our space?
Sherry Larjani 26:10
If I were to go first, I say the first thing that we need to have, and it's not a skill that anyone would teach you, but the first thing that you would have is that you have to have confidence in your own abilities, whatever those are, whatever you're good at, because if you don't have that confidence, and if you're lacking it, you can't sit at a table and prove a point or we're talking to talk as they say, because if you can't talk to talk, nobody's going to take you seriously. And if you don't have the confidence, then you won't be able to carry a conversation and answer questions.
So I think the first thing I would say to anyone from any industry would be that, you know, they gotta get gained that confidence. And how do you gain that confidence by being having information by having knowledge, right, I remember I used to go to the city, like the city halls or the planning offices, and I would sit there and talk to the planners for hours. And, you know, I did not know about so many of the things that I was involved in the development of a project, and I didn't have any place to go and learn it. Like there wasn't any school that said, we're gonna teach you development, like at least I didn't know of. So I used to go to the to the City Hall, take a piece of property, but at the front of the plant, I let them talk. And tell me about it, I would do that, like, at least three times a week. So everybody at the city hall knew me because I was just there all the time asking questions. And those questions eventually led to me knowing and understanding what it was that they were referring to. I'm putting myself through an education, but also that the next time I was talking to someone, and someone was talking about an area, I could reference that conversation, I could, I could talk with a talk that same language that the developer was talking about, which I obviously didn't know it, I didn't I, you know, I wasn't lucky enough to be able to have a background that that would have helped me get there. So I think that's, you know, get in, get yourself comfortable enough that your confidence will shine, and you guys can talk about what it is that you need to talk about. So I think that would be one of the most important skills in my mind, that I would I would recommend, and it's not something that you can go to school for.
Nancy Surak 28:32
You just have to do it. Right, you learn by doing.
Taya Cook 28:34
Yes, and I would say just to counter that a little bit is I think confidence is key. But I think on the flip side, as women, a lot of times we get our confidence by feeling like we know things 100% Like I found it, a lot of meetings, men will jump in and take ownership or talk about things that I'm sitting there thinking you have no idea what you're talking about, like, I feel in my own head, I know so much more than you on this subject that you're going on and on and on and on. And that's what gets them ahead. Whereas we sit in the background waiting until we feel 100% comfortable. So we don't embarrass ourselves or say something stupid, where people judge us. And I think we a lot of us hold ourselves back because of that. So I think it's the mix of confidence. And I would just throw in add in some bullshit in there, like just going for it. Because especially most of us who you know, are not going to put ourselves in risky positions are not going to really put ourselves out there. We can really afford to put ourselves out there at least a little bit more, and just go for something instead of just waiting until we're 100% sure it's the right decision.
Nancy Surak 29:41
Yeah, I mean, I say that just in my business when I'm calling on you know, massive landowners who may own 1000s of acres in Florida. I'm like, You know what? I'm calling him. Yeah, I'm calling him what's the worst that can do? Either they hang up on me or they tell me to go pound sand? Well in either the flip side is, they might actually hire me to help them
Sherry Larjani 30:03
And they get to know your name, or they know, it's great.
Nancy Surak 30:07
I mean, I, I've called you know, and I have this little trick that I do, I like to call the top first. So unless I know somebody in the organization or ownership, I like to call like, the highest level first and work like way down. And I don't know where I learned that, or I don't know if it's intrinsic, or if I read it somewhere in a sales trick book or something. But it works. It works often. And I'm just, you know, authenticity, I think goes a long way to, you know, so you know, so I really have loved talking to you guys, I always ask this question. And you sort of tapped on this from a skill perspective. But it's slightly different.
If a young woman, say 25, were to call one of you guys from somewhere else and say, I really think I'm being pulled into the development space, I want to build something in my community. I'm just looking for some advice, what might be something you would share with her?
Taya Cook 31:09
I'll be honest, I feel just with Reina, we've had a lot of people reach out with questions like that, at least, I know, Sherry has to but I'll speak from my own experience. I always feel best positioned to assist people who are in Toronto, or who are in my own ecosystem. And I think that's the same for anybody, I would say, start with your network close to home, because that's really where you can make connections and help somebody and feed them and hear about job opportunities and really make those connections I find when it's a distant one, and it's, you know, will you be my mentor? Like, okay, well, I know nothing about real estate in New York, for example, other than just common knowledge. To me, I would say, you know, work in your close network, and really meet people face to face as much as you can. And yeah, try to try to get yourself out there and connected and get to know the people that matter in that in that little ecosystem that you're in.
Nancy Surak 32:10
That's great advice. That's great advice. Yeah. Do you have anything to add?
Sherry Larjani 32:14
No, I think Taya said it. And I think it's very good to ask for mentorship. But I think, you know, what I would tell them is that they need to have a goal, and they need to have an understanding. It's not just to say that I want to do development, okay, well, what is it from development that you like? And what is it that you want to, you know, what is it that you want to strive for, and sort of aspire to, because if you really don't know, and if you just want to take one part of it, it's different than being a developer. So I think, understanding exactly what it takes, because it's happened many times where you talk to someone, and they don't even understand what development is all about. So I think the first step that I would suggest to anyone is to completely understand what it entails, what it involves, and how much of a hardship you could potentially go through. And I said that in an interview I was doing a couple of days ago, and I said, you know, what we don't realize is that yes, there is wanting to do to do something there is having the passion to do it. And there's always the financial side of it, that you need to realize, and you need to understand, and I think those would be the advice that I would tell them that, you know, before you just get ahead of yourself, try to understand how you have to put all these pieces of the puzzle together and what it takes to be a developer because it's not just designing a building, it's not just managing a group, it's not this, it's all of it. And you have to understand the the the vastness and how big this responsibility is. So I think it's just a matter of having an understanding of the position that you want to go into is another important factor in my mind.
Nancy Surak 33:48
Awesome. No, I 100% agree with everything that you guys both just said. I also like to as I wrap up asked two questions. Is there a book, or a podcast or something that you listen to in your professional setting that you find particularly inspiring that you'd like to share or recommend that our listeners might look into?
Sherry Larjani 34:11
I would recommend a book that I was told to read by a very seasoned developer who took me under his wings many years ago, and he introduced me to a concept that opened my eyes as to what I would my I might have more and what I might have less than that was, you know, to introduce me to the whole idea, I obviously had heard about it, but emotional intelligence and how important it is for you to have, you know, emotional intelligence, as well as you know, IQ. So it's like IQ and EQ, like and I think that's something that we miss because it's all about human interaction. It's all about having relationships, and I think anything that will teach you on any book that will teach you about how to work on your emotional intelligence at the same time as you work on your knowledge and information and all that rest of it is just as much important. So I think that's what I would recommend.
Taya Cook 35:06
I can't think of any.
Nancy Surak 35:11
Yeah. So I have a different question for you, then. Yeah, that's your best hype song when you're on your way to the office or the job site.
Taya Cook 35:18
Oh my god. Another blank.
Nancy Surak 35:25
Something.
Taya Cook 35:26
Oh my god, Sherry.
Nancy Surak 35:28
So that's your homework. Think about what that song list is. And then you could just send me an
email and I'll add it to the show notes. And I'll just say, okay, she gave me one, right? Yeah, cuz I have a whole list. And literally, my office is to two miles from my house and I get through like two songs before I get there. But I have a whole list of kick ass like, I'm gonna go conquer the world. Song was playlist. To finish up the last, what's that? You should share that I will have to and I actually played some for some friends of mine lady friends of mine one day and they didn't know half my playlist. I was like, it's bad. Or I didn't know if it was bad on me or bad on them. I was like, Okay, well,
Taya Cook 36:17
Send it to us. I will tell you, you'll tell me.
Nancy Surak 36:19
Okay, I'll definitely do that I'll share with you through Spotify. The last question I have is, if our listeners wanted to keep up with you, Are you active on social media? Do you are you active on
LinkedIn or, or Instagram or anywhere else where they might just follow you and the progress of your projects?
Taya Cook 36:37
Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. Raina has a @Raina condos Instagram account, they can also be followed.
Also, Urban Capital has a has a pretty decent Instagram and Facebook page.
Sherry Larjani 36:51
I also have the LinkedIn app spotlight also has Instagram. Not as active but it will become active. But right now, obviously. So yes.
Nancy Surak 37:01
Well, thank you for that. Thank you so much for joining me today giving me time from your busy schedules. I definitely will be coming Toronto to Toronto in the near future. I want to see your project, I'm going to celebrate you all the way down here in the great state of Florida.
And, you know, I know it's your example really paves the way for so many other women around the world. And I just want to thank you for your example for your hard work and for everything that you're doing to carry the torch for the rest of us. Thank you guys have a great afternoon. And if you've ever need anything down here in Florida, you just let me know for sure. Thank you so much. Always nice chatting with you guys. Take care. Bye. Thank you for joining us for another episode of she's while the podcast for women in land and development. If you enjoy 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.