Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in San Antonio. In 2021, I got my undergraduate degree in 2020 and my postgraduate in 2021 from Texas A&M University. My undergraduate degree was in economics and my postgraduate master’s degree was in business. I’ve lived all over the state including Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, College Station, and now I’m in Austin.
What brought you to Austin?
I took a little hiatus after school, but then I began looking for a job because I knew I wanted to work in real estate. This position with Practice Real Estate Group came up while I was looking for commercial real estate in Austin.
What about commercial real estate interests you?
I was exposed to the industry through family and family, including my stepdad. I wanted to work in politics or in lobbying while I was in school. Over the last few years, that has become less and less interesting to me. During my sophomore year, I sent out a handful of internship applications and accepted one that was back home. I determined my career path after my internship was completed.
Graduating from college and moving into the workforce isn’t always simple, especially on the cusp of the end of a pandemic. How have you transitioned?
I suppose because I’m working on my license right now, I have a clean slate. I discuss it with Trac and Carl all the time, “Oh, I had a professor who said this,” or “You know, I remember this from my internship,” or “My license course mentioned this,” I think because everything is new and I’m not in a routine, I’m able to figure out my process in real-time.
You’re working on your license right now. What have you learned so far?
So far I have been flooded with information. I’m focusing on memorizing everything I learn. In terms of how I might implement it in my day-to-day life, I’m using CoStar daily, along with other tools. It’s important to know and understand what someone means when they use technical language. I’m learning from different flows of information, one being this course and one being my job so it’s kind of a double whammy. I’m studying every minute of every day.
You’re working on getting your license. What else does your day-to-day look like?
I’ve been assisting with the Georgetown development. While working on my pitch, I’ve done things like knocking on doors and passing out flyers. When I go out, I usually talk to the office manager. This project has taken up most of my time while I’ve been here; however, I also conduct property searches and enjoy doing various tasks for different agents.
What is your favorite part about your job?
My main concern as I graduated college was “I hope I’m not a pencil pusher.” I didn’t want to come out of school and do completely uninteresting work. Since I’ve been here, I’ve truly had a lot of fun. Everyone in the office is friendly and I enjoy what I do. It has a significant impact. I get to learn from people who I admire a lot including Thomas, Carl, and Dave, and I’m extremely grateful when they invite me to lunch and hang out outside the office. I always look forward to meeting with them. I’m confident that I’ll learn a lot and do well here.
