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Page 14 — Property Management Quarterly — April 2017
Perspective
I f you attended the Colorado
Real Estate Journal’s 14th
annual Property Management
Conference and Expo in Febru-
ary, you likely heard a panel
discussion highlighting the careers
of an exciting group of young com-
mercial property management
professionals. As is typical in this
type of panel discussion, the open-
ing question was, “How did you get
into this business?” And, as also is
typical, the response was generally
something akin to “I fell into it.”
As a fellow property professional
who “fell” into the industry over 30
years ago, this is a sentiment that I
understand and have continued to
hear repeatedly over the years. As
the demand grows for the diversity
of talent necessary to respond to
the ever-increasing knowledge base
required to perform the various dis-
ciplines within our industry so too
is the demand for uniquely sophisti-
cated and talented professionals.
With the industry’s growing expo-
sure within the market through
associations such as Building Own-
ers and Managers Association Inter-
national and others, young profes-
sionals are actually making a choice
to enter into our industry. I’ve been
fortunate to experience the benefit
of meeting and hiring several of
these young professionals, each with
an initial career choice dramatically
different than what they eventually
chose. Their diverse backgrounds
dovetail into what we do on a daily
basis proving the benefit of diverse
knowledge.
• Whitney Travis Kelly. Whitney Tra-
vis Kelly is a lawyer
… yes, a lawyer. I
must confess, I was
hesitant to consid-
er her as an addi-
tion to the team.
I wondered if her
background was
too different and if
she would be chal-
lenged enough by
her proposed new
role as assistant
property manager.
Any property man-
ager interviewing
Whitney had to
ask, why commer-
cial property man-
agement?
As a lawyer by education and
training, Kelly practiced in bankrupt-
cy and creditors rights.
“Unlike a lot of lawyers, I like
numbers and gravitated to the bank-
ruptcy code in law school,” she said.
“While practicing, I represented a
lot of banks and landlords in claims
and preference litigation and breach
of contract disputes, and got very
comfortable interpreting contracts
and leases – particularly default pro-
visions – and calculating amounts
due thereunder.”
Kelly became interested in prop-
erty management when she saw a
job posting for an assistant property
manager. The job description includ-
ed several skills she had developed
as a lawyer – lease analysis, col-
lection and ensuring compliance
with the lease – in addition to new
things she wanted to explore, such
as learning the industry, developing
relationships with tenants and with
peers within the industry as well as
problem solving, she said.
Kelly interviewed over 30 profes-
sionals in the real estate world over
a four-month period as she explored
her career move. When she inter-
viewed at 1670 Broadway, I was
intrigued. How much of what we do
has some level of legal impact? Of
course, almost everything we touch
has a legal impact in this litigious
world.
I suggested to her that she may
find that she “practices” more law
on our management team than she
did in a firm. I was right. Today, Kelly
brings a variety of talents and expe-
rience to the team filling a niche
that I didn’t foresee needing before
meeting her.
• Ellen Wilcoxen. How do you top
adding a lawyer to your team? Hire a
medical student. Ellen Wilcoxen ini-
tially pursued a career in medicine.
But, due to the unending pressures
and intense competition within the
industry, Wilcoxen entered commer-
cial real estate as our tenant services
coordinator. Why commercial prop-
erty management?
“I left medicine seeking a career
that was still challenging, but also
enjoyable,” she said. “I chose my
career based on its collaborative
nature, which encompasses profes-
sionals from various fields; it felt
Are your tenants uncomfortable?
We can help.
303.364.3443
Judith A.
Purviance-
Anderson, RPA,
BOMA Fellow
General manager,
investor services,
Cushman &
Wakefield, Denver
1670 Broadway
Part of the 1670 Broadway management team: Ellen Wilcoxen, tenant services coordina-
tor, Krystal Sears, property manager, Whitney Travis Kelly, assistant property manager,
and Jeremy Andrews, assistant chief engineer.