January 20, 2025
The prompt for a Unversity of Florida Ring Lecture was simple enough: tell us about yourself, how you got to where you are, and your key learnings.
The challenge was that I’ve never been very good at telling my story…colleagues I’ve known for 20+ years might still have some trouble explaining exactly “what I do.”
To begin to answer that question for the students, I started by describing my passion and expertise:
- Consumer behavior: how and why we buy, and what that means for the economy
- Commercial real estate: broad asset class expertise with a deep understanding of retail
- Transformation: from management-led strategic change to black-swan events
Next I explained how I built that expertise by listing some of the companies I’ve helped throughout my career.
The timeline makes it look like everything fell into place perfectly, though there were quite a few bumps in the road.
After an education in Architecture and Finance, I was trained by the largest professional services firm on the planet to advise blue-chip companies as part of the EY Kenneth Leventhal practice. I moved to The Sembler Company to learn ground-up retail development from the premier firm in the Southeast. Then in 2009 I launched WeinPlus, where I’ve spent the last 15 years as the principal strategic advisor to institutional owners and operators.
That’s when I offered a bit of an FAQ on what I do:
- What: Transformation support related to mergers/acquisitions, growth or optimization. Peer review and best practices for real estate operations. Own vs. lease portfolio strategy for retailers, including acquisition and disposition strategy. Internal vs. external team, processes, and systems.
- When: During a significant change in corporate strategy or new leadership. Always management-led change, never activist-led change. Transformation may be planned or disaster-related; we join the existing team and support their efforts with broad outside expertise
- How: We have a retainer and are not compensated on a transactional basis. We always start with a 90-day assessment which may be extended for implementation.
- Who: national retailers and institutional owners, here are some examples.
Finally, I offered some key learnings for students or those early in their careers:
- Prepare for a roller coaster. I made an early shift from architecture to real estate based on a hunch and chutzpah.
- Build your toolbox of skills. Focus on gaining skills and knowledge that are unique and impactful. Knowing how to do things others can’t will serve you well.
- Learn from the best. Work at the greatest company you can and do whatever it is they need and grow with them. Surround yourself with people smarter than you, it will make you better and keep you humble
- There’s never a perfect time to take the leap and start a business. If you see a window and you have skills that can serve the community, you may be more ready than you know.
- Relationships are everything. Show up for people in good times and challenging times. Always give more than you take.
- Define your own success. It could be dollars or hours but it will be different for everyone.
Being back on campus after 20 years and spending time with the students was a full-circle experience. I reconnected with a classmate who is now a professor in the School of Architecture and even spent time with the Florida Cicerones [it surprises no one that I was a tour guide at UF].
It’s easy to imagine the path ahead of these students. We talked about hardship and adversity and the growth that comes from it.
You might even imagine what you could have done differently.
Not me. I wouldn’t change a single second.
