2021 Year in Review: Kerri Spurr Gallaway, Senior Vice President, A.W. Perry, Inc.

How has your working environment changed over the last year? The pandemic has allowed our team to become more efficient in our processes and we’ve developed new strategies that give us the ability to work productively from anywhere. It’s nice to have the flexibility to be able to work from the South Shore and save on the 3+ hours of commuting to and from Boston each day–however it is really great to be back in the office and interacting with co-workers in person. That is a very important part of our work culture that has been lost with remote work.

What was your greatest professional accomplishment or most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2021? In 2021, our team was successful in securing leases with several great new tenants and in signing long-term renewals and expansions with existing tenants for office space in Boston and on the South Shore.

What is the best advice you have received, and who was it from? Family comes first. My father and other co-workers.

What was the biggest lesson you learned while working during the pandemic? Your health and well-being and the health and well-being of the people in your life (family, friends, co-workers etc.) is top priority and what matters most. Work itself although it is important is secondary.

What are your predictions for your industry in 2022? I believe 2022 will continue to be a challenging year for commercial real estate especially in downtown Boston. I remain hopeful that more people will become vaccinated so that we get to a point where more people are comfortable taking public transportation into Boston and returning to their offices.