2022 Women in Commercial Real Estate: Kristen O’Brien, O’Brien Commercial Properties, Inc.

In the past year, what project, transaction or accomplishment are you most proud of? Change and growth seem to go hand in hand, so I am most proud of how the OCP team has worked together in 2022 to navigate and rise to meet the challenges of change. We are building out the organization; implementing sales training and opportunities for professional development for our advisors; and created new practices to best serve our clients. Personally, I have been challenged to do things differently with my time and attention stretched to the limits, but it’s all good and so worth it. We are on our way to realizing our vision of a new brokerage experience.

What has been your biggest challenge and how have you faced it? In the last year, the O’Brien Commercial Properties’ development and management companies grew by over 35% and we brought two self-storage companies to market, from the ground up. Today, I oversee the self-storage business and run the property management company. Additionally, we expanded the OCP team with key hires in sales, project management, legal, accounting and marketing. Driving these changes and putting these roles in place positions us for continued expansion, and represents the greatest professional challenge that I have undertaken. I am proud of the growth we are experiencing and the work that has been done to get us here. It’s an exciting time at OCP.