Diane Danielson, SVN International

Boston, MA Diane Danielson, the chief operating officer of SVN International Corp., recently sat down with the New England Real Estate Journal for a question and answer session.

Q: SVN has gone through a lot of changes in the past few years, what have been some of the biggest challenges?

A: In 2012, when I started at SVN (then Sperry Van Ness), we had 140 offices with 900 advisors and staff, most of whom were located in the West, Midwest and South. Today, we have relocated our headquarters to Boston and are covering the entire country with over 200 offices and 1,500 advisors and staff in the U.S. We are also rapidly expanding in other countries. We still have room for growth domestically especially on the East Coast, but growing any business that quickly on a global scale is a really big challenge.

This expansion was the main reason we embarked on an additional challenge. In 2015, we officially changed our name from “Sperry Van Ness” to SVN International Corp. As we head into our 30^th year of continuous operation and growth we felt that the new name and refreshed brand would be a better reflection of the full-service, innovative company that we are today.

Anytime you change a company name, logo or brand you will face logistic and strategic challenges–especially now that we have much larger digital and geographic footprints. On the whole the rebranding has gone better than expected. We are a very different company than we were five years ago when I joined. I expect we will also be a very different company five years from now simply because we are constantly challenging ourselves, and the commercial real estate industry, to be better.

Q: What are SVN’s goals for the next five years?

A: Over the next five years, we expect to continue to expand and grow our existing and future offices. This is why we have invested in extensive training programs for advisors and managing directors and have been increasing our service lines. However, we are cognizant of changing demographics and how that will affect future talent recruitment. This is why we have been researching how we can attract millennials, women and minorities to commercial real estate and set them on the path to success.

As we focus on attracting quality talent, we are aware of the invisible barriers that exist for many when it comes to commercial real estate brokerage. Our goal in the next few years is to be more inclusive by bringing more gender balance and diversity of thought to the industry. We want to better reflect the demographic makeup of our clients as well as capitalize on the talent that has been excluded, discouraged, or reluctant to pursue a career in commercial real estate.

Danielson delivering a keynote on trends in communication and design at Wordcamp 2016. (Image courtesy of Found Art Photography.)

Q: What can the industry do to be more inclusive?

A: First we need to embrace the advantages of diversity. These range from an increase in creativity and innovation to easier recruiting (widens the pool of quality candidates) and the potential to capture more market share. Diversity is good for our communities and good for business.

Second, we need to acknowledge that there are barriers of entry preventing non-traditional talent from considering and/or excelling in commercial real estate. Whether it is advertisements that feature only white men, a lack of gender or racial balance at the senior level, or insular networks denying non-traditional practitioners access to the relationships, mentors and sponsors they need to succeed. These invisible barriers do exist and at SVN we have tackled some of them and are researching ways we can reduce the remaining barriers.

Third, we have to commit as an industry to being inclusive. Inclusivity is a mindset, not simply a “check the box” item. The commercial real estate industry is facing a brain drain as baby boomers retire over the next few years. Millennials are the most diverse generation in history. If we want to attract the best and the brightest, we need to be more proactive about outreach. And we have to become the companies that they want us to be.

The SVN corporate team poses with the new office star, SVN’s NREI/IMN award for Social Responsibility in Commercial Real Estate.

Q: How did you choose commercial real estate as a career?

A: I have always had an interest in real estate and urban planning. Perhaps this is the result of growing up in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. While my career started as an attorney focused on environmental and permitting issues, I was attracted more to the development and marketing of the projects themselves. As skylines change and adapt to new economies and demographics, real estate is what really documents the story of a community.

We are currently in an interesting and challenging time in commercial real estate. Economic uncertainty abroad is creating interest in US real estate; yet our infrastructure is crumbling in many places. Changing demographics are driving development in new and different cities; and for those of us along the coasts, we are facing increasing climate-related challenges. This is why it’s crucial for us to bring in diversity of thought to the industry. I expect that millennials, the most diverse generation ever, and even generation Z that follows, will play an important role in shaping the next 50 years of commercial real estate.

Members of the SVN leadership team at their Boston headquarters.

Q: You’ve had an interesting career path, how did that prepare you for your current position as COO of a global real estate brand?

A: As COO, you have many different departments reporting to you. It helps that I had practiced law and worked in commercial real estate sales and marketing. However, technology was something I had to leave the real estate industry completely to really understand. This led me to launching the first social network for businesswomen in 2006 and a short-lived software company based on the technology we developed. Ultimately, my talents were best suited to helping clients adapt their more traditional companies to this new digital media age and that is the path that led me back to commercial real estate.

Had I never left the industry, I would not have gained the skills required in my current position. Fortunately, I was recruited back by the leadership of SVN, a real estate brand that embraces technology, innovation and inclusiveness so I am able to combine all my experiences with my expertise.