“Putting people first and building strong teams is at the heart of JLL’s vision for the future.”
Sharing her thoughts on diverse leadership and market growth, here are our top three takeaways:
Listen first and sell second.
JLL has coined the phrase “People first, real estate second.” She mentioned Justin Trudeau’s quote about the pace of change being both faster than ever and yet never being this slow again. Her focus is on being more innovative, more diverse, and more engaged locally. Asked how she sees her team in five years, she said she would take pride in her team executing with data intelligence and analytics to achieve better and more informed decisions for her clients.
The importance of a robust hiring approach.
Her passion for recruiting and hiring was clearly evident–mentioning time and again how engaged she is in the hiring process. Kimarie highlighted JLL’s approach to diverse team-building to include not only race and gender but also background and experience. She also mentioned the importance of thought leadership and leads by example. Take a look at her LinkedIn where you will find several articles she has written.
Be flexible in your career to new opportunities.
Kimarie highlighted her initial career after graduation from Texas A&M in the accounting world and how she pivoted that–with some risk–to a career in commercial real estate as being a move based on her strengths and what she enjoyed. It was also clear that having great role models (Roger Staubach among them) has played a key role in her journey of her career.
With her two sons, ages 6 and 9, waiting on a holiday weekend at the beach, we are thankful to both JLL and Kimarie for joining both our up-and-coming executives and our seasoned professionals to share the secrets of her success in a remarkable career. For someone growing up who said she wanted to be the first female head football coach in the NFL, she is setting a wonderful example to people around her and helping others achieve success in their chosen careers.