At Berkadia, our success is built upon the talent and hard work of a broad, diversely skilled team. From graphic designers to loan closing specialists to product designers, each of our people brings a unique background, perspective and expertise. Their work allows Berkadia to remain a leader in the commercial real estate industry.
Today, we’re shining the spotlight on Heather Young, Marketing Manager, Affordable Housing, who sits in our Philadelphia office, to learn more about her role, what advice she’d give to the younger version of herself and how Berkadia has shaped her career.
How would you describe your role at Berkadia?
I talk about my role at Berkadia with anyone who will listen! I like to say that I get the best of both worlds—I manage all things strategic marketing and communications for the affordable housing team and work closely with the mortgage banking, investment sales and tax credit syndication leadership teams to achieve business goals through marketing and communications tactics. In this role, I get to bring my marketing skills to an industry within CRE that I’m deeply passionate about and have been involved in one way or another for the past ten years.
What in your work has surprised you recently?
Oftentimes I tend to get so deep in my work that I don’t always take a step back and look at the big picture—and I think a lot of people are like this. Recently, as I was working on our 2021 year-end wrap up marketing & communications plan, I had the opportunity to take that step back and appreciate all that my team and my group has accomplished– both on the affordable side and the marketing side – and I think I made an audible gasp. I even had several people check my math because I just couldn’t believe the tremendous growth that we achieved. More than 100% volume growth year-over-year across the three affordable business lines quite literally stopped me in my tracks.
What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself coming into the CRE industry?
Be confident in your curiosity. My first job after college was with a top real estate development company. I spent the first two years there marketing a business I did not fully understand, and I didn’t have the confidence to ask questions that would have ultimately made me a better marketer and a more engaged member of the team.
I’ve now been in the industry for ten years and just last week had a question about the business – it was regarding a part of the industry that I did not understand and could not figure out by searching online. The answer I received from Berkadia’s head of affordable housing totally changed my approach to a marketing plan. It’s a gamechanger to ask the right questions and have a team of experts to answer and guide you in the right direction.
When you’re not helping Berkadia move the industry forward, how do you spend your time?
I like to run, do yoga, thrift shop, play with my dog and have recently discovered a love for baking. I finally have a signature dish – key lime pie. I feel like that was a major milestone for me in 2021. I didn’t have much else to do so key lime pie it was!