Interview with Carolyn White, December 1, 2017

Carolyn White, Transcript, December 1, 2017

Carolyn White has more than 25 years of Real Estate experience across a broad range of markets including North America, Europe and Asia. Prior to the launch of Edison Equity Partners, she worked at GE Real Estate in various roles in risk management including underwriter, deal leader, risk manager and risk leader.

https://www.edisonashcroft.com

Ali: Hello mom, I'm excited to do this interview with you. I'm going to start out with a few questions, are you ready?


Carolyn: Yes ma'am, I'm ready.


Ali: Okay so, what part of your personal biography or background led you to this position?

Carolyn: Well, so for my entire life I wanted to run my own business and be an entrepreneur, but after I got out of school I ended up working for a company for about six years, which I loved, and then I ended up going to work for GE a huge huge company, as you know, and I ended up staying there for 20 years which I never thought I would do because I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but GE gave me so many opportunities and I got to travel the world and my career path was very fast pace and so I loved it and ended up staying and then they ended up selling our real estate platform and when they did that it launched and gave me the opportunity to start my own company and to pursue my dream which is something, as I mentioned I always wanted to do so that is really part of my, I'd say that's one of my personal biographies that led me to where today.

Ali: Very cool.


Carolyn: Yeah.


Ali: Yeah, I love that! So what cultural identities or experiences are most salient for you?

Carolyn: Well, that's a really interesting question. I had to really think about that one because you gave it to me a little earlier. So really I think for me personally, what I would identify with the most is I'd say my faith, my family are a huge priority in my life, they are the most important things in my life. I'm also about authenticity, being true to who you are, and your person and to not be someone you're not, that's important to me. And the other thing I really identify with is women in business, and the feminism and how it's been changing over the years, over my 30 year career and how, as we are progressing in the workforce, what the path we are paving for, you guys and your generation who are coming up through the business so I'd say from a cultural standpoint and what I identify with those are most important to me.

Ali: So in your business that you have started, are those points key points in, what you've created? You know what I mean?


Carolyn: Well, yeah no that's a good question because I have thought about that quite a bit. And what you know I always felt like I had, I wanted to make a difference in this world and I mean that was really I think what has been my driving purpose in figuring out what and how I'm going to make a difference and impact in the world. So, where I am today I look back and I say okay I have a God given talent and that talent is what I have done over the last 30 years in my career and I feel like it's a gift that I need to give back to the world and that's how I plan to make a difference. So if I look at where I am, and what I'm trying to accomplish it factors in my faith and my family and I'm trying to be authentic in who I am and what I want to accomplish and bottom line is, starting a company and trying to invest in commercial real estate multi-family it's what I've done my whole life in GE and it's what I was very successful doing, I'm bringing my faith into it, I know I've told you about this Ali, is the different relationships I'm building and developing and how it's becoming more and more apart of my work life when it never has in the past. The third thing is, for every dollar I make, I'm going to put 10% into a philanthropy fund for you, for Ali, you to use for however you want to give back to the world. And then the other part of that is, commercial real estate is a strong interest for Carson and I want to leave the business to him, and this is something he wants to get engaged in. So this is for faith purposes, for family purposes, and for giving back to the community and for making a difference in the world.

Ali: Yeah, that's amazing. I love all of that. So leading off of that, what experiences have most shaped you as a leader?


Carolyn: Well, I would say that in every job I've ever had I've felt like it was the most important job in the world. So starting at GE for example, my first big job, I was like 'oh my gosh, this job is so important' I was an analyst or an underwriter so it really wasn't that important, but in my mind, it was so important and so I worked incredibly hard to be the best I could be and I was always striving to outperform and do better than other people expected me to be because I felt like the job was so important. And what that did for me was it set me on a very rapid path of growth at GE. So my job kept changing and evolving, I would get promoted and I was learning more and more and more, and I would say that really shaped me into the leader I am today. It was basically hard work and then always striving to be the best. And then the other thing is that kind of launched me into being a leader, well let's stop there I think I'm moving on to the next question.

Ali: Yeah yeah you can keep going.


Carolyn: Okay so, well what I was going to say is, the other thing I've learned and what really shaped me as a leader was my inclusiveness. One of the things that I've always done is, I would seek out other people's opinions and ideas and really engage and get by in on any ideas instead of just doing it on my own. It was more about democracy. I wanted input and people's thought and ideas, and inclusiveness I won several awards at GE for being an inclusive leader. So that's another point. The other third thing I was going to mention is about being a change agent. So, when I was at GE and was in a leadership position and the market crashed, and when the market crashed, that was the time when technically my role and the role of my team, we should have been fired or I should say laid off, not fired, but laid off because our jobs and what we were doing was basically going away so instead of accepting that, me and my team tried to figure out a way how to be relevant and make a difference for the company during the downturn. And that's what we did and we accomplished it in a big way. We took our jobs global to Europe and Asia setting process and understanding the risk and portfolio for GE and really helping drive the company through the downturn and dealing with our portfolio so it was a pretty important accomplishment that we did as a team.

Ali: Yeah, that's amazing. Going back to your inclusiveness abilities, do you think that is apart of your faith. Do you think you would consider yourself an inclusive leader because of your faith?


Carolyn: Maybe, I think I've not really connected those dots but that makes a lot of sense now that I think about it because to me it's about serving and helping and getting other people's ideas and thoughts because collectively we're stronger and better than as individuals and everything I've done as a leader was about getting other people's ideas and thoughts and wanting them to be apart of it and be included in what we were striving to accomplish and bringing a sense of purpose not just for me but for the team and for everyone individually so they feel connected to what we were trying to accomplish.

Ali: Yeah, that's really cool. I like that. Okay, let's see. So how have you learned from obstacles and challenges you have faced in the past? Well I guess you kind of talked about it.


Carolyn: Well a couple things, number one I never ever ever ever give up, that's Winston Churchill and that's the truth. It's the absolute truth, every obstacle and challenge creates an important learning experience that really helps you grow into a stronger leader. I would say, a couple of important things that I would always make sure to do is number one, I would always confess and acknowledge when I would make a mistake and that really I think helped me with my superiors and it helped me with my team to say look "I take responsibility for this" if I made a mistake, and I look at what I could have done differently, how I would have done it differently and acknowledge that, okay this is how it should have gone down and to make sure that next time that's how I handle things. So instead of trying to hide it or not tell or just try to figure out a way to cover it up, I never ever, I always facing it straight on and acknowledging it and taking responsibility for it and figuring out a way to solve it.

Ali: Yeah.


Carolyn: That was a very important learning experience and I can tell you that I learned it very early in my career so that and it was hugely and I was like wow that was impressive, this is a really cool thing because you're not embarrassed you're not ashamed because you put it out there you dealt with it and you moved on and you realize you gained people's respect.


Ali: Yeah.


Carolyn: So that's huge, and the other thing I've learned with obstacles and challenges is that over the years I've learned to deal with those challenging moments and stressful times with a very calm demeanor and by doing that it helps you face those obstacles with a clear mind and you have clarity and so when you're going to make those difficult decisions that you're very thoughtful and it's not a scattered, crazy, stressful, quick decision that you do it with a clear mind, clear heart, and very thoughtful, and then therefore you make clear decisions.


Ali: Is that something you learned or is that something that just came naturally to you?


Carolyn: Probably a little of both. I definitely have learned over the years, absolutely it's been a learned thing, but I think it's probably a little bit of my nature is to stay calm, but really, truthfully it comes from my faith. I always felt like my best kept secret was my strength that comes from my faith and I say a secret and I've mentioned this to you before that in business at GE and in the corporate world, religion is kept very separate. It's not something that people talk about that often. It's more of something that's kept strictly business and so me personally I've felt like my faith is where I've pulled my strength. And so in those times of stress, when you're in a business environment and things are crazy, if things are happening and we're losing money, and it's a very very stressful time, that's where I pull my strength from, it's my faith.

Ali: Yeah, that's great. So what does leadership mean to you?


Carolyn: Leadership means to me that you have a, it's a person that has vision, that has a very big picture perspective, and is able to connect the dots amongst all the trees in the forest and to understand how to maneuver and to lead and serve your team. I think that you have to have energy, compassion, you have to be a problem solver, and have clarity like I mentioned earlier. You have to be very self-aware, and the main thing too is to lead by taking action and leading with integrity, truth, and transparency, which is the motto of our company, is integrity, truth, and transparency.


Ali: Very cool, I also think that leadership means knowing that not everybody is not going to agree with you and not trying to impress people or get everybody's approval on certain decisions and I think you display that well. You're a great leader, you include people, and you make people find their own potential but also people respect you and they know your boundaries and what the overall goal is and so I think you display that well.


Carolyn: Thank you, that's definitely the goal. And like I've mentioned it's connecting a vision with a purpose and if you have a vision and you have a purpose, then the people that work with you and for you, if they see that there is a purpose and they can personally connect to it, then they want and they're engaged and they want to work hard.


Ali: Right.


Carolyn: I want to solicit ideas and input from others. When you are in a role of leadership, they do look to you to make decisions and so they may throw out ideas, but they want you to make the decisions and that's when it's like "okay I've gathered the information, now it's time to do my part in this" and say "okay, based on all this input and information this is the direction that makes the most sense for the collective team."


Ali: Yeah definitely.


Carolyn: And one other quick thing I'll say I've learned from Jeff Immelt who was our CEO for years. I always felt this way and he identified it several times, he was like "you have all kinds of people in this world, but the people who are visionaries and idea people, and if they can also take action and execute, those are hugely successful people because everybody has right brain and left brain strengths and weaknesses, and most people are more weighted one way versus the other, but there is very few people who have both. And when you have both of those characteristics of being an idea person, and being an action-oriented and an execution person that can execute a plan, then you have a great combination and have the potential to be a great leader.


Ali: Yeah, definitely. So you've kind of answered this question as well, but how would you characterize your leadership style?

Carolyn: I'm inclusive, I have a more of a democratic style so I like input. And then, I think I said, I like inclusiveness, democratic, and then I would say strategic. I'm a strategic thinker and I take in all the information and then make decisions that puts into a strategic plan for us to execute.


Ali: Yeah, for sure. Nice, so what would you say are your professional strengths and weaknesses? So yeah, your professional strengths and weaknesses?


Carolyn: I would say my strength is my ability to see the big picture, but yet at the same time I am also very detail oriented, and as a leader, my inclusive style, I've been told, is a strength from people who work for me. I'm a mentor and a coach to my team, one of the things I love doing the most is helping my team and those who work with me and for me to rise and to become leaders and my passion and tenacity, persistence, and attitude; candid and happy attitude.


Ali: Awesome, yeah.


Carolyn: Yes ma'am.


Ali: Yeah, so you're weaknesses as well.


Carolyn: Information management. One of my biggest weaknesses is the overwhelming amount of information, emails, news, market reports, and keeping that orderly and organized and keeping it in some kind of organized manner. I could do a better job of that for sure.


Ali: I think it's great that you know your strengths and your weaknesses as well so you know what you can work on in different areas.


Carolyn: Oh yeah, definitely. And one other weakness I'll mention is in my new company. I was never in sales, and so I've been good at influencing internally at GE and externally and have an influence, but when it comes to closing a sale, that's something I have not done. So it's a new experience and I'm learning and I consider that another area that I need to improve.


Ali: Yeah, nice. That's awesome. Alright, so what or who has been your greatest influence in life?


Carolyn: You mean in my career?


Ali: Yeah.


Carolyn: I would say the person that has most influenced my career is Dan Eral.


Ali: Okay, and he was your boss?


Carolyn: Dan was in my opinion, the smartest real estate guy that I've ever worked for. He was old school, very traditional, but he treated me with the utmost respect.What I really liked about him the most is, when I say he treated me with respect, he respected and asked my opinion on deals and real estate when he was actually the smartest guy, not me, but he acted as though my opinion mattered and that I had something important and relevant to say and he used to teach me to take a position, have the facts and support to support it and stand behind what you believe is right and that stuck with me and there is a lot of leaders that did not do that and I really admired him for doing that. And then, other than that, he took such great care of me. He promoted me numerous times, he gave me executive man status, he paid me well, so he really had the most impact on my career and my life in the professional world.


Ali: Would you say that in your company now, you try to instill some of what he taught you into what you do?

Carolyn: Absolutely, but I'm trying to take it to a new and a different level. What I mean by that, is I want our company to be viewed as, with those three words I mentioned as our theme and our motto is integrity, trust, and transparency. In the real estate world there's a lot of different approaches and there's people that brokers and it's in a world where you don't always receive the same type of people with the same type ethics, so I want to be viewed as a company that they are the most ethical, truthful, transparent, trustworthy company that you can invest with, and where you would want to place your money because you know that your risk and adjusted returns are going to be exactly face-value what we say. We say what we mean, we mean what we say.

Ali: Yeah, that's great. So, leaders help turn ideas into action and empower others. How do you accomplish this?


Carolyn: Well, for starters I would say, it's what I kind of mentioned earlier, that you have to connect. You have to connect ideas and that vision with a purpose, and then what you do is you take action by coming up with a strategy and a plan. You appoint leaders to take on those roles and responsibilities that you want to accomplish, and then you follow up with weekly calls and you strive forward until you meet your goal. And with everyone engaged and everyone buying into that idea, and then they know what their roles and responsibilities are, they take ownership, they take action, you all take action together, and together as a team you can accomplish great things.

Ali: Very, cool. I know that you have been in this waiting time for awhile with your company. How do you uphold this truth and what you have been saying and the faith you have during this time?


Carolyn: I fake it! I hope, I'd like to think there's just pure evidence, we just talked about it yesterday that with every action there's a reaction and we are constantly putting out there and striving forward to meet our goal. And you have to, when you're raising significant amounts of money to invest in projects, multi-family projects that range from, we've worked on deals that are as small as $1,000,000 but the more, most of the time we're working on deal that are $20 to $100,000,000. You have to instill and you have to build relationships and build the trust with investors and that takes time. It takes the constant working together, understanding each other, understanding and making sure that they see where we're coming from and how we do things, how we analyze deals, how we're going to protect their investment. And we have down days, and we have down days. We just had a down day three days ago, and then the next day was an awesome day. We have about, I would say 80% of our time are great days or very good days, 20% of our time are bad days. That's a pretty good, that's what keeps us going, and that's what keeps us knowing that we have purpose and we are not stopping until we achieve our goal.

Ali: Yeah.

Carolyn: We haven't stopped, and we're seeing that every action has a reaction and if it's a positive reaction then we keep doing it because that's positive, we're getting positive results and when we get a negative reaction we have to shift and change what we're doing and we keep adjusting as we need to adjust to get a more positive reaction. And it's a constant, it's constant and it's what it takes starting a business, it's not easy and it takes that kind of tenacity and it takes that perseverance so that's where we are, and we are very very very close.


Ali: Yeah, definitely that's awesome.


Carolyn: Yes ma'am.


Ali: Alright, so let's see. Do you feel it is important to delegate? If so why? When or how do you delegate?


Carolyn: I am a big proponent of delegation. I definitely delegate. I think so for several reasons, for one I think that by delegating, you're building trust with your team because you're saying to your team "yes, I trust you that you can execute and deliver and you are adding value and you're a huge important part of the team." So I'm a big fan of delegation, and I'm also coaching and helping guide, if I'm delegating something that someone has not ever done before but they are willing and wanting to learn, I hand it to them and I coach and provide advice and help steer them until they become experts on their own.


Ali: That's awesome.

Carolyn: I'm a big fan of delegation.


Ali: Yeah, definitely. So, how do you measure success and how do you learn from failure?

Carolyn: I measure success by daily accomplishments, we have a plan, we have a goal and whatever we do in one day, if we're working towards that plan and that goal, then that's a good day, we've accomplished great things. So then that's how we are, and that's what I was saying earlier, we have great days and we have bad days or off days, but our best days are when we finish the day going "we did this, this, this, and this, these four or five things are right on plan for us to reach our ultimate goal and therefore it was a great day, it was a successful day and we feel good. So it's really a daily measurement and it's all about that chopping wood, that chopping wood, and chopping wood just to eventually, it adds up and it's going to help us to achieve our bigger goal.


Ali: Gotcha, so as you measure daily success, do you have a plan for the future or are you looking ahead in all of this as well, or no?

Carolyn: Oh no, absolutely. We've got a big picture plan. We have goals, we have financial goals, we have personal goals of what we're going to achieve over a certain period of time. And I'll say, it's taken longer than we initially expected, but being a women in the workforce, and owning your own business in commercial real estate, there's a very very small percentage, and so everything I have read and I'm learning, is it just takes women longer, and so that's okay, that doesn't bother me, what it does is it makes me work a little harder to know that it's just going to take a little bit of extra time, that's okay, we're going to accomplish our goal. We pushed the goal out, the goal we had within a certain period of time we were going to have a certain amount of deals closed, we're not there yet so we pushed the goal out and once we close or first deal, which should happen fairly soon, then we have a target of doing a certain amount of deals per year with a certain goal with our returns, and with each deal we close we have a specific set of goals for those particular properties and the plan for that to meet our returns.

Ali: Okay, awesome. Okay, so what are two or three action steps you believe are essential to enable others to be successful?


Carolyn: Do you mean as part of my team? So if there's someone who's trying to become a leader?

Ali: Yeah! I would say, as a leader how do you bring out the potential in your other coworkers?

Carolyn: Sure, you increase responsibility, so you provide, again it's that inclusive, you solicit input so that people feel included and they feel apart of, so you take their ideas if it's a great idea, you give they the opportunity to run with that idea and you say "that's a great idea" so you have the responsibility now to implement that idea and you support them, coach them, you have them implement and when they achieve the goal, you reward, reward, reward, reward, and you recognize their accomplishment to the world. You do it to everyone, and you give them the recognition that they deserve.

Ali: Awesome. Great, alright so what advice do you have for building relationships and trust in an organization?

Carolyn: Yes, you have to build values. You have to have a set of values for your company on which to operate. And as I mentioned, our slogan is integrity, trust, and transparency. So by having a slogan, which is really a set of your core values as a company, that's what we live and breathe by and that's how we function and operate. So everything we do everyday, every presentation we have it says, integrity, trust, and transparency. So that means we're going to always operate with the utmost integrity and have strong business ethics, we're going to be honest and we're going to be an open book. We don't have anything to hide, anything you want to know, we're going to be straightforward and honest and that's how we function and we operate. And by doing that, we believe that that's what builds relationships and that's how you build long-term relationships that you can grow together as a company and be successful together.

Ali: Awesome, and the people that you have considered partnering with, have they liked this about you guys? Have they noticed it? Do you know what I'm saying?

Carolyn: Yes, I would say yes they do, absolutely. Some would disagree with our style and our approach, some think that a different approach is more effective and that's when I disagree and I'll say, "this is who we are, this is how we're going to run our business. It doesn't matter if people think it's a joke, if they think "oh really? That's not how you're going to be successful," or that nice guys finish last. You can hear all different kind of naysayers, because it is a pretty difficult environment in which we work being in commercial real estate there's a lot of negotiation and a lot that happens that is not always with integrity, truth, and transparency. We see it everyday and we forge on with the same approach, we're not wavering from what we believe is right, not going to happen.

Ali: That's awesome. Alright, so the last question is what do you want your legacy to be?

Carolyn: Well I want my legacy to be everything I think I just was going over with you, is that I want to have an impact on the world, I want to have an impact on my family, and it all to be for a good cause that I believe in wholeheartedly which is to make a difference and to help make the world a better place to live it out through my faith. To put it in similar terms, is to say that I want to build a company that my son can take over and it be a company that is viewed as one of the most reputable companies in the industry that was established by a women that has held firm in her faith and her convictions and what she believes is right and that that has prevailed and the company is very successful because of that. And I want my son to be able to take that but for all the profits we make, we want to contribute to a philanthropy fund for Ali, for you to take, and for you to make a difference in the world with. That would be to me, and I understand that things could change, it's all for good, and it may all end up a little bit differently because things don't always work out as you think they will, but it's with that intent. That would be the legacy I would like to leave.

Ali: Ah, that's amazing! I have a cool mom! Well, thank you so much for doing this interview with me, I greatly appreciate it, and I think you are a great leader and are doing a great job with your new company. Carolyn: Thank you Ali girl, you inspire me to be a better mom and a better leader.