Name: Christine Emery
Title: Executive Managing Director
Company: Emery Staav Retail @ MHP
Licensed since 1982
Member REBNY Retail Committee
Member ICSC
Part 1
What recent project or transaction are you most proud of?
We have been working in East Tribeca, a neighborhood south of Canal St., bounded by Church St. and Broadway. The area is currently under intense residential development and we are working on bringing retail to reflect the "future" neighborhood. There is no mystery to developing street level activity, but developing retail that will have staying power and enhance a neighborhood does take persistence and a degree of imagination. No matter how experienced one is as a broker, there is always a learning curve. I had to break away from a "fixed idea" of what I "envisioned" for the neighborhood. I had to exercise a degree of discipline (and some disappointment) to get the job done. I had to go back to basics and I am happy with myself that I did.
When you launched your own business what were some of the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?
When we launched our business I was not prepared for the degree of management responsibility involved. Negotiating a complicated commercial lease is simple compared to managing people. Faced with a new environment, several new employees along with building and organizing working systems was a challenge. I think and hope that I have learned to listen and I mean openly and carefully. I hope that I have learned to understand what people are 'good at' and to direct them, as gently as possible, toward the things that will help them succeed.
Who or what has been the strongest influence on your career and why?
The strongest influence on my career, I believe, is from my parents. My Father's work ethic, and his expectation that we have the same ethic, lives in my bones. My Mother, who did not work, had an uncanny perspective and understanding of human nature. One of the things that she would say was, "When you ask someone to do something for you, make it something that they can do 'easily'."
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