2019 Ones to Watch: Ronan Curran, KPMG LLP

Name: Ronan Curran

Title: Director, Deal Advisory

Company Name: KPMG LLP

Address: 1350 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10019

What do you consider to be your greatest success in the past 12 months? 
Helping build our revised Real Estate Data & Analytics platform, which is offering be-spoke advisory services to our clients based on the questions they need solutions to. Data is all around us and generated through our everyday activities. Driving meaning from that data has been something we challenged ourselves with, and over the past 12 months we have been successful in working with our clients to generate greater insight into what drives real estate value outside the typical market variables.

How have your life experiences impacted who you are professionally? 
One key event humbled me and re-shaped my mindset: Moving to New York from Dublin, Ireland. Before I moved, I thought of myself as a high-performer in a pool of like-minded people. Moving to New York opened my eyes to an even more competitive landscape, where talent only gets you so far. It also opened my eyes to different perspectives of life that people have, through the diverse NYC population.

What was your favorite thing to do when you were a kid? 
Challenge myself and my friends both academically and at sports. As a kid I was extremely sporty, playing nearly every team event available to me. This helped drive my inner competitiveness but also develop my understanding of the benefits of teams, both the weak and strong elements of them. This competition among friends spilled over into my studies and career, which has helped frame my career path in a positive way. 

?What advice can you offer to someone who is just getting started in your industry? 
Be patient, work hard, be humble and know what you don’t know. There are so many sources of advice and guidance available, that it would be a shame not to make the most of that to turn yourself into a well-rounded real estate professional.