Ashley Devick, Newmark Knight Frank

Ashley Devick Director Newmark Knight Frank Ashley Devick is acutely aware of the challenges of being a woman in commercial real estate. "We face the standard day-to-day difficulties of being in a highly competitive business," she said. "But the most important thing one can do is stay focused by staying positive. Concentrating on the positive contributes enormously to being motivated, focused, and ultimately successful." Success has indeed come for Devick. In commercial real estate for just four years, 2010 saw her and managing principal Kevin Duckler complete the largest lease restructure of the year on Chicago's Michigan Ave.—representing Northwestern University in a re-stacking of existing leases and extending terms for 12 years. "By blending 16 different leases, we were able to provide more than $2.5 million in savings," Devick said. The complicated transactions came on the heels of her team's award, at the end of 2009, for the North American real estate portfolio for Convergint Technologies. As the single point of contact, Devick managed 25 real estate deals throughout the U.S. and Canada during 2010, balancing that with Northwestern transactions and deals involving Global Hyatt Corp. and HighTower Advisors. For her efforts, Devick garnered Newmark Knight Frank's prestigious 2010 Regional Office Rising Star Award. For Devick, success hasn't dimmed the importance of getting off on the right foot in this industry. "I have a distinct understanding of the need for mentoring new brokers, as I myself was mentored," she said. Indeed, for two years she was co-chair of the Young Office Brokers Association (YOBA), dedicated to educating professionals with less than five years experience. "The YOBA experience gave me the tools to assist Newmark Knight Frank in further developing its national broker training program." When not managing a heavy transactional workload or working to educate young brokers, Devick maintains a full slate of community volunteering activity in Chicagoland. A primary activity is the Auxiliary Board of A Silver Lining Foundation, an organization focused on breast cancer prevention—she is its president and co-founder. She is also a big supporter of PAWS Chicago, the Sports Legacy Institute, and the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and last October ran her first ever Chicago Marathon on behalf of Ronald McDonald House. "I try to stay as active as possible," she said, in an understatement. In learning to balance her many professional and personal activities—with considerable success—Devick credits her father as her strongest influence. "He has been a serial entrepreneur throughout his whole professional career," Devick says of Steve Devick, former CEO of Platinum Entertainment, whose varied interests include real estate development, traumatic brain injury research, and entertainment. "Watching him balance work and family life was a big part of my childhood," Devick said. "He taught me when to push through, and when to take a step back to 'sharpen the saw'."