Brittain Youngblood, Newmark Knight Frank Capital Group

Brittain Youngblood Director of Strategic Advisory Services Newmark Knight Frank Capital Group The art of the deal is usually the bottom line in commercial real estate, but for Brittain Youngblood, what goes into setting the stage for that deal is every bit as important. Indeed, her greatest accomplishment in 2010 was not necessarily a particular transaction, but developing a special platform for Newmark Knight Frank to service the distressed market and focus on special servicers. The distressed sector continues to evolve, necessitating the development of new relationships and a substantial amount of travel. She also worked with the Washington, D.C. and New York Global Corporate Services division to expand the firm's government practice group. "Brittain combines process-oriented thinking with a charismatic personality," said James Kuhn, president. "She started at the firm as a summer intern after graduating from Brown as an aspiring actor. But after spending time trying to sell a large land parcel in Jamaica and demonstrating her resourcefulness and tenacity, we recognized that she should have a bigger role in our firm, beginning with the effort to service the distressed sector. I call her my 'brainiac.' Her future is all upside." "I have worked to create better synergies between departments and to capitalize on existing relationships," Youngblood said. "Our goal was to take advantage of the dislocation in the economy to gather support for the implementation of new strategies. We have focused on adding new procedures to help grow our core businesses, including property management, third-party landlord representation and investment sales." As a strategic thinker, Youngblood's thought process focuses on the long term: "I have never tried to offer things I knew I wasn't capable of producing, just to make a quick gain. I focused my energy internally to improve the product itself and adapt our internal infrastructure to meet the demands of clients." For her thought process and ability to change with the times, Youngblood credits the influence of her father. "He is a man of great integrity, and is exceedingly honest," she said. "When I first started to pitch clients, his words were on my mind - 'don't offer something that you can't deliver'." As a woman with growing influence in commercial real estate, Youngblood considers that fact an advantage. Simply put, because the industry is male-dominated, "as a woman you are already at a massive advantage," she said. "There are no excuses for being a commodity, so you must be persistent, take risks, and people will get to know you." She does concede that she's still working on the work/life balance, confessing that there might not be enough time in any given day to do everything. "A large part of my time is spent on the road in meetings and industry events. My first priority is to improve myself, build my career and continue to help Newmark Knight Frank evolve," she said.