MKDA honors two of its innovative women: Julia Lindh and Susan Cunningham

Julia Lindh is the designing woman on hand at MKDA-Stamford, the space planning and interior architecture firm's Stamford, Conn. office, which services Fairfield and Westchester County's business and real estate industries.  Lindh wears many hats as executive managing director and director of design at MKDA, drawing on more than 22 years of planning and designing corporate interiors for the financial, advertising, insurance, law, retail and educational sectors. In addition to project management and sketching her designs, she heads the firm's daily operations, develops new business leads, gives new client presentations, streamlines schedules and budgets, and more. As the task leader at MKDA-Stamford, Lindh has met her greatest professional challenge yet, she said. "Running the Stamford office in combination with creating quality designs and marketing for new business is probably the biggest challenge I've faced in my professional career. But, women have always been hard workers with an excellent ability to multitask and excel despite challenges."  Her ability to excel is evident in the impressive and varied projects she has led throughout her career. Adept at meeting each client's unique needs no matter the demand or the industry, Lindh has designed space for the Heineken, Community Mutual Savings Bank, Greenwich Associates, RPW Group, Cummings & Lockwood, PernodRicard USA, Callanen International and VERSUS television network.  Lindh is active in The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. It is through her relationship-building efforts there and elsewhere that she is single-handedly growing the Stamford office.  When asked what advice she has for women just starting a career in commercial real estate, she says they need to believe in themselves and their abilities, and then to just go for it. "Persevere through every challenge in an intelligent, professional manner, and you will find success," she said.  Susan Cunningham is the woman behind some of New York City's most prominent commercial real estate transactions. In her role as executive vice president of sales marketing at MKDA, she helps to get some of the city's major lease deals done by establishing and building relationships between landlords, brokers and corporate office tenants. Often, she helps some of the busiest brokers in town close lease transactions quickly through visionary preliminary space planning. In just six years with MKDA, Cunningham has also fully repositioned the MKDA brand, and she has brought the firm millions in revenues and new business via Manhattan's prime brokerage community and the early identification of hedge fund and private equity proliferations. She has helped some of the biggest landlords in the industry, including Durst Organization, lease space, even during challenging market conditions. Cunningham is a member of the International Facility Management Association and Corenet Global and Hedge Funds Care, one of the only business groups solely devoted to combating child abuse. "Women are some of the brightest and most competent of people in today's workforce," said Cunningham. "Typically strong communicators, it's clear why women are highly successful in businesses where building relationships is key. As a result, we've made tremendous strides in industries once dominated by men." There are challenges that come along with being a businesswoman in real estate, she sais. "My biggest challenge has been building success while holding onto my value system, even in dealings with professionals that don't mirror the same values," she said. "I just keep the small stuff small and the big stuff big." When asked if she had any advice for a woman just starting a career in the real estate industry, Cunningham answered in her no-nonsense style, "Go in with a two to three year minimum commitment, work hard to learn the business, interface with people that have built a strong reputation in the industry, keep a positive attitude, and align yourself with winners."