Once again, I am taking a break from the substantive real estate topics for Thanksgiving week.
Looking back over this year in my career, I am filled with gratitude for so many people and opportunities.
First, my clients are amazing. They send me “thank you” texts while on vacation. They ask about my kids. They challenge me and reward me. They make me grow and stretch and I am beyond thankful for every one of them.
I love the team here in my local Colliers’ office who make it so much fun to come to work. My assistant, Stacey Williams, not only helps me “get it done” for our clients every day; she also helps me spread my message by reaching out to publications and websites on my behalf. My partner and mentor, Joe Sandner, III, provides editorial review of every article I write, delivers timely pep talks, and shares the wisdom he has gained by representing tenants for the last thirty years. Tommy Hiltz and Alison Waddell also provide valuable editorial review and the blog is so much better for it.
Speaking of this blog, I am grateful for Jason Nunnelley and his team at Upgrade Media who have taught me a sometimes-overwhelming amount about social media and digital marketing. I mentally thank them every time I receive a notice of a new subscriber to my website.
I am so thankful for the warm welcome I received as I waded into the Tech Birmingham community this year. The passion the people in this community have for learning, innovating and creating is inspiring. I am encouraged by and grateful for all of these people, especially the folks at Viperline, Theranest, PhishMe, Kinetic, Telegraph and Knight Eady who have regularly let me wander through their spaces and ask them questions about how they work in those spaces. Also, a big shout out to David Powell for the knowledge and the introductions he consistently provides me and to Jennifer Skjellum for giving me the opportunity to share some insights at a Tech Tuesday event.
In my quest to become an expert on how law firms make decisions, raise and spend capital, and recruit, I have monopolized thousands of dollars of otherwise billable time from Chris Grissom, Lindsay Sinor, Tom Clark, Katie DeBord, Cindy Patterson, Trudy Dennis, David Miceli, and Allison Woodruff. Thank you!
Over the past year, I have worked hard on some big research projects and in addition to the insights those projects ultimately provided me (and hopefully, some of you), I am grateful for the fascinating people I met while conducting them. Mark Hanson has become a mentor and a friend, always willing to share the knowledge he has gained from years of running top notch law firms. Mark has also reached out to his network to help me set up tours of some stunning law firm office spaces in New York City. Amanda K. Brady has likewise given freely of her time to help me understand the roles and value of the various law firm C Suite positions, introduce me to others in the industry and share my research with her extensive network.
Many hours spent reading this year were made productive thanks to amazing authors like Jordan Furlong, Heidi Gardner, Richard Susskind and Bruce MacEwen. Similarly, many miles were happily run to Masters of Scale, Building New Law, Left Foot and The Nerdist podcasts.
I wrote an entire post earlier this year thanking the architecture community — without a doubt one of the most generous groups of people I have ever met.
So. Much. Gratitude. 2017. Happy Thanksgiving!
