Member Spotlight

     Jeanne Darrow Peck
     Director
     Institutional Services Group of  @properties

Identify your profession, company, position and primary responsibilities:

As Director, I'm responsible for bringing in brokerage, receivership, consulting, asset management, property management, sales marketing and other workout services to my business division of @properties.  In conjunction with these responsibilities my team also relies on me for marketing advice (despite that I'm a finance geek at heart)!

I've been working in real estate for 15 years.  I received my undergraduate degree with a double major in commercial real estate and commercial French studies.  I received an MBA from DePaul's Kellstadt School of Business.  I live in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood along with my five year-old daughter, Delphine, boyfriend Sean, and black lab, Sargeant.

The part of my career I find most gratifying is:

The deals.  Each real estate transaction has its own unique story.  I enjoy understanding the motivations of buyers and sellers, and putting the deal together makes it fun to work in the industry.  When I'm participating in the transaction, it's gratifying to learn from the teams with which I work; each project is a "feather of learning" in my cap.  Finally, I love driving by the buildings that I've been professionally involved with and remembering the work I’ve done there.  In real estate you always have that mental trophy to remember.

The strongest influence on my professional career is:

Without a doubt, my dad.  He was an appraiser and developer in the western suburbs of Chicago in the 1970s through the  '90s.  I used to go with him to work and also inspect construction progress on weekends.  He's now in Florida and loves sharing stories with me.

The traits I look for in my relationships:

Common interests, dependability, trust, humor, earnestness. 

The best advice I’ve given is:

Live up to your commitments.  I try to be as reliable as possible, so people who work with me always know they can count on me.   

The worst advice I’ve received is:

I can't put it one concise sentence, but a few people have advised to negotiate hard for every last deal point, leaving flexibility and goodwill to the side.   Unfortunately, this philosophy hasn’t worked for those people (they seem to have very little work these days).  I know this wouldn't work for me either.  It is a poor mantra for repeat business and in real estate. The world is very small.

When not engaged in professional endeavors:|

I'm spending time with my family, cooking, seeing comedies or independent films. 

Books I’ve been recommending lately are:

I love reading the newspaper and I can only get through 1-2 books a year.  Currently I'm reading "The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life" written by Alice Schroeder.  His past life vignettes are very interesting to me.  I also highly recommend  "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America” by Erik Larson because of its Chicago history.
 
I am passionate about:

Raising my daughter to be a happy, smart and self-reliant young woman (in that order).

How long have you been a member of CREW and what makes you stay a member?

I've been a member since 2005 and have found that the formula for CREW is:  You get what you give.  I've spent time simply attending lunches and events, but there was only so much I could get to know about the other members with 15 minutes of networking time at these events.  It wasn't until I joined the Programs Committee that I became good friends with other members and they could get to know me well enough to do business together.  
 
As a good example: prior to being a member, I attended a lunch at the Chicago CREW Convention.  There were hundreds of attendees.  When the speaker asked the question, "How many of you have done business together?" I was impressed to see that probably 75% of the room raised their hands!  As for my experience and by the numbers, I’ve done or have in the works $150,000 in fee generating business with CREW members.  EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT is the friendships I’ve made.  I can always find a sympathetic and interested ear in a fellow CREW member and lately, that has been most valuable.