Affordable housing pros show how investing in yourself pays off for your business

Four experienced affordable housing professionals shared their successes — and challenges — starting and growing their businesses at Baker Tilly’s 2022 DevelUP affordable housing workshop in Milwaukee. The session, moderated by Baker Tilly’s Matt Paschall, was opened by explaining that while there’s no playbook for new developers, the experiences of these professionals demonstrate how to be intentional and thoughtful about scaling your business, while overcoming failure and struggle along the way.

Getting used to hearing “no”

Michele Jarrell, partner, Boyd A. Jarrell & Co., Inc., began her career as a corporate banker and while she admits she “hated” having to wear a suit to work every day, she feels “blessed” to have had the opportunity to learn the lending business. “I really got to see how banks looked at buildings, how banks underwrote buildings and how banks determined what was a good risk,” she said.

She took her training with her when she left corporate life and joined the family business, a full-service property management and brokerage company based in Chicago. She learned on the job how to pitch potential clients.

“You have to be willing to have someone say ‘no’ to your face and you have to take it, then still send them the thank-you card for their time. Then you have to go back to them in three or six months and take the ass-kicking again. It took me probably five years to get the right deal at the right time, then put the right team together.”

Once she won her first bid through a request for qualifications (RFQ) process, Jarrell said, winning new business became easier.

Working in a family business, she faces the challenge of dealing with co-workers who are also relatives. She shared she was able to convince one of her siblings to contribute equity, but his heart wasn’t into running the company. She said he told her, “Michelle, if you’re willing to do all the work, of course I’ll sign up for 25% ownership.” She concluded: “That’s the price I paid for the equity I got.” Then, she added with a laugh, “not forever, though.”

Re-activating an entrepreneurial dream

Kevin Newell, president and CEO, Royal Capital Group, also began his career in a corporate setting, which he enjoyed. With no children of his own or substantial financial obligations, he realized it was a perfect time to re-activate his long-held dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. He signed up for a graduate program in business, learning the fundamentals of accounting, balance sheets, supply chain and marketing. He began to think of himself as a “businessperson who has some skill sets in real estate.”