Cathrine Cotman, Senior Managing Director at Cassidy Turley, reflects on her career and speaks to WomenCRE about her challenging her new role. Prior to joining Cassidy Turley, Cat was a Senior Vice President, Corporate Real Estate at Bank of America. Cat has also held senior leadership positions at Capital One Financial Corporation and Prudential Insurance. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her Masters of Business Administration from New York University, Stern School of Business.
What do you do?
I am the Alliance Executive for Cassidy Turley, and I lead the team of Real Estate professionals that provide Corporate Real Estate solutions for SunTrust Bank.
What does your team do?
My team delivers transaction management, project management, space planning, move management, strategy, and lease administration for SunTrust’s 15 million SF portfolio. We also have a team that delivers asset management for wealthy individuals who own a portfolio of real estate investments.
What are you most excited about your new role as Alliance Executive?
I’m excited to be responsible for a broad range of real estate disciplines delivering end-to-end results for SunTrust. I’m thrilled to be working for a dynamic, growing, and entrepreneurial company like Cassidy Turley. But what I am most excited about is managing a much larger team than I have in my past. Having the opportunity to be deliberate about culture, to recognize and nurture talent, and to provide people with a rewarding scope of work and a great work environment is a big aspiration of mine. This role is forcing me to flex a whole new set of muscles and I like that.
Download article on next generation of CRE, IT, HR integration co-authored by Cat Cotman recently published in Corpotate Real Estate Journal, Vol 3 No. 1. (Courtesy: Henry Stewart Publications)
What were the important milestones in your career?
My first big career milestone was in the mid-1990s when I was promoted to Director, Corporate Real Estate Strategy at Prudential Insurance. I was the youngest member of the leadership team and was still pretty green and idealistic. I had a fantastic sponsor and a really strong team that allowed me to really be “in the groove” at work. I was passionate, not afraid to take chances and felt truly supported by leadership.
My next big milestone was at Bank of America where I was recruited to be the Corporate Workplace Executive for the Global Wealth and Investment Management group. Bank of America had recently implemented a truly best-in-class Client Relationship Management model, and a “seat at the table” with senior leadership was basically handed to me on a silver platter. I met regularly with the President of the business and had weekly or daily interaction with the COO, CFO, and HR Executive.
My latest career milestone is my recent promotion to Alliance Executive at Cassidy Turley.
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