Think-Realty-Magazine-March-April-2017

dent of Ignite Funding, a company that provides turnkey real estate investment opportunities in the Southwest in an unusual and highly collateralized format. “We’re very unique,” she said. “When you invest with us, your name is put on the deed of trust as a beneficiary. You are invested in the collateralized real estate itself, and no one can take that from you or sell that out from underneath you. It’s as good as gold in that when you invest in precious metals, you’re investing in gold and you own those gold bars. When you invest in a trust deed with us, you own that real estate or a portion of that real estate.” WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017: “[2017] is going to be a huge transition year. We’re going to start to integrate online investment options that enable investors to in- vest their money in an investment vehicle backed by the collateral. Investors are getting to the point where they don’t require human contact to make an investment, and we are building an online investment platform with a low barrier of entry that meets Millen- nials’ needs as well as those of [more traditional] investors.” CRUCIAL “KEY” TO SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY: “Our industry is not for the weary. You need a hard-core surface about you if you are going to lead a company through the trenches in this industry. You have to develop that core and not be fearful of it.” Note: Cook (and her hard core) led her employer at the time of the real estate crash through a storm that involved, among other things, taking back $500 million worth of assets. PROUDEST MOMENT: “Probably my proudest achievement is that I made it through that [storm]. I don’t know when I can say I survived it because I live it every day, making sure I’m ensuring the best product with an investor’s hard-earned money. “It was very painful, but I have always been headstrong on being transparent and communicating with investors—good, bad or indifferent—because there is no job more serious than managing people’s hard-earned money.” A WORD FOR WOMEN IN REAL ESTATE: “For women, specifically, don’t be fearful of testing your the- ories. We analyze everything and then we make a decision, but you can’t do that in [the real estate] industry. It moves too quickly. Make a decision, then execute on it as best you possibly can. “You have to get out there and, as you do that, build those layers of not protection but education that enable you to not make the same mistake twice. People will see how you navigated your way through your decision, good or bad.” “Women communicate well; we’re natural communicators. Be willing to communicate with your investors and your colleagues.

It’s a struggle, but they’ll have such trust for you in the end.” •

ADAPIA D’ERRICO d’Errico Creative Consulting Ltd. Los Angeles, CA

PLACE IN THE INDUSTRY: AdaPia d’Errico’s highest-profile project to date may be her role as chief marketing officer at Patch of

Land, working with the founders and CEO to set the strategic marketing objectives necessary to raise $23.6 million in Series A funding and eventually become one of the first and most prominent players in the real estate crowdfunding industry. However, the “brand evangelist” has been swimming with the big fish for years, providing consulting to international com- panies like Mattel and Disney as well as a number of smaller companies, many of them based in the real estate industry. “Real estate tends to be very deal-oriented,” she said, noting that this often leads real estate investors to overlook the im- portance of branding themselves and their businesses. “I’ve grown fond of the real estate industry over the years. There are some wonderful companies out there run by great people doing good work and providing good investment op- portunities,” she said. “They deserve to be able to build their book of investors, and investor communities and investor networks are something that I’ve specialized in over the past few years. That is one of my key offerings and what I’m going to be working toward in the near future and the long term.” WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017: “I’m really excited for myself, personally, now that I’m open to work with more companies. It has been a little bit hard for me not to be able to promote the [real estate] industry at large [in the past few years]. “Also, 2017 is the year that the bigger real estate companies are starting to turn toward direct investing, online invest- ing and crowdfunding … as opposed to just going through traditional methods. You’re going to see some private equity companies that were only open to people with a lot of money make more opportunities available to more people. It’s excit- ing for people to have access to bigger deals, certain kinds of opportunities that are a really important part of a portfolio that they might not have had access to before.” CRUCIAL “KEY” TO SUCCESS IN REAL ESTATE: “Building an investor network is so important for private

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