Brett Goldman on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 1 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Goldman finds few if any things getting easier. Hard things tie back to a continual need to find motivation and embrace challenges. Goldman finds self-motivation helps him overcome mental challenges by defining and pursuing goals, measuring performance against himself and not others.

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City. He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What's getting easier and what's getting harder in your life?

Brett Goldman: Honestly, I don't think anything's getting easier. Are things getting harder? I think that it's always been pretty hard. I don't know that the necessarily harder you keep having to try harder, and you keep trying to push yourself and challenge yourself, and that's always been a challenge for me. And so it doesn't get harder but it remains hard. Nothing's getting easier, I mean, life is not that easy, you just have to kind of go out there and try your best, and hopefully, you get results from that.  

Erik Michielsen: When you say hard, how would you kind of break that apart?

Brett Goldman: I think that I mean mentally hard. I wouldn't say necessarily laziness, but it's self-motivation and -- as opposed to competing with other people. I'm much more interested in self-motivation but it's easy to be drawn into competing with other people. So I, you know I've been working on trying to be more self-motivated. And getting my -- getting the feeling of success from being more motivated that way.

Brett Goldman on How Personal Priorities Change With Age

In Chapter 2 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing as You Get Older?"  Goldman learns to be less focused on being an outsider and focus more and embrace the unifying characteristics and experiences people have in common. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How are your personal priorities changing as you get older?

Brett Goldman: It's funny I -- you know, I always thought of myself as different in some way that -- some special way or -- I guess I'm realizing that I'm not any different than anybody else, I'm just trying to make it in the world. And, you know, we're all human and we all kind of want the same things.

So when you're younger and you look at older people in each stage of their life, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, there's a general sense of what the priorities are and what I'm realizing is that my priorities are the -- are very much in line with that general sense. And I don't know if that's because I'm not individualistic or it's just nature of humans, I think it's probably more the latter. You know, I want a family, I want be secure financially. Stuff like that. I guess those goals haven't changed but they've gotten closer, and so they've gotten more immediate. 

Finding Your Best by Stringing Together Small Wins

In Chapter 3 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "When Are You at Your Best?"  He shares how he is happiest and most confident when he finds himself atop a series of small successes, be they work accomplishments, social experiences, or simply enjoying a day. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: When are you at your best?

Brett Goldman: I'm at my best after I've had small successes. Usually I compile successes on top of successes, and that's when I'm happiest, and when I feel the most confident and I'm able to go out and kind of bravely face the world and know that I can do something, pretty much whatever I wanna do. 

It doesn't have to necessarily be an accomplishment, per se, at work or in my social life or anything. It can just be enjoyment of the day or something like that, you know? I'm very driven by moods and if I can kind of pile one mood onto the next, then that usually gets me going into a more confident and happy and success-prone state. 

Brett Goldman on Finding Meaningful Work in Retail Real Estate

In Chapter 4 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Makes Your Work Meaningful?"  Goldman revisits why he pursued a real estate career - to enhance streetscapes - and how his experience developing properties has followed. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What makes your work meaningful?

Brett Goldman: Well, what we do is urban shopping. And if anything, enhancing a streetscape is part of what I got into real estate for. And, you know, any of the projects that we undertake, some of them do have that element to it, some of them don't but the ones that we do are actually having an effect on places. For example, the project that we built on Flatbush and Nostrand, in Brooklyn. It really extended this retail quarter that had kind of ended right before our project site, it extended it, you know, a couple hundred more feet because we brought a new anchor to the neighborhood. And what you see now, when you go there, it just changes people's patterns, and if you can change people's patterns and kind of elongate a retail area then it just brings more liveliness to a neighborhood, and bringing more liveliness to a neighborhood makes it more attractive and thus increases property values. And that's kind of what I got into real estate to do. 

Erik Michielsen: And is it working out as you'd expected?

Brett Goldman: Yes and no. As I said, some projects have that element to it and some don't. Sometimes you're building shopping centers and with, you know, a very suburban shopping feel with the parking lot and walking up to the shopping center which I don't think does that, it provides a necessary service and it provides a place for people to go and interact and, you know, all in all I think that retail is better than internet because it gets people out in terms of shopping.

Brett Goldman on How to Make Neighborhoods Nicer Communities

In Chapter 5 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Has Jane Jacobs Taught You About What Makes Communities Great?"  Goldman shares how Jacobs' writing about eyes on the street and low to medium density neighborhoods have informed his efforts to unify neighborhoods into communities. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What has Jane Jacobs taught you about what makes communities great?

Brett Goldman: She really taught me that places make communities.

Jane Jacobs was all about eyes on the street and it was -- she was all about low-density or medium-density neighborhoods that as a result of their nature caused communities to happen. And I sometimes try to apply that to my work. But it's very difficult. It's like place-making. 

How Real Estate Projects Shape into Enjoyable Career

In Chapter 6 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About What You Do in Your Real Estate Career?"  Goldman shares a big picture view of how long-term deals begin adding up and defining his career path. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What do you enjoy most about what you do in your real estate career?

Brett Goldman: I think that I enjoy the successes. Each deal takes a long time. A short deal would be a year, and a long deal is 8 years, a really long deal is 15 years, you know, and I haven't really been involved in a 15-year deal or even an 8-year deal, but there's a lot of build up in each real estate deal. There's so many different parts that need to go into making it successful, so many different to details. Now I kind of delight in the details to some extent and sometimes it takes away from my ability to deal with the bigger picture but I always kind of bring it back to the bigger picture and say, okay, "well, this is what's gonna get it done," but all the little details are always really necessary. So when you've done all the little details and you've put them all into place and when the big picture kind of comes together and none of those details fail and it actually makes it successful, that's a personal success to me.

Erik Michielsen: How do you celebrate success?

Brett Goldman: I think that I just feel good about myself. To some extent, it's like a notch in my belt, that I've done that. And I'd like to do more and more, I’d like to make more and more notches in my belt, thus more and more successful projects and I'm able to shepherd them.

Erik Michielsen: Where do you find validation in your work?

Brett Goldman: Just from that, from the individual successes. As I said, there's a long work up until a success. A success might be a lease signing, it might be a sale, it might be an approval, it might be a completion of a construction project, it might be a financing. But in each of those cases, there's so many different parts that go into them, you know, there's a lot of different parties out there that can be involved. There's a lot of different strings that you need to pull to get everything together, and then when it comes together, whether it's a big success like a sale or even a small success like a financing, which sometimes can be a big success, but either -- in any of those cases, each of those are kind of milestones and that's where I feel that’s success. 

Plotting a Real Estate Development Career Path

In Chapter 7 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Have Been the Milestones in Your Real Estate Career?"  Goldman shares how small, detail-oriented project experiences have helped him gain experience and become a better big picture, strategic decision maker.  He finds his acquisition and project management experience builds by working across several elements, including financing, market analysis, construction analysis, approvals, and real estate contract law.  Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  What have been the milestones in your real estate career?

Brett Goldman: Well, I started by just doing the details. I mean that's pretty much how you start in real estate business.

Erik Michielsen: What do you mean by that?

Brett Goldman: Real estate is so experience-centric that you can't really learn it in school, though I did go to school for real estate. It's all about making good decisions. There's always two or three or four different paths you can travel, and the more correct paths you travel the more successful you'll be. 

I mean I've been doing acquisitions for a long time but also project management. And you can't really do acquisitions without project management because even in just in acquisition, there's a lot of different things that go into it, there's financing, there's market analysis, there's construction analysis, there's approvals, and, you know all the things, there's law, there's real estate contract law, just to get to an acquisition is a milestone. So each of my acquisitions have been milestones. But then each -- along the path to each one of those acquisitions there's a bunch of littler milestones that are individual successes.

What It Means to Be a Leader in a Real Estate Investing Career

In Chapter 8 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Does it Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Goldman shares it means to achieve excellence in real estate.  He points to sustainability and how informed decision making and consistency shape results over long periods of time.   Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What does it mean to be a leader in what you do?

Brett Goldman: The leaders in our business are successful, continue to be successful, make smart moves, keep a relatively low profile, lead by example, and they're generally sharp people that have made strings of good decisions for most of their career. So those are the people that lead in my business. The people that are most well-known are the people that are doing the most deals for the longest time, and that doesn't necessarily mean the guy who's coming in doing 10 deals in a year and then never does a deal again because he overpaid. There's been a lot of companies especially in '05, '06, '07 that overpaid and they looked great in those years, but they didn't survive and so the leaders in the business are the ones that can survive the ups and survive the downs and keep going. 

Erik Michielsen: And as you’re crafting your own path of leadership, what specific takeaways are you pulling from those that have blazed that trail before you?

Brett Goldman:  It's about making smart decisions, and that means reasoned. Like really doing a lot of research in order to make decisions. And doing them with a historical basis in your mind. Meaning you can't be fooled by just today's environment, you always kind of have to -- you have to know what the winds are blowing or how the winds are blowing, what they're bringing and what they've brought. And if you can kind of understand what the history of things are, it can -- I think that it can get you to a better place in understanding where you are in that history. Sometimes that makes us more conservative as investors and sometimes we lose out on deals because of that. But I think that it keeps you in for the long haul and that's how you lead.

Facing Fear Fighting in a Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament

In Chapter 9 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Did Participating in a Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament Teach You About Taking Risks and Setting Goals?"  Goldman talks about the year he trained for both the Golden Gloves and the New York City Marathon.  He compares and contrasts the two and shares how the boxing training and fight changed his life.  He shares how he learned to not be fearful of taking a punch and why preparation helped him become more confident once he stepped into the ring. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What did participating in a Golden Gloves boxing tournament teach you about taking risks and setting goals?

Brett Goldman: It was funny because I did the Golden Gloves and the marathon in the same year, which are two kind of similar things in that training real hard for an eventual outcome. The Golden Gloves are different in that someone else is gonna hit you. Whereas in running, you're just running by yourself and it's all within your mind, but the reason why I did the Golden Gloves was because I wanted to know that someone could hit me and I could still stand up, or I could still stand up to it. I did lose, but I learned from it that I'm not scared to get hit and keep going at it. 

Erik Michielsen: What was it like when you stepped in the ring?

Brett Goldman: I was definitely scared but I knew I was prepared. And that's probably something I don't know if I ever knew I learned, or even sometimes still apply. But there's no doubt that preparation is a huge factor in confidence. I heard that the other day. I think it was Eli Manning that said it, but I wasn't that afraid when I walked in the ring actually. When -- Because I knew that I was strong and I was in the best shape that I’d been in. And the guy was gigantic, and had full body tattoos, but I wasn't really that scared and, you know, put that -- you know, put me up in a bar fight where that guy wants to start with me, and I probably would be scared. But at that point I wasn't scared. I also knew it was -- that it was gonna be a fair fight. And that I understood and knew how to box.

How to Break Out of a Comfort Zone and Find New Things to Do

In Chapter 10 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What is Your Comfort Zone and What Do You Do to Break Free of Living in It?"  He shares how he constantly monitors his satisfaction with thing that become routine in his life, always trying new things and bringing them into his regular activity pattern if they are a fit.  Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  Where is your comfort zone and what do you do to break free of living in it?

Brett Goldman: I'm definitely a creature of habit. My comfort zone is my routine. But there's no doubt that I delight in getting out of that routine. It's kind of like a Eureka-moment, where I just decide I'm not gonna do routine. And then I turn left or whatever I'm doing, it really doesn't -- I don't think it through too much, sometimes I just get sick of the routine, sometimes I know that I don't wanna be in the routine so I go out of my comfort zone and when I get out of my comfort zone, there's usually great things anyway, I usually discover good things when I'm out of my comfort zone, and then they become incorporated into the routine. 

Erik Michielsen: How do you make that happen?

Brett Goldman: You know, once something is a good experience that was outside of the routine and I found it, then I'll go back to it. Usually until I get sick of it. 

Feeling Freedom Riding a Motorcycle

In Chapter 11 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "Where Do Motorcycles Play into Your Story?"  He shares how he gets a feeling of freedom by riding and how exploring the country on a cycle differs from exploring it in a car. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: Where do motorcycles play into your story?

Brett Goldman: I just love the feeling of freedom, it's totally different when you're riding a motorcycle than driving a car. When you're driving a car -- even a convertible, but mostly a regular car that's totally -- has windows and windshields, you don't feel the wind, you don't feel like you're outside even though you think that you are outside and you feel like you're outside when you're driving in a car, when you're on a motorcycle, it's completely different.

I can drive 60 miles on a motorcycle versus 60 miles in a car, and the 60 miles on a motorcycle is -- it's almost difficult in that you experience every mile, and I like to stop on the side of the road a lot. The way that we've set up the interstate system in this country, you can really just fly through places and never even know that they exist and if you stop for just a second and just take it in, it's a whole different experience. But you have to stop when you're in a car. When you're on a motorcycle, it's almost as if you're on foot. And you feel like you've been to some place, not just been through it. 

How to Handle the Pain of Rejection

In Chapter 12 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "How Do You Deal With Rejection?"  Goldman shares how he feels when experiencing rejection and how he gets over it by simply letting time pass. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do you deal with rejection?

Brett Goldman: Not well. I think for the first -- depending on how bad the rejection is, 12 to 24 hours, I’m pretty down about it, and then just kind of fades away. I try not to get myself into that same situation. But it just fades. 

Erik Michielsen: Is it different in your personal life versus your professional life?

Brett Goldman: No. It feels pretty much the same, it feels a little bit more personal in the personal life but, you know, I mean, there's definitely been some setbacks in business that I wish I had back. I usually don't take it as personally but it still hurts and, you know, it stings at first and then it kind of fades.

How to Build Momentum in a Real Estate Developer Career

In Chapter 13 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "How Do You Build Momentum in What You Do Professionally as a Real Estate Developer?"  Goldman notes it comes down to consistently working through opportunities.  He shares how his persistence and patience, as discussed in his Year 1 and Year 2 interviews, combined with teamwork to create deal opportunities he has pursued in the past year. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you build momentum in what you do professionally as a real estate developer? 

Brett Goldman: I think the only way to build momentum is to really just keep at it. Keep focused on building the momentum and to continue to keep at it. Keep at it, keep at it, keep at it.  If you -- I mean, it's kind of like anything else in that success breeds success so if you want to have success, then you have to keep at it. 

Erik Michielsen: Where do you find those moments that fuel your momentum in what you do?

Brett Goldman: I think the way that my career has gone over the past few years, you know, my last couple of interviews, I've talked about the market being down and how it's a time to take advantage and capitalize on that. Over the past year, I and we, as a company have definitely capitalized on that. We'd like to continue building that momentum but it requires getting the acquisitions that we made last year done, successful, and then moving on. But just knowing that we were able to capitalize on that -- on the idea that we had, and the way that we put it into motion, gives me confidence that I'll be able to do it again.

Now it's gonna be a different market when we finish these couple of projects. It's gonna be a different market in 2012 than it was in 2010, '11, when we bought them. So, what does that mean? It means that you kind of have to adjust to today's realities and hope that you're doing the right thing, and keep trying. 

Erik Michielsen: How did these projects happen?

Brett Goldman: Two guys that work with me found them. I would say that it was my leadership. You know, I kind of sensed what was going on in the market and set a direction for the two guys that work with me and we identified pretty much exactly what we had set out to find. And we bought them. They could have been larger projects that -- we could have bought four instead of two, but I think we bought two projects that will be very successful. 

Brett Goldman on When to Get Career Advice From Your Peer Group

In Chapter 14 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "At this moment in life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?"  Goldman notes why he hesitates to get advice from older professionals in the business and why he instead leans on his peer group. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: At this moment in life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?

Brett Goldman: I've never been great with getting advice from older folk in the business. And I think that's because I think that things change. And I think that to some extent, the environment that they were in is different than the environment that I'm in now. So it's very hard for them to give advice that's accurate for today's time. So I don't really get real estate advice from my friends, but I guess from peers, you can kind of glean, like peers in my business. There are times when I reach out to peers and bounce things off of them and I wouldn't say it's advice but it's kind of help with direction. I would say that I get some from my peers and my friends. 

Erik Michielsen: Is that the same now as it was, you know, a few years ago?

Brett Goldman: Well, I think that I know who to contact a lot better now than I did then, because I have a much broader network that I've created by being in the business for a longer period of time, and being out there and being known, and so now I have more people to call on.