Ashley Mays
“My approach with my entry level job search was to land a position with a firm where I could learn and be exposed to a wide range of projects so that I could gain some insight into the industry and see what aspect of the business might be the best fit.”
#WomenWhoBuild meet Ashley Mays,
Ashley is the Senior Vice President and Head of Leasing for the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In her current role Ashley is responsible for setting leasing strategy and overseeing the day to day leasing activities for the 6.4 million square foot 300-acre waterfront development. Prior to joining Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ashley worked with several of New Yorks largest developers. During her 5 year tenure with The Durst Organization, Ashley worked as the Managing Director of Commerical Leasing and was responsible for several of the company’s large initiatives including Durst ready and the commercial and retail components of the 57 WEST superblock. At SL Green, Ashley was responsible for managing the leasing of a 7 million square foot portfolio.
We sat down with Ashley to discuss her initial introduction to the commercial real estate field, her day to day responsibilites at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, how she balances motherhood and an active career, and how her passion of travel inspires her career.
What was your first introduction to commercial real estate? Can you recall the moment when you realized that this was the field you wanted to pursue career wise? How do you ensure that you are constantly learning and growing in your career?
I caught the real estate bug early in my career and became interested just by reading news articles. When I graduated from college, I first worked in the aviation industry, for Rolls-Royce North America, and while I loved the company and the work I was doing, there was a lot of buzz about real estate. It didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to transition industries and pursue a career in NYC commercial real estate.
“Real estate development” was my target discipline, but I was naive and didn’t actually understand what that meant. All that I knew was that I was interested in urbanism and the built environment and I wanted to be involved in the business aspect of the development of large real estate projects. I made professional networking a priority and was fortunate to meet a couple of people who encouraged me to look into office leasing and connected me to commercial brokers for informational interviews. After those meetings I realized that in-house commercial office leasing could be an excellent fit and I was fortunate to be connected with SL Green Realty Corp. who was looking for a leasing associate. I landed that role and built my career from there.
My approach with my entry level job search was to land a position with a firm where I could learn and be exposed to a wide range of projects so that I could gain some insight into the industry and see what aspect of the business might be the best fit. I just needed that “foot in the door.” As it turned out, I loved leasing and SL Green was growing rapidly. I stayed with SL Green for over ten years because I was able to grow with the company while staying true to my goal of constant learning and growing. When I felt that I was at a place where I needed to move on in order to continue to grow and get exposed to new challenges, I did. A bit by luck and a bit by design, I didn’t need to make many moves from companies to achieve the forward momentum in my career. But I will always remain centered on the philosophy that I will move on to my next challenge if I feel like a change in companies is needed to continue my trajectory of building skills and experiences.
You had studied commerce and marketing during your time at University of Virginia. How did those skills translate into your career in commercial real estate?
The McIntire School of Commerce at UVA was, and still is, incredible. When I was in school I was focused on a career in marketing and figured that after developing some years of professional experience I would go to business school and start a career in brand management. At the time most students in the program who were on a marketing trak went into advertising. I didn’t find that career path particularly interesting because I was more interested in running a business rather than running a campaign.
The skills that I learned in school such as reviewing financial statements, public speaking and presentation skills helped me leap up the learning curve quickly and confidently. The most valuable aspect of my time at McIntire was the fact that they taught in an integrated core, as is popular in business school programs, so that you are learning skills in the context of real-world problems. Entering the workforce wasn’t daunting because I already had a solid baseline business acumen.
The folks at McIntire had the great sense to start a Real Estate Minor that spans subject matter across a variety of subjects. I’m excited for UVa students to now be able to infuse real estate topics into their studies. It is a fascinating time to be in the real estate business. There’s an incredible amount of disruption happening in all sectors of the business which will require creative problem solving and fresh perspectives that will challenge the status quo.
When I reflect on my early interests in brand management, I can see why I gravitated to leasing. Yes, leasing, by definition is transactional, but working in an in-house role is more than just filling vacant space. Your role is to help create the business plan for the building and I was developed to think of the role as the mini-CEO of my assigned building/portfolio/etc. - thinking strategically and being the business leader of a cross-functional team.
You are the Head of Leasing for Brooklyn Navy Yard. Can you tell us a little bit about the position and your responsibilities? What does your day to day look like?
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation is a mission driven commercial developer and everything we do is centered around being the leading example of equitable urban commercial development. We are a manufacturing, tech and creative innovation hub on the Brooklyn waterfront neighboring Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO. I serve as the head of the leasing team and my team’s central focus is to serve as the engine for curating our ecosystem of businesses by recruiting innovative and creative companies that are mission aligned, helping to shape our external marketing messaging. We are hyper focused on supporting Black and brown entrepreneurs. It’s a dream to be able to leverage the knowledge and experience I’ve harvested from my previous roles in the private sector to contribute to social impact work and the economic vitality of the city of New York. The Yard has a role in economic development by providing favorable rents and a host of other resources so that companies can grow and create high quality accessible jobs for New Yorkers. My role is to oversee the leasing team, set the vision and strategy for driving leasing activity that supports our overall mission. Lately much of my energy has been focused on creating strategies to ensure we are recruiting MWBEs and overhauling our marketing approach to ensure our message resonates with the companies we are looking to attract.
“It’s a dream to be able to leverage the knowledge and experience I’ve harvested from my previous roles in the private sector to contribute to social impact work and the economic vitality of the city of New York.”
My day-to-day is quite varied, which is why I have always loved this work. I could be meeting with prospective tenants or existing tenants, approving deal terms for other leasing team members, evaluating our deal pipeline and working with our marketing consultants on developing new collateral or interfacing with our legal team on legal matters. When I first started at the Yard (February 2020) 90% of my time was focused on COVID response.
Currently there is a lot of buzz right now in New York around the life sciences sector. We have an established tech community at the Yard and a growing number of biotech and medtech companies that are working on technologies that address a range of health or environmental problems. Truly inspirational work. The fact that I can play a role in ensuring that these companies can grow in New York is incredibly satisfying.
How do you balance motherhood and a thriving and demanding career?
Well… I’m not sure that I can say that I know how to balance! I would describe my life as if I’m swinging on a pendulum and I allow myself lots of grace! But there are a few things that make it all manageable. First, my partner is supportive of my career. Second, I have a manager and an employer that respects parents and the fact that people have lives, responsibilities and passions outside of the office. We do our best work when our cup is full.
As painful and traumatic as the past 2 years have been during the pandemic, we are in a powerful moment where the veil is being lifted on toxic work cultures and management styles. As I think about my career going forward, as a Black woman and a parent, I will be selective with respect to the type of company where I want to work. In short, I just am not interested in working for a company that doesn’t see the fact that being a working mother is a strength!
You are an avid traveler. Tell us a little bit about the place which has left the biggest impression on you and why? How do you ensure that you make time for this passion?
My partner is from Argentina and we’ve travelled to Uruguay several times. The town of Jose Ignacio (and other surrounding towns) left an imprint on my soul and at any given time we’re plotting on how we can get back to visit. The restaurant scene is remarkable. We still talk about dinners that we had several years ago as if it was last week! The overall vibe is right up my alley - understated elegance - and reminds me a lot of my summers in Martha’s Vineyard.
We actually haven’t done any travel abroad since the pandemic and the birth of our second child, but we’re now starting to hit our stride with managing our bigger family so we hope that will change soon! Travel fuels my creative spirit. I’m energized by being out of my comfort zone, so I love soaking in different places. Over the last couple of years our adventures have been a bit closer to home, but we’ve found that we don’t always have to get on an airplane to have that sense of adventure.
That being said, we love seeing the world. I have a friend that lives in Antigua, Guatemala and has a textile business and studio called Luna Zorro. It’s definitely a place on my list to visit, as I know it will be an inspiring trip. Also, my partner hasn’t been to back to Buenos Aires to see family and friends since the start of the pandemic so we also hope we can visit soon.
How do I make time for it? Well… I just do it! I tend to travel when it’s a bit slower at work so that makes it a bit less stressful, but you can’t plan for everything. And, for better or worse, it’s possible to stay connected just about anywhere. I’ve taken conference calls in the dessert in Morocco. While I might not be successful at disconnecting from work 100% while I’m on vacation, it is important that I get some distance so that I can come back refreshed. I’ve never been one of those people who doesn’t use all of my vacation days! If I do carry over days it’s because I have a 10 day trip on the horizon in Q1! Seriously. Use your vacation time and prioritize your wellness in whatever form that means for you.