Originally from Princeton, NJ, Rachael Anagbo graduated from NYU with a degree in Romance Languages and Media, Culture, and Communications. (The diploma needed an attachment to fit all the letters.) While at NYU Rachael was a Summer Orientation Leader and an RA (the latter proving that she knows how to handle disputes about shared peanut butter). Along the way she studied abroad in Paris and Buenos Aires, worked at The Kitchen NYC, H&M, and the 92^nd Street Y, and landed a malfunctioning commercial airliner safely on the Hudson River. (One of those things is not true.) This fashion loving foodie lives by one motto: “My hair is so big because it’s full of secrets.” (That’s true. We found Amelia Earhart in there.)

Tania Anderson was born in Costa Rica; grew up in a Spanish-speaking home. (To which we replied “Nosotros no hablamos español.”) A true Washingtonian since she came here as a baby, she grew up with technology, starting with her dad’s big clunky Texas Instrument calculator, which was hands off. (Heh heh, that’s what he thinks.) Tania began freelancing for us when Bisnow was still mostly considered Mark’s last name. Outside of writing our Tech and Association publications she runs half marathons, cooks, drinks wine, and is obsessed with the show, “Hoarders.” Oh, and also raises, with her husband (who sells software), two daughters (ages 8 and 4) who are obsessed with Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, and glittery shoes. The Anderson home also includes a dog and two hermit crabs. 

In this corner, fighting out of Baltimore, Maryland: The Charm City Crusher, The Baltimore Bruiser, The Sultan of Sting, Chris Baird! Ladies and gentlemen we are in for it tonight. Chris got his training during college in the frozen winters of Syracuse and then cut his teeth in the brawling circuit with CoStar for three year. The avid Ravens and Orioles fan might look calm on the golf course, but he is the DC commercial real estate writing champ for a reason. Watch out for his ability to get an exclusive and for his devastating right hook. Should be a good match.

From an area known as Northern Virginia came a girl with a coffee in her hand. And her daring life of crime made her a legend in her time, East and West of the Rio Grande. (Well… not really, but she is from NoVA and does love coffee.) Laura Bellantoni studied political science at Christopher Newport University.  During her time there, she ran a few marathons, joined Phi Mu Sorority, volunteered at the local refugee agency, and traveled every chance she got (studying abroad in Germany, Spain, and Costa Rica). She never traveled heavy, yes she always rode alone, and she soon put many older study abroad students to shame. Then she interned at a non-profit organization in Arlington that aimed to provide permanent, affordable housing for low-income families.  When she’s not running around the streets of Burke early in the morning, you can find Laura at Döner Bistro in Adams Morgan. And it serves her legend well because the folks they love to tell when Laura the Kid comes to brunch.  And she’d never had a desk chair, but she’s finally found a home, underneath the Bisnow sign that bears her desk.

(Set vaguely to the tune of “Billy the Kid” by Billy Joel)

We’ve got a story that would be perfect for Hollywood, and her name is Whitney Cohn. Tell us this isn’t a blockbuster in waiting. Girl grows up in Rockville, MD and works her way up to being a communications major at UMD, while at the same time living a double life as a Theta sorority girl with a penchant for margaritas on the beach. She works for a software giant right out of college before deciding she needs to come to Bisnow to achieve greatness. Also she fights crime. Oh, and she moonlights as a legal aid trying to expose environmental safety violations perpetrated by large corporations. Also, she led Scotland in a revolt against their British overlords… with her vampire boyfriend. You don’t want to make a movie out of that? Fine. We love having her here.

In Ocean’s Eleven, Julia Roberts plays an art museum curator. Our new event coordinator, Cille Crowley, was an intern and event organizer at the UVA Art Museum. Coincidence? Entirely.  Aside from her work at the museum, Cille studied Economics at UVA and was Treasurer of her sorority. A lifelong Virginia resident, we’ve decided to bring Cille up to NYC. Let’s just hope some Hollywood producer doesn’t see her on the street and cast her in Ocean’s Fourteen because we really need her to coordinate events.

Do you wanna hear a story about an outlaw who laughs at danger and rides through the cold desert nights? Well then, this is not the story for you. Kim grew up in tiny little Crofton, Maryland (sort-of near DC) and went to University of Maryland to study Psychology and while there joined Alpha Phi sorority. After graduation she decided instead of getting her PhD and becoming a famous psychologist, she would go out into the real world and get a job. (Not all of us have time to sit around thinking about the causality versus synchronicity question. Damn you, Carl Jung!) She moved to DC with fellow Bisnow employee Cassie Duffy (they’ve lived together all four years of college too. There’s a sitcom in there somewhere.) She runs an Etsy shop where she sells repurposed vintage clothes (for anyone who might be looking for a powder blue leisure suit). How would we define her? Kim is someone who makes great spinach artichoke dip, loves the color grey, and hates when people sneeze. Now wasn’t that much better than a silly cowboy story?

As a student at Valdosta State University, in south Georgia, Patrick worked to master the art of sales and marketing. (He could sell you your own last name, and you’d thank him for the privilege.) After leaving the land of palm trees (and DII football national championships) he moved to the big city of Atlanta, GA. Now he’s thrown caution to the wind and is bringing some southern charm to the Pacific Northwest. (Hopefully he can bring some decent BBQ with him.) Patrick’s been a director of marketing for a development firm, top producing onsite sales agent, a licensed managing broker, and a CrossFit gym owner.  When he’s not smashing sales goals, you’ll find Patrick training for his next Triathlon. (We know. We had to swim three miles just to offer him the job.)  

Sometimes in this mixed up world of commercial real estate, determination and gallons of coffee aren’t enough. Sometimes you need a hero. From out of the cold and fog of Tully, NY, that hero emerged (possibly riding a horse, we can’t remember). Liz Keevil came to us with the ferocity and candor that can only come from a sports-loving, trumpet-playing middle child. This American University alum is such a diehard Syracuse basketball fan that sometimes she comes to work dressed as an orange. Liz “Dr.” Keevil is here to elevate our marketing department to Herculean levels of achievement. (Also she bakes amazing cupcakes, so that’s a plus.) Liz is not only the hero we deserve, she’s the hero we need right now.

When you think about an accountant the first thing that comes to mind is a guy named Bob.  Well we like to do things a little warped, so we went out and got ourselves a girl named Bob (Robyn, actually, but her good friends call her “Bob”).  Robyn is a Bethesda native and crab-picking phenom.  After graduating from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in 2009 she had a brief (three year) flirtation with Public Accounting for the “Big 4” and acquiring a severe vitamin D deficiency in windowless audit rooms.  Finally, while on a rare outdoor lunch break, she saw the light: moved to the District, toured Bisneyland, and joined the lean but mean accounting team.  She is a lover of cover bands, brunch, tailgating, and a great bargain.  Perhaps more impressive than her freakish memory, is her ability to refrain from toting her TI-83+ to all social gatherings despite her status as a CPA.    

How many times have you heard this story? A starry-eyed girl from Montclair, New Jersey makes her way to DC, the big city, looking for fame, and fortune, and a bachelor’s degree in Art History with a minor in Business Administration. But along the way she gets sidetracked by the seedy underbelly of local art museums, then a short-lived modeling career, then the influences of Led Zeppelin only to find redemption when she joins a media and events company as an account manager. You’ve never heard that story? (Hmm, could’ve sworn it was the plot of a Woody Allen movie…) Well, regardless that’s the story of our very own Karly Mintz. After graduating from GWU, this die-hard NY Rangers fan joined Aram’s team as an account manager and realized that was all the fame she needed (and that she could listen to “Achilles Last Stand” as often and as loud as she wanted while working). 

Marissa showed an aptitude for CRE at an early age, brokering sales of classmates’ tree houses and leasing space in her backyard to neighborhood squirrels and stray cats (until the infamous milk shortage forced many cats to move back in with their parents).  She knows coffee is for closers, but has kept her childhood preference for hot chocolate.  Since wearing out her best leather shoes reporting at the Medill School of Journalism, Marissa has produced interactive graphics for the Financial Times, covered CRE for Crain’s Chicago Business, and reviewed theater for the Chicago Reader (we’ve written several abstract plays about interpersonal relationships between dragons that we need her to review). In her spare time, she loves dancing, playing euchre, and indulging in all kinds of cheese.  Though not at the same time, or she’d get a stomachache (or gain uncontrollable superpowers).