SoCal Power Women: 5 Questions With Colliers International's Kitty Wallace

This limited series profiles SoCal Power Women who have helped shape cities, neighborhoods, businesses and lifestyles in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Colliers International Executive Vice President Kitty Wallace is a well-known and respected multifamily expert in Los Angeles and on the West Coast. For more than 15 years, Wallace and her team have served clients in every facet of  multifamily real estate needs. Aside from her work, Wallace also serves as a member of the board of directors at USC Lusk Center.

How do you describe your job to people who are not in the industry?

Wallace: I’m lucky to be able to help my clients enhance their multifamily portfolios and fulfill their real estate goals. My team and I evaluate properties and identify which to sell from the bottom and buy to add to the top, creating synergy between their assets to maximize value.

What is the biggest business problem you have faced and how did you solve it?

Wallace: Partnership dissolutions tend to be the trickiest and most sensitive situations, especially with a fractured ownership entity when the clients have reached the end of the rope. That’s where we come in. We take care to maintain open and transparent communication between all members each step of the way, working together toward a successful, mutually beneficial close that will make everyone happy.

What is one thing you think companies can do to address wage and gender inequality?

Wallace: Fostering an inclusive company culture is key. Companies should open the gates and form a work environment that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds, then pay based on results.

What piece of advice do you give others entering the industry?

Wallace: It’s important to love what you do and, remember, it’s a marathon not a sprint. You have to put your time in, work hard and find the way that you add value. Know the market and business better than anyone else: knowledge is value.

What do you do to unwind when you’re not working?

Wallace: I begin every morning by exercising to get my juices flowing for a busy day at the office — usually with a long run down to the beach or swimming laps in the pool. Most evenings are spent chefing in the kitchen or entertaining friends.