Tonight we honor the Top 40 women in Atlanta commercial real estate at The City Club of Buckhead, 6-8pm. For the past four weeks, we've profiled these amazing leaders and role models as part of Bisnow's 2014 Power Women initiative in DC, NY, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, and LA. Today, we bring you the final installment (check out parts 1 here, 2 here, 3 here and 4 here). Congrats!
Cheryl Strickland
First VP of Public Finance,
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
It was the Chicago skyline that inspired Cheryl Strickland to help build the Atlanta one. Cheryl went to grad school at University of Chicago and was amazed at the “big city lakefront,” the architecture, and skyline. Then she got her first taste with CRE when she joined Continental Illinois National Bank with its construction and engineering lending team. “However, the project finance folks in the real estate department were clearly having more fun—and I wanted to be one of them.” That led her to 17-year career with Prudential's commercial mortgage group (which she joined in 1986), where she did everything from being a loan officer and underwriter to asset and portfolio manager. During her career, Cheryl has worn many hats—from mortgage lending to public finance banking and funding redevelopment projects—and she credits that to her longevity in the biz; the ability to reinvent herself during various cycles has been key, she says. In 2004, Cheryl joined InvestAtlanta, a career move that culminated into her leading the issuance of the Westside TAD bonds that included $40M for the National Center for Civil & Human Rights. In 2012, she joined Stifel. This travel and spa lover's key advice: Get comfy with the numbers behind deals and a grasp of the economics, work hard, keep learning, develop relationships, and establish “your brand and reputation for quality.”
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