Description

Our guest today is Christina Balas, the National Director for Strategic Implementation at Coldwell Banker Commercial and the host of the CRE with CBCworldwide Podcast. In this conversation, we talk about what it means to be a woman in leadership, how to find the right work environment for you, and the importance of community involvement. Tune in and get inspired to take your career to the next level with great advice from Christina!

Learn more about Christina and her story at: www.growingcareersandcompanies.com.

“I'm really passionate about participation and I want people to get involved in their community whatever way they want.”

02:16

Christina is the National Director for Strategic Implementation at Coldwell Banker Commercial, supporting the strategic growth of a national franchise brand in commercial real estate brokerage. She’s also a mom of 2 and a community involvement advocate. 

Christina has had an interesting career journey - she has worked in many different fields, from the restaurant industry to marketing in retail. She's also worked in both small businesses and larger, more complex corporate environments.

All these experiences shaped her view on work and life and eventually led her to CRE and community involvement advocacy. She realized that who you work for and the tribe you build really impacts your experience at work.   

“You have to build your tribe or network that resonates with you.”

10:49

Christina talks about her values in the workplace. Equity and valuing others’ personal time are very important for her. 

She shares her best pieces of advice on how to find the right work environment for you. 

• Understand your self-worth. If you don’t feel valued in your current workplace, then it’s maybe time to change.
• Practice self-care. Work on the things that you care about. Reflect on your likes, and dislikes, and discover your personal value system.
• Advocate for yourself. Control your destiny instead of letting it fall on other people to decide your path for you.
• Find a person or a group of people that you could bounce ideas off of about your career and the next steps you want to take.

“The risks you take, especially on yourself, are always worth a try.”

22:46

Christina talks about the generational differences in the commercial real estate industry. The older generation tends to think that work has to be hard to be valuable. The younger generation, on the other hand, is misunderstood and many times called “entitled” or “lazy”. However, according to Christina, they understand their worth more.

Christina talks about female leadership in male-dominated industries. Women tend to be more modest about their successes. Her advice is to not be afraid to step into your power because this can motivate younger generations. Also, be courageous and don’t wait until you know everything in order to take the next step in your career.

Christina is running in a local election as a councilperson because community involvement has always been very important for her. She encourages everyone to get involved in their local communities if they want to see change.

The Final 3 Questions

• What is the lesson that has taken you the longest to learn?

Recognizing that she has value on her own without having other people to prove that for her.