The Shift is a LeaseUp podcast hosted by our founder Kurt Chisholm, in conversation with brokers at the intersection of CRE and tech
✨ Article summary: In episode 6 of The Shift podcast, Ra’eesa Motala, VP of National Industrial and Corporate Solutions at Rokos Advisors, discusses the importance of embracing technology in the commercial real estate industry. As a tech-forward broker, she emphasizes the need for brokers to adapt to evolving client expectations and leverage technology to streamline transactions and enhance client experiences. Ra’eesa's insights underscore the significance of tech adoption in staying competitive and serving clients effectively in a rapidly evolving market.
The Shift is a LeaseUp podcast hosted by our founder Kurt Chisholm, in conversation with brokers at the intersection of CRE and tech. The guests come from different professional backgrounds, but all leverage technology to get more deals done.
For the sixth episode of The Shift, LeaseUp’s Kurt Chisholm spoke with Ra’eesa Motala, VP of National Industrial and Corporate Solutions at Rokos Advisors in Minneapolis.
Ra’eesa is an industrial corporate solutions broker who focuses mostly on tenant rep with national clients. Her firm is "very tech-forward,” and she advocates for wider technology adoption within CRE.
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In Ra’eesa’s view, brokers should be embracing tech not only to keep up with client expectations, but to increase efficiency in their own workflow. “Brokers are the last to adapt when it comes to technology,” she tells Kurt on the podcast. “It's so hard for them to go from a shoebox of business cards to a CRM and understand how to implement that in their day-to-day life, because it's so fast-paced and you're trying to just keep up with it.”
Ra’eesa’s approach to technology involves using software to make the transaction process more streamlined and efficient, and to make the client's day-to-day easier. "How they access data, and how they have information at their fingertips is so important,” she says of her clients. “If you're not trying to adapt and evolve as the world around you adapts and evolves and progresses, I think you're gonna fall behind. And you're also gonna be doing your clients a disservice.”
Ra’eesa Motala “fell into” CRE after graduating from medical school. Based in Minneapolis, she works primarily with industrial clients and focuses on multi-market expansion, corporate HQ, industrial manufacturing, and data center searches. She helps her clients with complex multi-market searches in developing cities, and operates at the national level. "I don't necessarily view myself as a broker… If anything, I'm an employee in each one of my clients' businesses," she says on the podcast.
Ra’eesa is also on the steering committee of the Real Estate Diversity Initiative, a six-month mentorship program open to women and BIPOC getting their start in the industry. “If you don't have a strong mentor, or a strong support group, then you're more likely to fail easier and quicker. It's a tough business to break into. So when you already feel like you have that disadvantage, a little bit of a nudge goes a long way.”
Kurt Chisholm is the founder and CEO of LeaseUp. Kurt’s been in CRE for over a decade, as a tenant rep broker, landlord, and investor. He left brokerage to build LeaseUp after realizing the need for a CRE deal platform that lets brokers leverage tech to get more deals done.
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