A few years ago I walked into Jon DeVries’s office at Roosevelt University and took a seat.  I wasn’t really sure what I was doing there, but Kamran had urged me to come talk to him.  Kam had already started the MBA program at Roosevelt a year earlier, and I was envious of his interesting classes and exciting opportunities.  Moreover, Kamran and I had started talking about crazy things.  Like starting our own business(es).  Investing in real estate.  Leaving my job.  Crazy Talk.

But I felt woefully unprepared.  Run a business?  I had no idea even where to begin with that.  I went to school in the arts and worked for a couple years in nonprofits – not exactly the type of environments that generate successful businesses.

And real estate??  Ok, Kamran had a background in architecture, but me?  No Clue.  But Kamran had the bug to create something Big.  The economy had tanked, the market was down, if there was ever a time to invest in real estate, this was it.  And if he was doing it, I would probably be involved somehow.

And I was Scared.

So, being a lover of learning, I thought the obvious solution was to go to business school.  I looked around, tried an online program, but had trouble finding something that really fit.  I was an artist, after all, how was I supposed to succeed in Business?

Enter Roosevelt University.

When I sat down in Jon’s office, I was unsure of myself.  “I think you two are going to do great things,”  he said.  “We have a great program for women in Real Estate, I think you should apply.”

So I did.

And with that decision, everything changed.  Not only did I start working towards my MBA, but I was accepted into the Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative.  Goldie Wolfe Miller is one of Chicago’s first and most successful women in commercial real estate, and she took the truly remarkable step of building a program at Roosevelt designed to promote women in Real Estate.

In addition to providing scholarship assistance, mentoring, professional development classes, and networking opportunities, the “Goldie Scholars” program brings together a group of inspiring, talented, and driven women.  It has been such an honor for me over the last few years to be surrounded by such classy women, who inspire me to work harder and do better.  I believe all of us have been touched by Goldie’s example and honestly feel that our time in the program has changed us by giving us confidence in our vision as well as the tools to carry it out.

It was my distinct honor to bring my own two worlds together last week to photograph the Anniversary Event of the Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative in Roosevelt’s stunning new Vertical Campus building – that beautiful new aqua-colored building you’ve noticed on the Chicago skyline.  It was so exciting to see how this program is growing and how the women in it are flourishing.

And if you are a woman who thinks this might be just the thing you need to get you moving, I highly encourage you to apply.  You won’t regret it.