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NEXT GENERATION

Neither Meerbott nor Millinor initially planned careers in real estate

BY SASCHA BRODSKY

Leasing associate Sabrina Meerbott came in through the back door. As a marketing assistant at Continental Real Estate Cos., Coconut Grove, Fla., she helped organize her company’s presence at ICSC events.

But she jumped at the opportunity to switch to leasing three years ago.

“I love the flexibility of the job,” said the 34-year-old. “I’m an independent contractor, so I make my own hours and work as much or as little as I want.” But she pulls long hours managing 1.8 million square feet of retail space for Continental Real Estate.

Meerbott majored in nursing in college but became disillusioned with the profession because “the pay wasn’t commensurate with the level of responsibility.” She began working at Continental Real Estate while completing a master’s degree in finance from Florida International University.

She says she hopes one day to start her own firm, but adds, “I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

To gain more exposure in the profession, Meerbott became the co-chair of ICSC’s South Florida Next Generation Committee.

“The events I’ve attended have been a tremendous help in getting calls back,” Meerbott said. “You get a lot of exposure.”

Peyton Millinor never thought he would go into real estate. He grew up in Texas in the 1980s watching his father, Rick, an accountant, deal with companies struggling through the savings and loan crisis.

“It wasn’t something I saw as a good area to be in,” Millinor said. “But then when I was in college, I began to see it as a challenging career where you aren’t confined to a desk, repeating the same activities day after day.” Millinor, 29, is now a founding member of ICSC’s Next Generation Dallas chapter. He is an assistant vice president at the Dallas office of The Woodmont Co., where he focuses on the valuation, financial modeling and sale of commercial real estate. His father, Rick Millinor, switched careers and now runs a Fortune 400 venture capital firm in Austin, Texas. Millinor says coming from a family without real estate connections is no handicap. “I think that in this day and age, the good-old-boy network is less valuable than it has been,” he said. “A lot of companies just want people who are very well qualified, dedicated and hard-working.”

It has not all been hard work for Millinor, though. He took a break from real estate in 2003 to appear on the reality TV show Mr. Personality. The show featured 20 masked men trying to woo the heroine. Millinor, who says he does not watch reality shows himself, advanced to the final four but was eliminated in the second-to-last episode. “It was a great experience,” he said, “but I’m glad to be back on the job.” Oh, and he is still single.