Name/Title/Company: Reece Friedner / Commercial Marketing Director / CertaPro Painters of Milwaukee

Briefly tell us what you do, and length of time in the CRE industry: I facilitate business development and lead generation for CertaPro across Wisconsin and northern Illinois as well as running all commercial digital marketing efforts for each of my territories. 

What project or professional accomplishment are you most proud of?: My first job in college I worked for a biotech startup running all of their marketing and public relations efforts. In the two years I was in that role we grew from a 12 employee, 500 thousand dollar a year company into a 250 employee 25 million dollar a year company. I'm not taking credit for this growth but I'm very proud of my development from a glorified social media intern at a small business to a marketing director in all but name for a much larger company. 

How would you like to be more involved in NAIOP Wisconsin?: I am a member of the Developing Leaders All Star program and would like to be as involved with NAIOP as much I can be.

Tell us about your family: I grew up in a small town in Minnesota named Lindstrom. I have two younger sisters, one is an Iowa Hawkeye and the other is graduating high school next year. I grew up around real estate my entire life. My dad worked as a CRE broker at Welsh, moved to Colliers and now is a senior managing director at Newmark in the Twin Cities. My mom is a residential broker for Keller Williams in both Wisconsin and Minnesota and my aunt and uncle run a residential brokerage for Sotheby's in Big Sky, Montana. All of this to say I have a very large appreciation for the commercial real estate industry and I'm really looking forward to becoming more ingrained into the Milwaukee CRE community.

What's your favorite restaurant and why?: The Calderone Club. It was the first restaurant I went to in Milwaukee and every time my family comes to visit we go there. It's pure comfort food and could be described my happy place.

How do you find a moment of peace or calm to center yourself?: I just remember to take deep breaths and that helps me slow down.

Favorite vacation destination?: My favorite place on Earth is Grenada, Spain.

What music are you listening to and first and last concert attended?: All variations of Rock, Metal, and Punk music. My first concert was Young Gravy in high school and my most recent concert was played by Joan Jett, Poison, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue.  

Cats or dogs? Do you have pets?: Dogs. I have a Brittany Spaniel I love to hunt with back in Minnesota.