Young Entrepreneur Series: Making it big in a man's world

If you’re from Kelowna, there’s no way you don’t recognize Meghan Cortese’s name.

When you look around at new developments in the city, you’re bound to see it on a green sign, or two.

The 31-year-old VP of leasing and sales at HM Commercial Group is in fact the only female commercial agent in the Okanagan.

It’s been about a year since she took the leap and joined the newly founded group, which successfully transacted over $100 million in sales since establishing in the spring of 2015.

"One of things that was so exciting was how much the community supported our entrepreneurial spirit,” said the now partner at HM, who essentially created their leasing division.

Before starting at HM (which is licensed through Macdonald Realty), Cortese worked with one of the largest international commercial real estate firms for about six years.

It was the second time in her career that Marshall McAnerney and Jeff Hudson encouraged her to take a major plunge. The first time, they told her to step out from behind her salaried research position at the firm and go into brokerage. The second time was when they presented her with the opportunity to join HM Commercial.

It's safe to say it hasn't been a decision she's regretted.

“I made the move in December 2015 and since then I haven't really looked back,” Cortese said. “I had amazing faith in my now-partners Jeff and Marshall. I also saw the opportunity to flex my own entrepreneurial muscles a little bit more."

“One of the things that I really loved is being a part of a team, being a part of establishing a brand and being a part of building culture.”

Before getting into real estate, Cortese took classes at University of Victoria. After studying everything that ended in “gy” (ie:psychology, anthropology, sociology and economics) she wasn't finding a calling.

When she returned to Whistler to take a break, her father set up an unexpected meeting with a man who, at the end of their talk, she found out was the head of BCIT's professional real estate program. She was accepted on the spot.

“BCIT was the best thing I ever did,” Cortese said. “It was a completely unreasonable program in a lot of ways but it really prepared me for the real world because the real world is unreasonable too.”

Cortese said she grasped every mentorship possible and was well versed in saying yes.

"I rolled my sleeves up and I was prepared to work on all of the little stuff.”

She’s been working on some pretty big projects lately, though. She’s leading the Okanagan Centre for Innovation development, which promises to bring about 1,000 tech employees to the downtown core this year. She also took on the Paramount Theatre redevelopment on Bernard Avenue, which promises to change the landscape of downtown Kelowna. Sometime in 2017, you can expect a national coffee shop, which will be announced soon, to open on the property.

Cortese is definitely working in a fast growing business.

"It's incredibly empowering,” she said. “Being influential in a brand that has exploded so quickly, is more than I could've imagined for this stage in my career.”

While Cortese acknowledges that she’s come pretty far working in male-dominated industry, she never let it get to her.

"I try not to focus too much on that differentiation but the reality is when it was 2009 and I told people what I was doing, people looked at me like I had ten heads,” she said. “The look of fear I saw in people's eyes when I shared with them my plans was so evident but I just didn't care.

“I loved the fact that I had this opportunity to be different because I saw it as an opportunity to shine.”

The key to her success, you ask? Persistance.

“Don't give up,” she said. “Don't get too hung up on little failures, learn from mistakes, be honest, have integrity and focus on that instead of your commission.”

Cortese moved to Penticton when she was 10 and said she sees herself working here in the Valley forever.

"My heart brought me home to the Okanagan,” she said. “I love that I can keep up in Kelowna but it still offers enough hustle and bustle and that's just getting better all the time.

"I think that Kelowna has all the tools to continue to grow. Kelowna's not peaches, beaches and retirement anymore. We have a lot more that.”