ABOUT:
Tere Blanca is the Founder of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, the leading independently owned the leading independently owned commercial real estate services firm in Florida. She founded the firm in 2009 after identifying a need in the marketplace for a local advisory and brokerage firm built on a culture of giving clients a highly personalized approach to service. With Tere’s vision, progressive leadership and foundation of passion, care and commitment to excellence, teams are purpose built and strategies are customized to fit each clients’ diverse needs allowing the firm to achieve successful outcomes and setting new market standards.
ON BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR:
I started my business during the financial crisis of 2008. Many developers and investors were having a tough time then, so I felt that I could roll up my sleeves and do things differently. I decided to leave the firm I was working for and opened my own business. It was a big financial risk, many people told me I was crazy. My mentor called me and asked what happens if I don’t succeed? I knew there was no option for me but to succeed at that time and this is how I wake up every morning till this day. I cannot say that everything is perfect and that every assignment necessarily follows the straight path but it is really the commitment to do absolutely everything possible to succeed.
THE BIG IDEA:
Blanca CRE is the leading independently owned, full-service commercial real estate firm in South Florida, providing a complete range of brokerage and advisory services to owners and users of commercial real estate.
We have the leading market share of 30% of all office leasing transactions in Miami and we have a very robust tenant advisory program where we advise clients like Knights Foundation, the Miami Foundation, and a property management business for Doral Concourse, Miami City Ballet, Young Arts.
ON GENDER DISPARITY:
I didn’t experience it in my career. I was very fortunate to grow in environments where with a lot of respect for women within the organization. I worked for 14 years at Cadena Group under the leadership of a man who had four daughters. I’m sure he was perfectly aware of what women are capable of. One of his daughters is now the CEO of the company.
Later on I often found myself being the only woman in the room, but I owned it and never felt threatened. I cannot say there weren’t cases where I was made uncomfortable, like that one time a male colleague told the room that he had brought me in for my looks. I was very young at that time and you become tongue-tied in such situations, it’s almost like women have to rehearse ahead of time in anticipation of such situations. But I did confront that colleague after the meeting and explained why what he said was wrong. Those sort of moments weren’t that many in my case.
ON GROWING UP/LIVING IN MIAMI:
I grew up in Puerto Rico in Ponce, a small town in the south. When I was 14 my family moved to Venezuela and then to the United States. I went to school at the University of Miami where I studied engineering.
Miami always gave me the familiar feeling of the Caribbean, the feeling of warmth that is difficult to describe. Maybe it has to do with the city being in the process of growing up, but it feels like people are more open for connections than in other places in the United States.
