Kim Faust: “It’s fun to come into work every day.”
Main Street Property Group Co-presidents Jackie Hizzey and Kim Faust don’t spend much time thinking about being women in the male-dominated world of commercial real estate.
“Kim and I are both kind of averse to it,” says Hizzey, who joined the Kirkland, Washington-based real-estate development company as its first employee back in 2011 and who also serves as its CFO. “We have never thought of it as male and female. It’s obvious that, when you go to commercial real estate events, it’s definitely more male-dominated, but we just work and do our jobs every day.”
Faust, a 14-year company veteran who joined as the second employee, also serves as chief development officer. She notes that the pair have done virtually every job in the and calls herself an “open-door leader” who works to empower her team.
“I always want my team to feel like they can come in and ask any question,” says Faust, a former college basketball player at Santa Clara University. “There are really no dumb questions. My team knows if I ask them to do something, they know it’s something I would do as well.”
Main Street, a developer of multifamily housing and mixed-use projects, has been the catalyst for more than a dozen signature developments in Seattle’s Eastside suburbs, including the popular Schoolhouse District in Woodinville, a mixed-use property packed with restaurants, retailers and hundreds of residential units.
It has also worked on a major mixed-use redevelopment project as Bothell works to reinvent its downtown and the recently completed Eastrail Flats, a 207-unit multifamily complex in downtown Woodinville not far from The Schoolhouse District.
Jackie Hizzey says “everything was just aligned” for her and her colleague, Kim Faust, to serve as co-presidents at Main Street Property Group.
Diverse skill sets
Though co-presidents are rare in business, including in commercial real estate, Faust and Hizzey say they have complementary skills and few conflicts. Faust came up on the development and construction side, while Hizzey has a financial background. Prior to holding their current roles, they’ve shared an office from day one.
“I don’t think there’s any other person I could be co-president with,” Faust says. “The personalities and skill sets just work.”
Hizzey notes that both are also at the “same stage in their personal lives,” adding that “if you had two people that were at completely different stages of their life personally, it may not work.”
Both describe their entry into real estate as something of an accident. Hizzey began her career as a public accountant and later became a controller for a homebuilder. Faust entered real estate after college in a marketing role and then found herself taking on development work.
Their advice for women considering a career in commercial real estate is simple and straightforward: Work hard, be curious and build relationships.
“Gender aside, anybody who wants to be successful in commercial real estate has to have those traits, that work ethic, and the desire to want to be the best they can be and make all the connections that are necessary,” Faust says. “Ultimately, it always goes back to the relationships, all the different people you meet throughout your career.”
