Vera Setskaya, president of GVA Sawyer
Outspoken Thoughts
SUMMING UP A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
The most important thing today is being able to guess the correct niche in the market. The size of the project and even its function is irrelevant. The success of a project primarily depends on its need, demand, opportunities to attract investments, quality of the plot of land and the legal purity of the transaction. For a shopping center, having a confirmed major retail operator onboard is a guarantee that investors will come. For a business center, the fundamental criterion is location. Our company believes that the market has a shortage of 3-star and 4-star business class hotels, which are compact, modern, fully equipped with everything necessary for a businessperson. Such projects can, and should be built in the regions today. Despite any crisis, they will always be in demand, provided that the hotel is built economically and room prices are reasonable. The development company`s task is to create the concept properly, then find an operator who can competently manage the hotel. This way you can never lose.
ABOUT WOMEN IN BUSINESS
A woman in business has a number of advantages. For example, the female charm.
A woman should remain a woman, and should not be afraid, from time to time, to show her weak side and play on it. And at times, it is possible to achieve something just because you are a woman – due to your charm, due to the ability to turn the situation into some kind of mitigation area, perhaps to ask for indulgence, to change the negotiations from a tough to a soft rhythm. This is not always possible. I run into many hard situations, where a person behaves not just like a man – but also like a rough man. Such situations are offensive, but that`s business.
I love men; it’s easier for me to work with them. Men are simpler, they don’t foul-up, they are devoid of emotions, and therefore it is easier to settle problems with them. Men do not create problems where there is none. While a woman, instead of solving a problem, gets all steamed up. I have absolutely no time for this.
Life in the hard world of business changes one`s character. I definitely became more rigid and, unfortunately, more indifferent. I have fewer emotions and inner feelings. I firmly make decisions and treat people hard. On the other hand, today I am so busy that I have no time to take care of certain individuals to the extent I would like to.
If you want to be recognized in your field, you must be a specialist, learn, strive to learn something new, and be on the level. If you are not on the level, it doesn’t matter whether you`re a man or a woman, you will not be taken seriously.
ABOUT THE REGIONS
I believe that even before the crisis, the regions were overvalued. The projects that developers were going to implement in the regions were too large, too extensive. The market simply could not absorb such a quantity of new premises. Regional projects should be built in phases. It is foolish to try and build 100,000 square meters in one and the same building, you need to build 10 buildings at 10,000 sqm each. For some reason, such basic and common sense things were ignored. A huge number of projects in the regions collapsed, precisely because of the developer’s naive policy and overestimation of the market.
ABOUT THE WINNING TICKET TO DEVELOPMENT
The fact that I once chose real estate was a lucky strike. At one time, I worked as an interpreter, accompanying the delegation of a major U.S. construction firm. During the seven-day visit, we visited the joint Russian-American enterprise "Perestroika". This company built the first Class `A` offices in Moscow. Then the doors to the West opened up for me, and suddenly there was a joint venture, where people did business. I was lucky; I was noticed, and offered a job as an assistant and interpreter to the CEO. It was like a fairy tale! To translate adequately, you should understand what you are talking about. Therefore, I actually went to the construction site, along with the engineer, to see what the cables and pipes were and how the building systems worked.
The only thing that confused me was the fact that the field was not that interesting – construction and real estate. It seemed to me then, that it was totally inappropriate for a woman. Today, I believe that development is the most exciting thing that one can do in life. At least, only because there will remain something you did after you are gone.
ABOUT MY FAMILY
I’ve been married 30 years. I have a very happy marriage, but I cannot say that this gift of fate fell right into my hands. I do not believe in serene and ideal love that lasts 30 years. Family life is very hard and daily work. Even now, I think what and how to say something at home, how to find the words of encouragement.
In my opinion, shared values lie at the basis of a successful marriage. This has nothing to do with the character. My husband and I have totally different characters. Another very important thing is that each should move forward. If a woman does not develop, she becomes boring. When both spouses grow and develop, the mutual interest does not disappear. And there should of course be respect in the family. If I don’t respect a man, I can’t be with him. When my son was little, I felt pangs of conscience, because I could not give my child as much time as I would like to. However, all the free time that my husband and I had, we spent with our son. He saw and felt it. Now he has grown up, he is a businessman, a financier. There are things for us to discuss and share every evening; we give each other valuable advice. It is interesting for us to be together, we understand each other. The family is my support. Friends and hobbies are temporary. While the family is the one thing I can rely on in any life situation. For me, family is, probably, more important than business. If, God forbid, I had to choose "career versus family”, I would choose the family.
ABOUT BUSINESS
In January 1993, Cameron Sawyer and I left the "Perestroyka" Company, and organized our own company. It was a reckless way to proceed. We thought, foolishly thought, that we understood how to do it, that we were experienced and could work independently. Years of hard work and mistakes followed. The thing that certainly has changed in me over the past 17 years is this view of my own abilities; at that time it was 10 times higher that it is today! Now I am much more cautious about statements that I make about myself and even about the inner awareness regarding what I can and what I cannot do. Seventeen years ago it took us 15 minutes to arrived at a decision; we never doubted our abilities and the success of the enterprise. Now we start a project only after having studying and verifying everything 250 times. Today, we have a different sense of responsibility; any decision of ours affects other people too, and we have no right to live like we did 17 years ago.
ABOUT CULTURE
I love exhibitions and museums. I love spending holidays in such places where, in addition to the beach, you can get to the city and visit some museums. I am fond of paintings. I am strongly attracted to art of the 19th – 20th centuries. I like our avant-gardists of the early 20th century, I love Larionov, Goncharova, Konchalovsky and Falk’s works.
I love classical music, very much. I can listen to Beethoven, anywhere, anytime, in any amount. I love Mahler and Mozart very much too. I often go to the conservatory. I once heard a passage from Schnitke and told a musicologist, who was an acquaintance of mine, that it was disgusting and I did not like it, and he replied, "Well, who said that music should be pleasant to the ear?" He said that Alfred Schnittke’s music surprised and delighted him by the structure and the architecture of the pieces. This does not gladden the heart, but it is so interesting that it excites. This approach to music is, unfortunately, still beyond my understanding.
Recently I became interested in the history of architecture, I try to attend lectures. There are good lectures in the Shchusev Museum.
ABOUT PLANNING
In the evening I put down the things I need to do the next day. Unfortunately, I have such a job that I cannot plan everything. During the day a lot of questions and calls fall upon me, they ruin my plans, and it is a great stress for me. I am a very responsible person. Just a one-day delay from the promised date is a tragedy for me, and then I try to catch up.
Автор: Tatyana Demidova
Commercial Real Estate №13 (142), July, 1-15 2010
