Alumni Profiles

Alan R. Braxton, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Presidio Partners

	Alan R. Braxton

Mr. Braxton received his MBA from Wharton in 1987 with concentrations in marketing and finance. He is a managing partner and co-founder of Presidio Partners in Chicago, a real estate investment bank that provides capital raising and advisory services to real estate fund sponsors, operators, REITs and other real estate market participants. Mr. Braxton is responsible for client management, strategy formulation and capital raising activities. Prior to forming Presidio, he was a principal in the Real Estate Private Equity Group at Banc of America Securities and a managing director with LaSalle Investment Management. Mr. Braxton is on the advisory board of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at Wharton.

We asked Mr. Braxton to reminisce about his Wharton experience, and asked if any particular courses or professors stood out.
My experience was really enhanced by working as a consultant for the Wharton Small Business Development Center. We worked 20 hours per week during each semester and full-time in the summer. A combination of Wharton grad and undergrad students worked at the center-it was a really interesting group led by the director, Bill Madway. Definitely a work-hard, play-hard team spirit. We provided advice to business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the Philadelphia area, and I served as a teaching assistant for an entrepreneurial management class. Although I had to forego a traditional summer internship, the clients really needed and appreciated our help, and it made the Wharton experience more relevant for me. As a kid who grew up in Philadelphia, it was great to give something back.

We asked Mr. Braxton about his choice of career . . .
Having spent several years in commercial banking, I actually began my post-Wharton career in brand management at The Quaker Oats Co. I spent three years in brand management and really enjoyed the experience. In my case, it was a bit of a random walk into real estate as part of a relocation to Los Angeles to marry my wife (another Wharton MBA Class of 87, Deborah Bennett). I was recruited by LaSalle Partners, now Jones Lang LaSalle, and they saw the components of my non-traditional background as a positive in real estate problem-solving, which proved to be true. I was attracted by the results-driven nature of the business. It was a very cold field at the time, with a very questionable outlook. My lack of history in the real estate industry probably helped me as I wasn't dissuaded by a pre-conceived view of how painful the correction would be and that L.A. was at the time, the epicenter. In hindsight, it was the best decision I could have possibly made as I entered the industry in a very challenging time, experienced the good, the bad and the ugly early in my career-and of course, married my wife.

What advice would he give grads in this "challenging" economy? In this tough economy, would he advise changing fields, having patience, being resourceful or . . .?
My advice to grads would be to try to maintain some relative perspective. They are Wharton graduates, which is still a pretty exclusive club. At some point the opportunities will surface and the key is to stay alert. In the near term, expectations will need to be lowered and compromises are required. Be receptive to options in and out of real estate, off the beaten path. If there is a role where you have a chance to contribute, learn and position yourself for the next great opportunity, think about it. Any field can be appealing if it meets that criteria. Career success is generally not a straight line.

Did his education actually prepare him for the real world? Were his courses theoretical or could he find practical applications once he entered the professional arena?
I really have applied the coursework. Whether it was marketing strategy or corporate finance, I benefited from the discipline of thought. That foundation has been critical to understanding and solving challenges throughout my career.

To wrap up our conversation, we asked Mr. Braxton what he does to decompress from the office, and what he does to weather this storm.
This is an incredibly challenging time for business. Fortunately I'm surrounded by long-term family and friends who have kept me pretty grounded. I wasn't allowed to get too over-confident during the sunny weather, so the stress during this storm has been manageable. As a family with two teenagers, we have a diverse set of interests but travel has been a big focus lately with trips to India, South Africa and Central America. We haven't agreed on the next destination. I spend a good amount of time as board chair of a large not-for-profit, but my current business "hobby" is a group effort to establish a "de novo" bank for the underserved within the inner city of Chicago.

Michelle Felman, Executive Vice President, Vornado Realty Trust

	Michelle Felman

Michelle Felman, MBA '88, is an executive vice president of Vornado Realty Trust in Manhattan, and was a finance and real estate major while at Wharton. "I remember my first week at Wharton," she writes, "and everyone was frantically trying to finalize their resumes. I kept thinking that I came back to school to get away from work for awhile, and here everyone was rushing to get back to work! That's when I knew I was different from many of the students.

"I managed to find people 'like me' and we all managed to get jobs (good ones I might add) without being totally neurotic all the time. One of my best memories was taking Zucker's class [Dr. William Zucker, Meshulam Riklis Professor Emeritus of Creative Management, and the founder and co-director (1983-88) of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center]. We combined class work through case studies with 'real world' experiences, as we presented the cases directly to the companies that prepared the case. Eventually, 10 years later, the introduction in that class landed me a job!

"It wasn't easy landing jobs in the spring of 1988, as we had just experienced the crash of '87. Drexel Burnham disappeared overnight and the world was a scary place, similar to the market post-Bear Stearns/ Lehman Brothers last year. I was fortunate to get a job as an associate at Morgan Stanley in the real estate group. If my memory serves me correctly (it can't always be trusted these days), that was the only real estate investment banking job extended that year to a Wharton student. It was prior to the formation of any 'funds' as we know them today. I believed it was the best way to get deal experience and get great analytical training. One of the benefits of working with one of the best investment banks at the time was the access to really smart, experienced people throughout the firm and through our client base.

"Advice for students today? It is a challenging job market but Don't Give Up! Sometimes you have to take an interim step before you get to the place you want to be, and you can learn something anywhere you work at the start of your career. Your choices are so dependent on your individual situation. Do you have to support yourself and others? Are you able to do something 'out of the box' and not worry about making money for a year or two? As you weigh your own personal situation, realize that this industry is cyclical and always comes back. Realize that you learn the most in bad times, not good times. Look at alternative paths to your end goal and accept that it may just take you a little longer to reach it, but you have lots of time! If you have the ability to relocate, do so. See if there is something interesting in the public sector for a short while.

"Whatever you do, be resourceful and keep a positive attitude. Markets ebb and flow—they are not static."

We asked Michelle about the practical applications of her classes here, and how they fit into her real world of business:
"As a student," Michelle responded, "you sometimes feel like classes are too theoretical and not practical. There is a mix—you need to understand the basics but challenge yourself to take classes that seem more 'real world.' I recall taking Bill Tyson's class on securities regulation—it was so relevant during the Drexel Burnham fall and even though we were studying securities law, we could apply it directly to what was happening in the real world. Despite the fact that I work in the real estate industry, I am involved in mergers with public companies and I actually remember what Tyson taught me!"

So how has Michelle fared in her personal life, balancing work and family? "It is always tough to find a balance between your professional and personal life but it has to be maintained. I have two teenage boys and they keep me grounded about what's really important—girls! Seriously, whether it is family, friends, yoga or the beach, I always find time to escape from work and keep perspective—it keeps you fresh."