Episode 031
Christina Clark
In this episode of Women’s Million Dollar Conversations, Alice Tang interviews Christina Clark, Vice Chairman at Newmark. With over 20 years in commercial real estate, Christina shares how she navigated a “circuitous” career path to reach the million-dollar milestone, emphasizing the power of intent, team building, and the resilience to turn “no” into “yes”.
Christina discusses why success is never an individual achievement. She reveals how she utilizes a personal board of directors—a trusted inner circle of guides—to make solid judgments during career pivots and major transitions. This community-driven approach extends to her professional team, where she prioritizes an “apprenticeship” model to mentor the next generation of global brokers.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
"I belive in taking challanges and making them a strength instead of being an Achilles heel; make it a muscle and work that muscle and change it."
(0:00) Welcome to Women’s Million Dollar Conversations with Alice Tang, where we share stories from (0:06) successful businesswomen who have saved, earned, or sold over a million dollars, (0:12) and discuss how they built their success and insights to help you achieve your goals. (0:18) Now, let’s join the conversation. (0:21) Hello, Christina Kroc.
I’m so happy to meet you through our friend Barbara Greenberg. (0:27) She’s a wonderful gem in many people’s lives, so I got to sit in front of you today. (0:34) You are my guest at Million Dollar Conversations for Women, and I will not steal your thunder.
(0:40) I’ll let you introduce yourself before we begin the questions that everybody is curious about, (0:46) Christina. (0:47) Thanks, Alice. (0:48) Yes, you are right.
(0:49) Barbara Greenberg is an absolute gem in my collection of gems. (0:53) I am so happy to have her in my inner circle and glad that she introduced us. (0:58) I am Christina Kroc.
(0:59) I am vice chairman at Numark. (1:01) We are a commercial real estate company. (1:04) I have been in the industry for over 20 years, having started at Gensler, (1:08) and then moving into brokerage and working for Warren Wixson, and then Cressa, (1:12) and now here I am at Numark.
(1:14) I live in San Francisco with my husband, Matt, and our two children and our dog, Teddy. (1:21) Local San Francisco native, happy to be in the city, and it’s a glorious day here. (1:27) Great to be talking to you.
(1:28) Thank you, Christina. (1:30) Beautiful. (1:30) So you reminded me of the song that my dad always sang, I left my heart in San Francisco.
(1:39) Yes, it’s a town favorite. (1:41) Absolutely.
(1:42) The first question for you is what’s the value of money for you? (1:45) The value of money for me is freedom, choice, flexibility, (1:50) and the honor of being able to give back to the community through the money I’ve earned.
(1:56) Beautiful. (1:56) Now, since we are talking about the first million, (2:00) so I would like to take you back a decade or two when you hit your first million. (2:05) Yeah, I think for me, there’s been a lot of opportunities over the decades to (2:10) see money come and go and see multimillion dollar transactions happen.
(2:15) But it was within the last decade that the transaction happened for me (2:20) that impacted my family and my community. (2:23) And it is a thrilling feeling. (2:27) And it was also a feeling of, I knew I could do it.
(2:30) I set my mind to it. (2:32) I set my heart to it. (2:33) I set my intention and my prayers to it.
(2:36) And then I marched along consistently and made it happen.
(2:41) How long does it take for you to reach that first million, if you don’t mind us asking? (2:47) For me, it was the circuitous route of my career and how it moved to lead me there. (2:54) I guess I would say it took 20 years, but it was really in an evolution of four or five (3:02) that got me to the point of being able to reach it and know how I was going to get there (3:06) to earn that amount.
(3:09) So there is really steps, small steps before the success or the landmarch. (3:13) One million could be five million, could be 20 million today, (3:17) but every single landmark or goal that we have, there is small process. (3:22) You learn, you grow, you learn, you grow, and then you hit.
(3:25) Exactly. (3:26) And just like you showed with your hand there, it’s like you’re learning, then it plateaus, (3:29) then you’re learning, and then it plateaus. (3:31) And I think something really important is the consistency and then the patience.
(3:35) You have to earn it. (3:36) And you don’t want it to come too fast because you want to appreciate it and know how hard (3:40) it is to earn it so that you can keep doing all the work to continuously be earning it. (3:46) You don’t want to earn once or close one deal or save one time.
(3:50) You want to save many times over and over again. (3:52) It’s about building, not about a single achievement. (3:56) It’s cumulative efforts of yours.
(3:59) And I remember the first time when we’re talking, I was so grateful for your team. (4:04) So tell us a little bit about your team. (4:07) I believe it takes a village and it takes a community.
(4:09) And it’s a community, it’s home. (4:11) It’s a community at work. (4:13) It’s a community of board of directors.
(4:15) I have a personal board of directors of people who have guided me through the years to say, (4:19) you know, I’m thinking about changing firms. (4:22) Should I do this? (4:22) Should I do that? (4:23) What do you think would be the pros and cons of it to help me make (4:27) solid, sound judgments as my career has pivoted over the years? (4:32) So I don’t believe anything is an individual decision. (4:36) It is a thoughtful team making the decision.
(4:38) And at Newmark, I also work with a team. (4:40) I brought a team with me and I believe in not only hiring and bringing a team to (4:46) execute and close transactions thoughtfully, but also who are we bringing up for the next generation? (4:51) Who are we pulling a seat up to the table with so that they can learn from us? (4:55) In order for anyone to work on one of my transactions around the world, (4:59) a local broker needs to be a partner in an office, someone very senior, (5:03) someone that knows the ins and outs of their market. (5:05) But they are also required to bring on a junior.
(5:07) Who’s someone that needs to learn? (5:09) Who’s someone that needs an opportunity on an account like mine or a global brand (5:13) that I can help train and bring up through the ranks with my work? (5:18) So it’s important to have the team around you and to pull from the next generation. (5:23) What I have heard is run with your team, together with them, (5:27) and make sure you take care of the next generation. (5:29) Because really, what is our legacy for those who have children? (5:32) Perhaps its impact is more than just a direct family, biological related.
(5:38) It’s all the people who call you the community mom, right? (5:41) Yeah, absolutely. (5:42) Absolutely. (5:43) Even if you’re a few years older, you’re training them and they remember you from those days, (5:47) right? (5:47) Taking their hands, walking them through the first sales process or being your biggest client.
(5:53) Yep, absolutely. (5:54) It’s how I was trained. (5:55) It’s how I believe in training.
(5:57) And I think it’s really important in today’s world. (6:00) What is the training you get? (6:02) The apprenticeship you get in addition to the formal training. (6:07) Beautiful.
(6:07) It’s all about growing together, growing them and growing you. (6:11) You’re very successful, Christina.
(6:13) On your road to success, what is one very big bias that you have run against (6:20) and yet were able to manage or even overcome? (6:24) I believe in taking challenges and making them a strength.
(6:28) Instead of it being an Achilles heel, make it a muscle and work that muscle and change it. (6:33) For me, obviously there’s the male-female bias, but what I also found is a bias that (6:39) was incredibly motivating is I had someone that I respect to this day, that I admire. (6:45) And he didn’t mean to put me in a box, put a ceiling on it, but he put me in a box and he (6:49) said, you’re at the peak of your career, you’ve done this well, look at what you’ve accomplished.
(6:56) And I was like, at the peak of my career, like in my brain, right in that moment, (7:03) I can remember where I was sitting, what I was wearing, how he was standing, what he was wearing. (7:07) I can remember the scene vividly. (7:09) And I can remember thinking in my mind, you got to be kidding me.
(7:13) I have a long way to go. (7:15) And since then I have added an extra digit to my income on an annual basis and just blown (7:24) through the glass ceiling. (7:25) So sometimes when someone gives you their bias of where they see you are and you don’t (7:30) agree with it, you can say, I respect you, but no, I’m going to keep going and I’m going (7:35) to march forward.
(7:36) And it became a motivator. (7:37) So I think that’s really where you take that challenge and you make it a muscle and you (7:41) say, I’m going to work this and I’m going to get where I want to go. (7:44) You reminded me of a comic picture I clipped many years ago, being an immigrant, right? (7:49) When I first started, I didn’t really have a job.
(7:51) So I have time to read the newspaper. (7:53) So I clipped. (7:54) So this comic picture says, it’s the back of a woman who says, tell me no, and I’m going (8:00) to keep going.
(8:02) I’m going to prove you wrong. (8:04) So I still to this day is yellowish newspaper motivate, motivate me. (8:09) Absolutely.
(8:10) Exactly the sentiment. (8:12) Tell me now, and I will figure out a way to yes. (8:14) I’m a yes person too.
(8:15) How do we solve for yes? (8:16) This might be no here, but can I like build a path around it? (8:19) What’s a different way to get there? (8:21) How do I solve it? (8:22) I just believe in setting intent and figuring out how to move forward. (8:27) Yes. (8:27) Problem solving, meaning we deal with the how rather than why not me? (8:31) How? (8:32) So the path may not be straight.
(8:34) Like you said, be around, or you were, we may take a helicopter. (8:38) Don’t walk. (8:38) And the type of work I do every day, I do global multi-market portfolio real estate.
(8:44) I’m helping very large companies find real estate all over the world. (8:48) Lease space, sell space, terminate space grow. (8:52) How much space do we need? (8:53) And it’s how do we solve for them to have the best experience, (8:57) the best employee experience so that then they can have the best results (9:00) so that the company can grow.
(9:01) So you have to always be thinking of how are we solving? (9:04) How are we moving forward? (9:06) How are we like overcoming whatever the challenges are in different countries (9:09) or whatever the financial constraints are to solve so that the company can (9:13) continue growing and meeting their vision and missions. (9:16) Very good. (9:17) Now I’m going to make a turn here and ask another questions.
(9:21) So think about the days when life is really hard, (9:24) meaning business is not a straight line. (9:27) As you just mentioned, grow and then plateau. (9:29) Sometimes plateau and go down a little bit.
(9:32) And when’s the lowest point of the down, (9:35) but you are challenged with many things in many directions. (9:40) Is there a time where you say, God is so hard and I quit. (9:45) But you kept going.
(9:46) Yeah. (9:47) I actually experienced this just recently. (9:49) A very large client of mine was purchased by someone (9:54) and became a very different client overnight.
(9:57) In a moment, it completely changed from something I had been working on (10:01) for almost nine years to a completely different place. (10:04) And it was, it was heartbreaking. (10:07) It was sad to see the team dispersed.
(10:10) It was financially changing. (10:12) It was very intense. (10:13) And I stopped and I can remember like feeling the weight of it, (10:18) feeling it in my breath, feeling it in my heart and saying, (10:21) oh my God, can I rebuild? (10:23) How do I go on? (10:23) How do I move forward? (10:25) This feels so negative.
(10:27) And then I remembered at my core, my job is to solve problems, (10:33) help people grow their businesses and connect people (10:36) for the betterment of their lives. (10:37) So how can I go back to solving for my core? (10:40) What is the pivot to yes, to continue doing that for other people? (10:44) And you got to feel it. (10:46) You can’t ignore it.
(10:47) You can’t ignore challenges or failures, but how do you stop and say, (10:52) what did I learn from that? (10:53) And then how do I move towards that next client? (10:56) That’s going to feel as good. (10:58) That next situation that’s as interesting, (11:01) that next place where I can solve for someone or the next person I can help. (11:05) So I think it’s okay to feel your wounds, (11:07) but then you got to lick them and move forward and solve.
(11:11) You’re either standing still or moving forward. (11:14) And I believe in moving forward. (11:15) And as a result of have rebuilt and have some amazing clients (11:20) and some new experiences and having a lot more fun again.
(11:25) My dad is also in business, but he hasn’t graduated from junior high school. (11:29) One of the things he has a lot of good business sense. (11:32) One of the things he taught me was imagine your client is inside a cabinet.
(11:37) So if you empty your cabinet, you have more space, mental space. (11:42) Yeah. (11:43) I think I’m old enough at this point to have seen that happen a few times (11:49) where maybe you didn’t win something you thought you wanted to win, (11:53) or maybe you didn’t get that client or close that transaction the way you wanted to.
(11:57) And it feels so awful, but did it create opportunity elsewhere (12:00) that you weren’t privileged to see yet? (12:02) Because your higher power hasn’t shown you yet what that path is. (12:06) And I believe we have to have a little bit of trust that there’s something coming. (12:10) That’s easier said than done.
(12:11) When you’re in the moment and you’re in the loss, (12:14) it is so painful and it is so difficult and it feels so long. (12:18) Every minute feels so long or every day. (12:22) But I’m old enough to say there is the light at the other end of the tunnel.
(12:26) There is the light on the other side. (12:27) It will shift. (12:28) It will move forward.
(12:30) It occurred. (12:30) I lost that account and they were bought by that person. (12:34) And it taught me something for a reason.
(12:36) And now I can already see it. (12:38) It hasn’t even been a year and I can already see (12:40) how that was supposed to help me and what that pivot was. (12:43) So have faith, have patience, and then believe in your core.
(12:49) Am I doing the right thing? (12:50) Do I agree with my business model? (12:53) Is there something I need to change about it? (12:55) Bring an honest conversation. (12:57) Rigorous honesty is very helpful. (12:59) That’s why going back to having that board of directors, (13:02) the people that you can trust to help you make decisions (13:05) that know you well enough is very important.
(13:08) Barbara Greenberg is one of those people for me that I can go to and say, (13:11) I’m thinking of doing this. (13:13) Am I crazy? (13:14) And she’ll say, yes, no, maybe let’s talk it through. (13:17) And it’s great to have four or five people that you can trust to help you.
(13:22) You know what you have answered my next question is
(13:24) when you make a big decision, what do you do? (13:26) You go back to your board of directors, (13:28) talk to people who know you very well, (13:30) because sometimes when you’re in the midst of things, (13:33) just like you said, you’re not as clear. (13:36) There is so much emotion that wrap up the real subconscious mind. (13:40) It wants to show up our insight, our gut.
(13:43) You are just so busy doing that. (13:44) It’s only the people whom we trust, (13:47) even they’re telling us things that we don’t want to hear. (13:51) They’re truthful.
(13:52) They’re honest. (13:53) I recently joined Newmark and in making that decision, (13:57) I had a gut feeling at some point that I needed change. (14:00) But then when you’re negotiating and you’re debating (14:03) and you’re being recruited, (14:05) it gets muddled and it’s harder to hear your voice sometimes.
(14:09) And that’s where that board comes back in (14:11) and reminds you to check the boxes. (14:13) And are you thinking about this? (14:15) And are you thinking well enough? (14:16) They can be that extension of your core.
(14:19) What is one of the best or the worst advice you ever received (14:25) other than the one that you just shared? (14:28) I am so fortunate.
(14:29) I have so many people around me that have been great leaders (14:32) and guiders and resources for me. (14:35) Two tangible books that other people could use (14:38) is a book called Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. (14:42) It’s an older book, but it is fabulous.
(14:44) And my entire model was built on that book. (14:48) And another book is The Rainmaker by Fox. (14:51) And it is about building sales, how to close them.
(14:55) But I believe in constantly reading, constantly learning. (14:58) Jesse Itzler is another great resource of (15:02) what are the things you should be doing? (15:03) What shouldn’t you be doing? (15:05) Writing thank you notes, reaching out to people, (15:08) sending people information that’s good for them (15:10) before it’s good for you. (15:11) Keith talks about that.
(15:13) Jesse Itzler talks about that. (15:14) Sarah Blakely talks about it. (15:15) Another person I love reading biographies about, (15:18) especially about women that have been successful.
(15:20) Years and years ago, I read Carly Fiorina’s book. (15:24) It goes back to like her HP days, et cetera. (15:26) And one of the things she said in that book (15:28) was perfect enough.
(15:31) It’s perfect enough. (15:32) Get the proposal out the door, ship it, get it to the client, (15:35) send the email, do it. (15:37) It’s perfect enough because you can iterate (15:40) and try to make something so perfect (15:41) that you miss the point of getting out whatever is due (15:45) or whatever the deadline is.
(15:47) And we get so minute and focused versus big picture. (15:51) It’s good enough, ship it, perfect enough. (15:54) And that phrase sticks with me a lot.
(15:56) Yeah, I love that phrase too. (15:59) As a matter of fact, in my post coming up soon, (16:02) we plan for this month, (16:03) is the comparison between profession and excellence. (16:07) So it talks about a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
(16:10) Really, I want to do my best and give my best, (16:15) which is perfect enough. (16:16) Profession, I have to hit that line because I’m recognized. (16:20) So it’s a solid line.
(16:21) It’s rigid. (16:22) It’s not fluid. (16:23) Life is fluid.
(16:24) You can’t do all this. (16:26) You have to back and front. (16:27) You need to give your best and do your best.
(16:30) Yep, yep. (16:31) And then the other thing I would say is set the goal. (16:34) Set the goal and set a goal that’s, (16:36) you don’t even know how you’re going to get there, (16:38) but set that goal.
(16:40) Believe you will get there somehow and it will work out. (16:43) My husband and I are fortunate to have an amazing home (16:46) with an amazing view. (16:48) And when we closed on our home, (16:50) we were standing on a roof deck (16:51) overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
(16:53) And he said, did you ever think you’d have a view like this? (16:55) And I was said, yeah, absolutely I did. (16:59) And it was the truth. (17:01) And it’s setting that intention.
(17:03) I had no idea how I would get there (17:04) or exactly what that view would be. (17:06) But did I anticipate that I would own a home (17:08) that I was proud of with the view? (17:10) Absolutely. (17:11) And I think that it’s important to put those down, (17:14) write them down and set that intention (17:17) and believe you will get there.
(17:20) You’ve answered the question of the viewers of this video. (17:22) Wanted to be a Christina. (17:24) What is your advice to set that goal? (17:26) Last question.
(17:28) What are you grateful for? (17:29) I’m grateful for my community from as a young child, (17:33) being an adult child of an alcoholic. (17:35) The 12-step community was the first community (17:37) that I really felt like I was a member of. (17:40) The community of my peers, (17:42) the community of my board of directors, (17:44) my new community here at Newmark (17:46) and the real estate community has been amazing.
(17:49) But I think that community (17:51) and who you surround yourself with (17:53) and how we can support each other is so important. (17:56) And my community has taken care of me (17:58) and it is my role to take care of my community as well. (18:02) If our audience would like to find you, (18:06) how did they do that? (18:08) Sure.
(18:09) Well, I’m pretty findable on the internet, (18:11) Christina Clark. (18:12) I think if you put in Christina Clark San Francisco (18:14) or Christina Clark Newmark, (18:15) but my email address is Christina.Clark at nmrk.com. (18:20) I’m on LinkedIn. (18:22) I am on Twitter at 2C2.
(18:24) I’m happy to chat with people and happy to be a resource. (18:28) Let’s go out there every day and make it an awesome day. (18:31) You can do it.
(18:32) Thank you, Christina. (18:33) I’m grateful for you (18:34) and grateful for you willing to take time (18:37) out of your busy money-making day (18:39) to share the insight with our audience. (18:42) You become a role model to them.
(18:43) Thank you. (18:44) Thank you, Alice. (18:45) Appreciate you inviting me.
Christina is a highly regarded Global Real Estate Strategist with over 20 years of experience guiding high-growth companies through complex real estate decisions. She is a Vice Chairman in Newmark’s Occupier Services group, where she executes multi-market strategies and delivers innovative solutions on a global scale.
Her extensive experience includes negotiating over $3 billion in commercial real estate transactions across 30 countries. Christina’s breadth of work covers strategic planning, portfolio optimization, transaction negotiation (lease, purchase, sale), location analysis, and organizational design, empowering clients ranging from Fortune 10 enterprises to dynamic startups to make informed real estate decisions.
Prior to Newmark, Christina founded Cresa Global’s Technology Practice Group and led its Global Portfolio Solutions division. Her diverse background includes business development roles at global architecture firms Gensler & Arcadis, as well as formative apprenticeships under influential industry leaders.
Beyond real estate, Christina is the co-founder of Cacker Capital, an investment firm focused on early-stage technology companies. A strong proponent of mentorship and community support, she has been recognized as one of the Business Times Most Influential Women and a GlobeSt.com Woman of Influence. Christina currently resides in San Francisco with her family.