Wendy White – Alliterative Legal Leader (#32)

Bio Wendy White is the Chair of the Real Estate Transactions group in Goulston & Storrs’ Washington D.C. office. She counsels clients on joint ventures, development, acquisitions, dispositions and financings of commercial properties. Her practice includes transactions related to single and multiple sites involving office, hotel, retail, multifamily and mixed use properties. Wendy’s clients include public and private real estate investment trusts, local, national and international companies with investments in the U.S., as well as nonprofits. Background I’ve known Wendy since 1985 when I joined the B.F. Saul Company and she was a young associate at Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge, a well known local real estate oriented firm at the time (it is now Pillsbury). She represented two of our correspondent lenders at the time with transactional legal work and was very thorough. Although I had indirect dealings with her I have always respected her abilities and savvy in responding to client needs. As you will learn, she is a horsewoman, a learned poet and literary scholar, as well as a gifted real estate counsel. She has represented many leading real estate firms and institutional investors both in sale and financing transactions in a wide variety of real estate types. We discuss her family, educational experiences, her career arc and her philosophy which she has customized as her own, which she calls “E3- excellence, engagement and empathy.” She brings all those qualities and more to her work and life. Show Notes Current Role Role at Goulston & Storrs- Real Estate transactions attorney. Sales and financings. 50% of firm is real estate (5:00)Working on Girl Scouts to sell property in Prince Georges County (5:45)Working on a school site in DC (6:00)Senior facility in Maryland (6:20)Workouts earlier in July Origins & Education Grew up in Miami (7:30)Mother went to Law School (7:45)She met her husband, her Father, at law schoolHad 5 brothers (she was #2) (8:30)Very competitive with her brothers (8:50)Stories of sports Different rules for her than her brothers (9:30)Story about “diary” violation by her brother (10:45)Public Schools in Miami HS class was bigger than entire college (11:45)Attended Sweet Briar College (13:45)Had Horseback Riding facility that attracted her (14:15)Learned “who she wasn’t, not who she was” (14:50)She had grown up riding horses in Miami (15:30)Riding empowers girls to convey power and confidence to horses and it is a life skill that translates (16:15)Find out “who bites and who kicks” translates to relationships with people (18:00)Board of college voted to close it 5 yrs. ago, but alumni came in and replaced the board and hired a new President who’s great (19:45)She believes the school is a “privileged” place (20:30)She transferred to UVA as a Junior to be in a larger college environment (21:00)Then transferred back to Sweetbriar for her Senior Yr. (21:50)After Sweetbriar she became a secretary to the Dean of the UVA Law School- Didn’t like it (22:20)Then went to UC Irvine to get a Masters in Fine Arts (23:00)Learned critical thinking and writ...