Senior Property Manager, Crescent Property Services, LLC
In his current position, Jones manages a Class A commercial real estate portfolio for Crescent, which acquires, develops and operates high-end properties alongside an exclusive group of investors and high-net-worth clients. Crescent currently has $3.5 billion in assets in its portfolio. Jones said his education at Jindal School has opened a lot of doors for him. “I don’t think I’m smarter than I was, but it helped me in my ability to creatively problem solve, navigate multiple fields of expertise and remain confident in a rapidly evolving business environment,” he said. He earned three degrees at the Jindal School – a BS in Business Administration, an MS in Supply Chain Management and an MBA.
What do you enjoy about your current position/profession?
I must know a little bit about everything. No two days are exactly alike. I stand out in my field because of the education I received. I think of things in a much different way than a lot of my peers, which is a huge advantage.
How do you see your profession changing in the next five or 10 years?
Commercial real estate is an interesting business, so I think that the only change I can expect over the course of the next five to 10 years are the same types of challenges that we’ve always faced. Providing a safe and healthy environment, offering the best amenities we can, and making money for investors. Specifically, I think that with COVID19 and “work from home” or hybrid office models, companies are going to really suffer when it comes to corporate culture and the need for office space is going to be larger than ever.
What unexpected experience or event has shaped and/or influenced your current professional life?
Funny enough, one of the most unexpected things was a result of my education at UTD. In my last class to wrap up my MBA, I wrote a paper about the business impact of generational diversity. That paper was picked up, and I was asked to speak and present at both the Cambridge Business & Economics Conference in the United Kingdom and the International Journal of Arts and Sciences Conference at Harvard University. Doing those presentations not only opened my eyes to how I could put great ideas into the world, but it led to several speaking gigs.
What is a professional highlight of your career, either where you currently work or in the past?
There are a ton of things that I am proud of: Opening offices on five different continents, winning two international TOBY awards (TOBY awards are the commercial real estate industry’s highest recognition honoring excellence in building management and operations), but the thing I am most excited about right now is that I lead the charge in the healthy building initiatives for COVID19 response. My portfolio has been featured in Yahoo Finance and been designated as being in the healthiest 5 percent of commercial buildings in the United States due to risk mitigation efforts.
What characteristics do you look for when hiring people into your workplace?
I look at two things – personality and competency. It’s unconventional, and in this world can be a bit frowned upon, but in my experience a truly “safe space” work environment is one where ideas can be shared without concern of repercussion or feelings being hurt due to language that is internalized without understanding nuance. Personality plays a huge part in this. A good team of average performers is far more functional at reaching business goals than a team of top performers who don’t work well together. As for competency, I think experience and education are equally important. A lot of both come from life experience, so I tend to lean on interviewing with techniques and strategies I learned at UTD in classes like organizational behavior.
Why did you come to UT Dallas?
Well, I heard good things. It was in a great location for me, and they were trending upward in school rankings both within the state and nationally.
What is your favorite UT Dallas memory?
It is when I changed my major. I came to UT Dallas on a path to getting a degree in history. I was going to be a teacher. I happened to take a class that opened my eyes to opportunities in business, and it was such a fun learning experience that I changed my major. I am so glad I made the change, not that historical studies isn’t awesome, but for me, business was a much better fit.
Did a UT Dallas professor inspire you? Who was that and how was that person inspirational?
Yes, I’ll give you three names: Shawn Alborz, Marilyn Kaplan, Jackie Kimzey. I had a class with Dr. Alborz (associate dean for undergraduate programs) when I first started at UTD. He was hard on me, but very fair. He inspired me in two ways, the first was that he told me that I had a unique perspective that could be very valuable in business. I didn’t always agree with the text, so on subject matter that didn’t involve math, I always took a creative approach that could run counter to conventional knowledge. The second was that he opened my eyes to Lean Six Sigma and supply chain management – both topics I have adapted to be successful at managing real estate in a unique way. Dr. Kaplan (associate dean for undergraduate academic operations) also inspired me. She was a professor for my last class needed to get my MBA, and she failed me. It is the only time in my life I failed. The class was online, and the failure inspired me to do two things: Go back and finish class in person the next semester, and to never take for granted the value of interpersonal relationships in life. I never was able to establish a personal connection with her due to the format of the class. As a result she didn’t know me and when my ideas and perspective challenged the text within the curriculum, I probably ended up coming across as a slacker, as opposed to a creative. I took an entrepreneurship class with Professor Kimzey. The class was fun, but more importantly, I was inspired by how he broke down complex concepts in to tiny, logical, easy-to-understand chunks. I’ve taken a page out of his book and have done the very same thing through my career.
Has something about your UT Dallas education surprised you since graduating?
Yes, the brand recognition of UT Dallas is constantly getting more valuable. I knew I had a quality education, but as time goes on, the part of my degrees that are not immediately measurable seem to carry more weight.
How have you connected with either Jindal School or UTD alums since graduating and how has that been fulfilling?
Yes and no. I probably should try to do more to get involved, but I have some lasting relationships that continue until this day. Another big thing has been that I loved learning in such an international, multicultural environment. It has helped me connect with people from all over the world because of lessons I learned from my peers in college.
What is something you wish you had done while you were in college and why do you wish you had?
I wish I would have gotten more involved with student government. I feel like many conversations can be fueled by echo chambers and I wish I had put more effort into trying to influence more open dialogue about all things. To be fair, I only say any of this from my current perspective on the world and the society we live in now. UTD was and is a great place, I just think that if I had been involved in student government, I could have built my skill set and maybe developed more relationships, influenced others and learned a lot in the process.
What advice do you have for college students hoping to succeed professionally?
Find something you like to do. Passion is infinitely more valuable than anything else. It sounds cliché, but if money is the only thing you chase, you’ll never catch happiness.
What makes an effective leader?
Empathy. To lead, you don’t have to be liked, but you do have to be empathetic. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes may be difficult, or at times impossible, but the effort must be there.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Being a dad, playing video games or Dungeons & Dragons, but most of all, stand-up comedy. I’ve been very fortunate to do stand up across the U.S. and have been on local stages including the Addison Improv and Hyena’s Comedy Nightclub. I’ve also performed at the Comedy Store in California, Laughs Boston and the Comedy Cellar in New York City.
