Priyanka Vasishtha

I would say a couple of things. One, the incredible mentors I had early on, and even coming here. I was lucky enough in New York as well to be connected with some really senior people in the industry who could offer me career advice. I've been very fortunate to meet successful people who have been very kind and generous in terms of the opportunities they've given me and the trust they've shown in me. What goes hand-in-hand with that is your commitment to deliver. Right through school through college I've always been this high performer. I want all the top grades, I would not settle for anything less. That hunger in me to do the best is something that I was able to make use of the opportunities that I got.

This was when I was going through the promotion process at Morgan Stanley going to ED. One particular person said something that really stood out to me: Do the good work and you perform and the results will follow. Don't chase a target, chase good work and then you will get the results as you desire. Don't say I want to become an ED, you have to first prove it. Do good work along the way, build your foundation, then you will get there ultimately. Good things will follow if you do exceptional work or if you do a good job.

I would say if there's somebody who's interested in working in commercial real estate appraisals, wants to work in an investment bank, be highly focused and be driven because that's something that I've seen here. You need to be a self-starter. That entrepreneurship like you have it in you is when you will attract more opportunities. When people see potential in you they will come. So you kind of have to be really good at what you do and also be vocal about things. Unless you say things like this is what I would like to do or this is what I'm interested in you will not get there. So you need to really talk about what it is that you want to do. If you sit there quietly you will find a way but it might not be at a pace that you would like. Have that fire in you, be really passionate about it, be vocal about it and demonstrate it in whatever way you can. Go beyond expectations to kind of showcase your abilities and then somebody will definitely spot that.

The biggest challenge is not many new people are entering this profession and we have an aging population. There needs to be more awareness about it and we need younger minds to think about this as a career option and pursue it. We need young blood definitely in this profession. That can sort of be flipped as an opportunity. If you do make the effort go through the requirements the education then there's potential for you to be in this for a long-term horizon. Appraisers have been in the profession for 35 years 40-plus years and they're still involved. As you mature in your career there's longevity that you could branch out into different ways. Initially it'll be tough you'll have to put in a lot more hours but it'll pay off in the long term. You can become an educator or get into advisory roles. Whatever hard work you put in in the initial years it'll just pay off in a really long run.

In my work the field I am in I do really appreciate independent thinking and honesty. I hate when people make things up or pretend but they are not. Be transparent, be honest. That's what I practice myself and I appreciate people who are that way as well. I'm blunt but be transparent be honest don't make things up it just makes things so much smoother so much easier when you're managing people. You can cut through the nonsense and get straight to the point and make it easy for everybody.