Overcoming Barriers with Confidence, Resilience, and Determination with Deborah Smith

How Women Inspire: Invest, Lead, Give

Even if we think our career is on a straight path, life has a funny way of presenting us with unexpected opportunities and changing our trajectories. Deborah Smith knows this firsthand, having moved around in the financial industry and taken almost every opportunity that presented itself before founding The CenterCap Group, a boutique investment bank serving the real estate industry. Deborah is here this week to share her journey with us, as well as offer advice on our career mindsets, surrounding ourselves with a support network, and more! This week’s episode 140 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about overcoming barriers with confidence, resilience, and determination!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Deborah Smith is sharing the importance of keeping your eyes open for unexpected career opportunities and actionable steps you can take right now to approach your career with confidence.

Deborah Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of The CenterCap Group, LLC and heads the firm's Strategic Capital and M&A and Execution efforts. Prior to forming The CenterCap Group, LLC, Ms. Smith was Co-Head of M&A and a Senior Managing Director with CB Richard Ellis Investors (CB Richard Ellis's $40 billion AUM investment management business). She joined CBREI in July 2007 to co-head the build out of the firm's M&A efforts and led the firm's negotiation and acquisition of a majority interest in Wood Partners (one of the largest multifamily developers in the United States) in 2008.

Some of the talking points Julie and Deborah go over in this episode include:

• Accepting support and not overthinking decisions.
• The challenges of balancing a demanding career with raising a family.
• Approaching opportunities with a “how hard can it be” mindset.
• The importance of confidence and persistence.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about How Women Inspire at https://www.howwomenlead.com/podcast

CONNECT WITH DEBORAH SMITH:

LinkedIn

The CenterCap Group

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

챕터

1. Overcoming Barriers with Confidence, Resilience, and Determination with Deborah Smith (00:00:00)

2. Deborah’s immigration to the US and journey into investment banking. (00:05:10)

3. The inception of Center Cap Group. (00:08:36)

4. The challenges of balancing a demanding career with raising a family. (00:11:19)

5. Advice for women in investment banking. (00:17:09)

6. What inspires Deborah most. (00:19:54)