Meet Lindsay Brereton, a Commercial Real Estate Advisor, Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM), and Vice President Healthcare Real Estate Services at Bull Realty who assists private doctors lease/buy a property to serve patients from marginalized communities.
A real estate advisor by trade, Lindsay Brereton is trying to bring healthcare to impoverished communities in Atlanta and believes in being part of the solution to change structural racism. Although the United States is a developed country, access to healthcare is unequal within communities. Lindsay discusses the inherent racism that has kept many African-American and Hispanic communities from receiving the care they deserve. As a result, their and their life expectancy has decreased by 3.6 and 3.9 percent, respectively, over the years.
People have to travel miles to see a doctor, which takes time that many don’t have. Every second counts in a medical emergency. This is why Lindsay assists the doctors to find properties to set up clinics and medical offices to help more and more people. She serves as a bridge for health care providers to gain access to communities where they can safely practice medicine and care for the sick. She works at a “small full-service boutique brokerage (commercial real estate), Bull Realty, where she has the opportunity to focus on and grow the healthcare real estate service line.”
Growing up, Brereton and her family spent most of their years abroad as her father served in the US Airforce. She had a chance to experience different cultures and customs which had a great impact on the way she perceives the world and humanity. She is grateful for all the employment opportunities she has had. Her first job was at 14 at a BBQ restaurant for which she had to get a work permit. This, as she says, “planted seeds within” her to become self-employed whilst also working for the greater good. She is passionate about helping and serving the community. Lindsay has found her purpose in healthcare commercial real estate. It brings her great joy to assist doctors in leasing or purchasing a space because she knows it will benefit patients in the long run.
Lindsay notes that only 3% of real estate practitioners are people of color. When it comes to women of color, the figures are even lower. She has the Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) in the field, and she is one of only about 6% of people of color who have the designation. It is a lengthy process to apply for the designation, and she received hers in April 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, where she was the only African-American woman among 160 recipients.
She has herself faced sexism and racism in her professional career, like many other women of color. At one point, she became the go-to person for her female colleagues who were going through the same. There’s still not much diversity in commercial real estate, and she often feels alone. Nonetheless, she continues to make a difference and serve as an inspiration to others who want to work in the industry.
Brereton’s clients trust her as an advisor, and she finds it the most rewarding part of her job. She keeps their interests first, which is to serve the patients. The journey of becoming a trusted real estate advisor was full of ups and downs, but Lindsay was clear about her purpose and made it through. Leaving a short but powerful message for her readers, she says, “Be true to your purpose – serve others with integrity.”
