Leap to Commercial Real Estate Pays Off
September 19, 2022
Kevin Salmen ’01 was named to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal 40 Under 40 list earlier this year, an accomplishment that likely would have shocked his 30-year-old self. He bounced around after college, seeking a career that would make use of his passions.
Finding his Passion
He sold radio ads, then pharmaceuticals, then translation services, then software. He loved the challenge of sales, and the chance to help people achieve their business goals, but none of it felt quite right. Yet, he had been on this path for a long enough time that changing directions felt impossible. He was in his mid-30s, engaged, and earning a good living — he didn’t want to move backwards.
His uncles, Mike Salmen ’83 and Bob Salmen ’73, had worked in commercial real estate for many years and thought he would make a promising candidate. With the support of his now-wife, Salmen made the leap out of a successful career in technology sales and into a commission-based role in commercial real estate.
“My wife was on board with it, which is pretty incredible and I am extremely appreciative of her support, because she saw the vision and what is possible if you work hard and stick to it, especially in this industry,” he said. “Once I decided to make the leap, I left my doubts in the rearview and just kind of ran full speed ahead.”
Connections Bring Success
Commercial real estate is all about relationships. It’s a business where Salmen has to get to know every company he works with beyond the surface level, to really understand their needs and the kind of space that will help them achieve their goals. He helps them envision how a property could be remodeled to fit the private offices or collaborative spaces they’re envisioning, and brokers deals with property owners. It’s a great fit — Salmen loves nothing more than getting to know business owners and helping them achieve their goals.
“I told people I wanted to be a professional networker when I was seven years old,” he recalls. “I love talking with people and making connections.”
It’s also a field where failure is a constant. Some days, every call he makes ends in a “no.” Salmen leans on his colleagues — “it was tough working from home, when I couldn’t turn to someone else who was experiencing the same thing” — and on his knowledge that hard work will get him where he wants to be.
I struggled in school, and I will give all the credit in the world to CDH because they recognized that and helped me along the way,” he said. “Brother Michael Rivers, the Learning Lab, and the entire community at CDH helped me get through high school and then college. Ultimately, those relationships continue to be my best friends and even people I often work with.”
Changes and Challenges
Salmen was only a couple years into his career in commercial real estate when the pandemic changed everything. Suddenly, almost no one was going to their offices. Companies were wondering if they would even need office space in the future. Salmen and his colleagues were unsure how their expertise would be needed.
“The knee jerk reaction was, ‘Now we don’t need office space,’” Salmen remembered. “As time went on, I think companies started to think about it a little bit differently and realized they still need space to gather, they just need to use it differently. I think the novelty of working from home and not interacting with other people has worn off a little bit.”
He’s helped companies to envision new and creative ways to use their office space, designing workstations that give people space to make calls and do heads-down work, as well as comfortable spaces for teamwork. Ultimately, it’s been an unexpected professional challenge, but one he enjoys. Every day, he’s grateful that he took the leap, and would advise others to take career risks as well.
“I was pretty happy before, but I think about my life now and the excitement that I have every day when I wake up,” Salmen said. “On Sundays, I’m looking forward to going to work the next day. I couldn’t imagine if I would have just stayed on that same path and not veered off in a new direction. The answer is always no if you don’t ask — so take the risk.”