We know CRE because


Our team of expert recruiters has decades of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate, paired with a deep, abiding passion for the industry and its people.
KENT ELLIOTT
Principal
Kent Elliott began his career in CRE right out of college (Go Bears!). He spent 8 years at CBRE where he had broad exposure to CRE. He founded RETS in 2002 and was joined by Jana in 2008. He is driven to partner with companies to build the best teams possible. Meeting new people every day energizes Kent, and he thrives on maintaining business relationships with thousands of real estate professionals across the nation. He focuses on mid to executive management roles covering both equity and debt across all functional segments of CRE.
Personal Passions: His wife and family, his kids’ athletic activities, finding the next great restaurant, hitting 10,000 steps EVERY day, plenty of coffee to start each day and his dog, Summer.
Education and Affiliations:
- Master of Business Administration, U.C. Irvine
- Bachelor of Science in Political Economics, U.C. Berkeley
- NAIOP
JANA TURNER
Principal
Jana Turner (JT) is a CRE gamechanger with more than 35 years of experience in the services sector. Her career includes serving as Western Regional President at The Koll Company (where she met Kent) and President of Asset Services for CBRE before joining Kent as a principal at RETS in 2008. Jana thrives on networking with diverse talent, and her love for mentoring is only matched by her drive for guiding women in CRE to success. An avid public speaker on topics including leadership, hiring tips and tricks, and personal branding, Jana’s love for placing talent in the CRE industry is unparalleled. She focuses on positions from senior to executive-level management.
Personal Passions: Her cat Jewelly, golfing with friends, advocating for children, Diet Coke, great wine, and traveling.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Marketing, Northern Arizona University
- Certified Property Manager (CPM), Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)
- Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)
- Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Pacific Clinics
- Advisory Board, Building Block Foundation
Andrew Reising
Managing Director
Andrew Reising joined RETS in 2016 after more than six years in staffing and recruitment across several industries, including national sales recruiter for real estate positions for Marcus & Millichap. Andrew loves to hunt for talented individuals and believes that finding the right needle in a stack of needles is both challenging and rewarding. Andrew has more than a decade of recruitment experience and covers all major US Markets in the hunt for CRE finance professionals from Analyst to SVP in acquisitions, asset management and development.
Personal Passions: Playing with his son Wesley, cooking a meal or making a cocktail with his wife Ashley and spending time with family and friends. Andrew loves trying new restaurants and good food and drinks in general.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences, Loyola Marymount University
Berkeley Davis
Managing Director
Berkeley Davis has spent 22 years in the CRE industry and has learned to be nimble, efficient, and autonomous. She began her career in 2000 at a boutique firm wearing multiple hats in asset and property management, leasing, acquisitions, and construction. Later, at The Irvine Company, Berkeley polished her property management prowess and then moved on to Bixby Land Company to lead the firm’s asset management department, involved in leasing and due diligence, as well as leading internal and external teams. Her experience and leadership from the practitioner side impacts every search she completes at RETS. Since joining the company in 2012, Berkeley has opened offices in Seattle and Denver. Touching multiple markets within the US, she focuses on mid- to senior-level searches in asset management, property management, development, construction, and overall operations. Berkeley focuses on executive retained searches across the commercial real estate space and across the US. She prides herself on strong client relationships and identifying top talent for their needs.
Personal Passions: Family, cooking, Pilates and live music.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Science in Business Economics, U.C. Santa Barbara
- Certified Property Manager (CPM), Institute of Real Estate Management
- National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
CD Wicks
Director
CD Wicks has more than 17 years of experience in property management and joined RETS in 2015. She has honed her skills in many facets of the CRE industry at companies ranging from nimble entrepreneurial developers to large corporations, including Bixby Land Company, Equity Office Properties, Davis Partners, and more. CD uses her love of meeting and getting to know new people in the industry to widen her scope and make the best placements possible for RETS. CD lives by the Mandy Hale quote: “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” She focuses on positions from associates to mid- and senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Spending time with her husband and kids, enjoying a glass of pinot noir, and visiting Geneva, Switzerland.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, CSU Long Beach
- Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)
Chase Fryhover
Director
Chase Fryhover joined the RETS team in 2020 after more than eight years polishing his staffing and recruitment skills across several industries, including his most recent position as Senior Corporate Recruiter for CBRE. A skilled professional in executive search, technical recruiting, interview preparation, staffing services, and strategic sourcing, Chase loves the hunt for talented individuals. He believes that in addition to cutting-edge software, listening is still the best way to understand clients’ and candidates’ needs. Chase focuses on positions ranging from entry to mid- and senior-level management and strives to make matches that will transform employers and employees.
Personal Passions: Enjoying time with his wife and son in Dallas, TX
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts, The University of North Texas
Christa Brillhart
Director
Christa Brillhart began her career with Deloitte focused on financial services clients on the audit side. She then established herself in U.S. real estate asset management at The Carlyle Group, where she served as an Associate/Senior Associate for more than five years. She joined RETS in 2021 and serves as a Director in Los Angeles, bringing over four years of experience in the recruitment field with an emphasis on the real estate and financial industries. Christa is highly skilled in executive search, technical recruiting, interview preparation, business development, and strategic sourcing. Working with a variety of firms with different cultures, investment strategies and approaches to hiring is a favorite part of her role. Christa focuses on investment positions varying from entry- to mid- and senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Staying active, spending time in nature, live music and quality time with her 2 children.
Education and Affiliations:
- CPA (inactive)
- Bachelor of Science, Penn State University
Crystal Wishart
Director
An alumnus of Equity Office, Crystal Wishart has more than 13 years of experience in Property Management. She began her career as a receptionist and worked her way up to manage the service center for the Southern California Region at EQ Office. She went on to manage several buildings across Orange County, spending most of her time working on Griffin Towers. She also served as an APM at Bixby before returning to work at EQ Office as a Property Manager. Crystal finds this quote from Dr. Maya Angelou to be her favorite: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” If she could spend a week (or a few) anywhere in the world, she would be walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, seeing the Northern Lights, or swimming with sea turtles at Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida. Crystal focuses on recruiting for positions varying from mid- to senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Helping others, exploring the outdoors, having a picnic, enjoying live music, eating Mickey waffles at Disneyland, and frequenting In-N-Out.
Education and Affiliations:
- Master of Arts in Professional Communications, California State University, Fullerton
- Bachelor of Arts in Communications, California State University, Fullerton
Diane Blake
Managing Director
Diane Blake has over 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate and recruiting industries. One of the top CRE recruiters focused on the San Francisco Bay Area, Diane has placed over 400 candidates with REITs, third-party service firms, and private equity firms. She grew from an entry level to a director level in the industry with companies including Prometheus, TMG Partners, and Orchard Commercial. Diane’s extensive experience in CRE gives her a unique perspective, which allows her to seek out the best talent in the business. She joined RETS in 2007 and is motivated by interacting with different types of people across all aspects of real estate. Diane’s determined personality won’t allow her to stop searching until she finds the perfect candidate. She is recognized by her tenacious drive and her proven ability to work with clients for all levels of positions. Diane focuses on recruiting and interim staffing, from associates to mid- and senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Spending time with her daughter, traveling, music, and wine tasting. In fact, she pours occasionally on weekends at a local winery and her dream after retiring from CRE, is pouring wine at a boutique winery in Tuscany – her true dream retirement destination.
Education and Affiliations:
- Former president of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Silicon Valley
- CREW Silicon Valley
- Holds a California Real Estate License
- Certified Real Property Administrator (RPA) through BOMI
Erika Ewart
Director
Erika Ewart spent four years at Huntington Partners in Charlotte, NC as an Executive Recruiter and Project Manager, overseeing all aspects of the executive search process before joining RETS in 2018. She brings over 16 years of recruiting, project management and sales experience to her role as Director, where she leads the firm’s Charlotte office. In 2017, she was ranked in the top four percent of LinkedIn recruiter users globally by the LinkedIn Recruiter Index. Erika thrives on helping people figure out their next step in life, what they are passionate about, and which opportunities are worth pursuing. Erika focuses on positions from mid-to senior-level management in multifamily and industrial.
Personal Passions: Erika is happiest when she is in nature or reading a thought-provoking book. She loves the peace and quiet, as living with her husband, three teenage boys, and their three dogs is quite chaotic.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of Dayton
Fred Geisinger
Managing Director
Fred Geisinger brings over 10 years of experience in executive recruitment and talent acquisition focused within Commercial Real Estate and Financial Services. Based in southern California, he is an accomplished executive search professional who has developed relationships on a national basis with a search focus on investments, asset management, analytical, and development functions. Prior to joining RETS, Fred spent several years as an in-house recruiter partnering with CRE executives to achieve their strategic objectives with effective recruiting solutions. His natural partnership approach and experience leading niche and diverse searches allows him to be a trusted resource for his clients. As a former lefty pitcher, he truly believes you can go further as a team than as an individual.
Personal Passions: When not enjoying time with his wife and daughters, Fred enjoys playing golf, pick-up basketball, or anything to get outside and moving.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, University of Tampa
Jenna Foley
Director
Jenna joined RETS in 2021 and serves as a Director in Los Angeles. Jenna brings over 5 years of experience in the recruitment field with an emphasis on the real estate and financial industries. She established her career in U.S. Real Estate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she served as a Senior Associate. Jenna is skilled in Executive Search, Technical Recruiting, Interview Preparation, Relationship Building, Job Analysis, and Strategic Sourcing. She loves being able to meet and work with candidates to land them their dream job. Jenna loves to bring her motto of “Whatever you are, be a good one” to the table when working with candidates to implement trying to be the best in whatever she does. Jenna focuses on positions varying from entry to mid- and senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Going to the beach with her husband and two young daughters, playing pickle ball or beach tennis, having friends with kids over for dinner with lots of fun and noise.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with an Accounting emphasis, U.C. Santa Barbara
Liz Brodahl
Director
Liz joined RETS in 2022 and serves as a Director in Denver. Her expertise is in full-cycle sales with everyone from high-net-worth clients to SMB and corporate business owners, ensuring a seamless client experience through highly personalized service. Liz is passionate about creating meaningful relationships and fostering connections both personally and professionally and believes the way we communicate and connect continues to evolve. Her favorite aspect of her career is that it’s all about people, and the ability to have a positive impact on peoples’ lives. She loves addressing goals and solving challenges for clients and individuals. Liz loves to bring her motto of “Mood follows action” by Rich Roll when interacting with clients and candidates. Liz will focus on positions varying from entry to mid- and senior-level management.
Personal Passions: Being outside enjoying all Colorado has to offer – camping & biking in the summer & fall, and downhill and uphill skiing in the winter.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications from Indiana University Bloomington
- Music Minor
Mandy Haines
Director
Mandy joined RETS in 2023 and serves as Director in Pittsburgh, PA. She began her real estate recruiting career in 2015 where she worked on senior-level real estate searches, specializing in acquisition, asset management, and development, for privately held real estate companies, family offices, REITs, and investment management firms. Once of her favorite quotes is ‘A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle’. She finds placing candidates really rewarding; helping someone achieve a career goal as well as fulfilling a need that existed for a client. Mandy will focus on positions varying from mid- to senior-level management. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, daughter and son.
Personal Passions: Managing the cat program for the local humane rescue, interior decorating, anything with basil and spending time with her family.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Science in Communication from Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion
Vanessa Hamilton
Director
Vanessa joined RETS in 2014 following more than five years in brokerage, acquisitions and development at companies such as CBRE and Xebec Realty Partners. She developed a multifaceted understanding of real estate that she applies to each search at RETS. She likes the tangibility of real estate as an asset class, enjoys the art of finance, and gets a lot of satisfaction matching people and organizational structures. She delights in helping our clients find great talent – almost as much as she loves peanut butter frozen yogurt. Vanessa focuses on Asset Management, Acquisitions, Development, Property Management and Real Estate Financial Analysis roles.
Personal Passions: Vanessa, who also goes by “V,” prefers spending her time outdoors: running or playing beach volleyball. Hawaii is her favorite place to travel, but can be found at her home in Newport Beach, CA with her husband and daughters.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, University of Southern California
- National Association of Industrial & Office Properties (NAIOP)
- NAIOP Young Professionals Group, Class of 2011
- California Department of Real Estate Licensed Broker
- National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer
Meghan Hendersen
Recruiting & Marketing Coordinator
Meghan joined the RETS team in 2021 upon graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent her time at Cal Poly studying Graphic Communication, with a focus in Business Management. She has an eye for design and market trends, as well as a passion for interacting with others. An organizer and a planner, Meghan tries to live life by the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”
Personal Passions: All things outdoors including camping with friends, sipping cocktails at the beach, and out-of-town live music events.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Science in Graphic Communication – Business Management concentration, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- National University of Ireland, Galway (Study abroad)
- Graphic designer for DiLella Mulroy Real Estate Competition at Villanova University
Nancy Johnson
Operations Manager
Nancy Johnson joined RETS in 2011 and has more than 25 years of experience working in the recruiting and executive search industry. She assists in overseeing the daily operations at RETS. Her extensive knowledge of the recruiting industry provides keen insight into keeping everything running smoothly for Clients, Directors and candidates. Nancy likes to get things done right and believes in making the most of any situation. If she weren’t working in recruiting, she’d be a detective or interior designer. Nancy strives to live life by Randy Pausch’s quote, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand,” and she believes it applies to all of life’s circumstances.
Personal Passions: Going to concerts, wine tasting, Cabo San Lucas and all things Mexican food.
Education and Affiliations:
- Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, California State University, Fullerton
Our Culture
At RETS, our company culture is the envy of the recruiting industry.
We believe flexibility and a strong work ethic go hand in hand, and we champion individuality and autonomy.
RETS team members are empowered to make decisions, own their schedule and productivity, and collaborate with each other to achieve outstanding results again and again for the clients and candidates we serve.
Simply put: we have each other’s backs, and we take care of our people.
Ready to join a team that supports your life goals and gives you room to thrive?
