Melissa Rutland, 38

President, Rutland Florida Gulf Group LLC

By Business Observer Staff
| 2:30 p.m. October 13, 2017
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

Class of 2017

Melissa Rutland is proud of the “CCIM” acronym that follows her name. It stands for certified commercial investment member, and only about 16,000 people nationwide have achieved that designation. Furthermore, just 1% of CCIMs are women, she says.

“It’s like a CPA for people who are making commercial real estate investment decisions on a financial basis, such as tax consequences, how things are going to be treated on a balance sheet, whether to rent or buy … those sorts of things. I consider myself more of an adviser than a salesperson. You’re helping businesses make really important decisions on a daily basis, like where to locate their projects and how to analyze performance.”

Rutland was in the self-storage business before transitioning into commercial real estate. In 2016, Rutland was one of 30 women selected to take part in the Women’s Executive Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School.

“To be (with) all of these CEOs and other amazing women from all over the international spectrum, it was just incredible,” she says. “I felt very honored to have been a part of it, to be able to participate and learn among those women, who are outstanding and highly accomplished in their fields.”

One takeaway from Wharton was the importance of having an open mind. “There’s always a solution that maybe you don’t see,” she says. “Being around these women who are decision makers in really large companies, it was amazing for me to hear how the corporate environment is really restrictive on how they thought. Sometimes the solution was right there in front of them, but they just wouldn’t have thought of it. Keep your eyes open and keep an open mind.”

— Brian Hartz