Introduction
Nicole Campbell, an office leasing broker at Divaris Real Estate in Hampton Roads, Virginia, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast. She moved from residential to commercial real estate and used social media to establish herself as a resource for clients and the local community.
They talk about her career change, how she shows her personality on video, what office space needs today, design trends, and diversity and inclusion in commercial real estate.
About the Episode
Nicole begins with the challenge her clients faced at the time: tenants who had planned active searches for 2020 put them on hold, and some landlords became more reluctant to fund tenant improvements. Jack adds a story of a client who canceled an expansion after learning their staff was working well from home.
She then describes her path. She worked for a residential team, but felt she was not suited to showing houses to buyers who rejected one after another over small details. She took an administrative and marketing role with the office leasing team at Divaris, learned the business from the back office and, after a couple of years, partnered with a broker who became a mentor. Her niche became helping landlords make spaces more marketable, and she now represents roughly two dozen buildings in the Hampton Roads area.
Jack and Nicole discuss why her LinkedIn video content works, how office design is moving toward hospitality and residential feelings, what technology and green elements can add, and what the industry should do to be more welcoming to people from different backgrounds.
Key Takeaways
- Find the right fit: Nicole moved to commercial real estate after realizing her strengths suited it better than residential sales.
- Learn from the back office: working in an administrative role let her see leases, letters of intent and broker calls before taking on clients.
- A mentor helps: partnering with an experienced broker gave her more than working alone would have.
- Be visible and real: video lets people see your personality, and what you see is what you get.
- Do not copy another office: workplace needs depend on the business, so privacy, collaboration, cleanliness and safety should be balanced for each team.
- Make lobbies feel like hospitality: a hotel-like lobby extends the office, with places to work, meet or have lunch.
- Inclusion needs action: reaching out to universities and making people feel heard is part of the answer.
Highlights from the Conversation
Nobody's perfect and let's just put that out there and what you see is what you get.
Nicole Campbell
Please don't look at anybody else's office to say this is the way I need to do things in my business.
Nicole Campbell
Diversity is one thing but inclusion is a whole nother thing.
Nicole Campbell
Topics Discussed
- Office leasing challenges for landlords and tenants in 2020
- Moving from residential to commercial real estate
- Learning the business and the value of a mentor
- Personal branding and video content on LinkedIn
- Privacy, collaboration, cleanliness and safety in the office
- Hotel-like lobbies, open stairs and biophilia
- Technology, sensors and space utilization
- Diversity and inclusion in commercial real estate
Why This Conversation Matters
Nicole's story is a good example of how a personal brand works: clear, authentic and consistent. That is the kind of thinking behind our branding work for professionals and companies. Her comments about lobbies, amenities and making older buildings more marketable also connect with interior architecture projects such as Coliseum Drive and Liberty Plaza, where building repositioning gives spaces a stronger identity.
About the Guest
Nicole Campbell is an office leasing agent at Divaris Real Estate in Hampton Roads, Virginia. After working in residential real estate she moved into commercial leasing, focusing on helping landlords make their spaces more marketable, and she is known for sharing educational, authentic content on social media. She was also working toward a master's degree in public administration at the time of the interview.
