20 for the Next 20: Emalia Pietsch, Colliers International

This senior VP specializes in resort retail and urban markets, with a talent for matching landlords and tenants for the long term.

Working in real estate runs in Emalia Pietsch’s family.

“Title Guaranty was a family-owned company, with my grandfather starting it, my dad and his brothers taking over and then my cousin running it. So, we have had three generations work there. I interned there in high school. So real estate has always been a connection,” Pietsch says.

Early on, however, she realized she wanted to pursue commercial real estate instead of following her family into residential. She earned a business degree from the University of San Diego and worked in that city a few years before moving back to Hawai‘i. She’s been at Colliers International for 17 years.

“Around eight to nine years ago, I chose to specialize in resort retail and urban markets,” says Pietsch. “I love the interaction with boutiques and cafés and the experience they provide. I personally like to shop and travel. So, it was like I understood what a customer wanted to experience.”

It’s her job to find landlords and tenants that are good fits in the long run. “We curate this synergistic plan that both sides of the table are happy with,” she says.

One client is Roger Wall, vice chairman of Foodland Super Market and president of Pacific Warehouse, which owns shopping centers and warehouses. For the past 10 years, she’s helped him find optimal tenants.

“Emalia is a great communicator. She’s really outstanding in terms of gathering information, engaging really succinctly and understanding exactly what we want,” says Wall.

She does her due diligence to thoroughly grasp clients’ long-term plans “so we’re not just going from one deal to the next. We’re actually thinking about, ‘How do we grow all these different concepts over the long term?’ And she really has our best interests at heart.”

Even after a rental agreement is finalized, Pietsch says, she stays invested in the businesses she works with: “Marketing is a big piece of it, so telling them what marketing agencies they should go to, showing them what influencers they need to contact in order to help make their businesses successful.”

Wall appreciates that Pietsch goes the extra mile: “She is really helpful in terms of even suggesting new ideas for us to consider or ways we can continue to improve our business.”

Pietsch also considers how tenants can complement one another. That could mean putting a café, bookstore, boutique and health foods store on the same block – instead of competing businesses – which creates a vibrant shopping experience that attracts customers.