Host Edward Wagoner chats with Drew DePriest, McKesson’s Director of Real Estate OT and an IFMA global influencer, about mental health in FM, his personal journey with it and normalizing the conversation around it. They also explore the impact of tech and AI and answer rapid-fire listener questions.
In today's episode, host Edward Wagoner sits down with Drew DePriest, Director of Real Estate OT at McKesson and recently named one of IFMA's top global influencers in facility management. Drew discusses the importance of mental health for facility management professionals, his own journey with it, and the importance of creating an environment where discussing mental well-being is normalized. The conversation also touches on how technology and AI influence FM as well as answering a few rapid-fire questions from listeners.
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Drew DePriest: [00:00:00] Mental health, especially in the FM community, which can operate under a significant amount of pressure 24/7 in some cases, depending on your, facility type. I think it's something that, warrants conversation and leaning into and just sharing stories about it to try to normalize it .
Host: Welcome to Connected fm, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by ifma, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you're ready to grow your network and advance in your career, go to ifma.org to get started today.
We're excited to kick off a new series featuring if a's top global FM influencers hosting this episode is Edward Wagner, one of our recognized influencers with more than 30 years in the real estate industry, [00:01:00] including two decades as a technology executive. So without further ado, let's get into it.
Edward Wagoner: What is an IFMA global influencer? They're a credible voice in facilities management, sharing expertise, shaping trends, connecting disciplines, advocating for innovation, and simplifying complex topics in the industry.
Today's guest is one of IFMA's global influencers. A self-described curious nerd. He is known for his expertise in technology and automation, and is hosted and participated in numerous webinars and podcasts focused on navigating today's evolving real estate technology landscape.
He brings experience from over a decade in operations and business development at building automation firm. Automated Logic and from one of the world's largest commercial real estate services [00:02:00] firms, CBRE, where he oversaw facilities management technology for a large technology client and led digital solutions globally for CBRE's workplace experience platform. Currently, he is the director of Real Estate Operations Technology at one of the world's largest public companies, fortune 10, ranked McKesson. Please welcome Drew De Priest.
Drew DePriest: Eddie, thank you so kindly. Big appreciation to ifma globally completely unexpected. The list is insane to me just how incredible these other, these other folks are, and then to see my name alongside them, it gave me some pause and I'm not one to run out of words. I, I had to kind of sit there in silence for a minute, so it's yeah. Thrilled to be here.
Edward Wagoner: Well, I can tell you when I saw your name on it, I thought, yes, he belongs on there. I've seen your presentations.
I can say. You've influenced me, you've fascinated me. There's one presentation where you actually scared me a little bit and [00:03:00] got me thinking differently about cybersecurity. So, you know, I, I have seen you in action over the years and, and, and followed you from, I. Your time at one of the world's largest real estate companies to now you're working for one of the world's largest companies, and so you've got a big impact.
But you know, we've got the world's largest facility management association listening to us now. There's thousands and thousands of people around the world who are members of ifma who are interested in facility management. So at that stage, if I were to say, drew, here's an open mic. What would you say to the audience today?
Drew DePriest: That is a, it's a big question and I, I would imagine some people would see my experience level and credentials and say, oh, we're gonna talk about data, we're gonna talk about ai. And you know, Eddie, the, the thing that's been forefront and what I've been working on the most personally and professionally over the last [00:04:00] probably seven, eight years.
Has been around mental health, especially within a, a professional setting. It's something that we long haven't talked about. To me, especially in the FM community, which can operate under a significant amount of pressure 24/7 in some cases, depending on your, your facility type. I, I think it's something that, that just, it warrants conversation and leaning into and just sharing stories about it to try to.
Normalize it in a sense for, for other people. I,
Edward Wagoner: I have to tell you, I was prepared today to try to hold my own with you on technology topics and, and ai and so that's completely caught me off guard. I have to be honest. But as, as I listened to you talk and I was thinking. Everything we're seeing in real estate is , we've gotta change.
There's demand to change the workplace. There's the argument coming out of the pandemic about hybrid, not hybrid. How do we recreate the workplaces to better enable our people? And [00:05:00] then you've got the headlines every day saying AI is going to replace your job. That's got a wear on people. And especially if I think about our facility management people where even with ifma, with our new strategic initiative to help them better understand technology, that's a lot of pressure to put on people.
So let, let's run with that te tell me more. Tell us what you're, your thinking. Tell us any story you'd like to share. Love the authenticity. What would you share with people?
Drew DePriest: Absolutely. I mean, it's, it's a conclusion I got to. Probably eight, nine years ago had been running a million miles an hour as, as many of us do in the space because that's, that's how we get things done and got to a point where it was impacting my, my physical health.
I remember going to my doctor saying, I'm getting headaches all the time. I feel like I've got fevers, but there's nothing there. And then we started talking about how much I was just putting into a, a workday and a work week. My doctor just shook his [00:06:00] head and said, you don't need me. You need someone to help figure this part out.
And around the same time, I will never forget this. I feel like everyone needs a, a normalizer person in their life. I was grabbing coffee with a then acquaintance, a friend I've known for 15 years now who has been running his own sustainability services company in Chicago. Here he walks into this coffee shop.
It's nine o'clock on like a Tuesday morning. First thing out of his mouth is he sits down and he is like, my therapist told me this, this week. And just that simple act of someone saying out loud, very nonchalantly in a public space. My therapist said, it's my brain at the time. It just, it, it short circuited in a way.
It, it kind of unlocked things and that, got me into, talking with a professional. Once you can understand how your own mind operates, the good, the bad, the messy stuff that you know, not all of us can, can turn off all the time.
It, it makes you just [00:07:00] better at, at home, at work. It's helped me connect and lead teams significantly better. Just understanding. I use the phrase a lot. You know, my brain doesn't work like that. Can we, frame a, a concept any differently? The after effects, like I've shared this at a couple different conferences.
I've shared it amongst my own teams and on LinkedIn, and it, it, every single time, at least one person will come to me later and say, I needed to hear that. Someone needed to say it out loud because I've been struggling mentally for a while.
Edward Wagoner: I, I love that. And I have a little more, I would say a little older.
I'm gonna say I have a little more experience than you. I started in our industry probably a couple of years before you, and I remember if you were to admit that you were seeing a therapist, it was almost like, you know, a scarlet letter. I, I will share. A couple of years ago, I hit a point to where.
It was therapy or die, if you will. And it's the greatest thing I ever did. I, I often [00:08:00] wish, and I told my therapist, why didn't I do this in my twenties? And he said, it doesn't matter when you do it as much as it is, what do you do with it once you start? So I, I want to ask. What was the, the, the feedback or the reaction of like the people around you that worked with you, managers, executives, did you see any of that negative reaction?
Did you get support? Just help others that may be thinking about sharing their journey or starting a journey, what they might expect from the people around them when they actually take that step.
Drew DePriest: Yeah, it can be daunting and a little scary and. Ironically, you know, add more anxiety to you At first.
The way that I came up through the industry 21 years, give or take, at this point, there was always this sense that I, anecdotally was just told, put on a happy face. Doesn't matter how rough it is or how much you know, you're just feel like you're burning out. [00:09:00] If you show any weakness, then that makes you susceptible to termination to, you know, reallocating to a different team. Was always told, unless you put on the front that everything is okay, then you are less than in the eyes of, of decision makers and people that impact your career. And I lived with that for a long, long time.
So there was, there was some hesitation to, you know, even talk about this remotely, publicly. I. For fear of that, you know, if people think that I can't handle myself emotionally at, at work, then I'm not gonna keep getting high profile high pressure assignments that I've enjoyed working on. And it, it took, it took a couple of very empathetic, compassionate leaders that I've had the, the pleasure of working for who were able to, I mean, they didn't go straight to, you know, tell me about your therapy experience.
But the way that they just approached vulnerability in general created [00:10:00] I've heard Kay Sargent use the phrase psychological safety in the workplace, and that resonated. Like I, I think I credit a lot of where I am today with working under leaders who created that level of safety where I could, I could say, you know, Hey, I'm really struggling right now.
I'm gonna take the afternoon off. Or take the next two days off because I just need to, I need to decompress and when I get back, I'm gonna be significantly better, more productive, and I can get things done, you know, with higher quality. So I would encourage, if this resonates with anyone, especially if you're a people leader to, to run at this head on, you don't necessarily have to start prying into people's mental personal life.
Not everybody's gonna share everything. Just creating the environment where it's, it's okay to talk about. I think that's a, that's a big step.
Edward Wagoner: You know, I had a I'll share, I had a very similar experience. I was scared to death and mine actually [00:11:00] started when JLL when I was there, they started an executive coaching program and working with that coach, the coach actually said, there's some things I think you need to work on with a therapist that, you know, it's not part of our coaching, but it does impact your life.
And I actually had a close relationship with some others in the C-suite, and I casually mentioned that not only were they super supportive, one even saying, you know, career coaching is a form of therapy. It's just got a fancier name that we all, you know, you know, will roll with. But I was amazed at the number of people that were mentors to me, people that I wanted to be like disclosed to me that they too had at different points in their life.
Had to talk to somebody about something, right. For whatever reason. And so, yeah, it, it was shocking to me how much, as you said earlier, anxiety gets created when you start that process and you're so worried about what people will [00:12:00] think. And then when you become your authentic self and share that there's so much support from so many places.
I also want to react. You mentioned Kay Sargent, so you don't know this yet because we're recording this before the list is actually being published, but Kay is also a global influencer on the list that IFMA is recognizing, and I think you're mentioning her and not knowing that is another example of the power of the people that IFMA has selected for this list.
So actually got chills a little bit when you mentioned that name and how she had used phrasing that had had influenced you. Let me ask. If there's someone listening to I, there's gonna be people listening to this, that you're speaking directly to them and they're drawing strength and courage from what you're saying.
So if someone were to say to you, drew, I, I want to follow your path, what would you advise them to be the first steps to do? If, if, if they wanted to talk to [00:13:00] somebody or, or work on something, you know, how can they figure out the right steps to take. Do you have any advice?
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Drew DePriest: Sure. The, the biggest step is recognizing that you're there and, and getting yourself mentally to accept that this is beyond me.
This is something that I need to be able to, to go talk to.
But I, I think, the resources now you know, some companies [00:14:00] will have kind of internal services within HR elsewhere to, to help direct you there. I've seen, I've had friends who have just gone to their insurance website and looked up who is in network close to me, and then just reaching out.
That first step is just recognizing this is something I need to make time for, or else it's not, this is not gonna get better.
I'm not gonna be present for my team, for my work, for my family . These days it's the same as a physical injury or, or some setback you may have had. We don't generally shame people for going to physical therapy because they tore their ACL hurt their knee and can't walk around the building all day long.
Just because it's, it's brain chemistry and impacts, you know, your mental and emotional state, it's no different. It's absolutely no different.
Edward Wagoner: Yeah. I'm thinking of this is a global podcast and when we're talking about looking for for help or whatnot, some [00:15:00] of the references we make, like the insurance is Yes.
You know, very US based. But I think and, and share your experience. I have seen the, the. Need or, or people's desire to work on their mental health around the world. I, I've like lots of friends in other countries that are in this industry that have had similar journeys to, to you and I. So I would say while the approaches may be different based on culture or insurance plans or, or how things are handled in a particular locale.
The need to make sure that you work on your mind, just, just the way you keep your physical body healthy I is a global concept. So I, I think that's an important distinction that, that we should draw out and encourage people. I wanna pivot just a little bit about, around, you know, I, I mentioned the challenges with tech and probably nobody knows that better than, than you.
And I referenced a presentation [00:16:00] you gave that. Fascinated me and scared me face terror. I don't know what, we'll have to come up with a new word for that, but I remember thinking some anxiety. I had some anxiety from your presentation just thinking, oh, have I, have I covered the things he's talking about?
Have I missed some of these things? I mean, it was, it was that incredible. And I have to think, you know, you, you're such an expert with technology. That reaction I had, there's gotta be a lot of people in facility management that don't have the technology experience you and I have that have to be feeling anxiety that's just multiples bigger than what you and I feel with all the changes.
So for our facility managers that are feeling challenges around, use more tech, figure out AI, better integrate. How would you suggest they handle that anxiety? Maybe some of them don't feel like they need to go talk to a mental health professional or therapist, but there's also things that we can do to help our mental health outside of that.
So, so what have you [00:17:00] seen, what would you recommend people do?
Drew DePriest: The biggest thing that I have found, to your point outside of, of professional help from a mental health perspective, it's, it's knowledge. It, it's. Finding answers to questions that you may be running into on a, on a daily basis. And the state of the internet these days, the resources are, are more than plentiful, at least how they, certainly more so than when I was coming up through the, the building Automation and controls world over the last 20 years.
I think a lot of it now sees more parallels to what we experience in our daily lives. So we talk about artificial intelligence and machine learning quite a bit, and one of the things that I keep reminding people as well as myself internally is we're all starting to use, you know, generative ai if that's chat GPT or Gemini or what have you.
You know, my kids use it to look up movie recommendations now. Like it's, it's become such a, [00:18:00] a common thing. I think part of what we, in the FM space. Can and should be doing more of is how do we take those similar kinds of technology experiences that we've all grown accustomed to at home and apply those in creative ways at work.
It, it's part of what makes right now a lot of fun for me, selfishly with within a large organization, we're being asked to do a lot more with AI and with automation. So I, I get to sit in and listen on. A lot of conversations across FM and transactions and leasing and even elsewhere in our, our finance organization, just to ask people questions.
You know, what are you doing today? What are the mundane tasks that you wish you didn't have to do every week? And then how can we get creative with technology to, to automate some of that? And it doesn't have to be, I mean, the other, the other big thing about AI is it's, it's moving very quickly, but it's also.
Very [00:19:00] tiny in terms of iteration. We're not getting 50% better every week. It's what we generally cover within my team, and we, if we can get 1% better at what we're doing, if that's automation, if that's trying to, we're trying to train a, a co-pilot agent right now, which is that's a, it's a fun exercise to, it's about like trying to teach a baby giraffe how to ice skate at times.
But I, I just, I feel like the more that. You, as anyone in the FM space, can take a half hour a day or an hour a day and go read something on a, a technology blog or watch some YouTube videos on how people are, are converting different components of AI into how they automate their own workflows and just get creative.
And if it a thing doesn't work, that's fine. It's totally fine. You can try projects and they're gonna fail. That's a success in my world. You've proven that, you know, that path didn't work. So we can cross that one off [00:20:00] and go find 50 other things that might, so it's, you know, I was taught very early in my career.
If you want to become good at something, go figure it out. Go, go. Teach yourself how to learn new things and just get really good at that. And I think that's, that's especially critical today.
Edward Wagoner: You're saying exactly what people need to hear.
The headlines are blasting, AI's gonna take your job. The reality is that's not gonna happen today or tomorrow. There's a little bit of time, but you gotta start now thinking about it and looking at it and playing with it. And I love the fact that you said. You were working, you know, training a new piece of technology, it's a struggle.
You talked about the baby giraffe example. You're a global influencer with a tech background. You're, if you struggle with it, I know I'm struggling to learn some of that new stuff. Everybody, we're on the same boat. We're having to, to learn it. We're having to play with it. And I think the last thing too is, [00:21:00] you know, don't be intimidated by somebody with your credentials and background when they see you at an event.
Come up and, and introduce yourself and just ask what are you working on? What are you thinking about? And I know you love sharing those ideas and examples with people, and that's a resource through ifma. So I, I really appreciate and got a lot out of what you just said. Speaking of not being intimidated by a global influencer, I've got some questions that a bunch of people submitted that's like rapid fire.
I've, I've looked through a couple of them. Are you game to play a rapid fire round?
Drew DePriest: Yeah, let's go. Let's do it. Alright, let's strap
Edward Wagoner: in. Here's the first one. Let's see if I can read these without my glasses. I actually like this one. We're going to a concert. Any group or performer, past or present. Where are you taking us?
What concert are you taking us to see?
Drew DePriest: [00:22:00] Oh, okay. This is, so if you can't tell, there's one guitar here, there's another five or six guitars over there. Music is, is one of my big outlets. I know you said lightning and I'm trying to kind of set up my answer here. I'm worried I can't, I can't pick one. My concert's gonna be a festival.
Edward Wagoner: Okay, that's good.
Drew DePriest: So band I'm playing in now is gonna open. Shout out to Stef and the shenanigans.
Edward Wagoner: Wait, wait, what's, what's the name of your band again?
Drew DePriest: Steph and the Shenanigans. Our lead singer is a woman named Stephanie, who's just incredible vocal talent.
Edward Wagoner: So you're, so you're a shenanigan?
Drew DePriest: I'm a shenanigan, yep.
And one of two guitarists. Coming soon to a venue near you in Chicago. Past that. I'll keep it to four. Okay. So they're all around. I grew up on Emo and Pop punk way. I've explained it to my kids. The world is sad. And I have a guitar that's pretty much music that I, that I listen to. So a Chicago group called Lucky Boys Confusion.
My current [00:23:00] favorite is a band called Winona Fighter. And then I have to have Fallout Boy and Paramore play the last two slots. After party Ochi, RIP. That's, that's the party suite.
Edward Wagoner: So I know Fallout boy. The rest of them you're gonna have to share with me and, and let me learn about, and I would say to the, the IFMA events team, we've just found an untapped resource for entertainment.
I, even though I've known you for years, I did not know that about you, that you were in a band. That was a great question to whoever submitted that one. This one's a little more serious, but I like it. You've just been named an IFMA global influencer. Who influences you?
Drew DePriest: These are good. And $5. Who ever wrote this one?
I think the shortest way I can put it. People who aren't afraid to say bold, uncomfortable things, out, loud things that need to be said. Sargent, we've talked about, I've been to seen her speak. A dozen different times and always walk away with something of, she just stood up and challenged a room of [00:24:00] 300 people and didn't just sit on a stage and kind of nod her head along.
I read a lot of kind of leadership and psychology based books. I don't have the patience for fiction anymore. So I think that kind of the others there there's an author, a woman named Kim Scott, who published a book called Radical Candor. The last decade who basically says yes, there's a way to be candid with people and give them direct feedback while not being a jerk about it.
And then probably my third favorite first found her on a TED talk on YouTube, Dr. Brene Brown, who to me explains vulnerability and treating it as a superpower better than anyone I've ever seen. So, that's prob top of my head, those three. Just people who aren't afraid to say bold things directly to a crowd.
Edward Wagoner: I knew Dr. Brown didn't know the other, so I have to go research those after this episode. By the way, I will confess that I thought [00:25:00] Brene Brown, she's like a pop psychologist or whatever, just writes books, you know, bestsellers. I had the privilege of sitting with a group of CIOs. One of the executives had her as the guest, and I got a one hour front and center meeting with a bunch of CIOs with her and talk about direct feedback.
I mean, I could not write the notes fast enough. I will admit I was so wrong. I just, I loved so much about her and would love to have her participate in you know, some work. This one gets back to a, to a, a fun comment. I actually love this question. We're going to dinner to celebrate your being named global influencer.
You get to pick the food that we're all going to eat. What are we having? Okay. It could be your favorite food, it could be a restaurant, it could be a cuisine, just whatever. You're gonna determine what we have.
Drew DePriest: Oh, this is tough. My answer does not reflect where I live now. Where I grew up. I grew up in the south, and yeah.
I would say I'm on a [00:26:00] lobster roll kick. Right now. Really? Okay. I had my first, there's a food truck in Chicago and I'm blanking on the name. Apologies. It's bad PR for them. They make a lobster roll called the Angry Lobster, that it's a lobster roll with hot jarona and tahin and some other like spicy blend on top.
Oh, Eddie. It was so good. It was so good. I have, I have a big strong spot in my heart for the food truck. It's you know, I don't need the steakhouse or the big fancy sit down all the time. Just gimme a food truck and bottle a red wine. And we're good to go.
Edward Wagoner: Lobster roll. And for our members that are up in the Boston, Maine area, we're looking for your recommendations for the next time we're there.
I like this question. What would you say to someone listening right now that's searching for a new role, but they're not considering real estate or facilities management? We actually get a lot of listeners that aren't in our industry. So what would you recommend to people that either are, you know, maybe they've lost their job in another [00:27:00] industry, maybe they're looking for a change, or maybe they're coming out of school and and they're not considering it.
What, what would you say?
Drew DePriest: I love this question. It reminds me, I, I run in cornet circles as well. Cornet iFit me are kind of a pretty close Venn diagram. We had this question come up at a Chicago chapter session six, seven years ago. We asked a room of a hundred people, corporate real estate professionals in a room at a industry event.
How many of you coming out of trade school or college or what have you knew you wanted to go into corporate real estate or facilities? One hand out of a hundred. In response to your question, none of us really knew that this is where we were gonna end up. I would say if, if you enjoy problem solving, generally not having the same day twice, ask any fm you know, what's Monday like and like, well it could be like anything, and literally anything could pop up, could go great, could be an [00:28:00] issue we have to solve for.
If you don't like being bored, you know, real, real estate and facilities, what will certainly keep you entertained. But to me it comes down to there's a sense of, of purpose in serving other people. And it's consistent with everybody in the space I've ever talked to. If we do our jobs well in a given day, we keep a building running smoothly.
We respond to issues that people have in an office or a conference room, what have you. We help other people do their jobs better. By, by doing what we do. So to me there's a a huge component of just a sense of purpose and service that you won't find many other industries.
Edward Wagoner: I love that answer. I often tell people you have no clue what facilities people do, because when everything's running smoothly, you just don't notice.
When something goes wrong is when you notice, but you have no clue the number of things that can go wrong in a building. Until you work in a building, and it's [00:29:00] a testament to all of our members and people in the industry and just, you know, the 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 a year that they have to be on because the building is there and operating.
It's, I I also didn't choose to go into real estate or facilities management. It chose me, but I am, I'm really happy with it. You're planning my next vacation. What's your favorite city in the world? Because that's where you're sending me.
Drew DePriest: Okay. If I didn't know that you lived in Chicago, I'd send you here. I, this is my adopted home. I've been here for 25 years, almost now. Close to the water climate isn't unbearable. Typically. The music scene is incredible. The food is great. Barring that. If we're gonna go somewhere else, I, I just may retire in San Trini, Greece.
Right on the Mediterranean. Food is incredible. People are delightful. There's not a whole lot, you know, it's not the city, it's not hustle and bustle. I [00:30:00] visited once and had to be dragged back to the ship that we were on. I, I would've stayed there forever. It's just if you haven't had the chance, go check it out.
Edward Wagoner: I have not. That will go on my list.
I. My last question, finish the phrase, the way to my heart is blank
Drew DePriest: play in a single word. It's the, the ability to find fun and amusement in even the most mundane thing. It's just how I, how I operate, how I connect. And I've had some of my best memories of my career have involved making something fun of a massive project.
My last role at CBRE before I left my, my leader who I worked for then, who I still keep in touch with to this day, she and I created a, a way to, to. We overloaded our work order system with a hundred [00:31:00] tickets in five minutes and made a game out of it. And we sat down like, how do we teach?
I think we had a new staff of 60 brand new fms and, and engineers coming on board for this building. How do we teach them all multiple software platforms? This brand new building that is significantly advanced and we don't have a whole lot of time to do it. So we made it a game. It was kind of a hackathon.
We had points assigned to. Whoever, you know, responded to, to work orders. There were bonus points for customer service. We had volunteers that were playing, you know, spilled coffee on a floor, and we had people planted around the building who agreed to be an actor for the day, and kind of gave them personas of like, you're angry, you're confused, you're, you're kind of somewhere in the middle.
And it, and it worked. Everybody had a great time and they learned, I. Mission accomplished, but just things like that I have found selfishly, it's enjoyable for me and it, it tends to help, [00:32:00] help get things done and, and help people figure things out a little faster.
Edward Wagoner: It's so important to have those, those fun moments, those playful moments, especially when we think about our mental health. We've got enough coming at us that's super serious and, and so many demands and so many things that create anxiety that, that play. I think that's a wonderful way to, I. This episode, drew, I have to tell you every time I'm around you or see a presentation, I come away influenced and invigorated.
I appreciate you taking your time to talk to us today and I look forward to seeing you at the next in-person event or wherever it is that you're gonna take me to get that lobster roll. Thank you so much for taking your time and, and sharing with IFMA's audience on your thoughts and what it's like to be as a global influencer.
Drew DePriest: Absolutely, again, hugely appreciative for the recognition and a great time today, Eddie. I, you and I always have a good time when, when we're in the same circle, so very much looking forward to [00:33:00] it again.
Edward Wagoner: So when you see us together at an event, come up and introduce yourself and ask us what we think about with technology and we would love to engage.
Thank you, drew.
Drew DePriest: Thank you.
Host: Thanks for tuning into the Connected FM podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show because it really helps us reach more listeners just like you. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. See you next time.
Welcome to Connected fm, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by ifma, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you're ready to grow your network and advance [00:34:00] in your career, go to ifma.org to get started today.
We're excited to kick off a new series featuring if a's top global FM influencers hosting this episode is Edward Wagner, one of our recognized influencers with more than 30 years in the real estate industry, including two decades as a technology executive. So without further ado, let's get into it.