Get to Know Virginia Tabor, Market Analyst

Meet Virginia Tabor, Market Analyst!

Virginia Tabor joined Holt Lunsford Commercial and serves as a Market Analyst in the Dallas Industrial Division. She is responsible for assisting in project leasing assignments, as well as marketing and business development efforts of the Industrial team and other HLC clients.

Prior to joining HLC, Virginia graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA in Marketing with concentrations in Business Analytics and Professional Sales. During her time in college, she participated in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Originally from Memphis, Virginia decided to move to Dallas to persue a career in industrial real estate after becoming interested in the industry due to an internship with Link Logistics in Atlanta. She is licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

What brought you to HLC?
I was a marketing major and realized halfway through college that I didn’t really want to do marketing. I started looking around at different career paths, and I kind of just fell into commercial real estate. I ended up getting an internship with Link Logistics and realizing I loved industrial. I decided that I wanted to move to Dallas, so I called a friend of mine’s mom who works in the industry here. She asked me what I was looking for in a company. I told her I cared about being somewhere with a good culture and reputation and a place that I would learn strong fundamentals and have room to grow at. She said Holt Lunsford was the place, so that was the first place I called.

How do you hope to grow at HLC?
With this being my first full-time job, I really hope to figure out who I am in a professional setting and grow into that. I hope to learn more about the industry and the Dallas market, figure out my strengths and weaknesses, and be successful while enjoying what I’m doing.

What about your role at HLC most excites or interests you?
I’m super excited that I get to work with the whole industrial team from the beginning instead of going into a smaller team right off the bat. I feel like this is giving me the opportunity to get to know each individual person on my team really well while also just getting an overview of the Dallas market as a whole. I’m enjoying what I’m doing, and I’m enjoying learning about the people around me. I have a lot of friends that have just started their jobs and don’t feel the same. So I’m excited to be somewhere where I’m happy.

Which HLC value resonates the most with you and why?
I had a hard time with this one, but I’d have to go with the Golden Rule and then the portion about “attitude is everything.” I feel like the Golden Rule is something you hear about a lot growing up and then it becomes easy to forget about. This being a HLC value is a nice reminder of how powerful it is to treat people the way you want to be treated. That’s just how you should act –  in work and outside of work. I think attitude is huge too because people’s attitudes around you totally affect how your day goes. We’re here at the office for a really big portion of the day, so it’s worth it to put a little extra effort into smiling and being positive if it’s just going to make everyone else have a better day.

What three words would you use to describe the HLC culture?
Fun, collaborative, and inclusive

If you could tell one person “thank you” for helping me become the person you are today, who would it be and why?
That would definitely be my mom. I feel like I’m working every day to be more like her. I definitely haven’t reached her level yet, but she’s just really kind, patient, and understanding, and she’s one of those people that makes every single decision based on trying to make life easier or better for everyone else. So I wish I could be more like that, which I think has definitely shaped the way I at least try to be.

Who or what inspires you?

I’d probably go a similar route and say that would also be my mom. She worked super hard straight out of the gate going into investment banking right out of college. She was the only woman in the job that she had. All of our family friends’ dads that knew her at that time talk about how hard of a worker she was and how good she was at her job. Then when she had us, she decided to quit working and her job became being our mom. It’s probably clear from my last answer that she’s a really amazing mom. I think it’s just inspiring to see the ways that the hard work, time, and energy she’s put into the things in her life have paid off and resulted in her success whether that was professional or personal. She inspires me to be a good employee and coworker, but also to be a good friend, daughter, and sister. 

What are three interesting things about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
I love to travel, I love dogs, and my favorite color is blue.

How do you define success?
I would say it’s accomplished when you set a goal and reach it, whether it’s a large or small, professional or personal. Meeting your goal has to be based on your own standards though because if you try to compare it to someone else’s goals or base whether you’ve been successful on someone else’s merits of succes, then it becomes hard to decide if you think you’ve been successful or not. So I’d say true success is an internal thing.

How do you like to spend your free time?
I am very social so I really enjoy spending time with my friends in my free time. If I’m going to be alone though, I like to exercise. I like Pilates or I’ll run or go on a walk and catch up with friends or family. Also, I go through phases where I like to read, so sometimes I’ll do that at the night-time or watch TV.

Where is the furthest you’ve traveled?
I have been to Kenya, Africa. It was super cool. It wasn’t something that was necessarily on my bucket list. It was my brother’s graduation trip, but it totally exceeded expectations. I loved it.

Favorite quote?
It’s more of a phrase, but I feel like “Everything in moderation” is a staple mantra for me. I think it totally applies to everything; the way you work, the way you have relationships, the way you eat, the way you exercise.

What could you teach me to do in five minutes?
French braid.

Favorite ice cream flavor?
Half Baked. Ben & Jerry’s.

What character would you be in a book, movie or TV show?
If it were up to me, I would be Jennifer Aniston in anything.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you?
Three friends

What’s the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it?
The last thing I watched was “Presumed Innocent.” It’s a TV series that I think is pretty new and it was a recommendation from one of my roommates. I recommend it.

What was the last gift you gave someone?
My college friends and I struggled in the past years with figuring out how to do birthday gifts for each other without spending a ton of money. This year one of our friends had the idea to all pick out a coffee-table book for each friend that somewhat reminded us of them or that we thought they’d like, and everyone signed it. So it’s kind of fun now because we’ve all scattered and everyone has their coffee-table books, which is sweet. So one of my friends turned 22 super late and that was the last gift I gave.

If you had to choose, what would your last meal be? No limits.
Pepperoni pizza and ranch and then Birthday Cake Remix from Cold Stone for dessert.

Welcome to HLC, Virginia; we are glad you are here!