In most deals, there are outside influences that impact your negotiations. Sometimes, these have significant sway over your ability to close a deal. In today’s episode, Christine McKay interviews Karla Silva, Vice President of Investor Relations for Vivative Ventures, Inc. When she talks to potential investors in Vivative’s projects, Karla always has an invisible third-party at the table with her. Who is that? It’s the voice of the community in which her project resides. Karla takes us on a tour of the real estate development world and shows us how all the different players come together to deliver large, transformative projects.
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The Invisible Negotiator at the Table with Karla Silva
I’m glad you’re here. If you’re watching on our YouTube channel, welcome. I’m excited to have you guys here with me again, and very excited to have a friend who is killing it in the real estate development world. Karla Silva is a powerhouse in the industry that she is in. As a woman working in a very heavily male-dominated-oriented industry, working on developing intriguing real estate development projects. I thought it was going to be fascinating to have her talk to us about some of the things that she has to think about as she’s developing her massive projects. One of the things that’s super important about what it is that Karla and her team at Vivative is they have lot of different constituents. When you’re building or renovating a new building, you’ve got a lot of people with very different objectives that you have to bring together to make that project work. Karla is a master at that. I met the CEO of the company and they were telling me that they’re not letting her go anywhere. I’m very excited to have you. Thank you, Karla. Welcome.
Thank you very much for invitation, Christine. Welcome, everybody. Being in this industry is also the opportunity to share because sometimes people ask me, “How do you learn? Where do you go to learn about this?” There’s not really a school for this. It’s through working and getting very close to the people that are doing these developments that you learn. I’m very excited to share.
For the audience, you already know this, but for anybody who’s new and tuning in for the first time, the thing of In the Venn Zone is all about is helping you as small business owners, as negotiators, figuring out how to negotiate in a different way. At my company, Venn Negotiation, we believe that you need to be practicing, that you learn how to negotiate. You learn how to be more effective as a negotiator when you practice at negotiation, which is exactly what you’re doing, Karla. You are practicing it every single day. Tell us how you came to be in this industry. It’s definitely not an industry that has a lot of women flocking to it. You had a very different career before you started working in Vivative. Tell us about that?
I come from the creative world. I’m a designer and I also love photography. I work more for the entertainment industry, the music industry for many years when I came to United States. My Major is in Communication. I was involved with some PR advertisement. It was more creative. I love designing and photography which is capturing moments that they never come back. After a while, and because of technology and how the music industry and how graphics evolved into doing everything digital, we went through a lot of changes making everything digital. Before, you had to literally put all the colored keys and send to printers across the United States because the printing plants were on the other side. We were pressing a button and sending everything digitally.
I worked there but it became very competitive. Every year, we will have to drop the prices. I was like, “Bo, we’re supposed to go the other way because the rents are increasing and you’re competing globally.” Also because of the new blood into the industry, you were competing with young people that were working from home. They don’t have all the overhead that a company and the employees do. At one point, I left what it was the niche of the music industry and worked more with small businesses. I’m very passionate also of supporting nonprofits. Budgets are tied when you’re working with small companies and also nonprofits. With age, you start thinking, “What happens when I cannot really work all night with a computer, creating work?” That’s when I started learning about how money can work for you and learning a lot of finances, which when you’re a very creative mind, you don’t even think of that. You leave that for the end because you are involving in the new concepts and projects.
When you started learning, you see the different assets that you can invest in, something from mutual funds, which are very safe. I like the assets that are tangible. I started wanting to learn more about real estate, and with my own experience of buying a home when I arrived here years ago, and seeing what the years do to a property in terms of the valuation that you get from the payments that you do and the mortgage payments. The real estate in LA goes up every year. I was thinking, “What if I start learning more about this?” I learned the difference between the commercial real estate side and the residential, and there is a big difference.
Even though there are smaller transactions in the commercial real estate side, but those control the world pretty much. You start looking like, “Where can I learn?” I had the fortune to be introduced to a company that were doing ground-up development and I was able to learn. It was a lot of trainings every day because there are all these moving parts happening that they all have to take place at a certain point, and they have to all work in order for the project to move forward. It’s been a few years that I transitioned into this industry, and it’s fascinating.
I like learning, and every day is different. When COVID hit, a lot of the projects were on standby thinking what’s going to happen with rents. They called me and I came to meet the principals and learn about the projects. These are not ground-up development. When these are repurposing of a building, which is the expertise of the company, the process of getting the permits is a lot quicker than when you build ground up. Then the investors can get the returns faster, the progress moves faster. The three main projects that they have, they’re in different side of the city. I got excited with the projects and the impact that it can have to the community.
You are right now sitting in of those projects in Alta Loma. Tell us a little bit about that project. For those of you who are watching on YouTube, you’re going to get to see this. For those of you reading, you are not going to get to see how lit up Karla gets talking about this project. She gets so excited, and it’s fun to watch her talk about it. Tell us about the Packing House.
This is the Alta Loma Packing House. This is a packing house in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. It is called Alta Loma Packing House because it’s in the City of Alta Loma that now is part of Rancho Cucamonga. It’s a historic building. Back in the day, it was used as a packing house. All this area was surrounded with orchards, mainly citrus, oranges and lemons. This is where they pack the products to be sent to different places. Adjacent to this building, there was a railroad. As part of the railroad, the Pacific Electric Railway passes next to the packing house. There were other packing houses, and this is the last one remaining. It’s very exciting to be working in preserving this building and bring it into life. Now, there are no more orchards around it. The train stopped passing long time ago. Now there is a bike path, and an equestrian trail that still gives a lot of energy.
Before we started the interview, she took me on a little walking tour of the building, and it is quite spectacular. When we were talking about you coming on the show, one of the things that I love about this project is all the things you were telling me about the types of people who live in Rancho Cucamonga and how many of them have been there for generations. This building is a part of the history of the community. When you are looking for investors in the project, how does that fact that it is part of the fabric of that community? How does that impact how you find investors and negotiate with them as they’re looking at this property?
Get into construction. There's going to be billions and billions of dollars that you're going to be missing. Share on XI mentioned that the expertise of the Vivative Group is to repurpose buildings. The main thing that they see is the highest best use of a particular building they’re looking into acquiring. When you go to every project, it becomes personal to what is going to be around it. When you can invest in a real estate project across the country or even internationally, your best investor in this case is people that they will value, not only the returns, but the impact that brings to the community. It’s a different level of involvement and care. I am not involved in the negotiations because this is a multi-party negotiation with contractors, with CDs, with building departments. Each one from the team have their expertise, and they’re the ones dealing with each part of the project.
As an Investor Relations, you need to know about all of them because investors can be asking, depending on their background, about very technical things about the construction, finances and returns. You go through the whole process and get involved in all of them. For these ones, it was trying to find which will be the best investor. The type of investment in the case of the packing house is where you’re going to acquire also shares on the project. Once you get your money paid back and the return, you also get to keep your shares. That’s something that you will feel that you own a part of the community. This is something that the community around are welcoming the project for what it’s going to bring.
Whenever you’re doing any development, if you’ve got the community support behind you, that makes things a whole lot easier if you run into issues with the city or any of the planning aspects of it. When you have the community behind you, that gives you a lot more leverage in those discussions when the hard conversations with the city happens.
We’re also a part of the team, and in dealing with not only this project, we have another project here in Rancho Cucamonga. There are people in the team that are from the city that have developed some of those relationships, and that’s very helpful in order to move to go through the process faster. On the other side of the bike path, there is the Rancho Cucamonga, the Alta Loma School District. The opportunity right now to be part of the packing house is because we needed additional parking to be able to do the two levels of the packing house. We have a strict level, which is going to be turned into a public market. We’ll have beverage and food vendors. In the basement, there’s going to be creative office space, which is more like a co-working space. For that, we needed additional parking.
I was mentioning that the school district is right across the bike path, and they have parking spots that we’ve been talking to them in order to use them during the weekends and holidays, where they are not using those spaces. That’s when it’s really valuable the people that are rooted in the community and they’ve been involved through the years. They know that very intricate and very personal that when you’re not from the area, it takes time to develop and to learn about all these things that they’ve been going on through years, and that you missed out and you’re trying to catch up and learn.
We had an event, and it was part of introducing to the community what we’re planning to do here. We had great feedback from people. They were welcomed and we were asking, “How do you know about the event?” The people that was able to talk, they followed up. They pass by and they saw this move and they wanted to know what was happening. They love what the project is going to look like once it’s done. As we were talking before, it’s how you’re able to impact the community and have a positive and new energy.
You’re talking about people’s home, where they live. Certainly in 2020, where homes have a different meaning for a lot of people than it did in 2019. People’s investment in it is that much more personal. It’s always personal, but for some reason this year 2020, it feels like it’s even more personal. One of the things I like about what you’re talking about is that we talk a lot about how negotiation is actually a very personal thing. People are, “It’s just business.” No, it’s not. As soon as somebody has something that you want, then you’ve got emotion attached. Want is a desire. There’s already emotion in that connection.
I think that’s one of the things that I appreciate about the approach that you and the team are taking is that there’s this understanding that it is personal, it is about the individual investor. It is about the future people who will be enjoying the building. It is about the community. It is about pulling that together. When we were talking, that all informs how you, in your role, position the property to potential investors. Can you talk a little bit more about that? Can you, confidentially without mentioning names, share an example of how you’ve been able to use that kind of personal aspect of negotiation to your advantage in terms of getting additional investors in the property?
We start by understanding what are the values of the community? We thought they are rooted in the area, and knowing that we have the last packing house standing and the idea of preserving it, is something that they value and support. How do they want to get involved? Of course, it’s going to create economy. I mentioned that we’ve been negotiating the property that is adjacent with the bike path. Right in front of the packing house is a wide area. We want to convert it and have more open outdoor space, which right now restaurants and other places are looking for those things.
Preserving the history is bringing something that is going to bring community together, creating traditions around the packing house. Right now because there are not that many places in the area like restaurants, young people might go to other cities when they want to go to a restaurant or to find some more outdoor experience, or to look for the experiences that they go out of the city. They want to keep those families in the community. You appeal to that, and that’s why we did the event. We were calling the people in the area to come to learn what we were going to be turning the packing house into. Also sharing some of that history that some people might not know what it was before, because now they see the bike path, but they never saw the railway.
You said a couple of things that I think is important when people are preparing to go into a negotiation. One of the things that’s hugely important is knowing what you’re good at. You’ve mentioned a few times now that Vivative is really good at taking existing buildings and reworking, refurbishing, renovating and making them successful and producing buildings. The other thing that you said though that I think is really important, I think it’s something that could be easily glossed over. In terms of what you sell, it’s not the building, it’s not the history even. The words that you said is that you’re helping people build traditions there. That was very powerful.
The answers are not in a book; they come from years and years of experience. Share on XI want to make sure that people didn’t lose that. Sometimes in negotiation, we think that we’re selling one thing but we’re talking about one thing. People who have read this before know that sales is a part of negotiation. It’s not the whole of the negotiation, but it’s definitely part of negotiation. People will think that, “I’m selling this thing,” and that some people might say, “I’m selling the space.” I was talking to a gentleman for another episode, his name is Shea Brown and he’s a sales guru. He’s like, “What is the benefit of the benefit of the benefit?” That’s it exactly. Creating an opportunity for a young family to make traditions in the community that they live in is the benefit of the benefit of the benefit. I want to make sure that’s not lost because Karla knows this stuff so well. She’s passionate about this project.
It’s interesting because on the flip side for this project in Alta Loma the Packing House is steeped in tradition and it’s this fabric of the community. It’s about making traditions and creating new opportunities and new traditions for new people or people who have been there for generations in the area. On the flip side of that, you have another property in Hollywood that’s the exact opposite. There’s nothing tradition about it. Tell us more about that property because it stands in very stark contrast to this historic property.
That property is in the Hollywood Hills and it’s a residential property. We will still also go through the entitlement. Even though you have buyer’s right, you can build a certain square footage building, you have to go back and learn what are the pros and the cons and what might happen. Over there, because the streets are narrow and very steep, neighbors don’t want any construction going on because that increase the traffic and it’s inconvenient. Because they have a voice, they can make the project really delayed and it will be taking forever for you to get the permit. When you start learning about the projects say, “It works like a puzzle, and I’m trying to find those pieces that will help move the project forward and it will make it easier.”
We start to see a building that is sustainable. Now that there’s this new certification called Leed Certified Building, which goes from as green as you can go in terms of the water, the use of the greywaters and solar. When you start analyzing, that’s something that the community will welcome. The way it’s going to be built creates less impact in the traffic especially. You start seeing what can they offer in the city and the community that they value that will help us? Besides being sustainable, the property is at the end of a cul-de-sac, and in that area there’s no turnaround for the fire trucks. We said we will build that cul-de-sac for the fire trucks to be able to turn around. That gives you some leverage in negotiation in order for the city to be more lenient, and also the community to see the value of you building that property.
The material that is fireproof, which is the key because in those areas, it’s very hard to get into some of the properties. There are other values there that is completely different. It goes back to learning in the community, what is important for them. It can be one of those trophy homes that is not for everybody. With COVID, it’s one of those houses that is great for entertaining. Many places are closed. Maybe you have a place where you can still do certain functions there and entertain people.
Is it going to be modular too?
Yes.
That was the compromise on not disrupting the residents who don’t want construction and buildings and don’t want all the noise.
When you go with those levels of building green, there’s going to have less impact. A part of it is being modular and also that is concrete-based concept. The type of material allows you to add square footage to the property. When you start dissecting each one, “Why did you do this?” This can happen. Each one looks like a different potential and a different value. Going back to the group, every time you have a property, you have to think of what is the highest and best use of a piece of land or if it’s already a building, and you want to repurpose it. We went from Alta Loma the packing house to the Hollywood Hills, it’s totally different neighborhoods. The type of people that live in each area is not only about the returns, because they might be the same, but it’s just that you appeal to those intangible things.
I’m a homeowner and I worry about what is going to be built around me because I have my family. Whenever you move and you buy properties, you like what is around and you want to keep it that way. When you bring things that you are there already, and it’s going to add value, it’s really looking at that and not only, “I buy this and what is the return?” There are other different type of investors and there are ones that care about, “What is my return? and the timeline. There are others that they want to be part of that transformation, and the impact it’s going to bring and the new energy to the community.
Successful people are the ones that with whatever they have today, they adapt. Share on XI love that you talk about values a lot. There’s a book. I actually didn’t plan on bringing this book up by a woman named Cheri Tree. It’s called Why They Buy. I highly recommend it for anybody in sales, also anyone who is seeking to influence people. When it comes to influencing, we are most influenced by people who can speak our value. What Cheri did is she came up with this way of looking at how we buy things and the values that drive our buying decisions. Without even knowing anything about this whole system that she has set up, you actually talked about it. It’s all about the return and the timeline. You’ve got investors who are deep on tradition and supporting a project. The Alta Loma Packing House, because it’s steeped in tradition, you’ve got other people who want something modern and more high-tech, because it’s either inconvenient for them or they want something that’s more sustainable. You have an intuitive understanding of that, but I know a lot of people don’t think in those terms.
I’ve known Karla now a few years. She’s very intuitive about people. For those who are not quite so intuitive, I do recommend picking up Cheri’s book to learn about the BANKCODE is how she calls it. One of the things that’s also very interesting about the work that you do is that there aren’t a lot of women in your line of work, and there are even fewer Latino women. Tell me what it is like to be a minority and a woman in this profession. What are some of the things that you think that benefits you from a negotiation perspective, and sometimes when it is not as big of a benefit for you?
When you asked me why I started in this industry, I remember being at a women conference, National Latina Business Women Association. One of the keynote speakers, she was getting an award. She was the chief of staff, Ana Guerrero. She spoke to the women that were in the audience and she said, “Get into construction. There are going to be billions and billions of dollars that you’re going to be missing.” It doesn’t have to be the one building, but everything that cares to construction. There are going to be a lot of investment there, and a lot of work to be done. I paid attention. I’ve seen her and met with her in different occasions and different events. I adore her. That’s when I started paying attention. If there are going to be so much business, then it’s easier for you to see where you fit in.
Then I started going to this investor conference where you see suits and I’m the only girl. Sometimes they’d be like, “Can you bring me the coffee please?” They’re used to seeing men all the time. It’s intimidating and it’s hard to break into a group of men that you’re wanting to meet them and see what they do. It’s hard because they usually don’t think you’re involved with any kind of project. The fact that I have this amazing Latin accent, it doesn’t make things easier for me. When you see that order, you start opening, there’s more. Actually, when I started working with the Vivative Group, I arrived and they were, “This is an old boys club.” This should be ending pretty soon.
It’s great that women see things different. You see things from different angles. When they’re open to listen to you, it makes you get excited about the projects because you touched those fibers in people that men approached differently. I listened to and I said, “There are going to be a lot of jobs there.” Now I’ve been learning so much how you can be part of the growth of a city, and the new energy that is there and building communities and traditions. Especially in LA that there’s all this diversity, you want to make sure that you address all of them and they all feel part of it. It’s incredible to be learning. Every day is different. Also opening doors for others to be part of this, and to see the value of buying an asset that’s underperforming that you get it for a super discount, and then turning it and creating value right away. When you purchase it, then you see that transformation happen. The increasing value is powerful.
It says a lot about you. Women are resilient at many things. Men, you are too, but it is different for women. There’s a bunch of research that’s going on right now in the negotiation field. They didn’t talk about women as negotiators in the ‘80s, but in the ‘90s, they were talking about women as negotiators and early 2000s. Now they’re starting to change the conversation to be more estrogen versus testosterone-led in negotiation. There are some women who are much more testosterone-led, and there are men who are more estrogen-led.
There’s a growing body of research that talks about how the different hormonal impacts drive, how we interact with people, and those interactions influence the outcomes of our relationships and how long or short-term they are. The things that you talk about is you’re an adult. You and I think a lot in terms of how we approach negotiation, “Who are all the constituents? What’s every possible thing that he or she could want or not want? What could upset them?” We try to figure out all the angles all the time, whereas that’s not the case for a lot of people. According to a research out of Cornell, about 65% of negotiators are more win-lose negotiators. They’re all about like, “What’s that bottom line?” 65%, that’s an awful lot.
In real estate, my more limited observations of working in real estate and doing negotiating on the commercial leasing side, not on the development side, that winner take all mentality, they tend to be more value taking. How have you reconciled that for you? I already know that one part is that Vivative has empowered you to embrace who you are in your role, and not asked you to be somebody else? For somebody who’s reading, who doesn’t feel that they have that luxury or that benefit, that support, how would you counsel them? What would you tell them?
First of all, you need to be willing to learn a lot. At the beginning, take notes and do your own due diligence and research and compare, but then speak up. At the beginning you were shy or felt shy to say something, but then sometimes you say, “Why don’t we do it like this?” Then they welcome that idea, then you feel more encouraged to do and bring more. It’s also for the people that sometimes don’t give opportunity to some of their employees or partners that have less experience. People see things from different perspectives. It’s through their life and you don’t know what is that experience and what they can bring to the table.
I think it’s key that they’ve been very open and they empower you to bring more. Then you feel more independent to continue to bring new partners or speak up and bring more value. It’s incredible with the few opportunities that I had to be in programs like this one, that there are many questions that people want to know, “Where can I go to learn? How can I learn more? Who do I ask?” It’s really experience. It’s working close to people they have a lot of experience and they’re willing to teach you if you’re ready to learn and put the effort, because they’re not going to waste their time. You have to be ready whenever they’re like, “We have the opportunity to be here,” and you’re like, “I’m there.” Every time we sit down with different investors, you learn a lot. It’s not in a book. It’s part of the answers that come from years of experience. You’ve got be there and you have to be paying attention. For me, I think it’s been key that they’ve been very open and have the courage to speak up. There’s no dumb question. If you’re paying attention and you get curious about it, do your own due diligence and work hard.
You don't make anything by whining or complaining. Share on XI love the word that you said, which is my word of the month right now, which is curious. That’s one of the things that I personally love the most about negotiation. Negotiation is all about being curious about your counterparts. It’s a moment of discovery, and figuring out how you take moments of discovery to create a solution to a problem you both have. You both have something that can solve it, but creating that opportunity to discover, uncover and explore together and find a solution that works for everybody in a way that creates more value than you thought might have been there in the first place, which is almost exactly the same words that you talked about.
Also keeping the goal in mind, because I know from talking to people, there are a lot of great projects. Sometimes they don’t move forward because of ego, “My idea i’s better than yours.” When you say, “You have a great idea and I have a good idea, how can we work out to get the project done?” When you’re centered into your own ideas or opinions, then things don’t move forward. I learned from you in one of the classes that I had a chance to listen that this type of negotiators. Once you learn, there’s one type that you don’t even deal with them because you know that there’s no negotiation, there’s nothing that happened. They’re centered in their own world and that they’re not open to hear anything else. You have to prove yourself. You have to prove that you could do your due diligence, that you’re bringing something of value, that you took the time to really research. Also learning about who you are, who’s on the other side and what their values are and what they come for experience. Also trying to keep in mind that you have to be a win-win for the project to be even fun.
Everybody has to win something. For some people who have read the show before, they know that I have this thing about win-win. I was fortunate enough to go to Harvard and learn from the professors who came up with the whole concept of win-win. It’s become bastardized in our language. It’s come to mean something that it isn’t. I know what Karla’s saying when she says win-win. It’s that we both win something, but there’s more. We walk in, we see what we see. There’s something else there. What’s that bigger value? How can we all be part of that? It comes down to negotiating from a position of believing in abundance or believing in scarcity. That style that you were talking about, which we pan on champions quite a bit sometimes, that’s the champion style, which we’ve talked about before, where they want to win and they want to annihilate people.
At the end of the day, they end up losing over time because it’s not an effective style in order to create goodwill and to create the most value. It’s not about exploring, it’s about conquering. You can conquer your own internal fears, but when it comes to conquering somebody else, there is no ultimate winning in that situation, that creates animosity. If that is your style and as you have heard before, text, VENN to 26786, and you can learn what your default negotiation style is. If you’re outside the country, go to www.VennNegotiation.com, and you can learn your default negotiation. If you think about it, especially given this big switch in terms of going from the work that you did before, to the entertainment industry, to what you’re doing now. What are your top three lessons that you have learned in negotiating that’s different now than it was before? What are three big takeaways that you want to leave our audience with that would be valuable for them?
You were touching about the win-win, and that’s also something that I take at heart. For some reason you didn’t get into any agreement, you want to make sure that if there’s another opportunity, the parting is in such a good term that you can always come back. Don’t destroy the bridges that took time or years to build. Sometimes, maybe it’s not the right time. Also, to pivot. With COVID, so many things change and you have to adapt. You don’t make anything by whining or complaining or to fight what is there. You say, “This is what I have and what I can do with this.” Have those options open.
Also when it comes to getting to know the people that you’re going to come into an agreement, be humble enough to know that you can learn something from that other person, from anyone. I tell that to my kids. It’s knowing that you can learn from anyone. Even the gardener knows more about gardening than you. When they’re doing something, pay attention, because those are years of practice, and that works for anything else. When you are with somebody that has an expertise, that has more experience than you in anything, just learn to have that moment to pay attention. That’s why I love going or learning from speakers. They have to condense years, books they read, conferences they attended into one-hour presentation.
If you go and absorb that, it’s not one hour of what they’re teaching you, it’s all those years and all those books. Knowing that you read a book that wasn’t really worth comparing. It’s very valuable the time that you meet somebody to have a conversation, and make sure it’s not only like a monologue where you’re lecturing someone. You could learn as much as you can from that other person. It gives you the tools for the next time that you have the burden to be with somebody that had the same experience. I think it’s being humble enough to know that you can learn. In negotiation, there’s something good that you can get from trying to get into an agreement.
I love that last part. I love it being humble enough to know that you can learn from anybody. I echoed that in terms of negotiation. I will never know enough or as much about as my counterpart knows about him or herself. It’s not possible. The whole point of the negotiation is uncovering them. I love that. How can people find you and more out about Vivative and the projects and all that? I know that you guys are still looking for investors. How could people find out about that? Tell me what do you want to leave on the show? What’s your experience on the show? What are you walking away with?
You can find about the projects at Vivative.com. Alta Loma Packing House has a website, AltaLomaPackingHouse.com. Then you can go through all the details. I love the show. I read in other occasions and I learn a lot. You negotiate all the time. Since when you’re still babies, you negotiate. Something that I learned the last time that I heard your presentation, it was about keeping the goal in mind. What do you want to take out from a negotiation? You have to have certain things that you know that you’re willing to negotiate. Keep that goal in mind. Never lose sight of that while you are negotiating. Thank you very much for the opportunity to share. I like to follow up because you interviewed people from different industries and you have very deep learning experience.
I’m pretty excited about the show. I’m interviewing Karla and I’ve been interviewing to get 25 episodes already to go at once. We’ve had quite a cross-section from somebody who’s the CEO of a company that owns an NBA team, to somebody who’s the CEO of a tech company. It’s all over. I’m looking to get somebody who does wigs and just a cross-section of people. I believe that all of us can learn how to be better negotiators by listening to people who do it in their business, but who do it differently than we do it.
The stories that you shared, Karla, that others have shared on the show and will continue to share, I know that those stories are going to help other people as they move through their business negotiations and even in their own personal negotiations. Thank you so much for being with us, Karla. I really appreciate it. Thank you to Vivative as well for sharing your time with us. We really appreciate that. Audience, I’m so glad. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for checking us out on our YouTube channel at Venn Negotiation. Thank you, everybody. Have a great day. We will see you again next time on In the Venn Zone, where we are changing the nature of negotiation, one deal at a time. Thanks, everyone.
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About Karla Silva
With her degree in communications, Karla Silva’s background is focused in the areas of Visual Communications, Public Relations, Media, Journalism, Marketing, and Business. For 20 years, she catered the music/entertainment industry with clients such as: Univision, BMG, Sony Music, Fonovisa, Promoevents, among others.
Her ability to develop long-lasting relationships based on providing value and trust, has always been one of her strongest qualities. She recently transitioned into the finance and development industry, where she saw the growing need for housing and financial education. Karla is an Investor Relations consultant for a development and investment group that focuses in repurposing commercial real estate properties, where she brings valuable partners and strategic alliances to the company, as well as other sponsors that she has been working with as business development and capital markets.
As a mother of two, her children are the main reason she continues supporting and promoting organizations that are making a difference. She is an active member of multiple community groups and organizations such as: Alliance of Multicultural Entrepreneurs (AME), Legacy Charitable Foundation, VIP Latina Business Council, Mundo Maya Foundation, US – Mexico Chamber of Commerce, National Latina Business Women Association-Los Angeles Chapter (NLBWA), Toastmasters International, Commercial Investment Property Pitch (CIPP), US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, among others.