Name: Kazeem Afolabi
Job title: Associate director, BBS Capital
What I do: BBS Capital raises real estate finance for our clients who range from major institutions to private equity to developers and family offices. We help them secure the finance they need for their projects and are what we call ‘cradle to crave’. This means we support clients at every stage of a building or real estate project’s lifecycle arranging finance across the capital stack, from development finance through to bridging loans and refinancings. Day-to-day my focus is on deal origination and execution. I spend a lot of time speaking to lenders, investors and other contacts – it’s a very interactive, people based and relationship focused business, and I love that. It’s really multifaceted, and you get to speak to so many people across many different career themes in the industry, from investors to lawyers to construction specialists.
Why I got into the property industry: As a child I was an avid Monopoly player, which I think spurred my interest in property as an investment! However, my getting into the industry happened by chance. After studying economics at university I decided to do a master’s in finance and economics. But when applying I found I needed to complete a graduate management admission test and there was no way I’d be able to get it done before the course application deadline. So I looked at other courses and saw I was eligible for a master’s in real estate economics and finance, which I thought sounded more interesting anyway. I loved the course and it made me realise a career in property could be right for me.
How I did it: While at university I did an internship at Goldman Sachs so I got to know people there. I later heard they were hiring in their real estate team to support the building of their new London HQ office. I applied and started working on the development management side of the project. During this time I worked closley with a well-known real estate bank, and ended up being offered a role in their real estate debt team. After six years working in development the work was all new to me, so I was essentially starting again. It was a challenging period, but the chance to pivot into a new skillset was a fantastic opportunity. Then, 18-months later I got the opportunity to join BBS Capital and support its rapid growth. The business is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, but it has retained a really entrepreneurial spirit which was exciting coming from a large corporate. The responsibility you get here for growing the business, running processes and client relationships was really attractive to me.
My first proper job: Working at clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch after school and during university holidays. It was a really cool place to work and some of my colleagues went on to do amazing things. I worked with Rita Ora who is now of course a world famous popstar and the Bloomberg journalist Sam Etienne. Ten years later, I looked at a potential financing deal on the building Abercrombie & Fitch were based in when I worked there, which was a strange coincidence and one of those full circle moments in life.
My first big break: For getting into real estate, it was working on Goldman Sachs new office. I think timing is one of the most important things in anybody’s career and the fact I’d interned there and had done my real estate master’s really helped.
My inspiration(s): I draw a lot from my parents. The work ethic they installed from where they came from to what they were able to provide is phenomenal. From a professional perspective, it’s Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s CEO. He optimises the ‘get on and do it’ philosophy. He has conviction in what he does, and where he and his firm goes the market often follows. As a Christian, I also draw a lot of inspiration and purpose from God.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: Careerwise, it was learning everything I could about real estate finance in a short space of time. It was tough getting my head around some things, and I’m grateful for the patience people showed me. In the end, all those hours I spent trying to apply myself and learn proved to me that you can completely reinvent your career. If you spend enough time applying yourself you can do anything. I genuinely believe we could all retrain and become doctors if we wanted to!
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: Breaking into a career in real estate finance when I had no experience working in it. From that period when I was learning, I have a quote which is “I look forward to looking back at this in hindsight”. It refers to the period when I was trying to figure everything out and I kept telling myself “in time everything will come together,” and it did. My proudest moment is getting over that hump, to become competent and give clients quality advice.
The biggest misconception people have about the property industry: Probably that property is only for the elite, or it’s one sided. One of the things I love about the industry is there are hundreds of different career paths within it. My wife works in the industry, but we both do completely different things. Across the sector you have people working in construction, legals, finance and architecture – there is so much to it. It’s very multifaceted, which few people realise.
My biggest bugbear about the industry/the one thing I would change about the industry: The diversity of people working in the industry isn’t there yet, and still doesn’t reflect the makeup of the wider population. I think things are starting to change and people are becoming more aware, but we still have a way to go. The other thing I’d say is the illusion given about real estate on TV shows, implying the industry is all about multimillion pound homes, glamour and luxury. Yes, you can be very successful, but these shows hide the risk and hard work that often comes with being a successful developer.
Why I’m so passionate about DE&I: Because representation does matter. Being a black male in the industry, I notice that in most meeting rooms most of the faces aren’t like mine. I want to help try and change this and leave the industry with better representation than when I started in it. I want to help young people and show those in schools and universities that wherever you come from or whatever you look like, a career in real estate is achievable. Being able to see people like you in careers does change the way you think about that career and show it’s possible.
Why I’m so passionate about ESG:. Those of us working in real estate have a large responsibility to build and create spaces that are right for the environment and for people. We should see ourselves as custodians of buildings, to make them more energy efficient and help ensure they don’t spoil the environment. Buildings must also reflect the needs of the people living in them, working in them, being educated in them and so on. We should be catering for the masses and not the few, and the responsibility we have in creating buildings shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Where I’d like to be in five years’ time career-wise: I joined BBS Capital because of the entrepreneurial spirt here, which will let me keep going from strength to strength in my career. So I want to keep growing here. The most rewarding clients are those you can grow and build with, so I am excited to see where my client projects and relationships go. BBS Capital is also increasingly working with large institutions and I am excited to be part of this.
Who I’d invite, living or dead, to a dinner party: I’m a big basketball fan so Kobe Bryant would top my list. The work ethic he had and his craft for greatness was incredible and so admirable.
What I do in my downtime: I love travel and recently returned from a yearlong sabbatical. I travelled around 24 countries in South and Central America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East with my wife. We blogged about our experience and particularly, our experience of travelling as black people which we coined #blackpackers. We wanted to share our experiences with joy and interest and encourage others to travel. There is a misconception that travel is expensive and inaccessible, so we tried to debunk that myth and show you can travel the world for a fairly low cost.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: Probably working for a sports team on the management side.
My advice for someone just starting out: Believe. Whatever you want to do, believe in what you are trying to do and work as hard you can to achieve it. Look up and around you, try and see meteorically and physically and be inquisitive, and remember who dares wins. You have to go out of your comfort zone and do things you might be nervous about sometimes, but if you do enough of it you will eventually be rewareded.
My motto/mantra: Find the three Ps – Purpose, Passion and Patience. In anything you do, you have to understand the purpose and how it relates to you and what you believe in. You have to be passionate about what you are doing as it’s hard to be successful in something you’re not passionate about. Then you have to be patient, because things do take time and don’t always happen overnight.
