A Day in the Life of Brooke Peterson

Posted on October 9, 2019

David Friedman’s Righthand Woman sits down with us to give the team an insider perspective into what it’s like to work for the CEO.

Q: What’s your name and title?

Brooke Peterson, Executive Assistant and Project Coordinator.

Q: What’s on your desk? 

No matter what time of day you come by my desk, you’ll always find four things: my daily to-do list, pictures of my family, bottled water, and coffee.

Q: Tell me about your office?  

My office is located right outside of David Friedman’s office, our Founder and CEO. It is located in what seems to be a quiet space, however, the high volume of foot traffic due to numerous meetings, team members, partners, interviews, etc. keep me quite entertained. There are various accolades mounted along the wall showcasing some of Friedman’s memorable moments throughout the organization’s history, including photography of a groundbreaking construction ceremony with Michigan representatives, along with several articles and awards recognizing the company.

Q: Tell us more about your role at Friedman? 

I am the Executive Assistant and Project Coordinator, which means I wear many hats. Along with assisting David and his family with anything they may need, I delegate tasks for David throughout the day, follow up with meeting attendees on tasks discussed, as well as work to bring various action items from conception to completion.

Q: Walk us through your typical morning routine.

My day typically starts around 7:30 AM. I get in before David to get a head start on prepping for the day ahead. This usually starts with unlocking David’s office and processing any of the documents he has in his outbox, prepping coffee for the morning ahead and coming up with an agenda for that day. Once David arrives in the office, anywhere between 7:45-8 AM, we begin by debriefing on the previous day, any outstanding tasks and determining what goals for the day need to be accomplished.

Mornings are typically jam-packed here, and we try to get as much accomplished first thing in the morning then we move onto meetings and from there I usually begin working on my To-Do list or anything urgent that David needs me to take care of.

Q: What does a typical day entail? 

There truly isn’t a ‘normal’ day in the office, my tasks range across the board each day. One day, I could be running errands or going to meetings and never see my desk or other days I could have so many ongoing projects I never leave my desk. The one constant task no matter the day is managing David’s calendar. Employees and clients will come to me to find out where David is and when he’ll be back or if they need to put a meeting on the calendar.

On any given day I could be making travel arrangements for the Friedman Family, notarizing documents, processing and managing charitable donations, delivering mail and signed documents to different departments, conducting acquisitions research, scheduling meetings, and running miscellaneous errands or making calls. In order to be available for David’s needs at that drop of a hat, my schedule has to be pretty flexible so there is not much structured time for my tasks, it’s more of an ongoing to-do list that goes day-by-day.

Q: How did you get started in this industry? 

Before coming to Friedman, I spent the past 9 years, planning conferences, weddings, and other large events at various venues. I’ve never really worked directly in the Real Estate industry, but I hold several certifications and licenses, including being a Certified Meeting Professional, so I feel like a lot of those skills translate well to this type of role. When the opportunity to work directly for the CEO of a company came up, I was really excited to learn about a completely new industry and challenge myself with something new every day.

Q: What does the future of the industry look like in your opinion? 

During my time at Friedman, I’ve already witnessed numerous evolutions to the industry. But throughout this, Friedman has made a name for themselves with their continued ability to not only adapt to anything that comes their way but ensure a proactive approach to remain at the forefront of the industry. With the great team of people, the strong and intelligent leadership team guiding this organization into the next era of CRE, Friedman’s future is very bright.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working here? 

Coming from an event and meeting background each day I was meeting with clients and looking for ways to make their lives easier in any way that I could. Here it’s no different. I look at David like he’s a client and my job is to help make David’s life easier. And there’s a real sense of accomplishment that comes with that! Not to mention there’s never a dull moment at work. I get to learn new things, talk to new people, interact with clients, vendors, charities, and be a part of exciting new projects.

Learn how you can become a part of #TheFriedmanDifference by visiting our careers page.