We are featuring Cynthia Stelzer of Kimball, Tirey, and St. John! She is a Managing Partner of the Business Real Estate Group for KTS’ San Diego office.  Aside from day-to-day managing, she is a full-time attorney. Her practice includes providing counsel in both transactional and litigation matters focusing on business and real property issues, including commercial unlawful detainers, commercial breach of lease actions and actions involving boundary and title disputes, easements, partition, and adverse possession. She represents commercial landlords, property managers, business owners and real estate investors in business and complex real estate issues. In addition to being an attorney, she is a licensed broker and Realtor.

Cyndy joined the BOMA San Diego Board of Directors in 2022 and serves as General Counsel. As a Managing Partner at KTS and full-time attorney, Cyndy brings a wealth of experience to our Chapter advising her fellow leaders on event contracts and other legal related items. This past June, Cyndy and her colleagues attended the BOMA International Conference in Nashville and taught a class on the legal aspects of commercial property management post Covid.  

Read below to learn more about Cyndy:

BOMA San Diego: What is your leadership philosophy? 

Cyndy: My leadership philosophy is to treat everyone equally and with respect. I also try to lead by example. You will never hear me raise my voice or complain about work. If I am happy in my position, I feel my positivity will rub off on my team.  

BOMA San Diego: What personality traits do you most attribute to your successes in life, and why? 

Cyndy: I think the most successful people are those that can adapt to any situation. I also think that having an outgoing and boisterous personality leads to success. I think one of my strongest personality traits is the ability to strike up a conversation with anyone in the room.

BOMA San Diego: How do you deal with stressful situations? 

Cyndy: I try never to put anything off until the last minute. The key to this is organization. It doesn’t matter if you keep a to-do list electronically or on something as simple as a yellow notepad, as long as you keep everything organized, this will help in your success. I’m known at my office for bringing my yellow notepad everywhere. It’s old school, but it works for me.

BOMA San Diego: Who is your role model and what is the best piece of advice they’ve given you? 

Cyndy: My dad is my role model. He was born in the Azores and was very poor growing up. He didn’t have his first pair of shoes until he was 10 years old! He put himself through UC Santa Barbara and retired as a successful banker. He has taught me that hard work and determination pay off.  

BOMA San Diego: This is your first year as a Board Member and our General Counsel.  What is the most significant benefit for your participation at the Board level?

Cyndy: I hope I’ve helped the Board understand and interpret contracts throughout the year. 

BOMA San Diego: What is the most surprising benefit? 

Cyndy: I feel I’ve gained some great friendships with the Board. Everyone is so nice, and it is fun going to a BOMA event and building relationships with everyone.

BOMA San Diego: You attended the BOMA International Conference in Nashville this past June. What was the highlight of your experience from a professional standpoint? 

Cyndy: I think it was a real accomplishment to speak to a full room of people on the legal aspects of commercial property management, post-COVID. From a personal standpoint, doing karaoke with the San Diego BOMA members was a blast!

BOMA San Diego: If you had the opportunity to travel back in time and give your younger self advice, what would you tell yourself? 

Cyndy: I would tell my younger self that hard work and determination do pay off. 

BOMA San Diego: What is your favorite method of self-care? 

Cyndy: I love sleep! Of course, I can’t sleep in during the work week, but on the weekends, I like to sleep in until 9:00 or later.

BOMA San Diego: Define success. 

Cyndy: I define success as having the loyalty and respect of the team of employees that you work with.