2026 SMC Real Estate Summit
The 2026 SMC Real Estate Summit marked more than the conclusion of a semester. In many ways, it marked the closing of my first chapter in Los Angeles.
Sitting at the summit, it felt surreal to realize how quickly my life had shifted over the past months. Not long earlier, I was still adjusting to Los Angeles. Now I was helping host an event bringing together professionals from across the industry.
Serving as Vice President of External Affairs for the Santa Monica College Real Estate Association has been one of the most defining experiences of this chapter of my life. As part of the founding board, I had the opportunity to help build an organization that brought students and professionals together through conversations surrounding real estate, investment, development, leadership, and career growth.
This week, that chapter came full circle through the 2026 SMC Real Estate Summit.
The summit brought together professionals from across multiple sectors of the industry, including representatives and speakers connected to organizations such as Citi, Yardi Breeze, HOPICS, Merritt Community Capital Corporation, Cushman & Wakefield, and Carolwood Estates, alongside discussions led by professionals including Nancy Guzman, Joe Goodhue, Tatev Stepanyan, CFA, Marques Brooks, Brooke Denny, Kimberly Robinson, Arman Mahmoodi, Brandon Lopez, and many others who contributed their experience and insight throughout the event.
Being part of organizing and helping host the summit allowed me to step back and realize how much can be created through initiative, collaboration, and relationships. Watching students, professionals, investors, and industry leaders come together in one space reinforced something I have been learning more deeply over the past year: real estate is not only about transactions, numbers, or properties. At its core, it is about people.
One insight that especially stayed with me throughout the summit was how relationship-building, emotional intelligence, communication, and presence are often just as important as technical knowledge in this industry. The rooms you enter, the conversations you have, and the way you connect with others quietly shape the opportunities that follow.
Over the past year, Los Angeles has changed me in ways I could never have predicted. It challenged me to adapt, to become more independent, to build confidence in unfamiliar environments, and to begin creating a future completely from the ground up in a new country and culture.
What started as uncertainty slowly evolved into direction.
Through Santa Monica College, the Real Estate Association, Project Destined, networking events, industry conversations, and the people I have met along the way, I began to understand that luxury real estate is about far more than aesthetics or status. It is about psychology, positioning, trust, relationships, lifestyle, and the ability to create environments people emotionally connect to.
As this chapter closes, I now prepare to transfer into UCLA and step into a new era of growth, education, and vision. While this marks the end of my time within the SMC Real Estate Association, it also feels like the beginning of something much larger.
Carmel Estates was originally created as a journal documenting my journey into real estate, business, and international luxury markets. But over time, it has become something more personal than that. It has become an archive of growth, reinvention, ambition, and the process of building a life and future in real time.
Looking back, I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has been part of this chapter. To the students, faculty, professionals, mentors, speakers, and connections who supported me throughout this experience — thank you.