CREW Austin Board Member Spotlight: Darlene Louk
Darlene Louk, Director, Hines
Darlene Louk was selected for the Board member spotlight for October 2021! She is a Director at Hines, a global real estate, development, and management firm, and has been a member of CREW Austin since 2007. She graciously agreed to answer the questions below so we can all get to know her better.
1. When did you join CREW Austin? What motivated you to become involved with CREW?
I friend told me about CREW, and said it was the very best group for women in CRE. Always being the only woman in the room in business meetings really made me want to have a group like this of my own!
2. When did you join/how long have you served on the Board? What inspired you to take your involvement in CREW to the next level?
This is my 2nd three year term, I’ll serve through 2022. I absolutely love being on the Board and having a window into all of our flagship events and getting to be a part of them.
3. How has CREW affected your professional career? How has it changed your business and personal relationships in the Real Estate Community?
CREW’s powerful influence impacted me most recently in my job search a few years ago when I changed positions, a CREW connection put me in touch with Hines, the company I am with now. It was a priceless connection that afforded me great access to a new position.
CREW has definitely enriched my professional career by broadening my contact list so dramatically. I love having such a large group of high performing people I can rely on not only for business needs like legal and title work, lending, land planning, design and other critical items to my projects, but also people that I can invest with, create new deals with, and hear the latest information currently happening in the City, County and State that is impacting CRE here in Austin.
4. How much time a month do you volunteer to serve on the board? What would your advice be to CREW members who would like to serve on the board in the future?
A few hours a month to attend meetings and do follow up related to those meetings is all that is required to be a Board member. I enjoy going to the Board meetings as well as committee meetings to be a part of our events!
5. What is your favorite CREW Austin event? Why is it your favorite?
I’d have to say it’s a tie between CREW Careers at the Ann Richards School, where we spend a half day with the 9th Grade girls, and UCREW, which reaches college students studying CRE. I love both of these because it is an opportunity to share insights into Real Estate with young women and help them make a possible career choice. Our industry is so unique and flexible and there are so many people don’t fully realize the wide spectrum of job opportunities in this field.