Ed Ryland, president and CEO of ConcordisRyland, addressed students in a real estate seminar held by the College of Business on Wednesday, Sept. 13, in Hobart Taylor Hall.
The seminar was designed to expand students’ knowledge about entrepreneurship and to provide insight on the real estate industry.
Ryland is co founder of Concodis Real Estate, a commercial real estate corporation, and president of ConcordisRyland. Ryland has served as lead broker on behalf of fortune 500 companies, as well as governmental entities. He has more than 20 years of extensive experience in real estate, brokerage, consulting, tenant and landlord representation. Ryland is also the former president of the Texas Association of Real Estate Brokers. He currently serves in a number of leadership positions including chair of the Houston Minority Political Action Committee and local chair of the National Minority Input Committee.
“It was very exciting to have someone who has had such great success in the industry come to speak with us. His presentation was very interesting and he gave real life insight on what it takes to succeed in the real estate business,” said junior Cynthia Newton.
Ryland provided students with valuable information about the real estate industry, and how to be successful. He spoke about the lack of minorities in the industry and the importance of diversity and encouraged students to stay physically, spiritually, and mentally fit.
“It was more rewarding for me to be here than it was for the students. It was very exciting to see how interested the students were in the real estate industry,” said Ryland.
The seminar was followed with a question and answer forum in which Ryland offered students advice about pursuing entrepreneurship opportunities, internships with his company, and a wide array of topics.
“The seminar was very informative, Mr. Ryland was very interactive with students and very knowledgeable about the business. He was also motivating, he made it clear that with the right tools anyone can start their own business,” said freshman Brooklyn Byers.