Creative Mind - with Bobby Brill

Take a listen and get into the world of the client in our talk with Fred Knapp of Maximus Real Estate Partners as we talk about the development of the murals at Parkmerced, painted by the students of Academy of Art.

Fred Knapp drives the strategy and execution for Maximus’ operations. He joined the company in 2019, and brings considerable restructuring, asset-management, and organizational improvement capabilities honed over a 30-year long career in real estate. Fred's strong customer service orientation is instrumental in the creation of an Active Service Culture across our portfolio.

Prior to Maximus, Fred was the Executive Director of Related Hudson Yards. In this position, Fred was the operational leader responsible for managing 1,000 employees serving the new $20 billion New York City neighborhood. His responsibilities in this role included P&L financial management, organizational construct, security, general management, operations, and technology infrastructure. Fred also served as Interim President of Related Management Company, where he implemented restructuring and organizational improvements for the 2,000-person company overseeing 52,000 residential units and 10 MM SF of commercial space.

Go behind the scenes of the 10-year journey to create the graphic novel - White Faced Lies - as it went from the spark of an idea to the Sundance Writers Lab to now available on Kindle and Amazon.

Book Synopsis - In China, local companies hire white (but not necessarily qualified) Americans to lend them credibility. Cons such as these, known as "face jobs", are instances in which Chinese companies hire foreigners to pose as professionals to lend credibility during meetings, press conferences, and other events where "face" is paramount. When veteran "face-jobber" Stanley hires a new assistant who thinks Stanley is his long-lost father, Stanley attempts to pull off the con of a lifetime by pretending to be his assistant's dad. A darkly humorous critique of the post-truth world that explores questions of race, systemic fraud, and personal greed, "White Faced Lies" is ultimately about how easily lies become truth.

Check out the book here - https://www.amazon.com/White-Faced-Lies-Eric-Flanagan-ebook/dp/B09N6W8HYQ

Violetta Gonzalez is based out of San Francisco, California, and fell in love with photography 6 years ago playing in the darkroom at the City College of San Francisco. She found that photography was the most efficient way to explore & share stories of all the diverse beauty she explores. With her BFA from the Academy of Art University, she uses photography as a tool to capture social-political issues that target the social norm all the while capturing its true beauty & essence of every subject matter. In expanding her portfolio & traveling to other cities that also experience similar social issues, she hopes to educate you through her lens while bringing you a new point of view.

Her project, We All Need Safety, explores the world of cam models and sex workers from the inside and is fascinating look into modern sexuality in our technological age.

You can view her work here - https://www.violetagphotography.com/