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Colliers’ Kids Bring Fresh Ideas to the Office
Three very imaginative, sales-minded and hard-working children joined the Colliers International | Pittsburgh team last week for our annual “Take Your Child To Work Day.”
The first part of the day was spent learning about what makes buildings different, including the amenities they offer. This was all in anticipation of their big project of the day: create and draw your own building, come up with a pitch, and then try to sell it to anyone in the office.
Garrett, a kindergartner and the youngest of the bunch, designed a hotel skyscraper with a full movie theater in it. His brother Ryan, who is in 2nd grade, created four very different buildings. The most notable was named the “Titanic” in which he described as a “ship like building that can be moved by a truck to be moved into the water.” When asked if it was like the Pittsburgh Ducky Tours, he said yes, but that it was much bigger and people could actually live in it. Lizzie, a 4th grader, designed a retail building with an ice rink and pretzel shop, where people could dip their own chocolate covered pretzels. She also created a very cool office building where people could not only come to work, but the main priority was to have fun!
“My kids had a great time learning about commercial buildings,” Mark Anderson, dad of Ryan and Garrett said. “Their favorite part was negotiating with buyers for their hypothetical properties.”
Lisa Mikolay, Lizzie’s mom, added, “I know the day is supposed to inform the kids about their parents jobs, however, it was a learning experience for me as I saw my quiet 9 year old girl turn into a high pressure sales person trying to get the most profit from her building.”
While no real money was exchanged for their million dollar buildings, their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. All three kids received a cash prize of $1 and pizza for lunch! Afterwards, Ryan and Garrett accompanied their dad on a very important business meeting, while Lizzie helped her mom with various office tasks for the rest of the afternoon.
The whole office was impressed by the creativity and work ethic of each child. It is apparent that they will do great things when they grow up!
“When I asked the kids what they thought their future careers would be, I was intrigued as Garrett talked about being an inventor of new floating chocolate (another Willie Wonka) and Ryan wants to be an inventor and is very interested in finding life on other planets and the possibility of living on other planets,” Lisa explained.
Colliers kids enjoy a day in the office
Three very intelligent and hard-working children joined their parents at Colliers International | Pittsburgh for the annual “Take Your Children To Work” day. The day started with fun brain-teasers, including building a skyscraper out of chocolate and playing concentration (or as some people know it as the matching game) with iconic Pittsburgh buildings and landmarks. They especially enjoyed eating the chocolate once they were finished!
After a pizza party lunch, the kids assisted their parents with some important tasks, including sorting the mail, making deposits, binding books, and delivering papers to other individuals in the office.
“Lizzie learned a great deal and cherishes the book we put together for her showcasing buildings and monuments around the world and photos of her and the other kids,” Lisa Mikolay, Office Manager for Colliers International | Pittsburgh explained. “She loved trying to build a skyscraper out of candy, working on the computer and helping me make deposits.”
Aside from helping their parents, the kids got to explore some of their own skills and talents. Seven-year old Ryan sat in one of the empty cubicles and even made a cold-call to a very interested prospect, his mom! He designed his own skyscraper and discussed business strategies with other brokers in the office. Lizzie veered off from brokerage and became a jewelry designer, making necklaces out of paperclips for the administrative staff.
Not only did the kids enjoy time in the office, they were also enamored by all the excitement downtown Pittsburgh has to offer.
“Ryan and Garrett had a great time at Colliers International | Pittsburgh for take your child to work day. They learned about downtown buildings and marketing real estate,” said Mark Anderson, Vice President of Retail Brokerage at Colliers International | Pittsburgh. “They love coming downtown and seeing all of the people and activity as well as interacting with the brokers and staff in the office.”
Lisa added, “Lizzie really enjoyed spending the day with me at work learning about the different buildings in Pittsburgh. She was amazed that people now live in the heart of the CBD and was even more amazed that they would have pets!”
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