Erik Flores ’18: Small Town to Big Time; Overcoming Hurdles and Breaking Barriers

Erik Flores’ parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1979. They made the move knowing that it was a sacrifice they were willing to make—moving away from the only home they had ever known to open the doors to endless opportunities for their seven children. As the second eldest in the family, Erik wanted to set an example for his five younger siblings that would follow in his footsteps.

Erik grew up in the small town of Lodi, CA, located halfway between Modesto and Sacramento. In 1988, Lodi’s population was just over 50,000 people, most of whom were born, raised and remained in the city their entire lives. Many in the town worked at the local wineries and farms. At a young age, Erik recognized that there were more opportunities awaiting him outside of his home town.

In high school, Erik developed an interest in engineering. He contemplated attending college to further these interests. A four-year degree was not an assumed trajectory for Erik because no one in his family had attended college previously.

In 2005, Erik was admitted to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He was proud and very excited about the college journey that awaited him. However, his undergraduate pursuits didn’t quite go as planned.

“I did really well in high school and I assumed that I would do equally well in college,” says Erik. “The summer after my freshman year was spent in the library instead of hanging out with my friends because it was such a struggle for me, I was placed on academic probation, so I knew I had to make a change—I was just never particularly good at standardized testing.”

Erik feared that this struggle with test-taking might stand in the way of his success. He began thinking outside of the box for ways to achieve the success he longed for. Erik was determined that networking with key people would help lead him down the right path. Part of the reason Erik moved to San Diego and went to UCSD was to be nearby his older brother who was stationed at MCAS Miramar. Unfortunately, shortly after moving to San Diego, Erik’s brother was unexpectedly deployed to Kuwait. Erik had hoped to network with many of his older brother’s resources, so this change in plans forced Erik to overcome being outside of his comfort zone and quickly forced him meet new people. It was a challenge he came to enjoy. 

Erik’s newly found love of networking led him to his first internship at Flores Lund Consultants, ironically, a company that has no connection to his family surname.

“Everyone thought that it was my family’s business,” says Erik. “It was pure coincidence.”

While doing his best to keep his grades up in college, Erik continued to pursue new internship opportunities and connected with on campus organizations and mentors while at UCSD.

“I found that the more I became involved with these organizations, the more I was exposed to different opportunities,” says Erik. “It was a great way to accelerate my growth trajectory and I credit my success to my mentors that I met through these organizations.”

It was the combination of his early involvement with a wide variety of student organizations across the UCSD campus in conjunction with pursuing new internship opportunities, that ultimately led him to the University of San Diego School of Business’ Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) program.  

In 2010, Erik graduated from UCSD with a major in structural engineering. He felt very confident with the strong network of friends and professional colleagues he had developed over the five years in San Diego, but he was uncertain about his future.

“I really had no idea what I was going to do once I graduated,” says Erik. “I graduated UCSD during one of the worst economic recessions our nation has ever experienced.”

Erik heeded the advice of a mentor who advised him not to chase the money. Erik opted to accept an entry level position working for Nielsen Construction California, a general contractor, to start from the ground up and learn the business, rather than chasing a flashy title or big paycheck. This gave Erik time to establish a good foundation for a career in commercial real estate that has served him well.

“My first superintendent at Nielsen was great—his guidance was encouraging, not overwhelming,” says Erik. “Being new to the industry, he took the time to teach me the ropes because he knew that the faster I learned, the faster I could become an asset to the company, so I owe him and everyone at Nielsen a lot for helping launch my real estate career.”

Erik progressed in his career and saw early success. He was invited to participate in weekly meetings for a project that Nielsen Construction was working on in San Diego. It was during one of these meetings that Erik realized the direction he wanted to pursue for his career.

“I watched how these teams worked together and I knew that I wanted to be on the ownership side of the industry,” says Erik. He assumed that the transition wouldn’t be easy and that there would be more sacrifices along the way, but he quickly ascertained that pursuing a graduate degree was next in order. He feared his next greatest obstacle—the GMAT test.

Erik first determined that an MBA would help him achieve his goals, so he utilized all of his free time researching graduate programs and he enrolled in GMAT prep courses to help mitigate his fear of standardized testing.

“I spent six months studying and still didn’t feel great about my chances,” says Erik. “No matter how hard I studied, I knew that a standardized test score wouldn’t tell the complete story of who I was and what I know.”

After taking the GMAT five times and not seeing the successful score that most programs would require for admission, Erik contemplated giving up on his dream. While awaiting admissions letters from several graduate programs he had applied to, he received an email about a real estate conference hosted by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate that he learned about through his employer Project Management Advisors Inc. Erik signed up for the conference hoping it would be an excellent networking opportunity to mingle with others in the local real estate industry.

At the event, Erik recalls spending time at a booth for the Master of Science in Real Estate program. The next day, he had made up his mind—he was going to pivot and begin preparing to earn his MSRE degree. While Erik had concerns that his GMAT score might not be the highest the program had ever seen, he was thrilled to learn that the University of San Diego School of Business program looks carefully at the full picture of each applicant, not just the GMAT.

Jackie Greulich, associate director of real estate student and career services at the Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate, recalls seeing the results from Erik’s’ McQuaig behavioral assessment and knew he had great potential.

“Erik's McQuaig results and past experiences proved that he is a very determined, motivated individual who had a track record for achieving his goals,” says Greulich. “I knew that he would be a valuable asset to a team of professionals.”

Stath Karras, executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate, saw Erik’s drive and was impressed by it.

“He did not allow setbacks in his GMAT scoring to act as a deterrent to his pursuit of a real estate career,” says Stath. “Erik was a great member of the MSRE cohort, has gone on to see business success and has become greatly involved as an alumnus. He is a great ambassador to the USD real estate program.”

Erik is grateful for the opportunity he had to pursue the MSRE degree. He is appreciative of the time and energy that the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate team and USD real estate faculty took to fully appreciate his drive and ambitions for what he could accomplish professionally.

“Knowing that Stath, Jackie and the real estate faculty recognized my potential and took a chance on me meant everything and I will never forget that,” says Erik.

Currently, Erik is an assistant vice president at Lowe, a private real estate company with 48 years of real estate investment, development and management experience. He spends his time in Los Angeles managing the development of Ivy Station, a 500,000 square foot mixed-use project in Culver City, CA.

While Erik has been on the fast track to business success, he still has a lot that he wants to accomplish. At the top of that list is helping the next generation of real estate professionals understand that in 2021, diversity opens doors. The real estate industry has changed quite a bit and it is encouraging to see more people of color, minorities and women entering the field.   

“Early on, when I began to look at my career and the real estate industry, I realized that the Hispanic community was underrepresented in ownership, development and management roles,” says Erik. “It was and has been dominated by someone who does not look like me. You look at the boots on the ground labor force of our industry and the Hispanic community certainly dominates that group. Being in my current role, I feel that I have an obligation to connect with the workers on every project I am on because if it wasn’t for them or any of the people who are actually building what we are developing, there would be no project.”

Erik wants to bridge that gap and serve as a role model and for future generations. “I want the younger generation to know that just because you look up and don’t see someone of color, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be one the one to make it there,” says Erik. “Just because you’re the guy who is pouring concrete doesn’t make you any less important than me being on the ownership side. In middle and high school, I worked on the farm and did some landscape work so I understand firsthand how tough some of that work is.”

Flores looks to community leaders like Malin Burnham who uses the motto “Community Before Self” which Erik believes can help take San Diego to the next level of diversifying real estate opportunities for minorities.

Erik wants to encourage real estate students to take advantage of every opportunity that knocks. One door can open many, many doors and any of those doors can be the ticket to your future.

“You have to be willing to jump on every opportunity that comes your way because you never know when it could be the one that changes your life,” says Erik.

Erik is actively involved in professional real estate organizations in San Diego, including NAIOP and ULI. He strongly encourages students to get involved early and engage with their local community. He is also a mentor at Promise 2 Kids, a foster youth program serving over 3,000 current and former foster youth in San Diego.

“This year, the program has been a little extra special for me because the student that I was paired up with is a freshman at USD—how awesome is that?”

-By Joe Bertocchini '01 and Kimberly Malasky