Mia Soto ’24: Laying the Foundation for Leadership

Growing up, Mia Soto was always ambitious and loved to lead. But it wasn’t until she worked an internship at a construction site in high school that she first discovered real estate as a potential career path. She had no family or friends — let alone women mentors — who worked in commercial real estate to guide her, but something was sparked.

Now as she prepares to graduate this May with a degree in real estate from the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business, Mia Soto ’24 (BBA) has learned the value of a support network, and is determined to pave a way for other women in commercial real estate.

Developing Her Dreams

Born and raised in San Diego, Mia knows the town inside and out and has always wanted to build a career in the place she calls home. “I love exploring and being a tourist in my own city. That’s the great thing about San Diego, there’s always something new to do.”

When starting at the University of San Diego in the fall of 2020, Mia remained open to different business majors. But recalling her internship, she decided to participate in various virtual events put on by the Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate (BMC) to see if it was the right fit for her. 

After attending virtual events like the BMC Annual Real Estate Conference and watching the 2020 NAIOP (National Association for Industrial and Office Parks) University Challenge, Mia swiftly decided she would be the one competing and presenting one day. 

“The fact that the Real Estate Society and BMC went through the work of putting on so many virtual events my freshman year during COVID was really admirable,” Mia recalled when explaining what really drove her to declaring real estate as her major. 

Creating a Community-Based Network 

Although Mia knew her way around the city, she had no family or friends in real estate before entering her major and she knew building a network was going to be a priority if she wanted to succeed in her career.

“The Knauss School really emphasizes networking and building strong connections.” Feeling inspired by all the events the BMC and Real Estate Society were putting on each year, Mia decided to get involved in various clubs and associations on campus. 

During her time at USD she was involved in Associated Student Government (ASG) as a commuter senator, she was the chair of recruitment for the Phi Chi Theta Business Fraternity, and the director of leadership as well as vice president of inclusion at her sorority, Pi Beta Phi. 

Her junior year she served as vice president of the Real Estate Society and then president this past year. “It really helped me build my real estate network because we try to hold one event a month focused on themes in real estate such as sustainability, networking or professional development.”

When asked how she juggled all of it she shared, “It gets really busy, but I am lucky to have an amazing committee of 10 other students who helped handle events, especially while I was participating in the NAIOP challenge last month.” 

The NAIOP University challenge is a commercial real estate development competition for students to get real world experience and apply the skills they’ve learned in their coursework to a project they would face in their careers.

“I’m really proud of everything my team accomplished,” said Mia. “We learned that a team truly works best when you highlight everyone’s personal skill sets in different ways, and Stath Karras was an incredible advisor and mentor to us throughout the process.” 

The NAIOP challenge was a full circle moment for Mia, allowing her to not only fulfill her dream of competing in the event she watched virtually as a first year student, but test her skills in the commercial development setting. 

Finding a Sense of Purpose

Although Mia’s knowledge and skills were advancing, her sense of purpose within commercial real estate didn’t come into focus until she got involved with professional mentors, joined CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) and took a unique course led by USD President James T. Harris III.

“The BMC really prioritizes mentorship and encourages the students to get involved in the program that Knauss offers,” Mia stated. Through that program she had two separate mentors from USD which both took her on site tours, introduced her to their personal network and brought her to professional events.

Through a USD sponsorship, Mia was also able to get a membership with CREW where she not only expanded her network, but also gained multiple women mentors and received a scholarship. 

Along with her professional mentors, Mia credits her core values to courses taken here at USD, such as various business leadership classes and a seminar in SOLES (School of Leadership and Education Sciences).

Not every student gets the opportunity to be taught by their university president. So when Mia received the chance to be led by President Harris in the course “President’s Leadership Class,” she jumped at the opportunity and ended up learning the type of professional she wants to be in the future. 

“Because real estate is very money driven, I haven’t seen a lot of ethical business leaders,” Mia stated when discussing why this class was so pivotal to her career aspirations. “President Harris is an excellent leader to learn from and he shaped my core values around leading with diversity and inclusion at the forefront of everything I do, and I think those values will stick with me for the rest of my life.” 

Because of the mentors and courses she took, she realized that being a successful business manager means prioritizing those you serve. Her dream goal in life became to run her own commercial real estate business with inclusion at the forefront, while mentoring young women to continue the upward trend of gender equality in business. 

“Real estate was historically male dominated, and in commercial real estate or development, it still is.” Combining that knowledge with her leadership skills she is excited to pioneer for other women in the real estate industry. 

“I have a lot of great mentors who are powerful women already paving the way for others and one day I want to do that for others after me.”

— Jessica Applonie