Darren Howerton

What is your professional background?

My background is in sales, marketing, and customer experience. Having sold to and supported customers directly, I then moved into a more consultative role to help my customers become better at servicing their own customers. Through a customer experience focused lense, I worked with customers to align their sales, marketing, and support teams to better serve their customers and increase revenue.

I have experience working with extremely small teams as well as at a Fortune 100 company. In my most recent position, I worked for a startup that grew to IPO; an experience that helped grow my entrepreneurial spirit. 

What motivated you to pursue this program?

I realized that I had reached a point in my career (and my current company) where I would need to increase my technical skill-set in order to accomplish my career goals. A network connection introduced me to the UNC Charlotte MSRE program as a great opportunity to learn and grow the skills needed to move into the commercial real estate industry. After some research and speaking to alumni of the program, it became clear that combining my entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen with the knowledge, skills, and network that UNC Charlotte provides would be the perfect step to accomplish my goals.

How would you describe the M.S. in Real Estate to someone who is considering pursuing this master’s degree?

A program that provides you with the essential knowledge, skills, and network to begin or grow your career in the commercial real estate industry.