Leading Voices in Real Estate is a real estate podcast hosted by Matt Slepin that goes beyond market data and deal metrics to explore the human stories behind the people who shape our cities and the built environment. What sets this show apart is its focus on the personal side of leadership — the career journeys, pivotal decisions, and philosophies of the entrepreneurs, executives, and public figures who have left a lasting mark on real estate and urban development.
Listeners gain insight into investment inspiration, community-focused development, and expertise across industries through candid conversations with a wide range of guests. Episodes feature senior leaders from firms such as KKR, Eastdil Secured, Federal Realty Investment Trust, BGO, PwC, and Suffolk Construction, alongside multifamily economists, urban policy makers like a former Mayor of Buenos Aires, and innovators in proptech and renewable energy. The breadth of guests reflects the full spectrum of the real estate industry, from institutional capital and commercial real estate to affordable housing, logistics, and disaster recovery.
Leading Voices in Real Estate is ideal for real estate professionals, investors, developers, urban planners, and students who want to learn from the career experiences of industry leaders rather than surface-level market commentary. Matt Slepin draws out the personal motivations and long-term thinking that drive his guests, making each episode a practical and reflective resource for anyone building a career or organization in real estate and the broader built environment.
Matt Slepin brings over 25 years of experience in search to his leadership position as Managing Director and Co-Head of Real Estate at ZRG Partners. Prior to ZRG, Matt worked with Heidrick & Struggles, Ferguson Partners, and founded Terra Search Partners, the sale of which brought him to ZRG. Matt focuses on C-suite roles across the Real Estate industry, including leadership at REITs, commercial real estate, and other industry sectors.
Before entering executive search in 1998, Matt held leadership roles within the real estate industry for more than 20 years. He was founder and executive director of the Multifamily Housing Institute in Washington, DC, and worked in key development, advocacy and finance positions for the National Housing Partnership, National Association of Housing Cooperatives and the Resolution Trust Corporation. He further rounded out his real estate expertise with NV Commercial, a northern Virginia-based commercial property company, and Reilly Mortgage, one of the country's leading apartment lenders.
An alumnus of Oberlin College, Matt has hosted the acclaimed podcast "Leading Voices in Real Estate" since 2017. "Leading Voices" releases new episodes every two weeks and has been downloaded more than one million times. The Leading Voices in Real Estate podcast series interviews some of the most successful, interesting, entrepreneurial people who shape our cities and the built environment. Host Matt Slepin gets to the personal side not often heard from these legends and visionaries, their career stories and advice, and their role in creating vibrant communities with character, beauty, and a high quality of life.
Matt Slepin is looking for senior real estate executives, urban leaders, and built environment innovators to share their career journeys and long-term leadership insights with their listeners.
