Member Spotlight: Tessa Jennings
“Leap, and the net will appear. – John Burroughs”
At center stage of this month’s CREW Tampa Bay Member Spotlight is Tessa Jennings. Although Tessa has gained a great deal of experience and appreciates the opportunities afforded to her by previous firms, she wanted a new challenge. So, Tessa has decided to take a bold leap, and create a new space and vision for project delivery!
With over 15 years of design and construction experience in the commercial real estate realm, Tessa is bringing that exceptional knowledge and skill to a new venture she and her business partner have launched. She is the Co-Founder and Tampa Market Director for Volteo, LLC (volteomgmt.com). Volteo is a boutique commercial real estate project management firm offering a customized and focused approach to owner and occupant representation. With a strong presence within the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas, the firm focuses on helping each client through their unique and specific real estate journey, offering services from the conceptual phase of a project through operations hand-off. Tessa’s ultimate goals in this new venture are to grow strong roots within the Tampa Bay region, build connections, and be an integral part of the city’s ongoing growth and development. Tessa believes being a successful Project Manager requires resourcefulness, active and ongoing listening and communication, and a passion to understand people and the spaces they occupy. She strives to provide services ethically and with integrity while providing a sense of harmony and balance not only for her clients but herself and individuals who work within her firm.
Tessa grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, with her mother, her father, and an older brother, Oliver. She began her college career at UNCA-NC State, with plans to earn a chemical engineering degree. She soon learned that her real passion was in the building industry, so she pivoted, transferred to UNC Greensboro, and graduated with a degree in architecture. Her parents have always been strong mentors and great teachers. They are hardworking, adaptable, and they have helped Tessa approach the many challenges in life with fortitude. Her family was instrumental in helping to form Tessa’s strong work ethic, her unwavering values, as well as her zest for life.
A fun fact that many people do not know about Tessa is that she was a successful, competitive ballet, tap, and jazz dancer for 17 years. She led a very well-planned and structured life where she continually practiced for perfection. The discipline it took to be exceptional in dance has been instrumental in her successes in life.
As a member of CREW Tampa Bay for more than seven years, Tessa has served on the Economic Summit Committee for five years and as a chairperson for four of those years. She has also served on the Excellence Awards Committee, and she is currently a chairperson for UCREW which is a university outreach program designed to introduce students to opportunities in commercial real estate. Tessa recently attended the CREW Network Convention in Atlanta where she connected with several CREW Tampa Bay members as well as many other CREW members from around the country. She found the events and people to be so inspirational that she plans to attend next year’s convention in Canada.
When Tessa is not busy working or volunteering, she enjoys doing various outdoor activities including cycling, kayaking, hiking, and running. She favors the mountains, the beach, being out on the water, or just savoring the outdoors. With a passion for travel, her plans are to take several upcoming trips to amazing destinations such as South Africa and New Zealand. In all that she does, Tessa sincerely enjoys and cherishes time spent with her family and loved ones.