Joseph Cahoon, MBA ’05, is a lecturer in real estate finance and is managing director of the McCombs School’s Real Estate Finance and Investment Center (REFIC), which combines academic research, real-world networking and undergraduate and graduate real estate education. Prior to joining REFIC in October 2009, Cahoon worked at Century Development in Houston and Champion Partners and Gables Residential in Dallas. He has three young children with his wife, Christie.

What brought you to McCombs for an MBA?

I graduated from UT in 1993 with a Plan II degree and didn’t quite know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I worked on a cattle ranch in Colorado, taught Western Civilization to ninth-graders, was on staff for Habitat for Humanity and was a film production assistant here in Austin. After earning back-to-back master’s degrees in American studies and community and regional planning at UT, I took a job in Houston with Century Development, where I helped manage the development of the Hobby Center for Performing Arts and the Reliant Energy Plaza office tower. With this experience, I knew that I had finally found my real passion in life, but I still didn’t have the financial tools to see a project from A to Z. So that’s when I decided to return to Austin for an MBA.

How did you come to be managing director of REFIC?

After I graduated from McCombs I worked in real estate development in Dallas through 2009, but then we got stuck with the worst real estate economy we’ve had in a long, long time. I called one of my mentors [former REFIC aassociate director] Lennie Sullivan to brainstorm about my next move, and she suggested I reach out to Jay Hartzell [associate professor of finance and REFIC executive director]. I realized this was an excellent opportunity to balance Jay’s academic expertise with my professional expertise and then provide both sides to students. I had always given back to McCombs through my involvement with the REFIC Associate Council, but this was an entrepreneurial way to give back and hopefully help take the REFIC to a new level.

What do you love about your job?

I found that I really like teaching. It forces you to be so analytical. As a student, you want all the information laid out in front of you, but as a teacher, you have to push students to think beyond the basic concepts. I could always tell someone the answer, but then they don’t really learn. And you have to be so confident. I have to take my knowledge of multiple topics up many levels in a short amount of time just to make sure I understand it from 360 degrees, because I didn’t know where the questions would come from. I don’t always have the answer, but I always enjoy saying say, “How can we figure this out together?” I really like that give and take with students. I also feel great that I have this home base now at McCombs, and, in particular, at this great center that is in touch with the professional and academic worlds in real estate. I can’t think of a better place to be right now. I am very excited about creating value for people that want to give back to McCombs.

What motivates you each day?

I don’t want my students to just say “Oh I made an ‘A’ on a test.” I want them to walk away with a tool kit. And I want to give them the best tool kit in commercial real estate so that they can walk into the next step of their career and be able to not just fill in the blanks, but be able to think and add value from day one.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

I never estimated how much time it takes to prepare. It gives me a whole new respect for professors and teachers. The prep time is unbelievable—I haven’t worked this hard in my life.

What are some bits of business wisdom that you have tried to abide by in your career?

If you embrace what’s in front of you, embrace the opportunities that you have, if you become the very best at what you’re doing today, then doors open up. I was diagnosed with tongue cancer three years ago and had part of my tongue removed. But it’s one of those things where, when you have something in life thrown at you like that, you’ve got to roll with it. If you just sit back and wallow in something, it will eat you alive. Another great thing I heard was from someone on a career panel at McCombs who told us, “You better be nice to everybody on the way up, because you’ll sure need them on the way down.” All you have is your reputation, and it doesn’t take much to tarnish it forever.

How has the real estate crash affected REFIC?

People have more time to give back. And everyone is being more reflective: What are the lessons we’ve learned here? What can we learn now to take this to the next level when the economy recovers? So people have been very responsive to helping with the center and are really relying on the network we have. It’s a very strong sense of community.

What do you say to students concerned about entering real estate right now?

If this is what you’re passionate about, there’s really no better time to get in the industry, because you’re going to learn an incredible amount over the next five years and be on the up-swing in the industry. If you are entrepreneurial enough and you have a passion, you will rise. Our students are going to get hired. If you look at the leaders in the industry today, they’re the ones that got started in the last crash.