Matthew Ram, 37

Starting a job with a real estate private equity firm amid a recession — caused mostly by over-leveraged real estate — is, at minimum, a risky proposition. 

But for Matthew Ram, that move, some 15 years ago, launched what’s now a solid career in the field. Now in charge of hotel acquisitions for Tampa-based hotel management firm McKibbon Hospitality, under the division McKibbon Equities, Ram got his start in the business in 2010 with Convergent Capital Partners. His first job for the Tampa-based firm, after graduating from USF with a degree in finance, was analyzing and underwriting distressed real estate investments. “The timing was pretty fortuitous,” says Ram. “Coming out of the recession there was a lot of opportunity to buy property." 

Ram credits Convergent CEO Santosh Govindaraju with taking a chance on a college kid, and then quickly becoming a trusted mentor. Two key lessons? Govindaraju, Ram says, taught him self-reliance and that an edge in real estate, really in business, is to over-prepare and become an expert “on a certain subject matter.” Govindaraju, Ram adds, also led by example in being pragmatic, with deals and relationships with clients.