Mary Tamaki

Meet Mary Tamaki

What is your role at Avison Young?

Director of Marketing, North America

How did you get into commercial real estate?

I started as a temp. I was a graphic designer who typed fast. I took dictation and turned proposals into art projects. 20+ years later, I’m still driven by what dedication, hard work, and creativity can offer the vast and ever-changing world of CRE.

Who has been the most influential woman in your life?

My mom. As a 17-year-old, she was a singer, stage performer, and the Salinas County jitterbug champion. At 17, she was also incarcerated into “relocation” camp for four years because of her Japanese heritage during WWII. During those years she gave dance lessons, and today she is still known to many grateful JA seniors as “the dancer." I also became a master of Japanese classical dance because of my mother’s influence.

When I think about her resilience, I think most about that time in her life. She went on to become the supportive and gracious wife of my high-profile father, the former GM of the Los Angeles DWP. She was also my loving mom, who supported me through piano lessons, ice skating, horse-back riding, whatever whim I had of the day; she also washed my mouth out with soap when I cursed, and scolded me when I refused to wear shoes.

She managed to take care of me and my two brothers, all the while having a side gig. She was a real estate tycoon – an owner and operator of hotels, motels, apartments. She was a hard-working boss-lady, earning the respect of dozens of employees, all the while juggling city events with my father, and making sure her rebel daughter did not fly over the edge. She was/is a woman to be admired.

Today, Mom is 97 years old, still as poised as a dancer, still attentive to her family, still the boss lady, and one heck of a mean poker player. Anna Mae Tamaki, a princess and a warrior, the most influential woman in my life. I hope to write a book about her someday.

This year's IWD theme is Choose to Challenge. What do you choose to challenge or celebrate to help create more inclusion in your community?

I choose to celebrate the women artists, writers, and musicians who share their stories fearlessly, with authenticity. I choose to challenge myself to be so brave.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Right out of college, I was the owner of a punk rock bar in the Downtown LA art scene.