Cooper Drenner, Wildhorn Capital - 2023 RECA Board Chair Edition

How did you start in the real estate industry?
​I was raised around the real estate industry in Austin. I was lucky enough to intern at Endeavor Real Estate Group while in College at UT. Following school, I took at job at Endeavor doing retail leasing. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a professional?
I would say some of the greatest challenges in my career currently center around owning and growing our business. I never appreciated or understood how challenging hiring a strong team and fostering growth and improvement inside a team was. 
Who is your mentor?
I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by many industry professionals in my career. I would consider my father, Steve Drenner to be one for sure! I was also very lucky to work for Brian Lent early in my career at Endeavor. Brian is still someone I fortunate to call a friend and mentor. He has been a consistent presence in my career.

What is the best professional development advice you've received?
During a time of transition in my career Steve Leblanc gave me great advise. He challenged me to vision where I wanted to be in 20 years personally, not necessarily what I wanted to be doing in real estate. This helped me filter out what was important to me. 

What other organizations or community interests are important to you?
My wife and I are deacons at The Austin Stone Community Church. I also enjoy coaching my sons in sports. We love to support some organizations that do great things in our community like Austin Achieve Public Schools and KLRU.

How has RECA impacted you as a professional?
RECA has been a consistent presence in my career and my involvement has been beneficial. Coming out of LDC in 2009, I had direction in how I could impact the community. It was clear how necessary RECA is to the interests  of our industry and how important it is to the community.  

As this year's RECA Board Chair, what are your goals for RECA and for ATX?
My goal is to continue to serve the organization in anyway that I can. My hope is that RECA can be a helpful, common sense voice that not only serves the interests of our constituents but all Austinites. In a year with so much change occurring with our council and at a State level, I am very optimistic about our ability to effective in that effort.​

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