Since being featured in 1999, Christine Camp founded Avalon Development and grew the business from a one-woman real estate consultancy to a team of 27 professionals overseeing the development and management of $300 million in real estate assets. Christine’s industry experience has given her a keen understanding of what local communities need and what drives her employees. She stays closely connected to her team and believes that the key to great leadership is remaining engaged, energetic and action-oriented. She also operates with a lead-by-example mentality. “I wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything that I myself have not tried,” Christine says. “My team members know I have their backs. With mutual trust, we support each other. When that happens, the whole company thrives.”

In the wake of the Great Recession, Christine diversified Avalon Development’s portfolio to include construction, consulting and property management, giving Avalon a significant competitive advantage in a recovering market. “We were able to save our company by becoming more than what we were before the crisis,” Christine says. “We had to re-engineer our goals and redirect our energies towards survival and keeping jobs for our employees. The diversification not only kept the company afloat, it allowed us to leverage the experience into greater successes than before.”