Andy Cullen - Tributary Real Estate
Thirlby Co. Leader to Learn From: March 2025
March 5, 2025
In 2017, Andy Cullen launched Tributary Real Estate with four business partners, making a commitment to do things differently in the commercial real estate world.
“We hit the market at an interesting time at the peak of a real estate cycle while there were not any boutique firms in Denver doing what we were doing,” Andy explained. “We wanted to take care of our relationships in Denver and make sure Denver is successful in growing.”
Since then, Tributary has expanded its business significantly, recently launching an investment arm, TRE Investments, and purchasing two properties in Denver.
In working with his team and clients, Andy has learned a lot about leadership, relationship building, and how to develop thriving organizations long term. Read on to learn about Andy’s passion for real estate, his superpower of reading the room, and what he’s learned about effective office spaces in the post-pandemic world.
OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANDY
What inspired you to pursue a career in the commercial real estate world?
After I graduated from Colorado State University (CSU), I worked for AT&T doing corporate marketing and sales. This was when everything blew up in the dot-com world. I discovered that I wasn’t making a real impact with cell phones and wasn’t feeling fulfilled.
At the time, my mom had a fellow teacher at her high school named Barry Dorfman, who left teaching to get into the commercial real estate world. Barry later led The Staubach Company, and gave me an opportunity to come and work for him.
During my 15 years at The Staubach Company, it was acquired by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in 2008. In 2017, my business partners and I launched Tributary Real Estate - where I work today.
Not everyone is passionate about real estate. What do you think keeps you going?
I love the impact you can make in the community. It’s the physical space that we all live in. It’s the responsibility of companies and decision-makers to make sure we are influencing development in a positive way.
I think my favorite part of my work is helping companies find a path that is going to help them succeed. It is a process. At the end of the day when the lease gets signed, that is the least exciting part. It’s the whole process of designing these spaces, negotiating these deals, and creating the leverage.
Your business, Tributary Real Estate, has done things a bit differently from day one. What do you attribute the most to your success?
We hit the market at an interesting time at the peak of a real estate cycle while there were not any boutique firms in Denver doing what we were doing. We wanted to take the best of what we learned at JLL but with a completely different client experience. We wanted to take care of our relationships in Denver and make sure Denver is successful in growing. We were able to create a lot of momentum in the market and also with our presence on social media and visibility in the market.
Internally, we’ve created a culture of mentorship where people understand the market and have the resources to build their careers. It’s a great career path but the first few years are the ones people don’t make it through. We pay for 100 percent of our employee’s health insurance, offer 401K matching, and a salary for the first two years. We also do biweekly education, guest speakers, and encourage nonprofit involvement. If we take care of our employees, they are going to take care of us.
Externally, we spend a lot more time talking to people about their vision for their company so we can align a real estate strategy around what they are hoping to accomplish. We ask critical questions. Typically, real estate is the second biggest line item after people, and we want to impact that second biggest line item. Keeping and retaining talent is a huge deal. If you have a tired and old office that people come back to, they are not happy.
Speaking of office spaces, what have you observed in the post-pandemic world?
Real estate is very expensive, especially if your people are only there a few days a week. You are not going to compete with somebody’s living room, so companies have had to think differently about their office space. People want flexibility with how they work and how they come together.
What we are seeing [be successful] is open space with cubes and a significant number of breakout rooms, conference rooms, and soft seating areas. There are rooms for quiet head down work. The end all message is - people want to be around each other. People can come together, interact, and innovate.
You have to make those connections so you have a good team culture. When you have an over-scheduled Zoom culture, you’re losing those unintentional conversations with dynamic input.
I’ve also learned that accountability at work is different from doing your checklist at home. You can be a taskmaster at home and knock out your work, but it’s important to ask yourself what you do for the company from an innovation and culture perspective. It’s to drive that forward when you’re home all day.
Switching gears to our seven leadership questions - how would you define confidence?
The confidence I relate to is with people who truly understand scenarios, read situations, and believe in themselves enough to sit back and listen or participate and engage. People jump the gun a lot when they are unsure about themselves just to get their opinion out there.
What is your mission or purpose in life?
To drive positive impact. It’s been an ongoing theme in my life for a long time.
What is your greatest superpower as a leader?
Reading the room. There’s lot of times when I have difficult conversations and you have to know what’s needed in that moment to come to a productive decision and discussion.
What do you think is the most important skill a leader must have to successfully manage people?
Empathy. If you can’t see what other people’s views are, you’ve going to have a difficult time bringing them along with where you’re trying to go. I’ve been there. I was a young starving broker. I’ve worked as a dishwasher and done manual labor for construction companies. I’ve had hard jobs.
What is something that might surprise people about you?
I have two horses. It’s my wife’s passion and I’ve been talked into it. Also, I was in special education all through elementary school. My education was not aligning with who I was as a person. I think I’ve always been able to see the greater picture for how things are going to play out, by seeing the pieces of the puzzle and bringing them together. This has helped me in real estate.
What advice would you have for someone who is struggling or feeling stuck right now in their life or career?
Change is a wonderful thing. You also have to find the happiness and drive within yourself in order to find the change that is going to make you happy.
What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
I don’t have regrets going backwards. I’m so happy with how things have worked out and the journey I’ve come on. I’ve really enjoyed all of it. I’ve always tried to believe in myself. I have a good voice in my head and have good role models in my life who were hard workers.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I’m trying to be more intentional about reaching out to close friends and business contacts. You can lose connections over time. The people who others think are the strongest and sometimes the ones who are struggling the most.
Show up. It might be an event you don’t want to go to. I’m trying to say yes and make sure I show up. If you RSVP to an event but don’t show up, that says something about the relationship.
About Andy Cullen
As partner and managing broker of Tributary Real Estate, Andy Cullen offers more than two decades of experience in commercial real estate. Andy leads Tributary’s integrated brokerage and investment strategy, supporting the success of the team in delivering positive results for clients through a personalized service model.
Andy is passionate about delivering results that make him a long-term asset to his clients. His attention to detail and ability to create leverage and flexibility have earned him the trust and repeat business of clients. Andy has formed longstanding relationships with clients by working to create a real estate strategy that aligns with the business goals of his clients. Previously, Andy served as a senior vice president at JLL where he specialized in assisting clients with strategic real estate planning, lease administration, disposition, relocation, and portfolio management.
A proud Ram, Andy earned his bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and went on to earn his MBA from Regis University in Denver. Andy is an active leader in the commercial real estate industry, serving on the Executive Committee for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, the Economic Council for the Downtown Denver Partnership, and as a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and the Denver Metro Commercial Association of REALTORS.
An active community leader, Andy currently serves as a board member and board chair with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, and previously served on Goodwill Industries of Denver’s Leadership Partners Council and Mile High United Way’s Emerging Leaders Council. When Andy is not working with clients, you’ll find him spending time with his wife and two daughters, volunteering as a big brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor 2.0 program, mountain biking, or skiing.
Follow Andy’s leadership journey on LinkedIn.
About This Feature
Leaders to Learn From is a standing feature in The Thirlby Company’s monthly newsletter that recognizes outstanding leaders in our community who demonstrate our company’s core values. You can learn about our other honorees here, or subscribe to our newsletter to receive this feature and more inspiring content in the future.
