A Brooklyn Collaboration: Values-Driven Business in the Built Environment

Welcome to Working Together, a podcast where we delve into the art and science of collaboration within the built environment industry. Hosted by Drew Lang, founder of Brick & Wonder, this podcast explores the stories and strategies behind successful collaborations that drive innovation and shape the built world around us.

In this episode we spoke with two people whose values and brands aligned in the construction of a Brooklyn condominium building 350 Butler Street. Bill Caleo is a real estate developer and the founder of the Brooklyn Home Company, and Rachelle Louis is the Luxe Business Development Lead at JennAir Appliances. 

You can also find and subscribe to Working Together on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

I think about it like dancing. When you first start dancing with a new partner, you step on each other’s toes. But when you watch a couple that has been dancing for 10 years, it’s the most beautiful thing… the collaboration and the way they move, it’s in sync. If a collaborator makes a mistake, the first or second time I try not to blame them, I try to look within myself, how do we stop stepping on each other’s toes?

– Bill Caleo

Meeting each other as humans and forming a connection, you really want to work for each other. You love the team and so you want to do everything you can to work with them. And so the client pushes the transaction part, not me. 

– Rachelle Louis

I think people have to connect. And even though a product is an inanimate object, to me, even brands have a soul. Does my brand connect with the soul of what you do, and your product, or what you’re putting out? Do they make a perfect match? Because we want it to feel authentic, not just beautiful.

– Rachelle Louis

It was all about building the team, and the collaboration. And it’s unusual to get a creative person, like an interior designer in a room with an engineer, they think so differently. But when they want the same things, it’s a wonderful collaboration: you watch the fire, and it’s a really interesting process.

– Bill Caleo

Brick & Wonder is a global community for accomplished professionals in the real estate & design industry. The podcast zooms in on collaborations between Brick & Wonder members and the partnerships engaged by industry luminaries to realize ambitious and complex building projects.

Our host Drew Lang is the founding principal of Lang Architecture and the founder of Brick & Wonder. Drew’s passion for how nature and architecture influences everyday life in expressed in the firm’s work, including Hudson Woods, Splinter Creek and the upcoming Windham Mountain development.

Rachelle Louis is the Business Development Lead for JennAir Luxury Appliances Northeast division. With a background in the apparel world in business development, licensing, and marketing – she brings her experience in fashion, art, intrigue, and aesthetics to the industry.

Bill Caleo is the co-founder and Head of Operations for The Brooklyn Home Company, a residential and hospitality development firm based in Brooklyn. Bill has been a real estate developer in Brooklyn for more than 15 years and is currently working on 100,000+ square feet of residential real estate in Brooklyn.

Podcast Recording and Production: Christopher Plant and Radio Kismet

Photography: Anna Dave

Correction: This episode states that the collaboration between JennAir and The Brooklyn Home Company brought a freestanding convection range to market, when instead it moved up the release of an induction professional-style range in a traditional style.