Welcome to another episode of Smith Lane! We’re thrilled to present a conversation with Deana Vidal, the Director of Brand Strategy at John Burns Research & Consulting (JBREC) and a leader at the New Home Trends Institute (NHTI).

In this episode, Deana shares her fascinating work, blending her background as an architect with design and data to identify, understand, and solve consumer pain points. She describes the balance between hard insights and gut instinct, emphasizing the importance of projects evolving with the communities they serve and remaining authentic to your brand.

Through personal stories, Deana provides an invaluable understanding of a place and the people who live there. She shares about her path to becoming an architect, which grew from the inspiration she felt spending time in Manhattan, New York. She also shares an anecdote about visiting San Francisco when it was nearly a ghost town during the pandemic, and how the experience shaped her understanding of placemaking and the important role that people take in bringing places to life.

This is a must-listen episode of Smith Lane, diving into the mind of one of the industry's best and brightest – plus – an exciting announcement about the New Home Trends Summit towards the end of our conversation!

About Deana

Deana has a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She founded the Young Professionals chapter for the BIA Bay Area in 2020 after recognizing the need for more young and future leaders within the local homebuilding industry. She has received accolades recognizing her commitment to bettering the built environment and supporting industry professionals. Recent awards include: 2023 Professional Builder 40 under 40 recipient; 2021 Rising Rock Star Award from Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network (CREW) Bay Area; 2020 Associate of the Year Award from the Building Industry Association (BIA) Bay Area; 2020 Rising Star Award from the BIA Bay Area Professional Women in Building. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the BIA Bay Area as the Vice Chair of Associates.

As Director of Brand Strategy for John Burns Research & Consulting and as a leader at the New Home Trends Institute, her role is twofold. She and the NHTI team focus on design, consumer, and trend tracking nationally to identify what is shifting and translate that into how it influences home design, community development, and industry innovation. She also works closely with the JBREC team to ensure that we are amplifying and growing our company’s brand and our team members’ personal brands in an effective, authentic, and sustainable way.

She is passionate about finding practical applications and giving deep, insightful feedback to help companies and communities make impactful decisions. Deana has a rich history of research, business strategy, marketing strategy and experience working with businesses and startups around the world from multiple industries (tech, food, retail, architecture) to develop methods to help companies grow strategically.

Connect with Deana

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deana-vidal/

https://www.instagram.com/newhometrends/

https://jbrec.com/experts/deana-vidal/