Carly Plotkin
About Carly
Carly Plotkin joined Stirling in 2016 and serves as an Advisor with the company’s commercial real estate team. She has extensive knowledge in the commercial real estate industry with a primary focus on tenant and landlord representation and a strong concentration in the retail and hospitality markets. She has worked with national, regional and local clients in both marketing and leasing capacities.
Previously, Carly worked with The Howard Hughes Corporation, where she led local marketing and development efforts for the overhaul of the former Riverwalk Marketplace into the nation’s first downtown outlet center, The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk in New Orleans.
Since joining Stirling, Carly has been an active member of ICSC and held a position on the Next Generation Leadership Board, in addition to serving as ICSC’s NextGen State Chair for Louisiana.
Ms. Plotkin is also an active member of the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR) Commercial Investment Division (CID), where she served as a volunteer on the Programs Committee, and the Retail Brokers Network (RBN), where she served as RBN’s NextGen Southeast Committee Chair. Carly was also the recipient of the 2017 “Rising Star Award” at the NOMAR-CID Annual Achievement Awards ceremony.
Currently, Carly is affiliated with several nonprofit and volunteer organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, as well as proudly serves as a Board Member for the New Orleans Jewish Community Center. Ms. Plotkin is also a graduate of the New Orleans Business Alliance’s inaugural Economic Development Ambassadorship Program and received her B/S in both Marketing & Communications from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.
Alec Purser
About Alec
- PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Alec Purser began his professional career in customer service at Publix Supermarkets in 2009 where he focused on positive customer experiences for nine years. After completing his education at the University of West Florida in 2018, Alec pursued a career with Sinclair Broadcasting Group where he worked as a Marketing Consultant at the NBC television affiliate (NBC15) in Mobile, Alabama. There, Alec specialized in broadcast television sales and digital marketing analysis. Alec made it his mission to completely understand every client’s business model with careful listening and analysis. Specifically, he assisted many businesses with their rebranding efforts to ensure that their target audiences understood the elements that make them special. Alec is overjoyed to be back in his hometown of Pensacola to pursue Commercial Real Estate at Stirling. Trust and truth are pillars that Alec uses to build effective business relationships.
- FAMILY & HOBBIES
Alec’s two passions are golf and watching Tampa Bay Buccaneers football. Since 2019, Alec has been a member of the Hacker’s Amateur Golf Tour. In fact, he is the tour’s 2019 Player of the Year and continues to optimize and market their official website. Alec’s favorite time of year is the week of the Masters Tournament. A particularly memorable moment for Alec was standing on the 18th green at Augusta National watching Tiger Woods win the Masters in 2019.
- EDUCATION
- Alec graduated from the University of West Florida with a degree in Marketing and Sales Management.
Lauren Ryan
About Lauren
Lauren Ryan joined the Stirling team in 2014, specializing in tenant and landlord representation for leasing and sales transactions in the retail market throughout Louisiana.
Previously, Mrs. Ryan worked at Horizon Bank in Austin, TX, as Assistant Vice President of Development and Marketing. She was a member of the Real Estate Council of Austin, where she served on multiple committees and was selected to participate in the Leadership Development Class.
Lauren is a member of the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR), the Commercial Investment Division of NOMAR (CID), where she volunteers on the Programs Committee, International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and the Retail Brokers Network (RBN). In 2016, she received her first NOMAR/CID Achievement Award for transactions totaling over $2.5 million.
An active community member, Lauren sits on the Board for Ascension DePaul Foundation New Orleans, previously Daughters of Charity Foundation, where she volunteers on their Keeping Our Promises Gala committee for the annual fundraiser. Lauren also participated in the Young Leadership Council and was a committee member for the Dress for Success annual fundraiser, the Start The Adventure In Reading (STAIR) annual fundraiser in addition to volunteering with the STAIR afterschool program. She was also selected to be part of the Economic Development Ambassadorship Program through the New Orleans Business Alliance.
Mrs. Ryan is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Minor in Communications.
Ricky Schober
About Ricky
Ricky Schober is a dedicated real estate advisor, specializing in securing prime locations for commercial ventures in Baton Rouge, LA. Ricky excels in identifying high-traffic areas that maximize business potential, ensuring optimal outcomes for all clients.
Ricky joined Stirling in 2021 as an intern during his junior year of college. After graduating from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, Ricky went on to earn his MBA at LSU in the Spring of 2024. Over the past three years, Ricky has been working in the Baton Rouge office, assisting some of the highest-producing agents in Louisiana. This unique experience and team-focused approach has provided him with enormous insight and skills, allowing him to understand the intricacies of the commercial real estate market and develop innovative strategies to meet client needs and exceed expectations.
Ricky’s commitment to excellence and strategic thinking has made him a trusted advisor in the commercial real estate sector. When not working, Ricky enjoys spending time with family and friends, rock climbing, and recently learning to play the guitar, showcasing his dynamic personality and diverse interests.
Jason Scott
About Jason
Jason Scott is a Senior Advisor with Stirling’s commercial real estate team and has over forty-six years of experience in all aspects of the industry. He works from the company’s Mobile and Pensacola offices. His emphasis for the past thirty-six years has been commercial property management, investment sales, retail and office leasing, and industrial product.
Beginning his career in commercial construction, Jason worked for Opus Corporation for twenty-one years, gaining extensive experience in construction, project and property management, and leasing of commercial properties.
Before joining Stirling in 2014, Mr. Scott worked with John Toomey & Company for fifteen years and was instrumental in business development and client retention. While there, his focus included third-party managed assets, asset management, leasing, financial reporting, budgeting, and client interface.
Mr. Scott is an active member of ICSC (Innovating Commerce Serving Communities), Retail Brokers Network (RBN), Pensacola Association of Realtors, and NAIOP. He holds broker licenses in both Alabama and Florida.
A lifelong resident of Baldwin County, Jason resides in Lillian, Alabama, with his wife, Kim. They have three grown children.
Rhonda Sharkawy
About Rhonda
Rhonda Sharkawy joined the Stirling team as Development Director, where she was involved in retail ground-up developments and redevelopments. In 2002, she transitioned to the Commercial Brokerage Division as Senior Retail Leasing & Development Executive. For over twenty-five years, she has worked on new retail developments, redevelopments, leasing existing shopping centers, and handling renewal negotiations. In addition, she represents over a dozen national retailers in Louisiana and Mississippi. Rhonda is well seasoned in all aspects of commercial retail real estate.
After completing a bachelor’s degree at Loyola University in New Orleans, Sharkawy earned a master’s degree in Land & Real Estate Development, as well as a Master’s degree in Construction Science from Texas A&M University-College Station.
When she is not working, she is busy with non-profits in the New Orleans area and loves traveling, the arts, music and activities in nature.
Commercial Real Estate Honors and Awards
National Association of Realtors (NAR), Commercial Real Estate Division (CID)
- Hall of Fame: 2015-2017
- Poche Waguespack Award: 2009– 2014
- Top Overall Retail Lease: 2004 – 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018-2020 & 2023
- Top Overall Retail Sales: 2008
- Top Overall Retail Producer: 2001 – 2014, 2018-2021, 2023
- Nationwide Commercial Award (NAR): 2011 – 2020
- For 5 consecutive years, Sharkawy received the Waguespack Award given by the Realtor’s Commercial Investment Division for achieving the highest volume in the industry of sales and leases in the marketplace for the year. She is the first agent in Stirling’s history to receive the award and one of only a handful of women to achieve this honor since it was created back in 1964.
- In 2015-2017, Rhonda was inducted into the New Orleans Association of Realtors Commercial Hall of Fame for the Waguespack Award. She is the first woman to receive this prestigious honor.
Stirling Properties
- Top Commercial Producer: 2003-2006, 2008-2013, 2015-2020 & 2023
- Most Commercial Transactions: 2003-2023
CoStar
- Power Broker, Top Broker Award: 2015, 2018-2023
Community Honors and Awards
New Orleans City Business
- Excellence in Real Estate
- Ones to Watch, Top Private Companies
- Power Generation
- Given to young innovative achievers whose success in business & organizations set the pace for the future of our region.
