40 Under 40 Grant Mechlin photographed at the Gateway Arch
Grant Mechlin, 38
Managing director of retail services, Sansone Group
I was born and raised in Columbia, Missouri. Despite not originally being from St. Louis and having very few existing relationships or family connections, I was fortunate early on to surround myself with extremely smart and successful people. I have worked hard along the way and have been blessed to end up at a great company with strong business relationships. Our deal team at Sansone Group has averaged more than $50 million in retail brokerage transactions consistently over the last 10 years, which is a testament to the strength of our team and work ethic. Most importantly, we have clients that trust and enjoy doing business with us. We are now friends who choose to work together and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come. I’m very proud of this dynamic.
How do you want to make your mark on St. Louis? St. Louis is a very “small town” that just happens to have 3 million people living in it. In this city your reputation is everything and I hope that my reputation is this: a person of the utmost integrity that friends and clients alike trust, depend on, respect and admire. With this in mind, I want to help our company develop some of the most successful real estate projects in St. Louis. I’d also like to have a little fun along the way, which we do as much as we can at Sansone Group and with our partners. There needs to be some fun and laughter in all of this as well.
College? University of Missouri, bachelor’s in finance, MBA with an emphasis in finance and banking
High school? Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri
Best part of your job? The competitiveness of the industry. There is nothing better than working extremely hard on an opportunity, winning the business and seeing the project come to fruition and ultimately be a success.
Best advice for a young professional? Cast a wide net, meet as many people as you can and surround yourself with smart and successful people. Find a company that is the best at what they do and then work as hard as possible to make an impact.
Who is your dream mentor? Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, who had the vision and leadership needed to grow the company from 11 stores to the more than 28,000 it has today.
First job? Financial analyst at a Fortune 500 company.
Most surprising fact about you? Those who don’t know me well are often surprised to learn I am a country guy at heart. There is nothing more peaceful to me than spending time on our family farm working, hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors.
Volunteer or charitable efforts? Currently, I’m focused on Veterans Community Project. It’s become a passion of mine to see this group thrive and to help the homeless veterans here in St. Louis. We owe so much to the men and women that have served, and it’s one of our country’s greatest tragedies the way some of our vets spend their lives after serving our nation. I’m determined to help VCP accomplish their mission in St. Louis.
