Elizabeth Westgate might have been an actress. In a world in which commercial real estate didn’t pan out, she just might have pursued the stage and screen. “If I had a dream job, being an actor would have been it,” said Westgate, the inaugural winner of the ICSC Foundation Lisa Palmer Fellowship, formerly the Mary Lou Fiala Fellowship. Yet many of the same skills that would have made her a great actress have fueled her success in business.

From her early role as an analyst at Hudson’s Bay Co. to her consulting work at Optimus SBR to her current role as senior director of strategic initiatives and risk for Cadillac Fairview, her ability to understand different perspectives has been invaluable. “Acting requires empathy, stepping into the shoes of others,” she explained. “In plays, I loved taking on roles and thinking through a character’s mindset: who they were and why they thought the way they did.”

A Natural Leader

The daughter of a general contractor father and a stay-at-home mom, Westgate didn’t envision a career in real estate. “There are two ways people come into this industry; you’re either born into it, or you stumble into it. I’m definitely part of the latter group,” she said. She did, however, always see herself in an executive role. Even in high school, one teacher called her “Governor General.” Observing Westgate’s self-assurance, her ability to connect with others and her leadership skills, the teacher “believed I could one day run the country,” Westgate recalled. “I thought that was a cool job, except I had no political connections,” she laughed.

After earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, in 2013, Westgate joined Hudson’s Bay Co.’s new merchant executive training program. It focused on merchandising, buying and planning for women’s apparel, but the “executive” in the program’s name is what caught her attention. “I was drawn to it because, even then, I knew I wanted to run a company one day. I wanted to be a CEO. I loved the idea of driving results and making decisions that would lead a company to success.”

A Strategic Mindset

In fall 2013, after advancing to a buying and planning analyst role for Hudson’s Bay ladieswear, Westgate noticed that the company’s plus-size apparel line wasn’t getting the attention it deserved. Sitting in weekly marketing meetings, she saw an opportunity and built a business case. “I went and sized the market. I tried to understand who the other competitors were, especially those offering plus-sized clothing in the Canadian market,” she recalled. “Based on Census data and publicly available records, I discovered there was actually a significant group of people in our market looking for plus-size clothing and it was woefully underserved,” she said. She pitched untapped potential to executives, who increased marketing support for the category. The result? A 41% increase in same-store sales and an 18% uplift in gross profit margin year-over-year.

After two years, Westgate sought a new challenge. “I realized how important it was for me to stay stimulated in my career,” she said. Hudson’s Bay taught Westgate the power of data-backed storytelling, “how to root myself in the needs of decisionmakers and articulate how the solutions I was coming up with would benefit them,” she said. She decided to pivot to consulting, drawn to its fast-paced learning environment. “People always said that in consulting, you gain three years’ worth of skills and experience in just one year,” she said. “I loved the idea of being able to develop myself so quickly.”

In December 2014, she joined management consulting firm Optimus SBR as a consulting analyst and quickly advanced to a consulting associate responsible for managing project teams. One key project focused on improving operations at a major bank’s call center, where a specialized team served high-value clients but operated in a silo. Westgate and her team devised a strategy to integrate that team with the larger group, allowing them to share best practices and improve efficiency without compromising service quality. “It was complex and it took time to figure out, but the reason I liked it the most was that it was the first time I worked with an internal strategy and transformation team. That’s when I realized that you can do consulting work from the inside, you don’t have to be an external consultant to do strategic work."

This insight led her to explore in-house strategy roles, and then a casual conversation at a Blue Jays game with her friend from university — Shauna Moore, who is retail leasing director for Cadillac Fairview — steered Westgate toward the Canada-based commercial real estate investor, developer and manager. Westgate joined Cadillac Fairview’s strategic initiatives team as an analyst despite her previous experience managing project teams. “Every time I’ve made a career switch, I don’t want to say I took a risk but I did potentially take steps back, knowing in the long term it would be the best path forward,” she said. Her bet paid off. Two years later, she was leading that same Cadillac Fairview team.

One of Westgate’s most significant contributions at Cadillac Fairview has been in helping develop a post-pandemic retail growth strategy. “Canada had some of the longest lockdowns in the world,” she said. “We knew we had to use that time to rethink everything.” Her team conducted deep analyses of shopper demographics, retail trends and competitive landscapes at every property. “We performed a leasing SWOT analysis on every single one of our assets,” she explained, referring to the technique for assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The insights shaped a bold strategy to attract game-changing tenants. “We secured funding, and the team executed key leasing moves, many of which are still unfolding” she said. Traffic and occupancy rates rebounded, and sales have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Beyond the numbers, seeing the vision come to life invigorated Westgate. “Walking in, shopping and realizing we talked about this brand theoretically on paper and now it’s here — how exciting is that?”

Westgate’s leadership and foresight inspire others to follow. “She’s always thinking ahead, considering outcomes and identifying the most effective, efficient way to get there,” said Cadillac Fairview senior vice president of retail operations Lillian Tummonds. “At the same time, she steps back and asks: ‘What would this look like if I were in that position or going through that process?’ That ability to empathize and strategize makes her an outstanding leader.”

Landing the Lisa Palmer Fellowship

With big ambitions, Westgate was always looking for opportunities to grow and learn. In recent years, Westgate deepened her involvement with ICSC, participating in its 2022-24 Next Generation Leadership Network. “I was surrounded by amazing talent, people who had accomplished so much at a young age,” she said. “It opened my eyes to new avenues in the industry,” she said.

Through the ICSC Next Generation Leadership Network, Westgate connected with Brixmor vice president of national accounts Evie Gross, who encouraged her to apply for the inaugural Lisa Palmer Fellowship. Gross participated in the ICSC Foundation Mary Lou Fiala Fellowship, a predecessor to the Lisa Palmer Fellowship, which is a yearlong leadership and professional development program designed to prepare bright, talented young women to take their careers to the next level as executives in the Marketplaces Industry.

Before applying, Westgate wanted to understand who Lisa Palmer was “as a woman, as a leader, what her career path looked like and gain an understanding of the type of person they were looking for in the program,” she said. She watched interviews of Lisa and “realized we had strikingly similar paths.” Both had started in consulting before transitioning to real estate, and both had known from a young age that they wanted to be CEOs. “It warmed my heart because sometimes I wonder if people will think I’m absurd for saying that I’ve known for such a long time that I wanted to be a CEO,” Westgate said. “Hearing Lisa say the same thing made me feel validated because look at all she’s achieved.”

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A CEO — and Actress — in the Making

Westgate didn’t expect to win the Lisa Palmer Fellowship, but on a sunny afternoon in Mexico, surrounded by her siblings and husband, she got the call. “It was the best news,” said Westgate. “It was the second-to-last day of my vacation. It was a Friday, and we went and had celebratory drinks together. It was really nice to receive the news in paradise.”

Having recently met Palmer, who will be one of Westgate’s four mentors during the fellowship, Westgate is eager for what comes next. “I feel incredibly lucky that she has volunteered her time,” Westgate said. “I’m excited to learn from her and the other phenomenal mentors that I’m going to get to know this year.”

Westgate herself hopes to be remembered as a visionary leader, one who "authentically cares about people” while rallying and engaging them toward a shared goal. And after retirement? “I could totally see myself doing community theater, just to get back into it,” she laughed. No matter her path, she’ll find a way to make the most of it by stepping into someone else’s shoes.