CHARLES-MARIE JOTTRAS
He could easily have embraced a career in politics, but from an early age he felt real conviction about real estate. Cut out for adventure and taking risks, endowed with remarkable flair for spotting talent, Charles-Marie Jottras confirms that the key to his success lies in the people on whom he relies.
At the end of a faultless university career (DEA in Law, Institut des Arts et Métiers and Sciences Po, studies in architecture), Charles-Marie Jottras had a decisive encounter with Roger Lemiale, Chairman of the FNAIM, who invited him to take responsibility, by his side, for the profession’s relationships with public authorities :
“In 1981, I found myself confronted by an avalanche of texts resulting from the Left’s election to power, in fields as diverse as building regulations, real-estate taxation... It was a fascinating period for a 29 year-old propelled into the intricacies of government and parliamentary commissions”.
Politics could well have been an option, but it was exercising the profession that interested Charles-Marie Jottras, who became General Manager of Daniel Féau at the age of 34 : “At the time, in 1985, there was a team of about ten in the firm’s only residential agency, though it already had a very impressive image created by Monsieur Daniel Féau. Over the years, I created a network of agencies, took control of the group, and multiplied turnover by 45 while maintaining the firm’s DNA, the combination of luxury properties and top-quality staff”.
And even though he recalls a host of remarkable sales, he emphasizes : “I myself have never sold a property : my job is to find the most talented people to do just that. Surrounding myself with the very best is the key to the firm’s success. Daniel Féau’s work does not focus on bricks and mortar, but on human relationships”. n
