Mickey (Michal) Penzer
CEO - Papillon Partners
VP - Penzer Family Foundation
Director - TBG Recruiting
Mickey has been in the real estate industry her whole life. Her dad was a developer, and she started working for my family’s office as a kid, helping to check on our buildings and even going along with my dad on business trips. Her mom had a mini hard hat made for her as a toddler. After she made her way through business school at NYU and law school at Fordham, she started working full time for LIFE, a nonprofit in New York, all while I was still heavily involved in her family’s work, managing investments, doing some direct deals and taking a large hand in their foundation arm, making grants and allocating investments.
In 2016, she came to a crossroads with her work for the nonprofit. She was at a Bisnow affordable housing event when she met Chris Papa, who is now her mentor, and he asked me how she knew so many of the people who were at the event. She explained how long she had been around the business, and he convinced her to come aboard as a recruiter for The Bachrach Group on his team, which centers on real estate. She is still a key leader with TBG Real Estate and has also helped them expand to Puerto Rico - https://bachrachgroup.com/puerto-rico/. Although her specialization is Commercial real estate, by partnering with TBG she had access to hundreds of recruiters across all industries including but not limited to Financial Services, Legal, Corporate Support, HR, technology. Executive assistants, back office and technology have been very common placements in PR.
The biggest advantage that Mickey has in the recruiting industry is that when she reaches out to someone for an opportunity, it’s almost never her first time meeting them. She has met them at an event, or worked with them through organizations or charities where she has held leadership positions. Her education and family history gives her credibility with these professionals that many other recruiters don’t have. On the client side, she has a particular knack with businesses that started as family run businesses helping them grow into more institutional organizations. So as much as she would say she is lucky to be where she is today, luck is really where preparation meets opportunity, and being a CRE recruiter is really a natural fit for her. To learn more about Mickey’s networking philosophy check out this Bisnow article - https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/commercial-real-estate/how-cre-recruiter-mickey-penzer-weaves-her-networking-web-pandemic-or-not-106402
Sitting in the recruiter seat gives her a much wider view of the total real estate market. She gets to see first hand what asset classes or regions are hot, who is raising capital and which deals/funds are getting more traction. It has also given her more than an MBA in how to run a successful company in real estate and beyond.
In 2021 Mickey moved to Puerto Rico for Act 60 and has really embraced Island life. Her dog Ghenghis Cohen is her partner in Papillon Partners, her export services company and her son Samson was born here on the Island in 2023. She is a very active member of the local Chabad of Puerto Rico as well as a member of many local networking groups such as act 20/22 society, C-Suite Women of Puerto Rico and several local mom groups. She also maintains her involvement in charity and networking groups on the mainland. She attends conferences and networking events locally and nationally. Follow her events and life updates at her newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/bachrachgroup/mickeypenzercrefall2025
