Randy McGrane doesn’t play favorites.

“I’m doing everything from a $5,000 consulting engagement for a healthcare client in Reno and I’m building a $140 million hotel in Menlo Park, Calif.,” says the managing director and CEO of Ensemble Real Estate Solutions.

In his current position, McGrane manages the day-to-day operations of Ensemble’s Phoenix headquarters office, as well as branch offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Long Beach. McGrane is also responsible for leading Ensemble’s senior management committee.

“The three partners at Ensemble have been doing this for 35 years and we’ve seen a lot of cycles and a lot of major world events,” says McGrane, a founding partner of Ensemble. “We said, ‘what we need to do is build a really strong core competency that can do a lot of different things in the whole life cycle of real estate.’ Then, we found specialists in each of these food groups —  healthcare, hospitality, commercial and urban multifamily/mixed-use sectors — to analyze opportunities. We don’t care if someone needs us for consulting or if someone needs us to build something. We are agnostic.”

In addition to working extensively on business development, McGrane oversees all leasing and building operations of Ensemble’s growing portfolio, manages all acquisition and disposition of property and arranges for long-term financing with the institutional debt markets.

Biggest challenge: “Navigating a real estate company specializing in healthcare and hospitality through the Great Recession. Simultaneously, we dealt with changes in the healthcare industry while booking for hotels ended abruptly. Fortunately, we are conservative in our finances, so the key was to remain calm, be realistic and be willing to make tough decisions.”

Business advice: “Do the right thing and accept the results.”

Childhood aspirations: “I wanted to be a carpenter. I love to build things and still do woodworking. It drove me to a vocational education, where I learned my trade and entered construction at 18 years old and I have not looked back. I still love to build things.”

Surprising fact: “I’m a student of Buddhist philosophy and find it an ideal approach to business.”