We are honored to share that USA Today recently featured Carolyn Pistone, President and Managing Director of Clear Blue Commercial, in an article exploring a powerful idea:
Collaboration is the new competition.
You can read the full feature here:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/special/contributor-content/2025/08/21/collaboration-is-the-new-competition-why-carolyn-pistone-believes-sustainability-demands-working-tog/85762896007/
But more than a feature, this article captures something deeper about how we believe business should be done.
Rethinking the Way We Compete
When Carolyn founded Clear Blue Commercial, the goal was never to “win” in the traditional sense. It wasn’t about beating competitors or capturing market share.
It was about making a meaningful impact.
As Carolyn shares in the article, many of us have been taught to see business as a zero-sum game. If one company wins, another must lose. But that mindset falls apart when we start talking about sustainability.
Because sustainability is not a short-term play.
It is, by definition, a long game.
And when businesses focus only on quarterly gains, they may win in the moment, but lose in the bigger picture that actually matters.
What Collaboration Looks Like in Real Life
This philosophy is not just theory. It shows up in how we approach projects every day.
In one example highlighted in the article, a large property needed to transition from traditional grass turf to a drought-resistant landscape. The initial bid came in far higher than what made sense, both financially and environmentally.
Instead of accepting that as the only option, Carolyn asked a different question:
What if we worked together?
By sourcing materials creatively and bringing in volunteer support, what could have been a standard transaction turned into something much more powerful. Students earned volunteer hours. Local businesses contributed. The community showed up.
What started as a landscaping project became a shared experience.
And the result was not only more cost-effective, but far more impactful.
That is what collaboration makes possible.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
In today’s world, the challenges we face are too complex to solve in isolation.
Large organizations often have scale but lack certain certifications or flexibility. Smaller, mission-driven companies like Clear Blue Commercial bring specialized expertise, sustainability credentials, and a different way of thinking.
Instead of competing, we partner.
Instead of guarding opportunities, we expand them.
Because when the right people come together, the outcome is stronger than anything one company could produce alone.
A Different Kind of Leadership
This approach requires a shift in mindset.
It means moving beyond ego.
Beyond short-term wins.
Beyond transactional thinking.
It asks us to look at business not just as a series of deals, but as a system where every decision has ripple effects on people, communities, and the environment.
As Carolyn puts it, the real opportunity lies in bringing unlikely partners together. The farmer and the banker. The corporation and the small business. The profit motive and the purpose behind it.
That is where meaningful, lasting change happens.
Grateful, and Just Getting Started
We are deeply grateful to be featured in USA Today and to see this message reaching a broader audience.
But more importantly, we are committed to continuing this work.
To building partnerships.
To challenging outdated models.
To proving, project by project, that business can be a force for good.
Because the future of commercial real estate, and business as a whole, will not be built by those who compete the hardest.
It will be built by those who are willing to work together.
