A fifth-generation New Yorker and second-generation real estate executive, Elizabeth Ann “EA” Stribling-Kivlan — daughter of Stribling & Associates Founder and Chairman Elizabeth F. Stribling — sits right next to her mother on the fourth floor of the brokerage’s Madison Avenue office. After growing up in the city, the Chapin School alumnae and Chelsa resident says she is “used to concrete.” But she has several escapes: her second home in Roxbury, Connecticut, traveling the world with her fiancée, Rebecca Cleary or going fishing. Stribling-Kivlan, 35, joined the firm’s management team in 2006 as director of sales for the Downtown office. Four years later, she became director of marketing and business development. Stribling-Kivlan worked on the marketing of 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park and helped re-vamp the company’s website, which lead to a Webby nomination. In 2013, Stribling-Kivlan was named the firm’s president.
Couple shot
A picture of Stribling-Kivlan with her fiancée Rebecca has a prominent spot on the desk. It’s the first picture of the couple, taken on a trip to Bali two weeks after their “whirlwind romance” started in May 2014.
Geode Crystal
In a way this rock — which has been cut open and on the inside is lined with beautiful crystals — reminds Stribling-Kivlan of New York. “I love the hidden beauty of it,” she said. “If you have a beautiful [interior inside] a building, it doesn’t mean the [façade] has to be beautiful.”
Gumball machine
Now filled with M&Ms instead of gumballs, this artifact was originally a gift from Stribling marketing to developers. Stribling-Kivlan is the only non-developer with one. “I was lucky enough to get one,” she said. Even though she doesn’t eat chocolate herself, she said it’s a “clever, whimsical thing for anyone who wants an M&M.” She keeps a stash of pennies in her desk drawer for potential users.
Voodoo doll
After having a bad day once, she was given this as a gift by a former assistant. But, she insisted, “I don’t
use it!”
Bank
Stribling-Kivlan, a huge fan of Beatrice Potter’s Peter Rabbit, lost her father when she was a young teen. He gave her this Peter Rabbit bank when she was a small child. “This is just a nice reminder of my father,” she said. “I’ve had this for as long I can remember.”
Statue of Ganesh
Stribling-Kivlan has an undergraduate degree in comparative world religion, with a focus on Hinduism. The statue was a gift from another agent with whom she worked on One Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Flask
The gold flask is engraved, “A life lived in fear is a life half lived.” Stribling-Kivlan bought the flask at Barney’s after attending a breakfast where the line of products was presented. “There’s something a little retro about a flask,” she notes. Yet — because she doesn’t walk around with a flask filled with whisky — she keeps a cut flower in it instead.
Blackjack
Stribling-Kivlan is in awe of her mother, she says. In one picture in her office, taken on a business trip to Las Vegas, she had just taught her mother how to play. “She’s a good blackjack player!”
Sharpies
A box holds about a dozen: “I have a love of the Sharpie,” Stribling-Kivlan said. “I love the Sharpie in every color.” She uses the different colors for her to-do lists in her black Moleskin notebook. At home, Stribling-Kivlan has roughly 50 Sharpies, “all different kinds of markers and pens.”