Ken Talle

Biography

It is almost certainly true, as Ken Talle says, that kids in elementary school or junior high don’t usually say, “I want to be a rental property manager” when they talk about their futures. Talle certainly didn’t. So it was not a lifelong grand plan that lay the groundwork for his success at founding and managing Thies and Talle Management, Inc., a rental property business that today includes over 6,000 apartment units on 113 properties throughout the Midwest. Instead, Talle says, “You do what’s fun and what seems to make sense. Then things change, so you look around and say, ‘OK, this is reality. What I used to do doesn’t make sense; what does make sense now? Where do I go from here?’ It’s a kaleidoscope that keeps changing.” The kaleidescope of his own life began in south Minneapolis, where he grew up in what he calls “middle middle middle class.” With no particular expectations, he went to the University of Minnesota, where he was captivated by an eye-opening intellectual climate that he had never before experienced. He majored in history because he loved it, then went on to the University of Chicago for a law degree because it seemed practical. Back in Minneapolis, he joined the trust department at what was then First National Bank.

Research Interest

Property Business