CEOYSK-Amy Walbery: CEO of Wallick Communities

Amy Albery serves as Wallick’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Amy is a servant leader who believes in putting people first. She is committed to ensuring the values and culture of the organization provide for a thriving environment for its associates who, in turn, provide incredible service to its primary customer, its residents. Amy focuses on defining the firm’s strategy that aligns with its mission of “Opening Doors to Homes, Opportunity, and Hope.”

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Columbus in Central Ohio have a richhistory of companies being headquartered here, everything
from technology, manufacturing, retail,insurance, and more. But what about
the leaders behind these companies? Whatmakes them tick? How do they get
their start? This is where youget to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know andiHeartMedia Columbus Podcast. Welcome back to

(00:20):
another episode of CEOs You Should Know. This is an iHeartMedia Columbus podcast.
I am your host branded boxer,and with us this week is someone I'm
very excited about. I've read abouther in the past. She's very inspiring,
definitely in our community. It's AmyAlbery, who is the CEO of
Wallet Communities based out of New Albany. Amy, good to have you with

(00:42):
us here. Great to be here. So we'll get to some of the
inspiring stuff in just a sec.For those that are wondering what you oversee
every day in your day in thelife, what is Wala Communities? Wallet
Communities is an almost sixty year oldfamily owned business started here in COLNBS started
by Jack Wallack on defunct construction Contracts. Actually started as a construction company,

(01:07):
then he quickly got into affordable housingand senior living, so multifamily Section eight
and tax credit housing assisted living inmemory care today where eleven hundred employees strong.
Our footprint is in the Midwest forour affordable housing apartments and then in
the state of Ohio for senior living, moving into Michigan later this year for

(01:30):
assisted living in memory care. Sodevelopment, construction, property management, and
ownership. That's interesting when you goback to when Jack started the company,
Amy was it did? Did hehave other ideas and then realized, oh
wait, this is going to keepus from failing. I guess how did
it all start that way? Imean true entrepreneur Jack, So he again

(01:53):
started there was a construction company goingout of business. He and his business
partner, Sandy Goldstin, took overthose constructions contracts, finish those out and
that's when the Section eight program wasstarting. And so he got into that
and went from there. But alongthe side, as many entrepreneurs do,
he had like he was in theoil and gas business, he built storage

(02:14):
facilities how to call it. Hebuilt in the nineteen late nineteen sixties student
housing and Athens dot Ou. Wesent sold that to strategically align with our
where what our business is today.But yeah, true entrepreneur, But really
the nuts and bolts of what hedid throughout his time at Wallack were really

(02:36):
focused in that affordable housing and seniorliving space. Amy all varies with us.
She's the chief executive Officer of WalleaCommunities and this week's guest on CEOs
You Should Know and iHeart Media ColumbusPodcast. Amy, let's talk about you
and your upbringing. You and I, I believe we have something in common,
which is one of the reasons Iwas very excited to finally get to

(02:57):
meet you and talk with you.Nothing but mad respect for someone that grows
up on a farm. You grewup on a farm, right, so
did I? All right, somad respect for those that grew up on
the farm. So your work ethic, I mean, obviously, to get
to a position like a CEO,you know, there's no doubt you have
to work really hard. So thatdidn't surprise me. But well, of
course he's from a farm and sheworked really hard. That makes a lot

(03:17):
of sense. But do you takesome of those values and things you learned
from the farm still today and whatyou do in your daily life? Yeah,
I mean, you grew up ona farm, So you know what
that's like. Yeah, really prettycool upbringing. I grew up in Licking
County in Alexandria. The farm isstill in my sisters and mom and I
still own the farm. It's beenin our family for one hundred and fifty

(03:38):
years. Run it out to acrop farmer today. But growing up,
we had dairy, dairy cows.How early were you getting up? I
mean I got up some. Ican't pretend that I was milking all the
cows every morning and every night.Really that was my grandpa, but we
did help he has. You know, my sisters and I were ours only

(04:00):
grandchildren. So one of the thingsI talk about a lot is we did
not understand gender bias. It wasn'toh you girls can just you know,
cook and clean. In fact,I'm a terrible cook because he's We were
driving tractor I mean doing what drivingtractors, bailing hay, doing all the
things that needed to be done,and looking back like, yeah, it

(04:23):
was work, but it was justwhat you did. Yeah, I mean
yeah, absolutely, So those valuesfor sure carry through into life. And
I think also the just tackling thingsand without you have to do it.
You have to figure out a wayto do it. There's always a way
to find success, and I thinkthat removing those barriers that a lot of

(04:46):
us may have it from time totime in our lives about like oh gosh,
I'm not good, I'm not readyfor this, or this is something
someone's asking me to do, somethingthat I don't check all the boxes on
a resume. For example, Ithink that bringing really taught my sisters and
I a lot about you have tolike, yes, you can, we
can figure it out, because wedid. I mean, we did a

(05:08):
lot of stupid things and ran oversome things with the thanks you for driving,
but you know that's fine. Yeah, right, exactly, So that's
amazing. Though your your family farmhas been with you for one hundred and
fifty plus years. Do you everYou're clearly a busy woman, aby,

(05:28):
But I'm envious of you because doyou ever in your busy day or you've
been hitting hard for a while,do you ever want to go decompress and
go back to the farm. Whatdo you do to decompress? Yeah,
well for sure. So my momand my middle sister and her son and
his wife and children still live onthe farm today. It's in Alexandria and

(05:50):
I live in Granville, so it'sonly ten minutes from my house. So
were there quite a bit? Soyes, for sure, going to the
farm, walking around, maybe shootingsome clay pingeons or doing fun things like
that. Decompression wise, though,I'm really huge into CrossFit. I coach
CrossFit as well. Helping people realizetheir strength and their capabilities has really been

(06:15):
a great way. Well, firstof all, that's how I start my
morning is with that from a decompressionperspective, but also helping people is really
the fun. That's a fun outletto help people in a different way than
I get to do. Yeah,I work too. Amy Alberry is with
us. She's the CEO of WallaCommunities. Well let's start. I would
like to ask this about CEOs Amy, what how do you what's your day

(06:38):
in the life, Like you weretalking about CrossFit? How early do you
start your day? I get upmaybe between four fifteen and five o'clock in
the morning, so I'm at thegym at either five or six am.
Class coach every other Friday at sixam. I think I talk about that
as maybe eighty percent meant twenty percent. Physical may seem like it would be

(07:01):
more physical, but it's a greatway to get a fresh slate, a
fresh outlook on life. And thenyeah, get into the office and start
working with people. I mean we'rein the people business, right. We
provide homes. One of the mostimportant things in anyone's life is having a
safe place to live and someone caringfor you and so interacting with people all

(07:25):
day, problem solving. I mean, I have a really incredible team.
So fortunately they're handling their areas ofthe business. We have four areas of
our business that it's important to havethose leaders, but from time to time,
you know, getting in to helpthem solve problems or id eight around
new things we can do. Isyou know high level day in the life.

(07:46):
Yeah, I mean eventually you leftthe family farm and ventured out to
what Ashley University? Right, didyou? I mean when you attended school
there? Did did any point inyour life did you think I want to
be a business woman, I wantto be a CEO? What were you
wanting to be growing up? Imean, no is the answer that question.

(08:07):
I believe that I so listen,two of my two top values are
authenticity and making a difference, Andso for me, I have always believed
that if I'm in a job anddoing my best work and making a difference
in lives of people, that lifewill, you know, lead me in
the direction that I need to belet in. Not that you don't aspire

(08:28):
to do things, but never inmy life did I ever? That wasn't
my aspiration was for myself. Ifeel that's more introspective or focused on myself
versus focusing on others and then whereverlife might take me. Before I came
to Wallack, I owned a titleinsurance company for fourteen years, which never

(08:52):
would have imagined that, and thensold my business partner bought me out,
and I came to Walach and youknow, led three of our five business
units. So again along the way, learning new things, getting to meet
new people, have impact on peoplewas really what brought me joy. Did
it did it help before you landedat Wallack, especially now that you're the

(09:15):
CEO? Did it help that youowned your own business that that experience to
what you're doing now? Yeah?For sure. I mean it was a
small business compared to what Wallack isnow, while it could be viewed bigger
small depending on you know what you'rewhat what you're thinking about. Yeah,
yeah, for sure, because Ididn't. I was, you know at
times, you know, chief cookand bottle washer, and that's fine sometimes

(09:37):
that you have to jump in anddo those kinds of things. And that's
how I, you know, approachthis role as well, is we're sitting
side by side whomever it is inthe business. It's not me and them
with air quotes, it's you know. And so for sure having that experience
is helped in this role today.Obviously with with the affordable housing the housing

(10:03):
crisis, would you would you personallylabel this a housing crisis that Central Ohio
is dealing with right now with theboom, Oh my gosh. Absolutely yeah.
And really I've been quoted five yearsago saying where affordable housing rents or
prices end market rate began, andthat's where we were in the Midwest,

(10:26):
and I didn't think that was goingto change for I mean, you know,
decades on the coast we talked aboutworkforce housing and where affordable housing prices
ended in market rate. There isa big gap on the coast and you
would read about it in San Francisco. Teachers living in their cars, I
mean, nurses living in their cars, and it was hard to imagine that
that would ever happen in the Midwestand blink our eyes in covid and with

(10:50):
the rise in prices here, ohmy gosh, that divide, that gap
is huge, and it happened overnight. And along with the fact that we
already had a housing crisis on thereally across the spectrum, because it's not
just a housing crisis in one area. We talk about the need for affordable
housing, but that's the catalyst.If people have an opportunity and can find

(11:13):
their next step from affordable housing tomiddle market, then they're gonna move.
But in each area there's a there'sa deficit, so people get stuck and
don't allow for other people to movein. So I think that's a nuance
for folks to talk about, iswe do talk about affordable housing because it's
the beginning of the continuum. Itit's puzzling because we've and boy, you

(11:39):
called it wow a few years agoto say what you said, and now
what we're dealing with. We haveintel coming in. We also have a
lot of these outside investors who arecoming in and buying up all this property.
I I don't know them personally,but I happening to know a group
who bought the land and then soldit to Google and they're watching in DC
for grying out loud, Yeah thatis would you say that's also hurting all

(12:03):
of us or those that maybe wantto get a different home. But where
do you go because you're going tohave to spend more? Yeah, for
sure. I mean just think aboutif you are listing your house today and
to find something, or myself likefind another place. First of it's where
do you go? We think aboutthis with the farm. Our farm is
on one sixty one. Oh yeah, it's a you know, not very
many miles from the Intel plant,and so someday we're going to have to

(12:28):
make a tough decision about that.And my mom's I mean she's lived on
that property. I mean a fewyears when they for she first got married,
or when she was in college,but let's just say her whole life.
And you think, where are wegoing to? Where will I go?
I think any many of us thinkthat because of the prices and because
of availability, because of others comingin and buying up either land or property

(12:54):
with the wallet communities your sector thatI don't know if I want to use
the word that's most successful. ButI guess that has been the biggest boom
for you. What is that Wetalk about this a lot in pre COVID,
So we're really fortunate that we havefour legs of the stool. I
said, three of five business units. On our property management side, we'd

(13:16):
divide out affordable housing operations and seniorliving operations, but really that's property management
as a whole. So we haveconstruction, development, asset management. Those
are assets that we own, andthen property management. And before COVID,
if there was one area of ourbusiness that had struggles from external factors,
then the other area was likely youknow, booming or you know, equaling

(13:41):
those things out. Are again startedas a construction business, so that's generating
the most top line revenue for us. But all of areas of our business
are contributing in a very meaningful wayduring COVID. Of course, if you
think about interest rates, that's hurtingour development business. If you think about
construction costs, that's hurting both developmentand construction. The labor market, oh

(14:03):
my gosh, we could spend awhole nother podcast talking about the labor market.
Yeah, but all areas of thebusiness it's like, oh my goodness,
this has been really tough. However, we're really we really remain positive
because the housing I mean, becausewhether it's affordable housing, senior living,

(14:24):
assisted living, in memory care,the need is so great. So while
the difficulties have been there, notonly for us, for anyone across the
country and those areas of the industryor in different areas, i'd say,
you know, the development and theneed, we're really excited about the opportunities
coming on our development side, whichthen fuel construction, property management, and

(14:46):
ownership. Yeah. Amy Alberry iswhether she's the CEO of Wall of Communities
in this week's guest on CEOs.You should know, Amy, if you
don't mind, take us back tothe pandemic, because I live through this
with my grandmother in law. Shewas in senior living, and I would
imagine, first of all, it'schanged a lot from what it used to

(15:07):
be years ago, right in whatways, but like like compare back then
to what we see now with seniorliving. I think my so we grew
up next to my grandparents. Italked to you about that, and my
grandmother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis whenshe was in her early forties. Wow.
And so that's one of the mainreasons my dad built the house that

(15:28):
we grew up in right beside mygrandparents. Is so my mom could you
know, she went to the grocerywith us, you know, it was
that's the way it was. Yeah, yeah, and everyone now and then
if she needed to go to shebroke a hip or something happened and needed
to go to rehab. That's theview that I had of what assisted living
or you know, those places werelike, which weren't really you know,

(15:52):
very friendly, very institutional. Yeah. So so my mom even when we're
talking to my mom, who wasyoung and vibrant and but you know,
that's what her view of a systemof those places. And I talked to
her about I'm like, oh mygosh, Mom, like our sisters living,
they have happy hour. I meanit's at like four point thirty in
the afternoon. Yes, please,thank you very much. Their day drinking,

(16:15):
but you know, they have happyhour, they go do tours.
I mean there it's like college inyour later years. Yeah, you know,
you get to do really cool andfun things. And we've seen so
many of our seniors that come tolive with us. They've stayed at home
for a very long time, maybelonger than what was best for them,
because they're isolated and by themselves,and their quality of life increases exponentially,

(16:40):
and really they get a little attimes, they might get a little healthier
because of the stimulation that they're gettingand the things that they get to do.
So I mean that just you know, paints the institutional to happy hour.
Maybe that's time. That's a greatway to illustrate it. Amy I
mean like you, I mean Ialso grew up in a farming community and

(17:02):
there really was no such thing assenior You you basically stayed on that farm
until you died. Although I willalso give credit to the farm because I
would say that I think at leastmy relatives, while they all passed away
on the farm, I think thatkept them going too. Yeah, it
was a healthy thing for him.But at the same time, if you

(17:22):
if you take us back to thepandemic, how how difficult of a time
was it to go through that,I mean on the senior living side.
So difficult We organizationally and immediately madea decision that we were focused on,
of course, the health of ourseniors versus moving people in and that's a

(17:45):
that's a tough decision to make,especially you know, if someone does,
of course we would move people in. But it wasn't sales driven like you
know, we like, let's makesure that our buildings are full. It
is a home. We're creating ahome, but that's also a requirement and
a goal to keep them sustainable.But we were we were very focused on
making sure that our seniors were safe, and we were really successful when our

(18:11):
head nurse, uh, the directorof care, our lead nurse, her
name's Betty Rono. You should interviewher sometimes. She's a whop. She
grew up in Kenya and she's nononsense and she did an excellent job making
sure that all of our communities andall of our residents were safe. Less
than one percent of our residents contractedCOVID, So really proud of the work

(18:33):
that our team members did. Andyou're I mean at h and every day
it was stressful because if there wasan outbreak or you know, what are
the new rules, what are thenew what's the state allowing us to do?
What's what's right and wrong? Thatwas changing pretty rapidly, so it
was Yeah, it was a lotof stress. Most of course on our

(18:55):
senior living side, on our affordablehousing side, we're not healthcare, but
we had to like figure out whatdoes that mean for our employees, for
our residents, and so thankfully wehad our assistant living side of people to
lean on to figure out how todevelop those health care procedures that we needed
to abide by as well. Yeah, Amy, with your senior living facilities,

(19:18):
do you think now in twenty twentyfour, there's a much better attitude
about going in there versus what wetalked about, you know, years ago.
Is that stigma still there or isit fading now? I think it's
fading. I mean, I thinkthe stigma like I was talking about my
mom, and it still would remainfor some folks and maybe for you know,

(19:41):
the rest of their lives. ButI think a lot of folks once
they get in there and see it. And I've heard these stories from people
like I took my sister, Itook my mom, and we were like
so surprised, Like it was likeoverwhelmingly surprised at what it felt like when
we were in when we walked intothe community. I do think though,

(20:02):
that people the openness, people aremore open like during even COVID, there
is quite a retraction and let's keeppeople at home as long as possible,
which really put a strain on familymembers if if their parents were living with
them. We are seeing that comeback some but people are still coming to

(20:22):
us, maybe a little bit olderor a little bit sicker. In other
words, they're staying at home longer. Maybe whomever's caring for them is trying
hard to keep them in that placefor as long as they can. So
that trend, it'll be interesting tosee. We talk about it a lot.
Yeah, within our internal walls,Like I wonder if this trend will

(20:45):
continue. We'll just have to see. Can I ask you, Amy,
what's the perfect candidate, perfect personhuman to go into one of your senior
living facilities? And maybe that's that'sa question that is going to be different
from each family that would ask that. But who, I guess, are
you what? Who is perfect forwhat you're doing? So we talk a

(21:10):
lot about hiring smart people with bighearts. Where are three company values,
our care, character, and collaboration. The care comes through, I mean
that's something people we're for profit organization, maybe with a nonprofit heart people appreciate
and in surveys that we that wedo with our with engagement of our associates.

(21:33):
Uh, that's people appreciate working foran organization where they're making an impact
on people's lives from that care component. And I think that you know that
matters like and so if that doesn'tmatter to someone, they might still be
very successful at our organization, butmaybe not have that full experience that someone

(21:55):
would have that that that it mattersa lot to them to be making an
impact on people's lives. So yeah, small people with big hearts. Yeah,
there you go. Amy Albury iswhether she's the CEO of Walla Communities
and this week's guest on CEOs youshould know Amy. We talked about a
little bit about growth earlier, butwhere are you looking to next? What's

(22:15):
what's in the crystal ball for growthfor Wallick. So we talked about workforce
what the divide between affordable housing andmarket rate, what we call workforce housing.
So that's we talk about eighty areamedian income numbers or numbers, but
we're talking about, like we weresaying in San Francisco, teachers, nurses,
middle income earners that are struggling tofind housing in our in our world,

(22:40):
it's apartments, but we're of coursecontinuing to be to focus on our
affordable housing product, continuing to focuson our senior living product. We made
a strategic decision to grow in thatarea maybe ten is years ago, but
workforce housing now is an area ofgrowth for us. So we are starting

(23:02):
a workforce housing community in Traverse City, Michigan. We have a project in
Heath, Ohio, just in LincolnCounty that we'll be kicking off later this
year and we're really excited about withthe need again for apartments and housing for
folks that are working at Intel orother places that are popping up around Intel.
Can I ask where the Heath projectis? My My wife is from

(23:22):
Heath, so that's what I waswondering. Yeah, if you know where
Walmart is and Heath, behind Walmartand Target, there's three there are three
hundred acres of land, that's whereit will be. Wow. And the
mayor has been a huge catalyst.He's absolutely incredible. He they don't really
have a downtown, as you know, so they don't like similar to what

(23:44):
New Albany other towns. Alby isa good example. There wasn't a downtown
there right until that was created,and so that's the same concept, is
a creation of a downtown. Hewants to have a farmer's market, you
know, so there'll be a fewcommercial spaces, apartments, senior living community,
and there are other developers like thatwill have single family homes and other
things. So it won't just willbe the beginning point of developing that three

(24:07):
hundred acres. Okay, that excitesme, and I'll tell you why because
if I have no money, I'ma radio host. But yet I was
thinking for the longest time, man, what this town needs is some type
of solid center community, like somekind of a downtown. I can't believe
that that city doesn't have a downtown. So you're gonna help build that.
We are, Yeah, we're reallyexcited about it. Again, the mayor

(24:30):
has been incredible. He laid thegroundwork with great way before we came along.
You know, we're just helping helpinghim realize his vision. Yeah.
Would you also say, with Intelcoming in and probably some other tech sectors,
are you ramping up for that too? For sure? And I think
across the state of Ohio, Ithink letting a mahlic at the Ohio Department

(24:52):
of Developments thinking a lot about this. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency, the
State of Ohio legislators are trying.They just introduced a state tax credit to
help fuel more housing. So yesis the answer to the question. And
I feel really grateful that there's somuch work to be done the industries that
we're in. While we have competitors, we're all friendly competitors. I mean

(25:18):
several other leaders of organizations like oursacross the state and that work in other
states. I mean, we're callingeach other to figure out how we can
make a dent in this crisis.So yes is the answer to the question
us and others. And that's great. Yeah, it needs it. It
takes an army. Sorry, Iwas just going to say, Amy,
so this is something, this housingcrisis, it's going to take a village.

(25:40):
Yeah for sure. Yeah, that'sexciting. I want to get to
your goals in just a sect two. But I know from the things I've
read in different interviews you've done,Amy, that you're very big in giving
back in the community. What kindof things you involved in? Yeah,
so I as I said, it'sa little bit different way to give back,
but through helping a lot of times, it's more women. But through

(26:06):
my CrossFit work, and then I'veof course volunteered on many boards throughout my
life in Newark and done some habitatfor humanity work, plugging into different areas
where I can be helpful. Soand then through the organization we do,
we have something that we call Heartof Service. So we have a committee

(26:30):
that we give all of our employeesa day, a paid day off or
a paid data to help out andvolunteer. So we're volunteering in different areas
in the in the Columbus community aswell, and in the Midwest footprint,
depending on where where our employees are. I love that. Hey, by
the way, you're a Licking Countygirl, would you say that this is

(26:51):
it? Probably is. It's thestart of but it's an exciting time for
those in Licking County, like they'rethey're finally getting their turn. Yeah,
it is exciting, and I thinkout of the gate it was a shock
to the system. Folks weren't prepared. You mean Intel or what do you
mean? Yeah, the announcement,the Intel announcement, no one was even

(27:14):
knew it was on the radar,at least the folks in Lincoln County.
So what about you, Amy,did you when you heard about it?
What's the first thing that went throughyour mind? We need to prepare and
so, and what I mean bythat is make sure that our cities we
can maintain the unique culture of LickingCounty in which we can we can maintain

(27:36):
farms, we can maintain the feel, but also be ready for the growth.
And that's exactly what the county hasdone. I mean there's a framework
initiative that was led by Sarah Wallace, who is a longtime leader in lickoln
County, which brought townships and municipalitiestogether to do just that is, how
are we going to prepare? Whatdo we want where do we want this
growth to be. Let's make surethat we're you know, aligning the puzzle

(28:00):
pieces in the way that we wantit to be. It's we know it's
coming, and that's okay, Likeit's fine. Growth can be fine as
long as we're planful about it andthoughtful about it so we can maintain some
of the really cool things that arein Linking County. Yeah. Absolutely,
Amy Albery is with us. She'sthe CEO of Walla Communities. What is
it they're saying they're predicting a millionmore people by what is it twenty fifty?

(28:26):
Amy to you and Wallach, howwhat does that look like in central
Ohio? What does that look likein twenty fifty with a million more plus
people? Yeah. So I recentlyhad the opportunity to visit Austin and there
were some folks that we were talkingto in the city and how can we
look We're talking to them about theirgrowth and what can we learn about things

(28:49):
that you did really well or thingsthat you're like, oh my goodness,
we miss these things. And soI think that if Columbus, and they're
doing a great job, learns fromother cities around transportation, infrastructure, you
know, all the things that peopleare talking about. Yeah, then we'll
be able to absorb it if weget this housing piece under control. But

(29:14):
I you know it, numbers,once they get so big, it's really
hard to digest them. You know, you can say a million or a
billion, and it's just kind ofmind boggling to think about that. You
know, twenty fifty feels like along time, but it's twenty five years,
you know, that's okay. Thatsadly goes by really quickly. And
so that's what I again, Itgoes back to like your question about Lincoln

(29:37):
County, like, how are weplanful, how are we thoughtful? How
do we meet this growth where itis and make sure that we're doing the
right things to keep the cool vibe. I mean it's Columbus is a cool
place to be. It's justly inOhio is a cool place to be.
I think, and I and ifyou're and you probably do too. I
know those that are in Johnstown andIntel is in their backyard in Jersey Township,

(30:02):
and I know one of the thingsthey're fearful of, and I think
a lot of us are who havebeen here and appreciate central Ohio is no
one wants that charm to be gone. No one wants to lose the charm
that is here. And I thinkthat's that's one of the big worries,
kind of you know, tagging outof what you just said. Yeah,
we how do we keep the charmand accept the growth? And that can

(30:26):
be done. I mean, certainlyit can be done. I think so,
or we'll just run them out oftown. So that's no. That
was my joke. By the way, all right, Allbrey is with us,
who I'm sure she's trying to figureout, Wow, get me out
of here as soon as possible nowafter this interview. No, but with

(30:48):
wile the communities, you've been theresince twenty eleven. What are some of
the future goals maybe the next fiveyears. Yeah, So of course growth
in those three areas. Very excited. Our footprint will remain so that we're
Midwest, we have some expansion thatwe're working on in North and South Carolina.
We know that the ground is fertile. So when I say Midwest,

(31:08):
I'm all just named the states.We're in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Kentucky and with a bigfoothold there and then moving into North and
South Carolina, we know that theground there's a lot of work to do
in those spaces, and so ourgrowth will be I like to say up
versus out, So keeping in thatfootprint versus expanding geographically because with those through

(31:33):
with affordable housing, workforce housing,and assisted living, fertile ground you know,
for growth in focus in those areas. So excited about that, Excited
about the work that our leadership teamsdoing. You know, we're very values
based culture and bringing people to thetable that that want to be in that

(31:53):
kind of culture just breeds more good. I mean, it's really exciting to
be around people like that. Yeah. Well, look, this has been
a complete joy to have you instudio, and a studio that actually has
some AC. That's very nice comparedto the first studio that we had that
at no AC. But Amy,in your spare time, one thing we
haven't talked about before we wrap upfamily life? What do you what do

(32:16):
you do in your downtime? Weknow you love CrossFit. I can tell
by the guns you have. Wow, those are some serious arms. But
seriously, what what do you doin your spare time? Family life?
What's that like? Yeah, sothank you for asking a huge part of
my life. I mean, asyou know, my family is so important
to me. So my husband Ericand I we have two boys, Blake

(32:37):
and Elliott. Blake's just finished hissophomore year at Virginia Tech. He just
got home last night, which makesthe house feel one again when everybody's under
the same roof. Our youngest isa senior at Grandville High School, graduating
this year. So and he's alsogoing to Virginia Tech, which is really
pretty neat for us. Was thatby accident or he's like, I want

(32:58):
to follow a big brothers. No, it was even about fo. I
mean he loved the school, he'sstudying something different. I never would have
imagined they would both end up atthe same school. Okay, but we
really enjoy being outside, hiking,mountain biking. Our oldest loves to fish,
and that's really Blacksburg's a really cooltown. I'm wondering if I'm going
to lose my husband to Blacksburg,Virginia quite frankly, like, no,

(33:21):
you can't be in the apartment withthem, because he loves it as much
as they do. So yeah,headed into being empty nesters, which will
be really interesting for the two ofus, but grateful that as I were
ten minutes from my mom and oneof my sisters and his mom's close by,
and so who knows where life willlead us from that family perspective,

(33:45):
but yeah, it's a big partof our lives, so being outside,
traveling, doing those fun things withthe boys. By the way, just
out of curiosity, we talked aboutCrossFit a little bit. How did you
discover it? Because you have alot of passion for it, you you
teach it, how you coach it? How did you fall into it.
That's a great question. My husbandactually started going before I did, to

(34:08):
the it's called always Forward Forward CrossFitin Granville. But I grew up so
I was a cheerleader. I cheeredin college, did a boot camp when
that was a thing. And thenhe discovered CrossFit. I started going with
him, and I'm like, ohmy gosh, this is so cool.
It's the energy around the community.I mean, you know, going to

(34:29):
a gym is great, you're byyourself, you can have your own thing.
But being able to cheer people on, encourage people, really be in
that community setting is what is whathooked me. And so yeah, but
it was really Eric, my husbandEric, that discovered it first. And
I, uh so does he takeyour classes? Now? Does he know

(34:52):
that's called divorce? No? Ican't wait for him to hear this.
No, he does not. Hedoes not know. I do know.
He's super into he you know,he dips in and out of different things.
So he's stops fitting, he's running, he's biking. I must be

(35:12):
a guy thing. I'm the sameway. Oh yeah. I joke around
about him, like the only thingin your life that you've done for a
long period of time is be marriedto me like he just gets bored so
easily. Like, good job,we've been doing it for twenty some years.
That's fantastic. Amy. Before wego, For those that want more
on walle Communities, best place togo, websites, socials, Yeah,

(35:32):
please check out walleck dot com.Looked at our LinkedIn. Lots of amazing
things going on, whether it's storiesabout our Senior living residents or our associates,
or what we're doing to help outthe folks in our affordable housing.
I mean, the team just hasa heart of gold, and I think
that you'd really find join reading aboutthe work that they're doing. All right,

(35:52):
great stuff, and thank you forbeing here in your time. Amy
Albury, CEO of walle Communities,Thanks Amy, Thank thank you. Loved
it, had a great time.CEO's You Should Know is hosted and produced
by Brandon Boxer, a production ofiHeartMedia, Columbus