April 22, 2024 • 22 mins
Welcome to this episode of Community Matters podcast, where we discuss issues important to managing and governing condos, cooperatives and homeowner associations.
Today's guests are Erica Pelosi and Dana Castellotti, two seasoned community managers who redefined their career paths to step foot into community management. They share their unique experiences in navigating career changes, and how they find immense satisfaction in this evolving role.
Erica and Dana give a comprehensive view of their journey, discussing key attributes needed for community managers such as patience, flexibility, and empathy. They reveal the challenges they faced and how they overcame them, shedding light on the importance of top-notch organization skills, high-level multitasking, and a spin of personal uniqueness. This invaluable insight offers encouragement to individuals exploring new professions, especially community management.
Special thanks to our sponsor - Hoffman Law, LLC. Visit Hoffman Law online for more information.
Community Matters is available in the iTunes store, on Google Play and on Spotify. Subscribe there or download the podbean app and be the first to receive notifications when new episodes are posted.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:19):
The podcast that brings you conversations that are critical to managing and
governing condos, cooperatives, and homeowner associations.
I'm your host, Tony Campisi, Executive Director of the Keystone Chapter of Community
Associations Institute.
Tune in each episode for the insights and information that are key to inspiring
(00:40):
professionalism, effective leadership, and responsible citizenship,
ideals reflected in community associations that are preferred places to call home.
The community management profession has grown significantly over the last decade
due to the huge increase in the number of community associations being built
(01:01):
today across the United States.
The profession offers long-term job security, tremendous earning potential,
and a secure, stable, and varied career.
Yet, there continues to be a dramatic shortage of candidates coming into the profession.
During today's episode, I'll be chatting with Erica Pelosi and Dana Castellotti,
(01:24):
two individuals who took very different career paths prior to their current
role as a community manager.
We'll get their insights on how they came to community management and their
advice for others who may be considering community management as their career.
Before we get to our topic today, here's a brief word from our sponsor, Hoffman Law, LLC.
(01:48):
I'm Ed Hoffman with Hoffman Law, LLC.
Hoffman Law, LLC is a recognized leader in community association law.
We're known for our responsiveness, legal acumen, leadership in the association
industry, and our unwavering focus and commitment to education.
You can learn more about us at our website, hoffmanhoalaw.com.
(02:13):
Hoffman Law LLC is proud to sponsor this episode of the Community Matters Podcast.
Erica and Dana, welcome to Community Matters Podcast. We are talking about career
development, career path today.
Both of you had different careers before becoming a community manager,
but you also had a similar experience in that you both knew someone in the field.
(02:39):
In Dana's case, your mom and Erica, you had a close friend working in community management.
So Dana, let me start with you. Share a little bit about your background and
how you came to be a community manager.
Sure. Tony, thanks for having me. So I did 13 years in the restaurant business
and then I did eight years in a hair salon.
(03:00):
I was a type of person who have always wanted to be active in my career and
I didn't want to get stuck behind the desk, as they would say,
in the same mundane things.
And then I turned to community management and I was able to find the best of
both worlds, a standard nine to five Monday through Friday, and then still have
everything different day to day.
And Erica, how about you? You also knew someone in the field and came from a
(03:24):
very different career prior to becoming community manager.
So I came from real estate, actually.
I was doing real estate for several years. And even before that,
I was a surgical tech for a plastic surgeon, which I did for a little bit over eight years.
After I had my son, I wanted to look for something that was a little bit more
(03:51):
flexible with scheduling and in the medical field, that just wasn't it.
So I did get my real estate license and I did that for several years.
I really enjoyed it. And as my kids got older and they started to be in school
full-time, I wanted, I guess, something more.
(04:11):
And I reached out to my friend that I've known since we were teenagers.
And she told me a little bit more about what she does.
And I did some research, applied with the SOCIA for community manager position.
And that was a little bit over almost was two years ago now.
So no regrets there. I've been very happy.
(04:34):
So you both came from a background and Dana, you specifically mentioned this,
that really didn't, wasn't really a desk job.
And we all, I often hear from other managers that they like community management
because it's something different every day.
They don't know necessarily what their day may be tomorrow. Tomorrow,
definitely not a desk job, especially if you're, you know, doing site inspections, etc.
(05:00):
So why did you leave your previous career?
I think I may have just answered that question, but I'm curious your thoughts.
Why did you leave your previous career and pick community management?
Well, as I had said, Tony, you know, I was looking to get a more regulated schedule.
And like Erica said, too, just really trying to be able to lock that into place.
(05:23):
And the restaurant business wasn't it. It wasn't it. It was 60,
70, 80 hours a week and all different schedules.
Community management gave me the best of both worlds.
It brought me into some happiness to be able to schedule time with family,
with friends, know that I have, you know, my weekends to myself.
Unless there's an emergency, but for the most part, be able to enjoy my work-life balance.
(05:48):
Same with Dana. The work-life balance, it's not easy.
I have two little kids. One's about to be six and the other one is almost eight.
And with my position, it is somewhat flexible.
I'm able to be both of my kids' homeroom mom in their school.
(06:09):
I'm able to attend all their class parties and field
trips and you know i'm still
you know i'm doing my 40 hours a week you know
and it just it just works it just works for my schedule it works for our my
our family and you're not wrong about every day is different every day is completely
different and you never know you know anything could pop up and it's kind of
(06:33):
who knows what tomorrow is going to be type of type of thing.
So, Erica, you've been in the profession for two years.
Dana, I think your bio said about six years.
So, Dana, you were in community management prior to the pandemic,
and you both mentioned work-life balance, and we're probably all familiar with
the changes that the pandemic brought in terms of fewer evening meetings for managers.
(06:58):
More of it's on Zoom, probably more opportunities now to work remotely.
Did that change for you
for either of you and and make you more i guess
did that i guess my question would be did that the changes
that came out of the pandemic to your work habits confirm that
you made the right decision to go into this career field for me tony it definitely
(07:21):
did it really solidified that i made the right choice as a restaurant manager
there's no chance of working from home there's no chance of working on anything
when you're not inside the in the building and so So if you need to get things
done, the hours have to be put in there,
which means friends and family aren't a part of your life.
To be able to have dinner with my family and then run upstairs to go on to a
(07:42):
Zoom meeting as opposed to having to be in person, it makes it a lot better
and gives me that extra travel time back into my life. It gives me all of that back into my world.
Yeah, for me, I started after the pandemic, but I was doing real estate during
the pandemic and it was a very crazy time.
I was very busy with interest rates, you know, being as low as they were during,
(08:06):
you know, those first two years of COVID.
And then, you know, starting with Associates.
It was hybrid. I was able to work from home and also go in the office a few days a week.
And the meetings, for the most part, are all Zoom.
I do have a few boards that do like to meet in person once in a while,
(08:29):
which is great because I do like that face-to-face interaction.
And it's only once in a while. It's not all the time.
And some of my meetings actually are during the day, too. They're not all in
the evening, which is nice.
So what skills did either of you bring from a previous career that you think
helped prepare you for taking on the role of a community manager?
(08:51):
For me, it was customer service. In the restaurant business and in community
management, you have people that need an answer and a solution very quickly.
And that was something that was ingrained in me from when I was a little kid.
And it's still part of my everyday world and just making sure that people feel heard.
(09:13):
They want to know that you've listened to what their issue is and can empathize
with them, even if you have to agree that the process that was taken was the correct one.
At least if they know that you understood what they were saying,
it makes you feel a little bit better as a homeowner or as a patron.
And that's what I get to bring with me from my other careers.
For me, similar to Dana's response.
(09:37):
With real estate, you're working with people one-on-one.
So I do feel that I'm a people person. I'm friendly.
And I've always found a way to connect with the person.
I try to find something that we have in common and build the rapport off of that.
(09:57):
Definitely customer service and definitely my organizational skills.
I'm a little OCD, but in a healthy way.
And I think that really has helped me be successful because I'm able to find
any document at any given time.
And I think being organized is definitely something you need to have if you're
(10:22):
going to be in this field.
So there's a lot of paperwork. There's a lot of documents that you got to be able to account for.
I'm a little OCD too, so I get what you're saying, Erica. It's healthy though. It's a healthy OCD.
Yes, that's a good thing. Let me flip that question.
Are there any skills that you didn't possess in a previous career that you think
would have been helpful in your transition to community management?
(10:45):
For me, the hurry up and wait was the big thing.
As I said, people want rapid answers. They want rapid solutions.
You have somebody's dish that went wrong when you're serving them, them. You fix it.
I was able to do the solutions on my own. If I needed to comp somebody,
if I needed to remake something, I can make those solutions very quickly.
In community management, it's not always you. You have to hurry up and get the job done.
(11:10):
And then you have to wait for somebody else to give you an answer,
whether it's a vendor, a board member.
And so sometimes that patience is kind of what kind of gets to you because you
want to just keep moving and get things accomplished to get that check off your list.
I agree with Dana, exactly what you said. It's the patience.
I had two little kids and sometimes my patience with them run out,
(11:34):
but with this, it's about waiting for the board to make a decision or like Dana said, a vendor.
There's a lot of things that are out of our control and we just have to wait
and we have to you know, let homeowners understand that, you know,
we might not be able to get back to them and have an answer for them, you know, immediately.
(11:57):
So again, I hear from a lot of different managers that nobody grows up wanting
to be a community association manager, right?
So we alluded to this at the start, both of you knew people who worked in this field.
So if you could elaborate that on that a little bit and what made you ultimately
make the decision to move on from your previous career and come into community management.
(12:22):
Tony, as you said, my mom was in the business. She retired from a property management
company as the CEO after 33 years of working in the business.
I thought it tooth and nail. I started off as a young kid, seeing her having
to call into the answering service during snowstorms to find out what's happening
with everything. thing.
You know, it was 30 years ago and there was no real emails.
(12:45):
There wasn't this fast communications.
And I just swore up and down that I never would have the patience to do it.
I kind of fought to get away from it as much as I could.
And even when switching careers and getting out of that customer service based
industries of the restaurant business, I still wasn't sure that I wanted to do it.
And I actually just filled an assistant position as a temporary position and
(13:07):
grew my love very quickly for it and realized that it wasn't everything that
I thought it was. It was so much more and so much better.
And I made the switch and grateful that I did and I'm not looking back.
So for me, the, my friend that is in this, had this career, she was also a realtor.
So, which she still is, she's actually doing both still, which it's crazy.
(13:31):
I don't know how she has the time, but I, you know, I reached out to her and
just let her know. And cause she has two little kids too.
And I just, you know, picking ideas off of her and she just,
you know, gave me a lot of information about what she was doing and how her schedule was.
And, you know, that's really what gave me the, the push to look into it more.
(13:56):
And I've lived in HOAs also, you know, the last 20 years of my life.
So I feel that, you know, living in an HOA as a homeowner, I can see,
you know, the homeowner's point of view with, you know, concerns that they may have.
And, you know, being the manager, I feel like, you know, I can empathize with
them because I too live in a HOA and I too have rules and regulations that I need to abide by.
(14:21):
And, you know, it's, I think homeowners like to hear that too,
that they understand that.
That I understand where they're coming from. So back to my statement a few minutes
ago that no one grows up wanting to be a community association manager.
One of the reasons why we're recording this podcast is to sort of get word out
that this is a profession.
(14:42):
Maybe 40 years ago, it wasn't thought of that way.
There is a growing need for community managers. You probably both see it in
your company and a shortage of candidates coming into the industry.
And so my question for both of you, if you were attending a career fair or a
career event at a high school or college, what would you tell students about
(15:05):
why community management should be a career option for them?
Dana, back to your situation growing up, you resisted it.
What's different now? What would you tell those students who are thinking about
it or maybe don't know anything about it?
So for me, you know, there's so many people that tell you, oh,
I know you have a thankless job.
You don't get to hear gratitude. You don't get to hear thanks very often.
(15:27):
And for me, that's actually quite the opposite.
While you may not hear it as much, you know, and you get to feel everything
that you need to give to homeowners.
You know, you know that the capital projects that you are helping facilitate,
the rules that you're instilling, the things that you are doing for the community
are helping to increase everyone's property values.
They're helping to bring them into a better world, a better lifetime in front
(15:50):
of them because of the values that are in there.
And you're a part of that. You get to be the biggest component in making sure
that that happens for them.
Yeah. I mean, piggybacking off of Dana's comment, it is rewarding.
It really is. You know, people do appreciate everything that we do,
you know, for the most part, you're always going to have, you know,
homeowners upset about, you know, something.
(16:12):
It's, you know, There's always going to be someone that's going to complain about something.
But for the most part, people appreciate everything that we do.
And for someone who's thinking about this as a career choice,
the rewarding part of it is part of why I actually enjoy what I'm doing.
(16:36):
I like helping people. and you know it's nice when people show their appreciation
for all that you're doing.
So again, let me flip that question because both of you came from a different
career. You spent the first part of your career doing something differently.
So if you encountered someone that's established in a different career,
(16:58):
maybe they're looking for a change, what advice would you give that person considering
a career change about coming into community management?
I would advise people to remember that no two communities are the same,
no two homes, no two homeowners, no two governing documents between associations are the same.
(17:18):
And it's a career that you're going to need to be able to be good with your
time management skills, good with your organization. as Erica had said earlier,
making sure that you can do multitasking.
And if that's something that helps you thrive in a position,
this is definitely the position for you.
If that's a big struggle for you, it can be a challenge. And it's something
(17:41):
that you really need to think about and look at before you decide to get into the industry.
Yeah, I agree. I mean, if you would have told me, you know, in my early twenties,
when I was, you know, in, you know, a plastic surgeon's office assisting with
surgeries that I would be doing property management, you know,
15 years from then, I would have said, yeah, right.
(18:03):
But, you know, it is, it's just, it's rewarding.
People appreciate you and it's nice to be appreciated. It's nice to be told,
you know, thank you. Like you did a great job. Like it's nice to hear that.
And, you know, it's,
It's, you know, it's not, it is not always easy.
Like Dana said, I mean, there's always going to be, you know,
(18:23):
something, but, you know, and it's good to have a supportive team too.
I think that for me, I have, you know, a great mentor when I came into this
position and I have a great supervisor and a great admin team.
And I think all of those things together really help you be successful.
So you both seem pretty happy with the decision you made to change careers at
(18:48):
various stages of your life.
Any final thoughts for someone contemplating a similar move that might be here
in this podcast? kissed.
Yeah. I would love to tell anybody either make it a career change or who's newer into the business.
Even if you've been in the business for a long time and you're just maybe changing
companies or changing positions, the biggest thing to remember is that you should
(19:13):
not give up on yourself or the area that you're looking at until you're at least a year in.
Once you're over a year, you're working off of your own contracts,
your own building, your own everything that's on there. when you're still trying
anything under a year, you're building off of somebody else and it takes time
to get that under your belt.
So don't give up early, stick it out at least a year and see how you're at.
(19:37):
And I can guarantee you that a year in, you're going to feel so much better than you ever did.
I couldn't agree more with that because, you know, when I first started,
I was given one community, you know, for maybe it was like three or four months
and I was co-managing with my mentor.
And then, you know, as time went on, I kept getting more and more communities.
And in the very beginning, I felt a little bit overwhelmed. It's a little overwhelming
(20:00):
when you don't, when you're not used to this and you're not used to, you know.
The, you know, the consistent homeowners reaching out about,
you know, X, Y, and Z. It's just, you know, it was a lot in the very beginning.
And I mean, Dana's not wrong. As time went on, I, and I got each community organized
and had everything set up the way that it would work for me.
(20:24):
It really was life-changing. It really was. Cause there was definitely times
where I thought, But, you know, this is too much. I'm overwhelmed.
You know, I can't handle this. And then, you know, I took one day at a time.
And, you know, I think that all my communities are set up right now and they're all in great shape.
And I mean, don't get me wrong, I still had days where there's I feel a little
(20:48):
overwhelmed, but not definitely not on a daily basis every day.
Well, I think we all have those days regardless of career, right? Right.
Very true. Well, Dana and Erica, thank you for joining me today for this episode
of Community Matters Podcast.
This was a great conversation on community management as a profession and in
(21:11):
your cases, almost as a second profession.
Thanks for tuning in to Community Matters. We're glad to have your attention for a short time.
And thanks once more to the sponsor of Community Matters Podcast,
Hoffman Law, LLC. Find them on the web at hoffmanhoalaw.com.
(21:31):
Interested in being a guest on an upcoming episode of Community Matters?
Reach out to me at tony, T-O-N-Y, at caikeystone.org.
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you'll get notifications every
time we post a new episode.
And please share our podcast with your colleagues and friends.
(21:51):
For more resources and best practices on managing and governing your condominium,
cooperative, or homeowners association,
please contact CAI or visit our website at www.caikeystone.com.
Music.
Music.
(00:19):
The podcast that brings you conversations that are critical to managing and
governing condos, cooperatives, and homeowner associations.
I'm your host, Tony Campisi, Executive Director of the Keystone Chapter of Community
Associations Institute.
Tune in each episode for the insights and information that are key to inspiring
(00:40):
professionalism, effective leadership, and responsible citizenship,
ideals reflected in community associations that are preferred places to call home.
The community management profession has grown significantly over the last decade
due to the huge increase in the number of community associations being built
(01:01):
today across the United States.
The profession offers long-term job security, tremendous earning potential,
and a secure, stable, and varied career.
Yet, there continues to be a dramatic shortage of candidates coming into the profession.
During today's episode, I'll be chatting with Erica Pelosi and Dana Castellotti,
(01:24):
two individuals who took very different career paths prior to their current
role as a community manager.
We'll get their insights on how they came to community management and their
advice for others who may be considering community management as their career.
Before we get to our topic today, here's a brief word from our sponsor, Hoffman Law, LLC.
(01:48):
I'm Ed Hoffman with Hoffman Law, LLC.
Hoffman Law, LLC is a recognized leader in community association law.
We're known for our responsiveness, legal acumen, leadership in the association
industry, and our unwavering focus and commitment to education.
You can learn more about us at our website, hoffmanhoalaw.com.
(02:13):
Hoffman Law LLC is proud to sponsor this episode of the Community Matters Podcast.
Erica and Dana, welcome to Community Matters Podcast. We are talking about career
development, career path today.
Both of you had different careers before becoming a community manager,
but you also had a similar experience in that you both knew someone in the field.
(02:39):
In Dana's case, your mom and Erica, you had a close friend working in community management.
So Dana, let me start with you. Share a little bit about your background and
how you came to be a community manager.
Sure. Tony, thanks for having me. So I did 13 years in the restaurant business
and then I did eight years in a hair salon.
(03:00):
I was a type of person who have always wanted to be active in my career and
I didn't want to get stuck behind the desk, as they would say,
in the same mundane things.
And then I turned to community management and I was able to find the best of
both worlds, a standard nine to five Monday through Friday, and then still have
everything different day to day.
And Erica, how about you? You also knew someone in the field and came from a
(03:24):
very different career prior to becoming community manager.
So I came from real estate, actually.
I was doing real estate for several years. And even before that,
I was a surgical tech for a plastic surgeon, which I did for a little bit over eight years.
After I had my son, I wanted to look for something that was a little bit more
(03:51):
flexible with scheduling and in the medical field, that just wasn't it.
So I did get my real estate license and I did that for several years.
I really enjoyed it. And as my kids got older and they started to be in school
full-time, I wanted, I guess, something more.
(04:11):
And I reached out to my friend that I've known since we were teenagers.
And she told me a little bit more about what she does.
And I did some research, applied with the SOCIA for community manager position.
And that was a little bit over almost was two years ago now.
So no regrets there. I've been very happy.
(04:34):
So you both came from a background and Dana, you specifically mentioned this,
that really didn't, wasn't really a desk job.
And we all, I often hear from other managers that they like community management
because it's something different every day.
They don't know necessarily what their day may be tomorrow. Tomorrow,
definitely not a desk job, especially if you're, you know, doing site inspections, etc.
(05:00):
So why did you leave your previous career?
I think I may have just answered that question, but I'm curious your thoughts.
Why did you leave your previous career and pick community management?
Well, as I had said, Tony, you know, I was looking to get a more regulated schedule.
And like Erica said, too, just really trying to be able to lock that into place.
(05:23):
And the restaurant business wasn't it. It wasn't it. It was 60,
70, 80 hours a week and all different schedules.
Community management gave me the best of both worlds.
It brought me into some happiness to be able to schedule time with family,
with friends, know that I have, you know, my weekends to myself.
Unless there's an emergency, but for the most part, be able to enjoy my work-life balance.
(05:48):
Same with Dana. The work-life balance, it's not easy.
I have two little kids. One's about to be six and the other one is almost eight.
And with my position, it is somewhat flexible.
I'm able to be both of my kids' homeroom mom in their school.
(06:09):
I'm able to attend all their class parties and field
trips and you know i'm still
you know i'm doing my 40 hours a week you know
and it just it just works it just works for my schedule it works for our my
our family and you're not wrong about every day is different every day is completely
different and you never know you know anything could pop up and it's kind of
(06:33):
who knows what tomorrow is going to be type of type of thing.
So, Erica, you've been in the profession for two years.
Dana, I think your bio said about six years.
So, Dana, you were in community management prior to the pandemic,
and you both mentioned work-life balance, and we're probably all familiar with
the changes that the pandemic brought in terms of fewer evening meetings for managers.
(06:58):
More of it's on Zoom, probably more opportunities now to work remotely.
Did that change for you
for either of you and and make you more i guess
did that i guess my question would be did that the changes
that came out of the pandemic to your work habits confirm that
you made the right decision to go into this career field for me tony it definitely
(07:21):
did it really solidified that i made the right choice as a restaurant manager
there's no chance of working from home there's no chance of working on anything
when you're not inside the in the building and so So if you need to get things
done, the hours have to be put in there,
which means friends and family aren't a part of your life.
To be able to have dinner with my family and then run upstairs to go on to a
(07:42):
Zoom meeting as opposed to having to be in person, it makes it a lot better
and gives me that extra travel time back into my life. It gives me all of that back into my world.
Yeah, for me, I started after the pandemic, but I was doing real estate during
the pandemic and it was a very crazy time.
I was very busy with interest rates, you know, being as low as they were during,
(08:06):
you know, those first two years of COVID.
And then, you know, starting with Associates.
It was hybrid. I was able to work from home and also go in the office a few days a week.
And the meetings, for the most part, are all Zoom.
I do have a few boards that do like to meet in person once in a while,
(08:29):
which is great because I do like that face-to-face interaction.
And it's only once in a while. It's not all the time.
And some of my meetings actually are during the day, too. They're not all in
the evening, which is nice.
So what skills did either of you bring from a previous career that you think
helped prepare you for taking on the role of a community manager?
(08:51):
For me, it was customer service. In the restaurant business and in community
management, you have people that need an answer and a solution very quickly.
And that was something that was ingrained in me from when I was a little kid.
And it's still part of my everyday world and just making sure that people feel heard.
(09:13):
They want to know that you've listened to what their issue is and can empathize
with them, even if you have to agree that the process that was taken was the correct one.
At least if they know that you understood what they were saying,
it makes you feel a little bit better as a homeowner or as a patron.
And that's what I get to bring with me from my other careers.
For me, similar to Dana's response.
(09:37):
With real estate, you're working with people one-on-one.
So I do feel that I'm a people person. I'm friendly.
And I've always found a way to connect with the person.
I try to find something that we have in common and build the rapport off of that.
(09:57):
Definitely customer service and definitely my organizational skills.
I'm a little OCD, but in a healthy way.
And I think that really has helped me be successful because I'm able to find
any document at any given time.
And I think being organized is definitely something you need to have if you're
(10:22):
going to be in this field.
So there's a lot of paperwork. There's a lot of documents that you got to be able to account for.
I'm a little OCD too, so I get what you're saying, Erica. It's healthy though. It's a healthy OCD.
Yes, that's a good thing. Let me flip that question.
Are there any skills that you didn't possess in a previous career that you think
would have been helpful in your transition to community management?
(10:45):
For me, the hurry up and wait was the big thing.
As I said, people want rapid answers. They want rapid solutions.
You have somebody's dish that went wrong when you're serving them, them. You fix it.
I was able to do the solutions on my own. If I needed to comp somebody,
if I needed to remake something, I can make those solutions very quickly.
In community management, it's not always you. You have to hurry up and get the job done.
(11:10):
And then you have to wait for somebody else to give you an answer,
whether it's a vendor, a board member.
And so sometimes that patience is kind of what kind of gets to you because you
want to just keep moving and get things accomplished to get that check off your list.
I agree with Dana, exactly what you said. It's the patience.
I had two little kids and sometimes my patience with them run out,
(11:34):
but with this, it's about waiting for the board to make a decision or like Dana said, a vendor.
There's a lot of things that are out of our control and we just have to wait
and we have to you know, let homeowners understand that, you know,
we might not be able to get back to them and have an answer for them, you know, immediately.
(11:57):
So again, I hear from a lot of different managers that nobody grows up wanting
to be a community association manager, right?
So we alluded to this at the start, both of you knew people who worked in this field.
So if you could elaborate that on that a little bit and what made you ultimately
make the decision to move on from your previous career and come into community management.
(12:22):
Tony, as you said, my mom was in the business. She retired from a property management
company as the CEO after 33 years of working in the business.
I thought it tooth and nail. I started off as a young kid, seeing her having
to call into the answering service during snowstorms to find out what's happening
with everything. thing.
You know, it was 30 years ago and there was no real emails.
(12:45):
There wasn't this fast communications.
And I just swore up and down that I never would have the patience to do it.
I kind of fought to get away from it as much as I could.
And even when switching careers and getting out of that customer service based
industries of the restaurant business, I still wasn't sure that I wanted to do it.
And I actually just filled an assistant position as a temporary position and
(13:07):
grew my love very quickly for it and realized that it wasn't everything that
I thought it was. It was so much more and so much better.
And I made the switch and grateful that I did and I'm not looking back.
So for me, the, my friend that is in this, had this career, she was also a realtor.
So, which she still is, she's actually doing both still, which it's crazy.
(13:31):
I don't know how she has the time, but I, you know, I reached out to her and
just let her know. And cause she has two little kids too.
And I just, you know, picking ideas off of her and she just,
you know, gave me a lot of information about what she was doing and how her schedule was.
And, you know, that's really what gave me the, the push to look into it more.
(13:56):
And I've lived in HOAs also, you know, the last 20 years of my life.
So I feel that, you know, living in an HOA as a homeowner, I can see,
you know, the homeowner's point of view with, you know, concerns that they may have.
And, you know, being the manager, I feel like, you know, I can empathize with
them because I too live in a HOA and I too have rules and regulations that I need to abide by.
(14:21):
And, you know, it's, I think homeowners like to hear that too,
that they understand that.
That I understand where they're coming from. So back to my statement a few minutes
ago that no one grows up wanting to be a community association manager.
One of the reasons why we're recording this podcast is to sort of get word out
that this is a profession.
(14:42):
Maybe 40 years ago, it wasn't thought of that way.
There is a growing need for community managers. You probably both see it in
your company and a shortage of candidates coming into the industry.
And so my question for both of you, if you were attending a career fair or a
career event at a high school or college, what would you tell students about
(15:05):
why community management should be a career option for them?
Dana, back to your situation growing up, you resisted it.
What's different now? What would you tell those students who are thinking about
it or maybe don't know anything about it?
So for me, you know, there's so many people that tell you, oh,
I know you have a thankless job.
You don't get to hear gratitude. You don't get to hear thanks very often.
(15:27):
And for me, that's actually quite the opposite.
While you may not hear it as much, you know, and you get to feel everything
that you need to give to homeowners.
You know, you know that the capital projects that you are helping facilitate,
the rules that you're instilling, the things that you are doing for the community
are helping to increase everyone's property values.
They're helping to bring them into a better world, a better lifetime in front
(15:50):
of them because of the values that are in there.
And you're a part of that. You get to be the biggest component in making sure
that that happens for them.
Yeah. I mean, piggybacking off of Dana's comment, it is rewarding.
It really is. You know, people do appreciate everything that we do,
you know, for the most part, you're always going to have, you know,
homeowners upset about, you know, something.
(16:12):
It's, you know, There's always going to be someone that's going to complain about something.
But for the most part, people appreciate everything that we do.
And for someone who's thinking about this as a career choice,
the rewarding part of it is part of why I actually enjoy what I'm doing.
(16:36):
I like helping people. and you know it's nice when people show their appreciation
for all that you're doing.
So again, let me flip that question because both of you came from a different
career. You spent the first part of your career doing something differently.
So if you encountered someone that's established in a different career,
(16:58):
maybe they're looking for a change, what advice would you give that person considering
a career change about coming into community management?
I would advise people to remember that no two communities are the same,
no two homes, no two homeowners, no two governing documents between associations are the same.
(17:18):
And it's a career that you're going to need to be able to be good with your
time management skills, good with your organization. as Erica had said earlier,
making sure that you can do multitasking.
And if that's something that helps you thrive in a position,
this is definitely the position for you.
If that's a big struggle for you, it can be a challenge. And it's something
(17:41):
that you really need to think about and look at before you decide to get into the industry.
Yeah, I agree. I mean, if you would have told me, you know, in my early twenties,
when I was, you know, in, you know, a plastic surgeon's office assisting with
surgeries that I would be doing property management, you know,
15 years from then, I would have said, yeah, right.
(18:03):
But, you know, it is, it's just, it's rewarding.
People appreciate you and it's nice to be appreciated. It's nice to be told,
you know, thank you. Like you did a great job. Like it's nice to hear that.
And, you know, it's,
It's, you know, it's not, it is not always easy.
Like Dana said, I mean, there's always going to be, you know,
(18:23):
something, but, you know, and it's good to have a supportive team too.
I think that for me, I have, you know, a great mentor when I came into this
position and I have a great supervisor and a great admin team.
And I think all of those things together really help you be successful.
So you both seem pretty happy with the decision you made to change careers at
(18:48):
various stages of your life.
Any final thoughts for someone contemplating a similar move that might be here
in this podcast? kissed.
Yeah. I would love to tell anybody either make it a career change or who's newer into the business.
Even if you've been in the business for a long time and you're just maybe changing
companies or changing positions, the biggest thing to remember is that you should
(19:13):
not give up on yourself or the area that you're looking at until you're at least a year in.
Once you're over a year, you're working off of your own contracts,
your own building, your own everything that's on there. when you're still trying
anything under a year, you're building off of somebody else and it takes time
to get that under your belt.
So don't give up early, stick it out at least a year and see how you're at.
(19:37):
And I can guarantee you that a year in, you're going to feel so much better than you ever did.
I couldn't agree more with that because, you know, when I first started,
I was given one community, you know, for maybe it was like three or four months
and I was co-managing with my mentor.
And then, you know, as time went on, I kept getting more and more communities.
And in the very beginning, I felt a little bit overwhelmed. It's a little overwhelming
(20:00):
when you don't, when you're not used to this and you're not used to, you know.
The, you know, the consistent homeowners reaching out about,
you know, X, Y, and Z. It's just, you know, it was a lot in the very beginning.
And I mean, Dana's not wrong. As time went on, I, and I got each community organized
and had everything set up the way that it would work for me.
(20:24):
It really was life-changing. It really was. Cause there was definitely times
where I thought, But, you know, this is too much. I'm overwhelmed.
You know, I can't handle this. And then, you know, I took one day at a time.
And, you know, I think that all my communities are set up right now and they're all in great shape.
And I mean, don't get me wrong, I still had days where there's I feel a little
(20:48):
overwhelmed, but not definitely not on a daily basis every day.
Well, I think we all have those days regardless of career, right? Right.
Very true. Well, Dana and Erica, thank you for joining me today for this episode
of Community Matters Podcast.
This was a great conversation on community management as a profession and in
(21:11):
your cases, almost as a second profession.
Thanks for tuning in to Community Matters. We're glad to have your attention for a short time.
And thanks once more to the sponsor of Community Matters Podcast,
Hoffman Law, LLC. Find them on the web at hoffmanhoalaw.com.
(21:31):
Interested in being a guest on an upcoming episode of Community Matters?
Reach out to me at tony, T-O-N-Y, at caikeystone.org.
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you'll get notifications every
time we post a new episode.
And please share our podcast with your colleagues and friends.
(21:51):
For more resources and best practices on managing and governing your condominium,
cooperative, or homeowners association,
please contact CAI or visit our website at www.caikeystone.com.
Music.
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