August 18, 2025 • 35 mins
CAI President Melissa Ramsey shares emotional intelligence tools for calmer HOA boards and healthier communities!
✅ Is a Reserve Study right for you? 👉 https://www.reservestudy.com/
Emotions run hot in HOAs, but they don’t have to run the show. CAI National President Melissa Ramsey joins Robert Nordlund to unpack emotional intelligence for boards and managers. Learn how to pause, set boundaries, depersonalize conflict, align around mission and vision, and prevent burnout with simple daily resets. Practical takeaways for communities of every size, plus a nudge to “spin the good” and share wins across your association.
Key Takeaways:
• Melissa’s company: Mosaic Community Consulting
• If you’re stressed/hurting – address where the hurt is coming from.
• Be true to who you are
• Do what keeps you’re healthy
• Be honest about if you’re not feeling good, and make the necessary adjustments
• At your association – have a guiding Mission (and Values), to keep everyone headed the same direction and minimize distracting and “toxic soup” personal agendas.
• Spin the good news at your association
• Recognize your positive impact, and feel good about it.
The views & opinions expressed in this program are those of the Hosts & Guests, intended to provide general education about the community association industry. The content is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or organization. Please seek advice from licensed professionals.
Podcast Links:
Full Episode List
Watch On Youtube
Engage in the conversation!
Call our 24/7 voicemail line at (805) 203-3130 or send an email or voice memo to podcast@reservestudy.com
Nominate yourself or a Board Hero you Know!
Board Hero Nominations
Shop!
HOA insights now has its very own merch store! Our team has whipped up some hats, mugs, T-Shirts, & more that we think Volunteer HOA Boardmembers are gonna love. We also offer dozens of FREE zoom backgrounds. Available in our Boardmember Merch Store!
Connect with Hosts on LinkedIn
Julie Adamen
Kevin Davis, CIRMS
...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Melissa Ramsey (00:00):
I've done a lot of talks on emotional
(00:01):
intelligence in the last coupleof years, and what I see a lot
in our industry and within youknow, the community management
space, is that people don't knowhow to deal and cope with their
emotions. You take theiremotions, and you add on other
people's emotions, and everyonejust isn't sure how to handle
(00:23):
that and to talk about it. Soyou first have to figure out,
how do I cope, and then, inturn, you can help when other
people are coming at you withtheir emotion.
Announcer (00:35):
HOA Insights is brought to you by five companies
that c (00:37):
Association Insights and Marketplace, Association
Reserves, Community Financials,HOA Invest and Kevin Davis
Insurance Services. You'll findlinks to their websites and
social media in the show notes.
Robert Nordlund (00:50):
Welcome back to Hoa insights
Common Areas. I'm RobertNordlund, and I'm here today for
episode 119 with a special guestI've seen at CAI conferences for
years she's been making a namefor herself on a national level,
so it's my pleasure to introduceher to you today. Melissa Ramsey
is from a management background.
She lives in South Carolina andhas a whole list of credentials
(01:12):
behind her name, but at thistime, she's most notably the
president of Cai nationals Boardof Trustees. So it's a real
treat to have her on the programto share some of the insights
she's learned from her decadeson how you have decades of
experience, but it all adds updecades of experience in there,
in the community, association,industry. Well, last week's
(01:34):
episode 118 was anotherconversation with regular co
host Julie ademan on managementand people and culture and
community associations, there'salways something interesting
going on. If you missed thatepisode or any other prior
episode, take a moment aftertoday's program to listen from
our podcast website, Hoainsights.org, or watch on our
(01:56):
YouTube channel. But better yet,subscribe from any of the major
podcast platforms so you don'tmiss any future episodes. Well,
those of you watching on YouTubecan see the HOA insights mug I
have here. It's featuring adeteriorated Association and
people complaining about reservefunding, something near and dear
(02:16):
to my heart, and I got that fromour merch store, which can
browse through from our Hoainsights.org website, or the
link in our show notes, you'llfind we have some great free
stuff there, like board memberzoom backgrounds and some
specialty items for sale, likethe mug. So go to the merch
store, download a free zoombackground, take a moment look
(02:37):
around, find the mug you'd likeand email me at podcast, at
reserves, a.com with your name,shipping address and mug choice,
mentioning episode 119 muggiveaway, and if you're the 10th
person to email me, I'll shipthat mug to you free of charge.
Well, we enjoy hearing from youresponding to the issues that
you're facing at yourassociation. So if you have a
(02:58):
hot topic, a crazy story, or aquestion you'd like us to
address, you can contact us at805-203-3130, or email us at
podcast at reserve, study.comthis episode was prompted by
Denise from Phoenix, who asked,I'm in my third term as A board
member. I think I'm doing a goodjob, but I find myself crying
(03:22):
more. How do I balance the goodfeelings of what I'm doing for
my association with the badfeelings deep in my heart? And I
think that resonates with a lotof people in our audience. It's
emails like this that made mewant to get Melissa on the
program. So, Melissa, welcome tothe program. And how would you
respond to Denise, well, thankyou for having me.
Melissa Ramsey (03:47):
This is quite the question to pose and to you
know, have a board member sayingthat they have that bad feeling
deep in their heart that's hardto hear you don't you know, want
a board member feeling that way.
You want a volunteer experienceto be enjoyable in thinking
about that. You know, my firstinstinct was, why the bad
(04:08):
feelings? And why is it so deep?
So is it related to theassociation, or is it coming
from a personal place? And Ithink a lot of times we
commingle our personal,professional, volunteer life,
and we lose sight of what'sdriving our emotions. Are you
(04:28):
talking
Robert Nordlund (04:29):
about the budget is tough, or is it like a
personal attack because someonedoesn't like that they can't be
in the pool after 10 o'clock.
Melissa Ramsey (04:41):
Or could it be that you're going through
something at home or with yourfamily into where you're just
not in a good head space? And sothat one complaint,
Robert Nordlund (04:52):
you know, the bandwidth for one more problem,
right?
Melissa Ramsey (04:56):
You're You're so caught up in, you know what? It.
Is that's making you feel bad,that anything else that comes on
your plate just makes it thatmuch bigger and brings those
emotions tenfold. And so theremight be something else that's,
you know, driving that hurt, andit's not actually the
association, but that's whereyou're seeing it. And so I
(05:18):
think, for Denise, reallylooking at, you know, where's
that hurt coming from, andtrying to get to the root cause
of that. If it is theassociation, then, you know,
deciding, where are myboundaries, where do I need to
say, No, is that worth havingthis much hurt to service the
community? Or, you know, maybe Ineed to take a step back and
(05:42):
just kind of refocus and reenergize before coming back on
the board. I think those are allquestions that you just have to
internally reflect on to makesure that you are content and
happy and you're serving in agood space,
Robert Nordlund (05:58):
because if you're out of gas, you're not
going to be serving theassociation. Well, absolutely,
I've got two kids. They'regrown, they're out and
independent, but you have twosmall ones, right?
Melissa Ramsey (06:08):
Yes, okay, so, so 15 to nine and so there's a
lot of emotions.
Robert Nordlund (06:14):
You're at work, yeah, when you have priorities,
your family, your kids, aregoing to come first, and you
need to say, okay, what are mypriorities? And whoops, the
board member is a volunteerposition. Maybe I can defer some
of that. So short term, is itokay for Denise? I think it was.
(06:35):
Yes. Denise, can she just say,Hey, can I step away for a month
or two, a short term thing likethat. Take a breath. Do you see
people doing that
Melissa Ramsey (06:46):
absolutely but I think even shorter term is just
taking that pause, whether it'safter a board meeting at the end
of your day, to say, How am Idoing? Where are my thoughts and
my feelings coming from, andI've done a lot of talks on
emotional intelligence in thelast couple of years. And what I
(07:07):
see a lot in our industry andwithin you know, the community
management space, is that peopledon't know how to deal and cope
with their emotions, and thenyou take their emotions and you
add on other people's emotions,and everyone just isn't sure how
to to handle that and to talkabout it. So you first have to
(07:28):
figure out, how do I cope? Andthen, in turn, you can help when
other people are coming at youwith their emotions. So I think,
for for Denise, just to take aminute journal, you know, be
grounded for a second and justfigure out, why am I hurting?
Let me fix that issue first. Andthat could be stepping away from
(07:52):
the association. It could be,you know, going toward yoga
retreat. I mean, there's so manydifferent options, but I think
if she just takes five to 10minutes just to pause and
reflect, that could lead to alot of answers for her.
Robert Nordlund (08:07):
Yeah, just as you're talking about that, we
have a deck out on our backyard,and it's there, it overlooks
some beautiful scenery, and it'sthere and it's there and it's
there. And if I can take 15minutes just to sit on a chair
out on the deck and get that 15minutes, that's only 15 minutes
(08:30):
out of a day. But if I can getthat 15 minutes, I can check off
that day as a good day, becauseI was out on our deck in the
backyard, and it doesn't take alot of time. And just what
you're talking about withDenise, knowing what her happy
place is, and I'm going tostereotype here, knowing my
wife, if she can get a lunch ora coffee with one of her
(08:50):
girlfriends, same kind of thing,that's an hour or so or two all
of a sudden. That makes that agood day. Everything else is
still on her plate. But if youcan find the things that give
you some pleasure or some peace,that's an anchor that allows you
to then face the other battlesin your life
Melissa Ramsey (09:09):
absolutely and all it takes is 10 to 15 minutes
too.
Robert Nordlund (09:13):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be a big thing.
It doesn't have to be I'mselling my house and moving to
Tim book too, although sometimesyou want to do that. Well, tell
me about yourself. Your careerpath has taken some turns. First
off, what got you into thecommunity, association,
industry?
Melissa Ramsey (09:33):
Funny story. So I usually I say that I started
as a lifeguard and fell intothis. I was on the private swim
and tennis club side, and wanteda change of scenery after
college. And went from Durham,North Carolina to Reno, Nevada,
so east coast to west coast,complete change of scenery and
(09:58):
the club that I. Went to waspart of an association. So that
was back in 2005 and so throughthe evolution of club
operations, got involved,started asking questions, you
know, trying to figure out, whatdo you mean? There's a board of
directors, and, oh, by the way,that board is also the developer
(10:18):
and declarant. So I kind of gotthrown into all things with an
association, but I found itintriguing, complicated. We
exist exactly. I always tell myparents that I never wanted a
desk job that was the same dayafter day after day. And in this
(10:41):
industry, every day isdifferent, like there's nothing
that repeats itself, which Ithink is fascinating, if we
enjoy those variances. But justworked my way up through that
community and got intoleadership with management
companies, and then life took acrazy turn for me in 2023 and I
(11:04):
was diagnosed with breastcancer. Oh, yikes. And in going
through that, I had to selfreflect a lot and wanting to be
more present with my kids andjust my own mental health. And
so that's what led me tocreating mosaic and being in a
consulting space to do what Ienjoy about this industry, but
(11:28):
doing it on my schedule, and soit has been a crazy journey
along the way.
Robert Nordlund (11:38):
Yeah, for everyone listening, mosaic is
mosaic community consulting, andwe'll have a link to that in the
show notes, so you can follow upand see what Melissa is talking
about. But I get that so you cannow be a solution provider,
helping people, fixing things,
Melissa Ramsey (11:56):
absolutely, taking the the years of
operational experience and andbeing becoming fresh set eyes
and looking at, you know, thealternatives in a proactive
solution, where, when you aredoing the hurt, frustration and
all the emotions, sometimes youlose sight of what's in the best
(12:19):
interest for the community.
Robert Nordlund (12:21):
Interesting. So personally, you were able to
step back and from that body ofexperience, you're now able to
help other board members, otherassociations, see things with
perspective and get to asolution. You tempted me with
this episode being about healthand wellness, and now I have a
(12:41):
better understanding about wherethat's coming from. That comes
from your heart. Tell me whatyou how do you how do you
measure that? How does someone,how does Denise know how she's
doing, she says she's crying.
How do you measure your wellbeing, and know that you're
you're getting to yoursaturation point. You need to
take a break. You need to make achange.
Melissa Ramsey (13:05):
I think it's an evolution, and it's not, it's
not the same for everybody.
There's not the same measurablemoments through, you know,
life's turns of events. Whatmight be a problem or a solution
for your problem might alteralong the way, and so what I
have found is that just beingtrue to who you are and being
(13:29):
open to different opportunitiesand solutions, I started on this
wellness journey after mydaughter was born more from a
physical place, and recognizingthat you know sitting all the
time is not good for you. Andyou start looking at our
industry, and so many people inour industry sit all day, and
(13:52):
you go to these conferences, andyou recognize that you know
you're sitting and then you'reeating and drinking. And so it's
not, you know, a very wellbalanced environment, but
through that, then I, you know,had an opportunity to meet
different people along thatjourney. Lex fire Hawk, out of
Arizona, she's one who reallyintroduced me to the mindfulness
(14:17):
piece and breathing gave meanxiety for the longest time,
and I was not a person who wasopen and interested to yoga. But
when you have someone who justthey're not forcing it on you,
they're just engaging in aconversation, you're like, Okay,
let me give that a try. And so,you know, you evolve into trying
new things, and I think that'swhat's been so great, is that
(14:40):
I'm open to that. I'm open toknowing if I'm not feeling good
and making the adjustments tillI feel better and right, so that
way I can continue to show up inmy authentic self.
Robert Nordlund (14:55):
I'm writing that one down. Know if you're
not feeling good, and I. Makethe adjustments,
Melissa Ramsey (15:03):
because so many people get caught up in it, and
then you never correct theproblem, and so you continue
just to feel bad, and theneverything just continues to
pile up until you explode. Andso often we talk about in our
industry, burnout, whether it'scommunity manager or a board
member, even a business partner,if you're not taking the time to
(15:27):
correct, you will reach thepoint of burnout. But if you
give yourself, yourself thegrace to say, I do need to go
sit outside in the sunshine, orfor me, take me to the beach a
couple of times a year, put myfeet in the sand, yep, like, you
know, knowing what those momentsare to where you can truly just
(15:49):
let everything go. And you know,you just smile in those moments
Robert Nordlund (15:54):
and refuel, yes, and re Energize. What is
it? Refresh, renew, restore.
There's a lot of good R words.
There's got to be one for B forbeach, but that's on my wife's
list too. But just Yeah, to knowwhat is good for you and be able
to take care of your own self.
Okay, I want to turn the cornera little bit. Let's talk about
(16:17):
the association. There are sometoxic associations. There's some
well running associations. Iwould imagine, from your point
of view, you've seen some talktoxic associations that just are
almost designed to burn peopleout. Can you give us some low
hanging fruit of things? I don'tbelieve, I don't believe it's
(16:40):
the association. I believe it'sthe leadership. I believe it
always comes back to people,right? Actually, okay, good.
You're with me on that. Is theresome low hanging fruit that can
be done to start to turn thecorner from it being a toxic
situation that is just no fun tobegin for it to be a well
(17:00):
functioning association.
Melissa Ramsey (17:04):
So you know, when I talk about health and
wellness of our industry, itgoes so many different ways. You
can look at the individualperson, you can look at a board,
and you can look at thecommunity, and, you know, the
connections with businesspartners, and so from a
community perspective, a lot oftimes, people get caught up in,
do I have money in the accountis, you know, the common area?
(17:27):
Well, maintained. That's justthe surface level, like icing on
the cake, if you will. You gotto really dive into it and look
at, you know, do we have avision? And I feel like a lot of
communities that have thatconflict, there's no mission and
vision that they're workingtowards. And so it's these
personal agendas of the vocalminority that are driving
(17:52):
action. And so having thosecommunities Again, pause and go.
What are we here for? What isour purpose? What are we trying
to deliver to our owners and ourneighbors and our friends and
focus back on that? You know,Are we maintaining our common
(18:13):
areas, if not? Why and havingthose conversations? I think
we've gotten so far away fromjust talking to one another and
treating people like goodneighbors, and we're so quick to
make assumptions and stick withWell, that's how we've always
done it. That doesn't make itright. And so without looking at
(18:36):
alternatives and looking at,okay, what is for the good of
the community, you're going tocontinue to be stuck in that bad
space. And even the grumpiest ofboard members, they have a
passion. There's somethingthat's driving them, and if you
engage in the conversation tosee what that is, a lot of
(19:00):
times, you can turn that aroundand you can get them energized
for the good instead of focusingon the bad.
Robert Nordlund (19:07):
Yeah, well, you said a couple of things I want
to that are connecting dots forme. Earlier, you talked about
different personalities and thetoxic soup of one person wanting
something, another personwanting another thing. And if
you can have that aligningvision, that we are here at the
Association for a, we are hereat the Association for B, and or
(19:32):
having policies, guidingpolicies, then you can have
someone who is moreconservative, more aggressive,
risk averse, or whatever it is,but at least you're aligned with
okay. For the association weexist to do this, and that can
minimize the toxic soup on theside right and align people to
Okay. What is the definition ofgood for this community? At
(19:55):
Happy Valley villas, we are hereto blank and you can. Different
opinions. You can have differentprofessional strengths,
different skill sets that youbring to the table, different
emotions that you bring to thetable, but you're here for this
at Happy Valley villas, and thatcan, I'm just realizing that
(20:16):
that can put so many of thesedifficult issues off on the
side, when you have somethingthat,
Melissa Ramsey (20:22):
yep, it takes the emotions out of it. Even if
there's conflict. You can saythat per our mission or per our
value, this is why we're lookingat this topic. And you can focus
on that from a neutralstandpoint versus I disagree
with you. You're wrong. Whywould you say that? And like it
(20:44):
becomes a personal attack, andthat's when you see these toxic
orgs and toxic communities, andit's like, no, let's just focus
on the neutral piece of it, andlet's not make it personal.
Yeah,
Robert Nordlund (20:56):
well, Melissa, you just even saying that the
personal attacks makes afterthis recording, I want to go out
in my deck and sit in the chairfor a while. You know? I can
just feel that on the back of myneck, and I can begin to
appreciate what Denise isfeeling. That if she doesn't
have a pressure release, thiscan just back up, and she can
just feel it's a lot of work. Idon't like these people. Joe was
(21:20):
mean to me. Susie is mean to me.
I don't even like myselfanymore. Got to find a way to
unwind that. And I like thisidea of taking care of yourself,
knowing when you may need tomake an adjustment. And then
such high value on having aguiding policy, a guiding Did
you call it guiding vision forthe association itself?
Melissa Ramsey (21:46):
Depending on the size of the association, I think
you know it can vary. So, youknow, a smaller community, they
might just have a missionstatement. That's all they need.
There's they don't have a lot ofamenities. Whereas you might get
a larger community, lots ofamenities, lot of lots of things
that are going on, where theymight have a mission and values,
(22:06):
because their values, or somepeople you know, set them up as
goals, address the differentcomponents of the association.
So again, you're still able torefer back to Hey. Our goal for
this year was, you know, to fixthe playground, yeah. Are we
doing that? Let's not argueabout the color of it. Are we
(22:27):
fixing it? You know, keep itthat simple.
Robert Nordlund (22:30):
Okay, I like that because it's, I can see
there's a difference between alittle 12 unit condo on the
beach that half the units arerented, compared to a big, age
restricted community with twogolf courses, three rec centers.
What? 50 people on staff? That'sa whole different situation.
Well, let's take a quick breakhere. Now I'm looking at the
(22:52):
clock. It's time to hear fromone of our generous sponsors at
your worth, after which, youthink I could say this clearly,
after all these times, afterwhich, we'll be back with more
common sense for common areas.
With Melissa Ramsey,
HOA Invest (23:04):
tired of low returns on your HOA reserves with HOA
invest technology availablenationwide through SEC
registered capital, CS group inKeystone private wealth, you can
now grow your community's fundswith competitive, tax efficient
returns while keeping them safeand accessible. Our accounts are
held with Charles Schwab and HOAinvest. API integrated
technology gives you dailyaccess to balances, holdings,
(23:25):
transactions, Schwab statementsand a nationwide inventory of
CDs and treasuries all in oneeasy to use platform. Ready to
Grow your reserves. Getpersonalized strategies and a
free investment policy reviewwith HOA. Invest your trusted
partner for securing yourcommunity's financial future,
Robert Nordlund (23:41):
and we're back.
Well, Melissa, let's get back tohealth and wellness. Where did
that journey start for
Melissa Ramsey (23:46):
you? It's an interesting one.
Robert Nordlund (23:49):
I count on that we're recording this. I
Melissa Ramsey (23:53):
i had the journey that was happening for
me, personally, internally, likeI said, after my daughter was
born, but from
Robert Nordlund (24:01):
a is that your oldest or your second
Melissa Ramsey (24:03):
my oldest? So probably 12 years ago is kind of
when I started that journey,personally. But then during that
time, I got actively involvedwith the Nevada chapter of Cai
community associations,Institute
Robert Nordlund (24:19):
for people who don't know. Tell me a little bit
more about Cai.
Melissa Ramsey (24:23):
Cai is an international organization that
focuses on the CommunityAssociation, association housing
model. It's interesting in thatit's an organization that
supports business partners,community managers and homeowner
leaders, and so we bringtogether all of these different
perspectives of individuals thatwork with community
(24:45):
associations.
Robert Nordlund (24:46):
Okay, that's crazy in a sense. That's like
the American Bar Associationsupporting lawyers and clients,
or the American MedicalAssociation supporting doctors
and sick people,
Melissa Ramsey (24:57):
yep. So we're an interesting organ. Organization
in that regard, yeah, but gotactively involved at the local
level, and had a couple ofpeople at the chapter said, you
know, you should get involved atnational Sure. Why not? I have
all the free time in the world.
Let me volunteer. So I
Robert Nordlund (25:17):
all you do is answer emails 18 hours a day. So
Melissa Ramsey (25:21):
I self nominated for the managers council and was
selected to join that, and I waschair elect. So I was selected
as chair elect. So I joined in2019 became chair elect in 2020
and then in 2021 was my year aschair that was the year that I
(25:41):
decided for the managerscouncil, I wanted to focus on
the health and wellness ofmanagers.
Robert Nordlund (25:47):
Okay, let me slow you down there, because
2020 was covid, which wastension. Just to start with 2021
we just crossed the four yearanniversary of Chaplain tower
south. So that was more tension.
So, yeah, you're it's all aroundyou,
Melissa Ramsey (26:04):
yes? And I thought, What a perfect time,
because we aren't talking aboutit. All we talked about was
burnout. You know, people areleaving, and it's like, let,
well, let's give solutions totry and avoid that upfront. And
so the council looked at ways topromote healthy living, what is
(26:28):
a well balanced diet? What aremindfulness tools that managers
could utilize? And what I trulyloved through that year was the
number of people who gravitatedtowards it, engaged in the
conversation. Thought like,Absolutely, we should be talking
about this. Well,
Robert Nordlund (26:48):
that's key, because you were saying that you
need to know if you're notfeeling good and make the
adjustments. And it sounds likepeople were were following you
and able willing to make theadjustments.
Melissa Ramsey (27:01):
And so through that, you know, CA, I kind of
named me the wellness expert,wellness guru. And so being on
the board of trustees, beingselected as president elect. And
so this year, in my term asPresident, I thought, well, I
need to continue this health andwellness
Robert Nordlund (27:21):
journey pressing that button and
pressing that button hard. Okay,good, but let
Melissa Ramsey (27:25):
me expand it.
It's not I want to make it towhere people are looking at all
the different aspects of it, notjust the community managers,
okay, and being able to look atall of the different people
involved with Cai to say, isthis a healthy business partner
relationship, you know, is thisa healthy employment
(27:47):
environment? Is this a healthycommunity, and what are the
reasons for that? You know, isthis a well funded reserve
study, like all the different,of course, all of the different
nuances to say, Are we healthyas a broader community, and that
also led to, you know, as aboard of trustees, to say, Are
(28:10):
we healthy as an organization ofCai, we were faced with, you
know, our CEO of 23 yearsretiring, and so it even became
that much more critical for usto examine, okay, are we
healthy? What does that looklike for us? And so it just it
timing. I feel like, you knowthe stars align to say this is a
(28:32):
great talking point on so manydifferent levels, to engage
different people. And you know,you know, Bill Overton, yes,
he's been a great champion ofthis topic as well. And looking
at it from, you know, the mentalmindset piece of it, too. And so
having those conversations andhaving people share those
(28:56):
stories, and so I couldn't beprouder. I love that so many
people are open to theconversation, and it's not you
know something that you have tokeep secret. And I hope that as
we continue through this year,and as more people start talking
about the health and wellness oftheir communities and of the
(29:18):
organization, the positivestories start coming out, and we
start talking more about thegood things that are happening,
not just the bad.
Robert Nordlund (29:30):
Yeah. Well, you watch the news and it's, it's
easy to get bad press forsomething or something else that
just, yeah, I'm wringing myhands.
Melissa Ramsey (29:39):
But think about if you, if you pivoted that and
you like, it's summer, right?
Everyone, if you have a pool inyour community, there's kids
swimming, think about ifeveryone just took a minute and
captured that kid smiling, youknow, as they got out of the
water, jumped into the pool forthe first time, and what? Just
satisfaction you get from justseeing a smile, seeing that
(30:03):
happiness, to be reminded, hey,we're doing a good job. This
isn't so bad, and I think that'swhere we all need to play our
part and put those stories outthere more and share that
happiness that we know is there.
(30:23):
It's just we don't talk aboutit. Can
Robert Nordlund (30:25):
I say spin the good? Yes, absolutely, that may
make it into the show notes.
Okay, all right. Well, we lookaround, there's always
challenges, and so I'm glad thatyou're at the helm of Cai
national health and wellness issomething we all need, on a
personal level, for theAssociation for the inner
relationships, minimizing thetoxic things that we're doing,
(30:49):
the toxic, toxic situationswe'll get ourselves into. So
tell me, what are you going towhat's your next challenge after
Cai national president.
Melissa Ramsey (31:03):
Good question.
I've been thinking about thebeach. Yeah, no, I've had,
actually quite a few people likestart saying, you know, okay,
what are you going to do nextyear when you kind of Sunset
into things? I likely willprobably get involved at some of
the local level. I am in theCarolina region, so probably
(31:23):
looking at ways I can get moreinvolved at the North Carolina
South Carolina chapter. I trulywant to have an impact on this
association industry. I thinkwhat we do is amazing. Yes,
there are frustrations. Yes,there are bad days, but there's
so much opportunity and there'sso much happening that I just
(31:46):
continue to find fascinating.
And so I want to whatever time Idecide, decide to retire, I want
to look back and say I didsomething that truly influenced
this industry, other people, andI left an impact. That's my
goal.
Robert Nordlund (32:07):
I like that.
Well, thank you, Melissa, you'rethe right person at the right
time to have on this show. Ithink about the tension in this
world. I think about the tensionin the community, association,
industry, the tension that wecarry. And just your comments
about being aware of what yoursituation is, know how you're
feeling and make the adjustmentsI like that, and the association
(32:28):
things like that that you'reworking with. And I hope Denise
can find some comfort and find away to get a little more peace
in her life. And from a malepoint of view, I just hate it
when a woman around me iscrying. It just saddens my
heart. So it's great talkingwith you. So glad that you've
been the president of Cai, theBoard of Trustees, and be able
(32:53):
to have you on the program. Anyclosing thoughts to add at this
time,
Melissa Ramsey (32:58):
you know, I encourage everyone you know,
whether you're a board member,Community Manager or business
partner, recognize the impactthat you have within your
community and feel good aboutit. Feel good about that
positivity that you caninfluence, and just don't let
(33:19):
the like I said, the vocalminority occupy too much of your
time and energy.
Robert Nordlund (33:24):
Recognize your positive impact and feel good
about it. You got to hold on tothe good, and just like we
talked about what's happening inthe news, you got to let a lot
of that go and hold on to thegood, because maybe that's the
adjustment we can make. Well, ifyou'd like to get in touch with
Melissa. You can visit hercompany's website. It's Melissa.
(33:44):
Melissa mosaic communityconsulting, which is mosaic
dash, cc group.com, and ofcourse, we hope you learned some
HOA insights from our discussiontoday that helps you bring
common sense to your commonareas. And let me add a little
piece in your heart. We lookforward to having you join us
for another great episode nextweek.
Announcer (34:07):
You've been listening to Hoa insights common sense for
common areas. If you like theshow and want to support the
work that we do, you can do soin a number of ways. The most
important thing that you can dois engage in the conversation,
leave a question in the commentssection on our YouTube videos.
You can also email yourquestions or voice memos to
podcast at reserve study.com orleave us a voicemail at
(34:31):
805-203-3130, if you gain anyinsights from the show, please
do us a HUGE favor by sharingthe show with other board
members that you know, you canalso support us by supporting
the brands that sponsor thisprogram. Please remember that
the views and opinions expressedin this program are those of the
hosts and guests with the goalof providing general education
(34:52):
about the community, associationindustry. You'll want to consult
licensed professionals beforemaking any important decisions.
Finally. This podcast wasexpertly mixed and mastered by
Stoke Light Video and Marketingwith stoke light on your team,
you'll reach more customers withmarketing expertise that
inspires action. See the shownotes to connect with stoke
light you.
I've done a lot of talks on emotional
(00:01):
intelligence in the last coupleof years, and what I see a lot
in our industry and within youknow, the community management
space, is that people don't knowhow to deal and cope with their
emotions. You take theiremotions, and you add on other
people's emotions, and everyonejust isn't sure how to handle
(00:23):
that and to talk about it. Soyou first have to figure out,
how do I cope, and then, inturn, you can help when other
people are coming at you withtheir emotion.
Announcer (00:35):
HOA Insights is brought to you by five companies
that c (00:37):
Association Insights and Marketplace, Association
Reserves, Community Financials,HOA Invest and Kevin Davis
Insurance Services. You'll findlinks to their websites and
social media in the show notes.
Robert Nordlund (00:50):
Welcome back to Hoa insights
Common Areas. I'm RobertNordlund, and I'm here today for
episode 119 with a special guestI've seen at CAI conferences for
years she's been making a namefor herself on a national level,
so it's my pleasure to introduceher to you today. Melissa Ramsey
is from a management background.
She lives in South Carolina andhas a whole list of credentials
(01:12):
behind her name, but at thistime, she's most notably the
president of Cai nationals Boardof Trustees. So it's a real
treat to have her on the programto share some of the insights
she's learned from her decadeson how you have decades of
experience, but it all adds updecades of experience in there,
in the community, association,industry. Well, last week's
(01:34):
episode 118 was anotherconversation with regular co
host Julie ademan on managementand people and culture and
community associations, there'salways something interesting
going on. If you missed thatepisode or any other prior
episode, take a moment aftertoday's program to listen from
our podcast website, Hoainsights.org, or watch on our
(01:56):
YouTube channel. But better yet,subscribe from any of the major
podcast platforms so you don'tmiss any future episodes. Well,
those of you watching on YouTubecan see the HOA insights mug I
have here. It's featuring adeteriorated Association and
people complaining about reservefunding, something near and dear
(02:16):
to my heart, and I got that fromour merch store, which can
browse through from our Hoainsights.org website, or the
link in our show notes, you'llfind we have some great free
stuff there, like board memberzoom backgrounds and some
specialty items for sale, likethe mug. So go to the merch
store, download a free zoombackground, take a moment look
(02:37):
around, find the mug you'd likeand email me at podcast, at
reserves, a.com with your name,shipping address and mug choice,
mentioning episode 119 muggiveaway, and if you're the 10th
person to email me, I'll shipthat mug to you free of charge.
Well, we enjoy hearing from youresponding to the issues that
you're facing at yourassociation. So if you have a
(02:58):
hot topic, a crazy story, or aquestion you'd like us to
address, you can contact us at805-203-3130, or email us at
podcast at reserve, study.comthis episode was prompted by
Denise from Phoenix, who asked,I'm in my third term as A board
member. I think I'm doing a goodjob, but I find myself crying
(03:22):
more. How do I balance the goodfeelings of what I'm doing for
my association with the badfeelings deep in my heart? And I
think that resonates with a lotof people in our audience. It's
emails like this that made mewant to get Melissa on the
program. So, Melissa, welcome tothe program. And how would you
respond to Denise, well, thankyou for having me.
Melissa Ramsey (03:47):
This is quite the question to pose and to you
know, have a board member sayingthat they have that bad feeling
deep in their heart that's hardto hear you don't you know, want
a board member feeling that way.
You want a volunteer experienceto be enjoyable in thinking
about that. You know, my firstinstinct was, why the bad
(04:08):
feelings? And why is it so deep?
So is it related to theassociation, or is it coming
from a personal place? And Ithink a lot of times we
commingle our personal,professional, volunteer life,
and we lose sight of what'sdriving our emotions. Are you
(04:28):
talking
Robert Nordlund (04:29):
about the budget is tough, or is it like a
personal attack because someonedoesn't like that they can't be
in the pool after 10 o'clock.
Melissa Ramsey (04:41):
Or could it be that you're going through
something at home or with yourfamily into where you're just
not in a good head space? And sothat one complaint,
Robert Nordlund (04:52):
you know, the bandwidth for one more problem,
right?
Melissa Ramsey (04:56):
You're You're so caught up in, you know what? It.
Is that's making you feel bad,that anything else that comes on
your plate just makes it thatmuch bigger and brings those
emotions tenfold. And so theremight be something else that's,
you know, driving that hurt, andit's not actually the
association, but that's whereyou're seeing it. And so I
(05:18):
think, for Denise, reallylooking at, you know, where's
that hurt coming from, andtrying to get to the root cause
of that. If it is theassociation, then, you know,
deciding, where are myboundaries, where do I need to
say, No, is that worth havingthis much hurt to service the
community? Or, you know, maybe Ineed to take a step back and
(05:42):
just kind of refocus and reenergize before coming back on
the board. I think those are allquestions that you just have to
internally reflect on to makesure that you are content and
happy and you're serving in agood space,
Robert Nordlund (05:58):
because if you're out of gas, you're not
going to be serving theassociation. Well, absolutely,
I've got two kids. They'regrown, they're out and
independent, but you have twosmall ones, right?
Melissa Ramsey (06:08):
Yes, okay, so, so 15 to nine and so there's a
lot of emotions.
Robert Nordlund (06:14):
You're at work, yeah, when you have priorities,
your family, your kids, aregoing to come first, and you
need to say, okay, what are mypriorities? And whoops, the
board member is a volunteerposition. Maybe I can defer some
of that. So short term, is itokay for Denise? I think it was.
(06:35):
Yes. Denise, can she just say,Hey, can I step away for a month
or two, a short term thing likethat. Take a breath. Do you see
people doing that
Melissa Ramsey (06:46):
absolutely but I think even shorter term is just
taking that pause, whether it'safter a board meeting at the end
of your day, to say, How am Idoing? Where are my thoughts and
my feelings coming from, andI've done a lot of talks on
emotional intelligence in thelast couple of years. And what I
(07:07):
see a lot in our industry andwithin you know, the community
management space, is that peopledon't know how to deal and cope
with their emotions, and thenyou take their emotions and you
add on other people's emotions,and everyone just isn't sure how
to to handle that and to talkabout it. So you first have to
(07:28):
figure out, how do I cope? Andthen, in turn, you can help when
other people are coming at youwith their emotions. So I think,
for for Denise, just to take aminute journal, you know, be
grounded for a second and justfigure out, why am I hurting?
Let me fix that issue first. Andthat could be stepping away from
(07:52):
the association. It could be,you know, going toward yoga
retreat. I mean, there's so manydifferent options, but I think
if she just takes five to 10minutes just to pause and
reflect, that could lead to alot of answers for her.
Robert Nordlund (08:07):
Yeah, just as you're talking about that, we
have a deck out on our backyard,and it's there, it overlooks
some beautiful scenery, and it'sthere and it's there and it's
there. And if I can take 15minutes just to sit on a chair
out on the deck and get that 15minutes, that's only 15 minutes
(08:30):
out of a day. But if I can getthat 15 minutes, I can check off
that day as a good day, becauseI was out on our deck in the
backyard, and it doesn't take alot of time. And just what
you're talking about withDenise, knowing what her happy
place is, and I'm going tostereotype here, knowing my
wife, if she can get a lunch ora coffee with one of her
(08:50):
girlfriends, same kind of thing,that's an hour or so or two all
of a sudden. That makes that agood day. Everything else is
still on her plate. But if youcan find the things that give
you some pleasure or some peace,that's an anchor that allows you
to then face the other battlesin your life
Melissa Ramsey (09:09):
absolutely and all it takes is 10 to 15 minutes
too.
Robert Nordlund (09:13):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be a big thing.
It doesn't have to be I'mselling my house and moving to
Tim book too, although sometimesyou want to do that. Well, tell
me about yourself. Your careerpath has taken some turns. First
off, what got you into thecommunity, association,
industry?
Melissa Ramsey (09:33):
Funny story. So I usually I say that I started
as a lifeguard and fell intothis. I was on the private swim
and tennis club side, and wanteda change of scenery after
college. And went from Durham,North Carolina to Reno, Nevada,
so east coast to west coast,complete change of scenery and
(09:58):
the club that I. Went to waspart of an association. So that
was back in 2005 and so throughthe evolution of club
operations, got involved,started asking questions, you
know, trying to figure out, whatdo you mean? There's a board of
directors, and, oh, by the way,that board is also the developer
(10:18):
and declarant. So I kind of gotthrown into all things with an
association, but I found itintriguing, complicated. We
exist exactly. I always tell myparents that I never wanted a
desk job that was the same dayafter day after day. And in this
(10:41):
industry, every day isdifferent, like there's nothing
that repeats itself, which Ithink is fascinating, if we
enjoy those variances. But justworked my way up through that
community and got intoleadership with management
companies, and then life took acrazy turn for me in 2023 and I
(11:04):
was diagnosed with breastcancer. Oh, yikes. And in going
through that, I had to selfreflect a lot and wanting to be
more present with my kids andjust my own mental health. And
so that's what led me tocreating mosaic and being in a
consulting space to do what Ienjoy about this industry, but
(11:28):
doing it on my schedule, and soit has been a crazy journey
along the way.
Robert Nordlund (11:38):
Yeah, for everyone listening, mosaic is
mosaic community consulting, andwe'll have a link to that in the
show notes, so you can follow upand see what Melissa is talking
about. But I get that so you cannow be a solution provider,
helping people, fixing things,
Melissa Ramsey (11:56):
absolutely, taking the the years of
operational experience and andbeing becoming fresh set eyes
and looking at, you know, thealternatives in a proactive
solution, where, when you aredoing the hurt, frustration and
all the emotions, sometimes youlose sight of what's in the best
(12:19):
interest for the community.
Robert Nordlund (12:21):
Interesting. So personally, you were able to
step back and from that body ofexperience, you're now able to
help other board members, otherassociations, see things with
perspective and get to asolution. You tempted me with
this episode being about healthand wellness, and now I have a
(12:41):
better understanding about wherethat's coming from. That comes
from your heart. Tell me whatyou how do you how do you
measure that? How does someone,how does Denise know how she's
doing, she says she's crying.
How do you measure your wellbeing, and know that you're
you're getting to yoursaturation point. You need to
take a break. You need to make achange.
Melissa Ramsey (13:05):
I think it's an evolution, and it's not, it's
not the same for everybody.
There's not the same measurablemoments through, you know,
life's turns of events. Whatmight be a problem or a solution
for your problem might alteralong the way, and so what I
have found is that just beingtrue to who you are and being
(13:29):
open to different opportunitiesand solutions, I started on this
wellness journey after mydaughter was born more from a
physical place, and recognizingthat you know sitting all the
time is not good for you. Andyou start looking at our
industry, and so many people inour industry sit all day, and
(13:52):
you go to these conferences, andyou recognize that you know
you're sitting and then you'reeating and drinking. And so it's
not, you know, a very wellbalanced environment, but
through that, then I, you know,had an opportunity to meet
different people along thatjourney. Lex fire Hawk, out of
Arizona, she's one who reallyintroduced me to the mindfulness
(14:17):
piece and breathing gave meanxiety for the longest time,
and I was not a person who wasopen and interested to yoga. But
when you have someone who justthey're not forcing it on you,
they're just engaging in aconversation, you're like, Okay,
let me give that a try. And so,you know, you evolve into trying
new things, and I think that'swhat's been so great, is that
(14:40):
I'm open to that. I'm open toknowing if I'm not feeling good
and making the adjustments tillI feel better and right, so that
way I can continue to show up inmy authentic self.
Robert Nordlund (14:55):
I'm writing that one down. Know if you're
not feeling good, and I. Makethe adjustments,
Melissa Ramsey (15:03):
because so many people get caught up in it, and
then you never correct theproblem, and so you continue
just to feel bad, and theneverything just continues to
pile up until you explode. Andso often we talk about in our
industry, burnout, whether it'scommunity manager or a board
member, even a business partner,if you're not taking the time to
(15:27):
correct, you will reach thepoint of burnout. But if you
give yourself, yourself thegrace to say, I do need to go
sit outside in the sunshine, orfor me, take me to the beach a
couple of times a year, put myfeet in the sand, yep, like, you
know, knowing what those momentsare to where you can truly just
(15:49):
let everything go. And you know,you just smile in those moments
Robert Nordlund (15:54):
and refuel, yes, and re Energize. What is
it? Refresh, renew, restore.
There's a lot of good R words.
There's got to be one for B forbeach, but that's on my wife's
list too. But just Yeah, to knowwhat is good for you and be able
to take care of your own self.
Okay, I want to turn the cornera little bit. Let's talk about
(16:17):
the association. There are sometoxic associations. There's some
well running associations. Iwould imagine, from your point
of view, you've seen some talktoxic associations that just are
almost designed to burn peopleout. Can you give us some low
hanging fruit of things? I don'tbelieve, I don't believe it's
(16:40):
the association. I believe it'sthe leadership. I believe it
always comes back to people,right? Actually, okay, good.
You're with me on that. Is theresome low hanging fruit that can
be done to start to turn thecorner from it being a toxic
situation that is just no fun tobegin for it to be a well
(17:00):
functioning association.
Melissa Ramsey (17:04):
So you know, when I talk about health and
wellness of our industry, itgoes so many different ways. You
can look at the individualperson, you can look at a board,
and you can look at thecommunity, and, you know, the
connections with businesspartners, and so from a
community perspective, a lot oftimes, people get caught up in,
do I have money in the accountis, you know, the common area?
(17:27):
Well, maintained. That's justthe surface level, like icing on
the cake, if you will. You gotto really dive into it and look
at, you know, do we have avision? And I feel like a lot of
communities that have thatconflict, there's no mission and
vision that they're workingtowards. And so it's these
personal agendas of the vocalminority that are driving
(17:52):
action. And so having thosecommunities Again, pause and go.
What are we here for? What isour purpose? What are we trying
to deliver to our owners and ourneighbors and our friends and
focus back on that? You know,Are we maintaining our common
(18:13):
areas, if not? Why and havingthose conversations? I think
we've gotten so far away fromjust talking to one another and
treating people like goodneighbors, and we're so quick to
make assumptions and stick withWell, that's how we've always
done it. That doesn't make itright. And so without looking at
(18:36):
alternatives and looking at,okay, what is for the good of
the community, you're going tocontinue to be stuck in that bad
space. And even the grumpiest ofboard members, they have a
passion. There's somethingthat's driving them, and if you
engage in the conversation tosee what that is, a lot of
(19:00):
times, you can turn that aroundand you can get them energized
for the good instead of focusingon the bad.
Robert Nordlund (19:07):
Yeah, well, you said a couple of things I want
to that are connecting dots forme. Earlier, you talked about
different personalities and thetoxic soup of one person wanting
something, another personwanting another thing. And if
you can have that aligningvision, that we are here at the
Association for a, we are hereat the Association for B, and or
(19:32):
having policies, guidingpolicies, then you can have
someone who is moreconservative, more aggressive,
risk averse, or whatever it is,but at least you're aligned with
okay. For the association weexist to do this, and that can
minimize the toxic soup on theside right and align people to
Okay. What is the definition ofgood for this community? At
(19:55):
Happy Valley villas, we are hereto blank and you can. Different
opinions. You can have differentprofessional strengths,
different skill sets that youbring to the table, different
emotions that you bring to thetable, but you're here for this
at Happy Valley villas, and thatcan, I'm just realizing that
(20:16):
that can put so many of thesedifficult issues off on the
side, when you have somethingthat,
Melissa Ramsey (20:22):
yep, it takes the emotions out of it. Even if
there's conflict. You can saythat per our mission or per our
value, this is why we're lookingat this topic. And you can focus
on that from a neutralstandpoint versus I disagree
with you. You're wrong. Whywould you say that? And like it
(20:44):
becomes a personal attack, andthat's when you see these toxic
orgs and toxic communities, andit's like, no, let's just focus
on the neutral piece of it, andlet's not make it personal.
Yeah,
Robert Nordlund (20:56):
well, Melissa, you just even saying that the
personal attacks makes afterthis recording, I want to go out
in my deck and sit in the chairfor a while. You know? I can
just feel that on the back of myneck, and I can begin to
appreciate what Denise isfeeling. That if she doesn't
have a pressure release, thiscan just back up, and she can
just feel it's a lot of work. Idon't like these people. Joe was
(21:20):
mean to me. Susie is mean to me.
I don't even like myselfanymore. Got to find a way to
unwind that. And I like thisidea of taking care of yourself,
knowing when you may need tomake an adjustment. And then
such high value on having aguiding policy, a guiding Did
you call it guiding vision forthe association itself?
Melissa Ramsey (21:46):
Depending on the size of the association, I think
you know it can vary. So, youknow, a smaller community, they
might just have a missionstatement. That's all they need.
There's they don't have a lot ofamenities. Whereas you might get
a larger community, lots ofamenities, lot of lots of things
that are going on, where theymight have a mission and values,
(22:06):
because their values, or somepeople you know, set them up as
goals, address the differentcomponents of the association.
So again, you're still able torefer back to Hey. Our goal for
this year was, you know, to fixthe playground, yeah. Are we
doing that? Let's not argueabout the color of it. Are we
(22:27):
fixing it? You know, keep itthat simple.
Robert Nordlund (22:30):
Okay, I like that because it's, I can see
there's a difference between alittle 12 unit condo on the
beach that half the units arerented, compared to a big, age
restricted community with twogolf courses, three rec centers.
What? 50 people on staff? That'sa whole different situation.
Well, let's take a quick breakhere. Now I'm looking at the
(22:52):
clock. It's time to hear fromone of our generous sponsors at
your worth, after which, youthink I could say this clearly,
after all these times, afterwhich, we'll be back with more
common sense for common areas.
With Melissa Ramsey,
HOA Invest (23:04):
tired of low returns on your HOA reserves with HOA
invest technology availablenationwide through SEC
registered capital, CS group inKeystone private wealth, you can
now grow your community's fundswith competitive, tax efficient
returns while keeping them safeand accessible. Our accounts are
held with Charles Schwab and HOAinvest. API integrated
technology gives you dailyaccess to balances, holdings,
(23:25):
transactions, Schwab statementsand a nationwide inventory of
CDs and treasuries all in oneeasy to use platform. Ready to
Grow your reserves. Getpersonalized strategies and a
free investment policy reviewwith HOA. Invest your trusted
partner for securing yourcommunity's financial future,
Robert Nordlund (23:41):
and we're back.
Well, Melissa, let's get back tohealth and wellness. Where did
that journey start for
Melissa Ramsey (23:46):
you? It's an interesting one.
Robert Nordlund (23:49):
I count on that we're recording this. I
Melissa Ramsey (23:53):
i had the journey that was happening for
me, personally, internally, likeI said, after my daughter was
born, but from
Robert Nordlund (24:01):
a is that your oldest or your second
Melissa Ramsey (24:03):
my oldest? So probably 12 years ago is kind of
when I started that journey,personally. But then during that
time, I got actively involvedwith the Nevada chapter of Cai
community associations,Institute
Robert Nordlund (24:19):
for people who don't know. Tell me a little bit
more about Cai.
Melissa Ramsey (24:23):
Cai is an international organization that
focuses on the CommunityAssociation, association housing
model. It's interesting in thatit's an organization that
supports business partners,community managers and homeowner
leaders, and so we bringtogether all of these different
perspectives of individuals thatwork with community
(24:45):
associations.
Robert Nordlund (24:46):
Okay, that's crazy in a sense. That's like
the American Bar Associationsupporting lawyers and clients,
or the American MedicalAssociation supporting doctors
and sick people,
Melissa Ramsey (24:57):
yep. So we're an interesting organ. Organization
in that regard, yeah, but gotactively involved at the local
level, and had a couple ofpeople at the chapter said, you
know, you should get involved atnational Sure. Why not? I have
all the free time in the world.
Let me volunteer. So I
Robert Nordlund (25:17):
all you do is answer emails 18 hours a day. So
Melissa Ramsey (25:21):
I self nominated for the managers council and was
selected to join that, and I waschair elect. So I was selected
as chair elect. So I joined in2019 became chair elect in 2020
and then in 2021 was my year aschair that was the year that I
(25:41):
decided for the managerscouncil, I wanted to focus on
the health and wellness ofmanagers.
Robert Nordlund (25:47):
Okay, let me slow you down there, because
2020 was covid, which wastension. Just to start with 2021
we just crossed the four yearanniversary of Chaplain tower
south. So that was more tension.
So, yeah, you're it's all aroundyou,
Melissa Ramsey (26:04):
yes? And I thought, What a perfect time,
because we aren't talking aboutit. All we talked about was
burnout. You know, people areleaving, and it's like, let,
well, let's give solutions totry and avoid that upfront. And
so the council looked at ways topromote healthy living, what is
(26:28):
a well balanced diet? What aremindfulness tools that managers
could utilize? And what I trulyloved through that year was the
number of people who gravitatedtowards it, engaged in the
conversation. Thought like,Absolutely, we should be talking
about this. Well,
Robert Nordlund (26:48):
that's key, because you were saying that you
need to know if you're notfeeling good and make the
adjustments. And it sounds likepeople were were following you
and able willing to make theadjustments.
Melissa Ramsey (27:01):
And so through that, you know, CA, I kind of
named me the wellness expert,wellness guru. And so being on
the board of trustees, beingselected as president elect. And
so this year, in my term asPresident, I thought, well, I
need to continue this health andwellness
Robert Nordlund (27:21):
journey pressing that button and
pressing that button hard. Okay,good, but let
Melissa Ramsey (27:25):
me expand it.
It's not I want to make it towhere people are looking at all
the different aspects of it, notjust the community managers,
okay, and being able to look atall of the different people
involved with Cai to say, isthis a healthy business partner
relationship, you know, is thisa healthy employment
(27:47):
environment? Is this a healthycommunity, and what are the
reasons for that? You know, isthis a well funded reserve
study, like all the different,of course, all of the different
nuances to say, Are we healthyas a broader community, and that
also led to, you know, as aboard of trustees, to say, Are
(28:10):
we healthy as an organization ofCai, we were faced with, you
know, our CEO of 23 yearsretiring, and so it even became
that much more critical for usto examine, okay, are we
healthy? What does that looklike for us? And so it just it
timing. I feel like, you knowthe stars align to say this is a
(28:32):
great talking point on so manydifferent levels, to engage
different people. And you know,you know, Bill Overton, yes,
he's been a great champion ofthis topic as well. And looking
at it from, you know, the mentalmindset piece of it, too. And so
having those conversations andhaving people share those
(28:56):
stories, and so I couldn't beprouder. I love that so many
people are open to theconversation, and it's not you
know something that you have tokeep secret. And I hope that as
we continue through this year,and as more people start talking
about the health and wellness oftheir communities and of the
(29:18):
organization, the positivestories start coming out, and we
start talking more about thegood things that are happening,
not just the bad.
Robert Nordlund (29:30):
Yeah. Well, you watch the news and it's, it's
easy to get bad press forsomething or something else that
just, yeah, I'm wringing myhands.
Melissa Ramsey (29:39):
But think about if you, if you pivoted that and
you like, it's summer, right?
Everyone, if you have a pool inyour community, there's kids
swimming, think about ifeveryone just took a minute and
captured that kid smiling, youknow, as they got out of the
water, jumped into the pool forthe first time, and what? Just
satisfaction you get from justseeing a smile, seeing that
(30:03):
happiness, to be reminded, hey,we're doing a good job. This
isn't so bad, and I think that'swhere we all need to play our
part and put those stories outthere more and share that
happiness that we know is there.
(30:23):
It's just we don't talk aboutit. Can
Robert Nordlund (30:25):
I say spin the good? Yes, absolutely, that may
make it into the show notes.
Okay, all right. Well, we lookaround, there's always
challenges, and so I'm glad thatyou're at the helm of Cai
national health and wellness issomething we all need, on a
personal level, for theAssociation for the inner
relationships, minimizing thetoxic things that we're doing,
(30:49):
the toxic, toxic situationswe'll get ourselves into. So
tell me, what are you going towhat's your next challenge after
Cai national president.
Melissa Ramsey (31:03):
Good question.
I've been thinking about thebeach. Yeah, no, I've had,
actually quite a few people likestart saying, you know, okay,
what are you going to do nextyear when you kind of Sunset
into things? I likely willprobably get involved at some of
the local level. I am in theCarolina region, so probably
(31:23):
looking at ways I can get moreinvolved at the North Carolina
South Carolina chapter. I trulywant to have an impact on this
association industry. I thinkwhat we do is amazing. Yes,
there are frustrations. Yes,there are bad days, but there's
so much opportunity and there'sso much happening that I just
(31:46):
continue to find fascinating.
And so I want to whatever time Idecide, decide to retire, I want
to look back and say I didsomething that truly influenced
this industry, other people, andI left an impact. That's my
goal.
Robert Nordlund (32:07):
I like that.
Well, thank you, Melissa, you'rethe right person at the right
time to have on this show. Ithink about the tension in this
world. I think about the tensionin the community, association,
industry, the tension that wecarry. And just your comments
about being aware of what yoursituation is, know how you're
feeling and make the adjustmentsI like that, and the association
(32:28):
things like that that you'reworking with. And I hope Denise
can find some comfort and find away to get a little more peace
in her life. And from a malepoint of view, I just hate it
when a woman around me iscrying. It just saddens my
heart. So it's great talkingwith you. So glad that you've
been the president of Cai, theBoard of Trustees, and be able
(32:53):
to have you on the program. Anyclosing thoughts to add at this
time,
Melissa Ramsey (32:58):
you know, I encourage everyone you know,
whether you're a board member,Community Manager or business
partner, recognize the impactthat you have within your
community and feel good aboutit. Feel good about that
positivity that you caninfluence, and just don't let
(33:19):
the like I said, the vocalminority occupy too much of your
time and energy.
Robert Nordlund (33:24):
Recognize your positive impact and feel good
about it. You got to hold on tothe good, and just like we
talked about what's happening inthe news, you got to let a lot
of that go and hold on to thegood, because maybe that's the
adjustment we can make. Well, ifyou'd like to get in touch with
Melissa. You can visit hercompany's website. It's Melissa.
(33:44):
Melissa mosaic communityconsulting, which is mosaic
dash, cc group.com, and ofcourse, we hope you learned some
HOA insights from our discussiontoday that helps you bring
common sense to your commonareas. And let me add a little
piece in your heart. We lookforward to having you join us
for another great episode nextweek.
Announcer (34:07):
You've been listening to Hoa insights common sense for
common areas. If you like theshow and want to support the
work that we do, you can do soin a number of ways. The most
important thing that you can dois engage in the conversation,
leave a question in the commentssection on our YouTube videos.
You can also email yourquestions or voice memos to
podcast at reserve study.com orleave us a voicemail at
(34:31):
805-203-3130, if you gain anyinsights from the show, please
do us a HUGE favor by sharingthe show with other board
members that you know, you canalso support us by supporting
the brands that sponsor thisprogram. Please remember that
the views and opinions expressedin this program are those of the
hosts and guests with the goalof providing general education
(34:52):
about the community, associationindustry. You'll want to consult
licensed professionals beforemaking any important decisions.
Finally. This podcast wasexpertly mixed and mastered by
Stoke Light Video and Marketingwith stoke light on your team,
you'll reach more customers withmarketing expertise that
inspires action. See the shownotes to connect with stoke
light you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.