July 11, 2024 • 32 mins
In this episode, we have Heidi Arave-Noonan, Chief Operating Officer of Liv Communities. Heidi has not only graced the stage at the Multifamily Women® Summit but is also an esteemed member of the Multifamily Innovation® Council.
Heidi, who has been with Liv Communities for nearly 15 years, shares her inspiring journey in the multifamily industry, which spans almost three decades. She describes Liv Communities as embodying everything she believes the industry could and should be. Initially starting her career as a part-time leasing consultant, Heidi’s path saw her rise through various roles, including national training positions and sales, before finding her long-term home at Liv Communities.
Heidi discusses the importance of aligning with a company that shares her values and vision. She highlights the transformative rebranding journey to Liv Communities and the honor it has been to help shape the company’s direction. Heidi emphasizes the importance of passion in one’s career and how this passion has fueled her professional growth and contributions to the industry.
Heidi also delves into her experiences at the Multifamily Women® Summit. Initially introduced to the Summit through her colleagues, Heidi quickly saw the value and decided to attend with more team members. She describes the Summit as a soul-filling experience, fostering deep connections and professional growth. Her involvement has grown over the years, from attendee to speaker, and now a more significant role in planning and infusing sessions with her knowledge and experience.
A significant part of the conversation revolves around innovation and the importance of being open to new ideas and technologies. Heidi shares her experiences working with vendors to customize tools and AI solutions that align with Liv Communities’ brand and operational needs. She emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions, seeking out partnerships that are willing to innovate, and the value of testing and measuring the effectiveness of new technologies.
Heidi’s participation in the Multifamily Innovation® Council has been instrumental in her professional journey. She appreciates the collaborative environment that allows industry leaders to share ideas, challenge each other, and collectively push the boundaries of innovation. The Council provides a platform for candid discussions, where members can explore unconventional ideas and support each other in driving industry-wide improvements.
Heidi expresses her enthusiasm for the future of the multifamily industry and encourages listeners to get involved with initiatives like the Multifamily Women® Summit. She highlights the critical role of providing exceptional homes and workplaces for residents and employees, emphasizing the honor and responsibility that comes with this mission.
Connect with Multifamily Women®:
Carrie Antrim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrieantrim/
Multifamily Women® Summit: https://multifamilywomen.com/
Be a Guest on the Podcast or at the Summit: https://apps.multifamilywomen.com/speakingrequest
Multifamily Women® Leadership Series: https://apps.multifamilywomen.com/join
Multifamily Innovation® Council: https://multifamilyinnovation.com/council/
Multifamily Innovation® Summit: https://multifamilyinnovation.com/
Best Places to Work Multifamily®: https://bestplacestoworkmultifamily.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to another episodeof the multifamily women's
(00:03):
podcast.
Today.
I have a great guest here Shehas not only spoken on stage at
the multifamily women's summitShe's also an innovation council
member now The multifamilyinnovation council is an
executive level membershiporganization that makes a
difference in your bottom lineIt drives a better experience
for your employees And allows anexperience that keeps demand
(00:25):
strong for your company tobecome a member today.
Please visitmultifamilyinnovation.
com backslash council.
If you're not registered for theupcoming multifamily women's
summit, please do that today atmultifamilywomen.
com.
Today, we'll be sharing timewith Heidi Arave Noonan.
She is the Chief OperatingOfficer of Live Communities.
(00:46):
Heidi, we are so glad you'rehere joining us today.
I have to say, I've, in spendingtime with you, I think you're
one of the most intelligentwomen I've ever met, which is
pretty incredible.
And I want to say, so I've seenthat you're, you've been with
Live Communities for 15 years,which We're here this month.
In this industry, that's veryuncommon to stay so long.
(01:09):
So what is it about livecommunities?
So I've been in the industry fornearly 30 years.
So, and thank you for thecompliment, by the way, very
kind of you.
Of course.
But, um, I live, embodies, Um,everything I feel like this
industry could be and should beand should aspire to be.
And so when I came across thecompany, it wasn't live at the
time, it was called IPA, but thepeople that I engaged with at
(01:31):
the company were exactly, theyembodied, like I said, what I
thought the industry could be,you know, capable of and how we
can serve our residents truly intheir homes.
Um, it's a privilege.
And so it's, it's beeneverything I thought it would
be.
And I was able to help build ourlive brand.
Joining the organization over 15years ago or almost 15 years
ago.
And so being able to be a partof that, creating this live
(01:54):
brand as well.
And the rebranding from who wewere as IPA to live communities
was a big honor.
And it's just been the highlightof my career.
And where did you start?
What was your first position inthe industry?
And then how did you talk aboutyour journey a little bit?
Absolutely.
So I started, I was 18 years oldand I started part time leasing.
Um, the company was Simpson,Simpson housing.
(02:15):
And It was a little community, ahundred unit community, and I
was a part time leasingconsultant.
We still had paper ledgers.
We were still writing down, youknow, everything on paper and
paper service requests.
And I made 4.
85 an hour.
I remember those days.
Yeah.
You're in good company.
I'm going to get, you know, acommission of 25 bucks if I get
a lease.
So this is exciting for me.
(02:36):
So, um, I stuck with it and Istayed with that organization
actually for 10 years.
and ended up moving up into, youknow, a full time leasing
position and then assistantmanager position and then
eventually I went into trainingand, um, I did training on a
national level, um, for thatorganization and then later on I
left for a little bit and I wentto Forent Magazine.
Remember Forent Magazine?
(02:56):
Oh yeah.
Back in the day.
So I did that and I sold ads tothe industry.
that for a couple years andthen, um, actually returned back
to Simpson again and did sometraining for them and then I
left to have my son and, um,after my son was a couple years
old, I said, okay, I'm ready toget back into it.
And I found IPA at the time.
I love that.
(03:17):
So I know you've been, you'vebeen a part, a big part of the
women's summit, which is reallyamazing.
And I know Carrie, um, Knows youvery well for that reason.
Um, what, tell us a little bitabout your experience going to
the Women's Summit and what kindof, you know, what, what you've
taken away from that and whatyou might be able to bring back
to your teams from the Summit aswell.
(03:37):
Absolutely.
I love it.
The first year we were involved,it was actually my assistant and
somebody else that went, so twoothers, somebody from our HR
team and then um, our operationsperson and they came back and
said, this is so amazing.
Like, we should have more peoplehere.
Why aren't we all going?
All of us women at Live, and,and, um, we have a lot of women
that work at Live, by the way,in leadership, which is pretty
cool.
And so I said, okay, well, nextyear we'll go.
(03:59):
And so we, we bought the ticketsin advance and five of us went.
And then I thought, yeah, I seewhat you guys are getting out of
this.
This is amazing.
It's, it's, uh, it's kind of asoul filling experience to be
with all those women in a roomand it's, it's intimate.
So you're able to really get toknow people.
I've made connections withpeople I hadn't seen in years
there.
And so it was really.
an awesome experience formyself.
(04:20):
So I said, yeah, this issomething that we're going to
keep on the docket, um, everyyear.
And I, and then I talked toCarrie and I said, I would love
an opportunity to be moreinvolved.
And she said, all right.
Come next year.
And so the third year we wereinvolved, I was able to be a
speaker and it was an awesomeexperience.
Wonderful.
Um, definitely enriching for me.
And I made even more contactsafter that as well.
(04:40):
So it was also really good formy professional network.
Um, so yeah, I'm excited aboutdoing it again this year with
you guys.
What I loved about having you onstage is that you're so candid
and open.
Um, I remember the, theremight've been some nerves before
we went on.
I think you and I were the firstones that day, um, on the second
(05:03):
day.
Um, but you were so candid withour audience members and they
asked you questions and you hadanswers for them.
And it was just really openconversation.
And, um, I'm really excited tohave you in a bigger role this
year, participating more forthat reason.
And also, because you hadattended before, you kind of
knew what to expect and theculture of the event itself.
(05:26):
Um, we've put a lot of work intothe, into day one, forming those
relationships and, and, and,And, you know, none of the
forced networking and all ofthat, you know, more unique
experiences so that by day two,people aren't afraid to raise
their hands and say, what didyou mean by that?
Or how did you do this?
You know, ask questions.
I felt so comfortable that daytoo because of that.
(05:47):
So when someone from theaudience, when you're looking at
them and you're engaging, you dofeel like you're just all in the
same conversation.
And that's a differentexperience that I haven't had at
other, you know, conferences,so.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It was wonderful.
And I kind of migrated towardsthat because we've asked you to
help us this year with some ofthe planning and infusing these
sessions with some of yourknowledge because.
(06:07):
Someone who's been in theindustry and has the experience
that you have, you absolutelyhave have a hands on experience
to the pain points of thisaudience.
And being such a successfulwoman in multifamily, I think
our audience would love to knowwhat, what has fueled your
journey and how have you, youknow, climbed your way to
(06:28):
exactly where you're at today.
I think a lot of people aregoing to want to know kind of
where that came from.
That's a great question.
It's a big question.
I have to kind of go back andsee.
Yeah.
Um, I have to say that havingpassion for what you do is, is
key.
So if you're in an industrywhere you don't feel passionate,
you're not excited about whatcould be and, and what could be
(06:48):
for yourself and for others.
Then, um, you might want tochange gears, you know, it might
not be the right place to be.
So I've always gravitated towardpeople as well, that had that
same kind of passion and energyand excitement for, for what we
do and who we serve.
And so.
For me, it's been connectingwith the right people and
knowing and knowing kind of, youknow, what are the
possibilities?
(07:09):
What are the opportunities whichgot me from leasing up into a
training role?
I thought well, I want to teachother people how to do these
amazing things So I thinkmultifamily gives you that
opportunity it you can be inoperations.
You can be in development Youcan work in marketing you can
work in IT.
I mean, there's just it's such aIt's a very multifaceted
industry, and I found thatincredibly interesting.
(07:30):
So I also, I, through everystage of my career, I asked,
where can I plug in?
Where can I help?
Where can I learn?
What's best for theorganization?
What's best for my leader?
What do they need from me?
And I remember everyone that Iever kind of followed really
appreciated that and would say,Oh my gosh, that's great.
Here's what I need.
Here's what I, and I think thatopen attitude and then the
(07:51):
willingness of the leaders I tokind of take me along.
That's really how my, my careerhappened.
It, it sort of happened thatway.
Yeah.
We, um, and you're a MultifamilyInnovation Council member, too,
which we'll talk about in aminute, but in one of our
meetings recently we kind oftalked about the org chart and,
um, And how, you know, sometimeswe'll promote a leasing agent to
(08:12):
something that might not be intheir wheelhouse.
Did you ever experience thatyourself, like working your way
up?
Were you ever in a role thatyou're like, maybe this isn't my
ideal position?
Like you didn't have thatexcitement to get up every day,
but you knew there was somethingbetter.
Did you have experience withthat?
Yes, absolutely.
I think, and, and I'll use theassistant manager role for an
example.
Even though I did enjoy itbecause I learned a lot about
(08:33):
the legal aspects and the, andthe administrative, I didn't see
it as a strong future for ourindustry and for myself.
And so I thought, well, this isgood to learn all of this, but I
really, I would really like tolearn how people work and how
they think and what thepsychology of life is and, you
know, what do people want outof, out of life and how can I
help them get that at theirhome?
(08:54):
Um, and so I started lookinginto.
the training aspect of thingsand thinking, Hey, for my
company, maybe there's a roleand we actually ended up at my
previous company, creating onethat really helped to, to
leverage that passion and thoseideas and thoughts into helping
other people do a better jobserving our residents.
And so, um, I kind of took thatsame sort of thought process
(09:15):
into my current organizationlive and There's always been
that whole idea you have to haveleasing, then assistant, then
manager, then move up.
Maybe you go into corporateservices or marketing, but that
doesn't necessarily mean thatit's how it has to be.
And so we had some individualsthat were really great with
people and really great atleasing and they're like, I
can't wait to be an assistantmanager.
And I'm like, why?
(09:35):
You know, you're so great withour customer.
Yeah, it's got to be a differentway.
So we, um, years ago created adifferent route that you could
either go that administrativekind of bookkeeping accounting
route, or you could go the routeof this.
like a leasing retentionspecialist.
We kind of created two differentcareer paths already, um, years
ago and, and then now, you know,fast forward to today and we
(09:57):
have multi site bookkeepers thattake care of the accounting and
the administrative work and takemost of the administrative work
off our leasing consultants.
Wow.
So they're not, they're not.
They're not doing a bunch ofadmin work and following up on,
on income verifications and allthat sort of stuff and, and
collections and all of it reallygoes to an offsite bookkeeper.
So everybody at the site, ourgoal is in our hopes are that
they're just facing the customerand finding out how they can
(10:19):
better serve the customer.
I love that.
So, you mentioned that role waskind of created for you, like
the training role, they createdthat role for you.
Was that nerve wracking?
Did it take courage to say, thisis what I want to do, it doesn't
currently exist, um, what can wedo to make this happen?
Yes, yes, if I'm thinking wayback to then, this is many years
(10:43):
ago, and again, it was theprevious company, but yes, I
remember thinking, this is soexciting, this is an
opportunity, how, but if I couldblow it, you know, what if I get
into it?
And they're like, yeah, thisisn't really that great.
My role gets cut, you know,good.
So again, you surround yourselfwith other people that you can
brainstorm and you can involvepeople that will be, you know,
in the end benefiting from it.
(11:04):
And it's like, Hey guys, whatare your thoughts?
What should we do?
And how do we build this role tomake sure it really serves our
organization and our customer,you know, to us, it's always
about the customer.
So how do we, how do we craftthis and involve other minds?
And so, and it was a success.
Well, that's good.
As long as it worked.
I think that's amazing because,yeah, I think it sounds like you
(11:27):
have the power to be soinnovative and make changes
that, that a lot of people are alittle bit afraid to make.
And I think that was the firstthing that drew me to you.
And to say, you know, thecompliment I gave you earlier, I
meant it because it's, it'sreally hard to advocate for that
change.
You know what I mean?
It's really hard to be theperson that's saying, you know,
raising your hand and saying,the way things have always been
(11:48):
done might not be the way theyshould be today.
It is, and you know, Lauren,that's a good point, because
you're also impacting otherpeople.
So when you, so for instance,when you say, we don't have this
assistant manager positionanymore, it's not your career
path, then people start to panica little bit, like, well, that
was my career path, that's why.
Right.
Here.
What do you mean?
So it, it has to be kind of thatwhy behind the what, and then
(12:09):
what's in it for you.
What does that career path looklike?
So when you make changes, youhave to involve the people that
it will impact and you have tofind out how they might do it.
Mm hmm.
Also have to give the why behindthe what.
All the watts.
Absolutely.
To help people come along.
And being a trainer, the whybehind it just makes me laugh
because that's absolutely right.
If you don't have people's buyin, they're not going to, even
(12:32):
if they're watching the coursewith their eyes, they're not
going to be there, right?
They're not going to absorb theinformation because they don't
understand why I even need toknow this.
And we've all been there.
We check out immediately thesecond we don't have that why
behind.
That's right.
So I love that you're thinkingthat way of how do we get
people's buy in first?
Yes.
And just involve them in theprocess.
Yes.
Think about what, what they aregoing to get out of this and
(12:54):
benefit and then they're alreadybought in the second they start
to train on whatever it is.
Right.
And, and we haven't been perfectat that, right?
You're always trying to improve.
So I'm always looking at whatdoes change management look like
and, and how do we do it betterevery time?
Yeah.
But even being able to thinkthat way, I think.
Is is the route, right?
What?
What do people actually careabout?
What do they benefit from?
(13:15):
And is it career growth?
What's that skin in the gamethat gets them excited?
Absolutely.
And that's a big difference.
We talked about alsopsychological safety and that
with the change management.
I think that it's so importantif you are presenting these new
things, as long as somebodyknows, like, I'm safe here.
Uh, you know, I, I'm free toexpress my opinions and if I
(13:37):
don't understand, I can ask why,you know, I think that that is
such a big, makes a big impactwhen you're trying to implement
new things, new technologies,new trainings, programs.
Everybody has to feel like,okay, even, even if this is new
and kind of crazy right now, Iknow that there's a bigger
picture and it's for the greatergood, right?
(13:59):
Yeah, there's trust, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Establish those kinds of rhythmswith your, your team.
Hopefully there's that trustthere.
Yeah.
And so never perfect, but youtry your best to say, Hey, we
want you involved.
We want to hear from you.
from you and so we do so much ofthat at Live.
We invite so much feedback fromour teams, from every team
member.
We want the feedback.
We want the engagement.
We want to know what theiropinions are.
We share communication inmultiple ways and then we have a
(14:21):
very, um, detailed strategicplanning process and, and
rhythms that we meet.
So everybody has an opportunity.
So if you don't take it, Oh, itwas there, so.
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
No, I love that.
I think that's really smart, andI think that, again, this is all
you, right?
It starts at the top, and whenyou have leaders in those high
(14:45):
level positions that areinnovative the way that you do
and value the individual the waythat it sounds like you guys do,
you can feel that.
You can feel that culture in acompany, and it makes such a
difference.
I agree.
And, and I've been told so manytimes that, and this is a brag
on our teams on site, I've beentold so many times by people,
whether it's investment partnersor, you know, banks, whoever,
(15:07):
um, people that shop are justshop assist competition.
I've gotten the feedback timeand time again, your teams are
really special.
I can feel the vibe when I comeon site to your communities,
everyone has it from anyonethey, whether it's the
maintenance tech, thehousekeeper, the leasing person,
the manager, whoever theyinteract with, they come back
and say, okay.
There's some, there's a vibethere and it's really, really
good.
I love it.
Mm hmm.
(15:27):
You're right.
That's an amazing compliment.
I mean, to get that across allyour communities, that's really,
yeah, that is something to beproud of.
Yeah.
That's cool.
And another thing, so anotherthing that drew me to you as an
individual is how innovative youare, even with technology.
I loved hearing that you've kindof, played and you've tried to
work and expand and you workedwith certain vendors to try to
(15:48):
push their boundaries to do whatyou need.
And I want to hear a little moreabout what you've done in that
space too.
Sure.
So, um, a few, is it okay if Isay who, which partners we work
with?
I mean, is that.
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why not?
That's okay.
Sure.
Yeah, I mean, one that comes tomind is Intrata.
That's our, our CRM and our, um,accounting platform and, you
(16:08):
know, as they've grown and, andwe've grown, it, it comes to
mind that there are certainthings that, that every company
wants and there are certainthings that you want that are
different than all the othercompanies.
And so, so, yeah.
When we're communicating withthem in the beginning, we would
say, Hey, this is great.
We love this tool, but here'sthe way we would like to look at
it.
Here's how we want our reportingto look here.
And they were one of the onesthat were really willing to say,
(16:29):
yeah, if we're going to be acutting edge, innovative
company, we should listen toindividualities of our
community.
Our clients and try to meet thatif we can.
So that's one, you know,example.
And then with AI, obviously big,big topic about it, but what's
that?
I don't know.
You'll see.
So, um, you know, at least wework with meet a lease and they
(16:52):
do leasing AI and, um, they, werolled this out a couple of
years ago.
So we've been doing it for goingon three years now.
And.
It's a wonderful tool.
It's not meant to replacepeople.
It's meant to enhance theexperience.
And so what we did is we said,well, that's great.
We love that.
It's going to answer leads forus and talk to our customers and
try to get us people coming inand really try to sell the
(17:13):
apartments.
That's the whole goal, but wewant to see how she's doing it
and how she's talking to ourcustomer, because for our brand,
it's extremely important thatthe language is right and that
the voice and the tone and allof that reflects our brand.
Yeah.
And so they were willing to.
to sit down with us and gothrough scripting and literally
change language and changeverbiage and how, um, the AI
will respond, um, to ourcustomer.
(17:35):
And so it was really importantto us and in looking at it, when
we first implemented it beforeall those changes were made and
then after, the success of thoseconversations and the outcome of
those conversations isincredibly different because of
that impact.
So we know it has, it does, itworks.
And so asking your vendors,asking them, Hey, this is a
really cool tool.
(17:56):
Yeah.
Can we enhance it?
Can we enhance it for our brand?
Yeah.
And I, I don't even think a lotof people know what you know
about AI to even ask for that.
Because to know that the largelanguage model is trainable in
that way.
Right.
To where you can custom createan agent that is speaking on
your behalf the same way youwould if you trained somebody.
(18:17):
Right.
I think.
That alone, that knowledge thatyou have puts you so far ahead
of the majority of people.
I mean, we obviously know alittle bit about it because we
work in the world of AI a bit.
But, but certainly I thinkpushing those boundaries to
have, you know, to ask yourvendors, what are we doing
that's custom to us?
Because we talk a lot about AIand how that is the answer is
(18:41):
that it cannot be a one sizefits all solution.
You cannot create a, you cancreate AI for the masses, but
what's going to have to happenare exactly what you're saying.
These custom AI agents that arelearning your business, your
brand, the things that matter toyou.
Yeah.
And that will just get betterand better, right?
It'll just get better.
The more people that weigh inand kind of help help me, you
(19:04):
know, Um, transform it into whatit can be for each organization.
It will just get better andbetter.
It's really brilliant.
So as you're vetting these newtechnologies that are coming
out, are you, is that somethingyou're asking them?
Like what, how can we worktogether if we were to have this
partnership?
Do you listen to us when we say,Oh, this would be great, right?
(19:25):
Are those like kind of tougherquestions that you've been
asking?
Yes.
In fact, so, um, you know,almost every demo I've ever been
on and my team has been on thosequestions come up.
So they give the presentationand we go, this is really neat.
Here's all of our questions, youknow, and at the end they say,
okay, so we have some specialrequests, you know, how open are
you to our input and, and can wepartner?
How can we help you?
(19:46):
Because we're in this foreveryone, right?
We would, we love to be able toalso impact and have influence
on the industry itself.
We want everybody, you know, todo better and to serve their
customers better and to livebetter lives.
And so, um, we always ask thosequestions and they go, Oh, well,
that's interesting.
We haven't been asked thatbefore.
I hear that all the time.
You know, that's a new question.
And so then we explore it withthem.
(20:07):
Well, what if we could help?
What are some of the ways?
And, and we've even come up withtest case scenarios for some of
these vendors, like, hey, whydon't, we'll, we'll, every
quarter we'll meet and we'lltalk about how this is going.
You can compare it to anothercase scenario, and then we can
see, is this something thatprovides value to your clients
or not?
I love it.
Wow, that's really interesting.
So, Patrick always says, thefuture, AI, you know, and it's,
(20:31):
it's very, there, basically,everywhere, once it's, once it's
everywhere, the future is goingto be.
Implementing something, testingit, and then measuring it.
Right.
And this, you're already there,right, in your head.
You're like, okay, we understandthat we, we now have this power.
How are we going to test,measure, and improve upon it?
(20:53):
And I think, again, this issomewhere where you're so much
further.
Along than a lot of people.
And so I think a great questionfor our audience right now is
when you're having theseconversations with vendors, what
is, or suppliers, what is the,what is, what are the core
questions that you should beasking and what are those
services where you feel like youcan really push those
(21:14):
boundaries, right?
Like what should somebody beasking when they're, when
someone brings AI to them?
Yeah, to me, it's starting withwhat are your brand tenants?
What are the things that you'remost.
Wanting to accomplish with thistool and then, um, who's going
to be using it.
So you got to ask yourself allthese questions.
How, you know, how are we goingto roll it out?
And then it is what sort offeatures and benefits do we want
(21:37):
to get out of it?
What are some of the nuances ofour brand that may not match
what's out there, um, testdriving it and asking for.
We always ask, can you get me infront of some of your other
clients that are using it?
And let me ask them somedetailed questions because
they're on my side of, of, um,you know, they're, if they're an
operator, they know what I'mgoing through and what I need.
I can ask them how it's workingfor them.
What are some of the challengesthey've run into?
(21:58):
And so we'll always ask forexamples, um, contacts, people
that we can kind of verifythings aren't working.
And then again, how malleable isthe product?
How malleable is the tool?
Um, what other tools does itwork with?
Right.
You know, how can, what it,what, how much influence and
what is the extent that we haveRight.
over the part we're buying fromyou.
I also always ask, what are yourfuture plans for your product?
(22:21):
Um, will you be selling it?
Yeah.
Um, you know, will you be addingon features and benefit,
features and, and, um, options?
And what are those?
What does your roadmap look likefor your product?
Um, cause that's reallyimportant and sometimes you find
out, oh wow, they have somereally great things in the
hopper.
And sometimes it's the opposite.
It's like, oh, well.
That's an obvious one.
Have you thought of this?
Um, so we'll, and we'll oftencompare.
(22:42):
So if you're demoing severaldifferent products, then ask
each one of them questions thatyou've learned from the other
one.
Um, I've also learned thatasking what their financial
strength and backing is, isimportant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you typically roll out just afew properties when you're
testing new products or do youdo the whole portfolio?
What's your, that's a greatquestion.
So, um, we do typically startout with one or two, typically
(23:05):
start out with one or two andthen kind of test and see how it
goes.
Occasionally we'll try twodifferent products at two
different.
That was my follow up question.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then kind of compare andcontrast and say, okay, this is
the one that really meets ourneeds.
Um, but if there, there havebeen times when we've just
rolled things, if we were sureabout it and we go, this is what
we need, we rolled it.
We'll just roll it out.
Yeah.
(23:25):
I love that.
Yeah.
I think it's really exciting,and that's why I'm super excited
to have you on stage, too,because I feel like these are,
this can be infused in so manyconversations where people don't
exactly know.
I tell Carrie this a lot.
I cannot stand it when I gosomewhere or to a conference and
people speak about these amazinginnovations with AI or products
that are coming out.
And then you walk away with notangible list of things to do,
(23:49):
right?
Like, I think a valuable handoutis, here's 10 questions to ask.
A supplier who's bringing youtech, new technology, especially
if it has a, I, here are thequestions you need to be asking
before you just dive in.
Right.
Right.
And so I think, you know, pieceslike that are going to be really
important for us to workshop inthe summit as well.
(24:09):
Yeah, I agree.
I also think, um, you know, wementioned the innovation council
earlier as a member, you know,you're attending every Friday or
when you can, you know, um, Iknow you're busy.
Right.
Um, what have thoseconversations.
Have they, have those providedvalue to you when you're making
these decisions?
And, and like, have you had anylight bulbs like, Oh, from
(24:31):
something someone else said,like, Oh, that's a great point.
I never thought about that.
Are you taking that into yourown organization?
Absolutely.
So I've made so many greatcontacts with the innovation
council.
It's so wonderful.
And, and the cool thing I'lljust sidebar really quick on is
the networking is fantasticbecause you do, you meet new
people and you meet people inall different areas of our
business, which is really,really cool.
really beneficial in a, in agroup setting where you can have
(24:53):
some interaction and you reallyget to know them a little bit
better.
So that's been incredible.
And I've also run into people Iworked with years ago that I
hadn't seen.
And so now we're, ourrelationships are rekindled and
we're able to then, you know,um, really serve one another in
growing our own brands andcompanies.
So that's been incredible.
And yeah, light bulbs going off.
I've gotten contacts for, youknow, This is kind of a dry
(25:15):
topic, but insurance is notsomething I'm super well versed
in.
But people on the council are.
So I'm like, oh, hey, you can,you know, what should we do
about this kind of an issue thatwe're facing?
It might be dry, but it is soimportant.
So important.
Yeah.
So important.
So those types of ahas arefantastic.
You learn so much from otherpeople that They do that day to
day.
I don't.
(25:36):
Oh my gosh.
Thank you.
I had this question in my head.
Now I understand.
Yeah.
So I think it's fantastic.
I think the whole idea of ittoo, is it's the perfect
platform for people to gettogether with no judgment and
say, What are we facing?
What are some wild ideas wehave?
It's okay if your idea is kindof weird and crazy and no one's
done it in the industry.
That's great.
That's better.
(25:56):
Bring it here.
And so I'm kudos to you guysbecause it's a fantastic
platform and I'm, I love it.
Let me be a member.
No, we love having you.
Yeah.
And a big part of that, like,you know, I'm, I'm new as well.
I'm about two months in.
So, um, and I, I love it becauseI feel like There are spaces
where people collaborate withinthis industry, but it's pretty
(26:18):
rare still.
And I feel like there's kind ofthis sense of we're competing
for the same business.
So we can't innovate together.
We can't bring the industry to acertain level together because
we're, we're competitors.
And so I think that elementbeing removed and saying, look,
this is a confidential groupwhere we don't talk about any
specifics to your business.
(26:38):
Like we literally have rulesaround it, but.
We all need to get together andthere are things that we need to
do in this industry today tobring it up to par, to bring it
up to speed, and to put it in aplace where we can innovate and,
and prepare for the future.
And there's a lot about tohappen that we need to all be
ready for.
And there, we need to createbest practices together.
(27:00):
So, yeah.
Oh my gosh.
That's so great, Lauren, becauseI actually, I'm, I'm I'm
embarrassed to say it.
Well, I'm not really embarrassedto say it.
I'll just say it.
Don't be embarrassed.
Yeah, you know what?
It is what it is.
So I've been in the industry foralmost 30 years and I found it
for a while to be so incrediblyunimaginative, boring, just
absolutely what you're saying.
(27:21):
It was like me against you, usagainst them.
And so I really took myself outof most of the industry related,
um, I did.
I just kind of stoppedparticipating for years.
And, um, actually the InnovationCouncil and the Women's Summit
were catalysts to me gettingback involved with some of it.
And I've seen how much it'schanged over the years.
(27:41):
And it's refreshing.
It's really fantastic.
There are wonderful peopleinvolved that are like, no, we
want it, we want to go the rightdirection.
And you guys are, are part ofthat.
Yeah.
And I love it.
And so it's given me a wholenew, just a re energization.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's bad word.
It, it, it sounds reallyintelligent.
Don't question it Right.
It's just giving me that whole,that passion again for what
(28:01):
we're doing is so incrediblyimportant and people get it.
They're seeing it and they'reexcited to do it and, um, and so
I'm loving it.
I'm getting more involved allover the place and, and it's
great.
Yeah, that is great.
One of my favorite things is.
when in the meetings when we'reall talking about, you know, a
specific topic and it seems likewe have a consensus and then
somebody comes on and said, youknow, I don't really think about
(28:23):
it that way.
I don't really agree.
Let me play devil's advocate.
I love when someone says, let meplay devil's advocate because I
feel like that's where the magicis.
And even on, on stage and atconferences and our own summits,
you know, it's, it's aboutforming the consensus.
And, but when that, when oneperson says, that's great, I
hear you.
But also I'm thinking somethingdifferent.
(28:44):
This is my take on it.
And it just, It opens your mindand you're like, Oh my gosh, I
never thought about it that way.
It does.
What?
Oh my gosh, that's wonderful.
I can take that back.
Yeah.
And I don't know many peoplethat would do that on stage.
Right?
Like during a panel discussion.
No, I don't agree with any ofyou, but in the, in the smaller
setting, you know, then it'swhen you're amongst friends, so
(29:06):
to speak, I think it's a lotmore comfortable to do that.
100%.
I agree.
Yeah.
And I love the way that you guystalk.
You explained to me sobeautifully, you and Patrick is
that When you're aligning overas the same goal, it brings the
masses together, whether that'swomen, whether that's men,
whether that's competitors,whether that's this company,
(29:26):
that company.
When you're all aligning overthe goal of we need to innovate
and we need to innovate fast.
Right.
That alone unites people in away where you can forget
everything else.
And you can say we can all worktowards the same goal because
otherwise we're all going to beunder pressure.
Water together trying to get tothe top, because if we're not
(29:47):
creating certain best practices,if we're not creating, you know,
if we're not innovating togetheras an industry, it's never gonna
work.
That's right.
We need each other, right?
And so you learn that you think,wow, I need these ideas.
I have all these challenges.
And we get stuck in our own ourlittle own road and our own, you
know, focus.
And we go, well, I think I knowthe right things.
But actually, you know what, I'mreally stuck right here because
(30:07):
I'm not making progress.
Yeah.
You know, centralization is abig topic, optimization,
whatever you want to call it.
And they're, depending on howyour company is structured,
whether you're an owner operatoror a third party operator or
whatever it might be, um, thereare different challenges to it.
So when you get together and yousay, wow, who's doing it well,
it's hard to say, let's shareour best practices and figure
(30:29):
out how can we do it well, howcan we figure this out?
And you need each other.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we even got into that on thecouncil meeting.
You know, we've beenworkshopping centralization and
talking about, well, what arethe unique aspects to your
company that are allowing thatthat model to work so well for
you versus what's, you know, itmight not work for somebody
who's in this situation.
And so I think those uniqueaspects and having different
(30:50):
perspectives and understanding,okay, just because someone says
centralization is where it's atdoesn't mean that's what's right
for me.
Okay.
And so to be able to hearsomeone's perspective, but also
drill in on, well, why is thatworking so well for them?
Because they actually startedout sexualized, or you might,
you know, you might actually getsome intel as to why it worked
for them and might, it might notwork for you.
(31:11):
That's a great point.
Yeah, so anyways, but we'rereally just so glad you're here
and we're so happy to have youhelping us I'm so grateful to be
here.
I'm honored.
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely So we'll wrap on thatand any final thoughts you want
to leave with our listeners, youknow I'm just really encouraged
by You know, opportunities likethis and opportunities like the,
(31:35):
like multifamily leadership and,and the Women's Summit.
So please get involved and let'shelp make this industry what it
can be.
We're here to serve ourresidents at their most, the
place they spend most of theirtime, um, the place our team
spend most of their time, right?
So we have a huge, uh,responsibility and an honor to
do the right thing for peopleall over the place and provide
awesome homes and places towork.
(31:56):
So I'm excited about all that isto come.
We are too.
Yes.
Thanks so much, Heidi.
And thanks again for tuning in.
Please visit the MultifamilyWomen's Summit webpage at
multifamilywomen.
com and register today.
Do not miss your opportunity toattend this amazing event.
Heidi will be on stage.
You'll be able to see her livethere and we will see you on the
(32:17):
next episode.
Welcome back to another episodeof the multifamily women's
(00:03):
podcast.
Today.
I have a great guest here Shehas not only spoken on stage at
the multifamily women's summitShe's also an innovation council
member now The multifamilyinnovation council is an
executive level membershiporganization that makes a
difference in your bottom lineIt drives a better experience
for your employees And allows anexperience that keeps demand
(00:25):
strong for your company tobecome a member today.
Please visitmultifamilyinnovation.
com backslash council.
If you're not registered for theupcoming multifamily women's
summit, please do that today atmultifamilywomen.
com.
Today, we'll be sharing timewith Heidi Arave Noonan.
She is the Chief OperatingOfficer of Live Communities.
(00:46):
Heidi, we are so glad you'rehere joining us today.
I have to say, I've, in spendingtime with you, I think you're
one of the most intelligentwomen I've ever met, which is
pretty incredible.
And I want to say, so I've seenthat you're, you've been with
Live Communities for 15 years,which We're here this month.
In this industry, that's veryuncommon to stay so long.
(01:09):
So what is it about livecommunities?
So I've been in the industry fornearly 30 years.
So, and thank you for thecompliment, by the way, very
kind of you.
Of course.
But, um, I live, embodies, Um,everything I feel like this
industry could be and should beand should aspire to be.
And so when I came across thecompany, it wasn't live at the
time, it was called IPA, but thepeople that I engaged with at
(01:31):
the company were exactly, theyembodied, like I said, what I
thought the industry could be,you know, capable of and how we
can serve our residents truly intheir homes.
Um, it's a privilege.
And so it's, it's beeneverything I thought it would
be.
And I was able to help build ourlive brand.
Joining the organization over 15years ago or almost 15 years
ago.
And so being able to be a partof that, creating this live
(01:54):
brand as well.
And the rebranding from who wewere as IPA to live communities
was a big honor.
And it's just been the highlightof my career.
And where did you start?
What was your first position inthe industry?
And then how did you talk aboutyour journey a little bit?
Absolutely.
So I started, I was 18 years oldand I started part time leasing.
Um, the company was Simpson,Simpson housing.
(02:15):
And It was a little community, ahundred unit community, and I
was a part time leasingconsultant.
We still had paper ledgers.
We were still writing down, youknow, everything on paper and
paper service requests.
And I made 4.
85 an hour.
I remember those days.
Yeah.
You're in good company.
I'm going to get, you know, acommission of 25 bucks if I get
a lease.
So this is exciting for me.
(02:36):
So, um, I stuck with it and Istayed with that organization
actually for 10 years.
and ended up moving up into, youknow, a full time leasing
position and then assistantmanager position and then
eventually I went into trainingand, um, I did training on a
national level, um, for thatorganization and then later on I
left for a little bit and I wentto Forent Magazine.
Remember Forent Magazine?
(02:56):
Oh yeah.
Back in the day.
So I did that and I sold ads tothe industry.
that for a couple years andthen, um, actually returned back
to Simpson again and did sometraining for them and then I
left to have my son and, um,after my son was a couple years
old, I said, okay, I'm ready toget back into it.
And I found IPA at the time.
I love that.
(03:17):
So I know you've been, you'vebeen a part, a big part of the
women's summit, which is reallyamazing.
And I know Carrie, um, Knows youvery well for that reason.
Um, what, tell us a little bitabout your experience going to
the Women's Summit and what kindof, you know, what, what you've
taken away from that and whatyou might be able to bring back
to your teams from the Summit aswell.
(03:37):
Absolutely.
I love it.
The first year we were involved,it was actually my assistant and
somebody else that went, so twoothers, somebody from our HR
team and then um, our operationsperson and they came back and
said, this is so amazing.
Like, we should have more peoplehere.
Why aren't we all going?
All of us women at Live, and,and, um, we have a lot of women
that work at Live, by the way,in leadership, which is pretty
cool.
And so I said, okay, well, nextyear we'll go.
(03:59):
And so we, we bought the ticketsin advance and five of us went.
And then I thought, yeah, I seewhat you guys are getting out of
this.
This is amazing.
It's, it's, uh, it's kind of asoul filling experience to be
with all those women in a roomand it's, it's intimate.
So you're able to really get toknow people.
I've made connections withpeople I hadn't seen in years
there.
And so it was really.
an awesome experience formyself.
(04:20):
So I said, yeah, this issomething that we're going to
keep on the docket, um, everyyear.
And I, and then I talked toCarrie and I said, I would love
an opportunity to be moreinvolved.
And she said, all right.
Come next year.
And so the third year we wereinvolved, I was able to be a
speaker and it was an awesomeexperience.
Wonderful.
Um, definitely enriching for me.
And I made even more contactsafter that as well.
(04:40):
So it was also really good formy professional network.
Um, so yeah, I'm excited aboutdoing it again this year with
you guys.
What I loved about having you onstage is that you're so candid
and open.
Um, I remember the, theremight've been some nerves before
we went on.
I think you and I were the firstones that day, um, on the second
(05:03):
day.
Um, but you were so candid withour audience members and they
asked you questions and you hadanswers for them.
And it was just really openconversation.
And, um, I'm really excited tohave you in a bigger role this
year, participating more forthat reason.
And also, because you hadattended before, you kind of
knew what to expect and theculture of the event itself.
(05:26):
Um, we've put a lot of work intothe, into day one, forming those
relationships and, and, and,And, you know, none of the
forced networking and all ofthat, you know, more unique
experiences so that by day two,people aren't afraid to raise
their hands and say, what didyou mean by that?
Or how did you do this?
You know, ask questions.
I felt so comfortable that daytoo because of that.
(05:47):
So when someone from theaudience, when you're looking at
them and you're engaging, you dofeel like you're just all in the
same conversation.
And that's a differentexperience that I haven't had at
other, you know, conferences,so.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It was wonderful.
And I kind of migrated towardsthat because we've asked you to
help us this year with some ofthe planning and infusing these
sessions with some of yourknowledge because.
(06:07):
Someone who's been in theindustry and has the experience
that you have, you absolutelyhave have a hands on experience
to the pain points of thisaudience.
And being such a successfulwoman in multifamily, I think
our audience would love to knowwhat, what has fueled your
journey and how have you, youknow, climbed your way to
(06:28):
exactly where you're at today.
I think a lot of people aregoing to want to know kind of
where that came from.
That's a great question.
It's a big question.
I have to kind of go back andsee.
Yeah.
Um, I have to say that havingpassion for what you do is, is
key.
So if you're in an industrywhere you don't feel passionate,
you're not excited about whatcould be and, and what could be
(06:48):
for yourself and for others.
Then, um, you might want tochange gears, you know, it might
not be the right place to be.
So I've always gravitated towardpeople as well, that had that
same kind of passion and energyand excitement for, for what we
do and who we serve.
And so.
For me, it's been connectingwith the right people and
knowing and knowing kind of, youknow, what are the
possibilities?
(07:09):
What are the opportunities whichgot me from leasing up into a
training role?
I thought well, I want to teachother people how to do these
amazing things So I thinkmultifamily gives you that
opportunity it you can be inoperations.
You can be in development Youcan work in marketing you can
work in IT.
I mean, there's just it's such aIt's a very multifaceted
industry, and I found thatincredibly interesting.
(07:30):
So I also, I, through everystage of my career, I asked,
where can I plug in?
Where can I help?
Where can I learn?
What's best for theorganization?
What's best for my leader?
What do they need from me?
And I remember everyone that Iever kind of followed really
appreciated that and would say,Oh my gosh, that's great.
Here's what I need.
Here's what I, and I think thatopen attitude and then the
(07:51):
willingness of the leaders I tokind of take me along.
That's really how my, my careerhappened.
It, it sort of happened thatway.
Yeah.
We, um, and you're a MultifamilyInnovation Council member, too,
which we'll talk about in aminute, but in one of our
meetings recently we kind oftalked about the org chart and,
um, And how, you know, sometimeswe'll promote a leasing agent to
(08:12):
something that might not be intheir wheelhouse.
Did you ever experience thatyourself, like working your way
up?
Were you ever in a role thatyou're like, maybe this isn't my
ideal position?
Like you didn't have thatexcitement to get up every day,
but you knew there was somethingbetter.
Did you have experience withthat?
Yes, absolutely.
I think, and, and I'll use theassistant manager role for an
example.
Even though I did enjoy itbecause I learned a lot about
(08:33):
the legal aspects and the, andthe administrative, I didn't see
it as a strong future for ourindustry and for myself.
And so I thought, well, this isgood to learn all of this, but I
really, I would really like tolearn how people work and how
they think and what thepsychology of life is and, you
know, what do people want outof, out of life and how can I
help them get that at theirhome?
(08:54):
Um, and so I started lookinginto.
the training aspect of thingsand thinking, Hey, for my
company, maybe there's a roleand we actually ended up at my
previous company, creating onethat really helped to, to
leverage that passion and thoseideas and thoughts into helping
other people do a better jobserving our residents.
And so, um, I kind of took thatsame sort of thought process
(09:15):
into my current organizationlive and There's always been
that whole idea you have to haveleasing, then assistant, then
manager, then move up.
Maybe you go into corporateservices or marketing, but that
doesn't necessarily mean thatit's how it has to be.
And so we had some individualsthat were really great with
people and really great atleasing and they're like, I
can't wait to be an assistantmanager.
And I'm like, why?
(09:35):
You know, you're so great withour customer.
Yeah, it's got to be a differentway.
So we, um, years ago created adifferent route that you could
either go that administrativekind of bookkeeping accounting
route, or you could go the routeof this.
like a leasing retentionspecialist.
We kind of created two differentcareer paths already, um, years
ago and, and then now, you know,fast forward to today and we
(09:57):
have multi site bookkeepers thattake care of the accounting and
the administrative work and takemost of the administrative work
off our leasing consultants.
Wow.
So they're not, they're not.
They're not doing a bunch ofadmin work and following up on,
on income verifications and allthat sort of stuff and, and
collections and all of it reallygoes to an offsite bookkeeper.
So everybody at the site, ourgoal is in our hopes are that
they're just facing the customerand finding out how they can
(10:19):
better serve the customer.
I love that.
So, you mentioned that role waskind of created for you, like
the training role, they createdthat role for you.
Was that nerve wracking?
Did it take courage to say, thisis what I want to do, it doesn't
currently exist, um, what can wedo to make this happen?
Yes, yes, if I'm thinking wayback to then, this is many years
(10:43):
ago, and again, it was theprevious company, but yes, I
remember thinking, this is soexciting, this is an
opportunity, how, but if I couldblow it, you know, what if I get
into it?
And they're like, yeah, thisisn't really that great.
My role gets cut, you know,good.
So again, you surround yourselfwith other people that you can
brainstorm and you can involvepeople that will be, you know,
in the end benefiting from it.
(11:04):
And it's like, Hey guys, whatare your thoughts?
What should we do?
And how do we build this role tomake sure it really serves our
organization and our customer,you know, to us, it's always
about the customer.
So how do we, how do we craftthis and involve other minds?
And so, and it was a success.
Well, that's good.
As long as it worked.
I think that's amazing because,yeah, I think it sounds like you
(11:27):
have the power to be soinnovative and make changes
that, that a lot of people are alittle bit afraid to make.
And I think that was the firstthing that drew me to you.
And to say, you know, thecompliment I gave you earlier, I
meant it because it's, it'sreally hard to advocate for that
change.
You know what I mean?
It's really hard to be theperson that's saying, you know,
raising your hand and saying,the way things have always been
(11:48):
done might not be the way theyshould be today.
It is, and you know, Lauren,that's a good point, because
you're also impacting otherpeople.
So when you, so for instance,when you say, we don't have this
assistant manager positionanymore, it's not your career
path, then people start to panica little bit, like, well, that
was my career path, that's why.
Right.
Here.
What do you mean?
So it, it has to be kind of thatwhy behind the what, and then
(12:09):
what's in it for you.
What does that career path looklike?
So when you make changes, youhave to involve the people that
it will impact and you have tofind out how they might do it.
Mm hmm.
Also have to give the why behindthe what.
All the watts.
Absolutely.
To help people come along.
And being a trainer, the whybehind it just makes me laugh
because that's absolutely right.
If you don't have people's buyin, they're not going to, even
(12:32):
if they're watching the coursewith their eyes, they're not
going to be there, right?
They're not going to absorb theinformation because they don't
understand why I even need toknow this.
And we've all been there.
We check out immediately thesecond we don't have that why
behind.
That's right.
So I love that you're thinkingthat way of how do we get
people's buy in first?
Yes.
And just involve them in theprocess.
Yes.
Think about what, what they aregoing to get out of this and
(12:54):
benefit and then they're alreadybought in the second they start
to train on whatever it is.
Right.
And, and we haven't been perfectat that, right?
You're always trying to improve.
So I'm always looking at whatdoes change management look like
and, and how do we do it betterevery time?
Yeah.
But even being able to thinkthat way, I think.
Is is the route, right?
What?
What do people actually careabout?
What do they benefit from?
(13:15):
And is it career growth?
What's that skin in the gamethat gets them excited?
Absolutely.
And that's a big difference.
We talked about alsopsychological safety and that
with the change management.
I think that it's so importantif you are presenting these new
things, as long as somebodyknows, like, I'm safe here.
Uh, you know, I, I'm free toexpress my opinions and if I
(13:37):
don't understand, I can ask why,you know, I think that that is
such a big, makes a big impactwhen you're trying to implement
new things, new technologies,new trainings, programs.
Everybody has to feel like,okay, even, even if this is new
and kind of crazy right now, Iknow that there's a bigger
picture and it's for the greatergood, right?
(13:59):
Yeah, there's trust, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Establish those kinds of rhythmswith your, your team.
Hopefully there's that trustthere.
Yeah.
And so never perfect, but youtry your best to say, Hey, we
want you involved.
We want to hear from you.
from you and so we do so much ofthat at Live.
We invite so much feedback fromour teams, from every team
member.
We want the feedback.
We want the engagement.
We want to know what theiropinions are.
We share communication inmultiple ways and then we have a
(14:21):
very, um, detailed strategicplanning process and, and
rhythms that we meet.
So everybody has an opportunity.
So if you don't take it, Oh, itwas there, so.
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
No, I love that.
I think that's really smart, andI think that, again, this is all
you, right?
It starts at the top, and whenyou have leaders in those high
(14:45):
level positions that areinnovative the way that you do
and value the individual the waythat it sounds like you guys do,
you can feel that.
You can feel that culture in acompany, and it makes such a
difference.
I agree.
And, and I've been told so manytimes that, and this is a brag
on our teams on site, I've beentold so many times by people,
whether it's investment partnersor, you know, banks, whoever,
(15:07):
um, people that shop are justshop assist competition.
I've gotten the feedback timeand time again, your teams are
really special.
I can feel the vibe when I comeon site to your communities,
everyone has it from anyonethey, whether it's the
maintenance tech, thehousekeeper, the leasing person,
the manager, whoever theyinteract with, they come back
and say, okay.
There's some, there's a vibethere and it's really, really
good.
I love it.
Mm hmm.
(15:27):
You're right.
That's an amazing compliment.
I mean, to get that across allyour communities, that's really,
yeah, that is something to beproud of.
Yeah.
That's cool.
And another thing, so anotherthing that drew me to you as an
individual is how innovative youare, even with technology.
I loved hearing that you've kindof, played and you've tried to
work and expand and you workedwith certain vendors to try to
(15:48):
push their boundaries to do whatyou need.
And I want to hear a little moreabout what you've done in that
space too.
Sure.
So, um, a few, is it okay if Isay who, which partners we work
with?
I mean, is that.
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why not?
That's okay.
Sure.
Yeah, I mean, one that comes tomind is Intrata.
That's our, our CRM and our, um,accounting platform and, you
(16:08):
know, as they've grown and, andwe've grown, it, it comes to
mind that there are certainthings that, that every company
wants and there are certainthings that you want that are
different than all the othercompanies.
And so, so, yeah.
When we're communicating withthem in the beginning, we would
say, Hey, this is great.
We love this tool, but here'sthe way we would like to look at
it.
Here's how we want our reportingto look here.
And they were one of the onesthat were really willing to say,
(16:29):
yeah, if we're going to be acutting edge, innovative
company, we should listen toindividualities of our
community.
Our clients and try to meet thatif we can.
So that's one, you know,example.
And then with AI, obviously big,big topic about it, but what's
that?
I don't know.
You'll see.
So, um, you know, at least wework with meet a lease and they
(16:52):
do leasing AI and, um, they, werolled this out a couple of
years ago.
So we've been doing it for goingon three years now.
And.
It's a wonderful tool.
It's not meant to replacepeople.
It's meant to enhance theexperience.
And so what we did is we said,well, that's great.
We love that.
It's going to answer leads forus and talk to our customers and
try to get us people coming inand really try to sell the
(17:13):
apartments.
That's the whole goal, but wewant to see how she's doing it
and how she's talking to ourcustomer, because for our brand,
it's extremely important thatthe language is right and that
the voice and the tone and allof that reflects our brand.
Yeah.
And so they were willing to.
to sit down with us and gothrough scripting and literally
change language and changeverbiage and how, um, the AI
will respond, um, to ourcustomer.
(17:35):
And so it was really importantto us and in looking at it, when
we first implemented it beforeall those changes were made and
then after, the success of thoseconversations and the outcome of
those conversations isincredibly different because of
that impact.
So we know it has, it does, itworks.
And so asking your vendors,asking them, Hey, this is a
really cool tool.
(17:56):
Yeah.
Can we enhance it?
Can we enhance it for our brand?
Yeah.
And I, I don't even think a lotof people know what you know
about AI to even ask for that.
Because to know that the largelanguage model is trainable in
that way.
Right.
To where you can custom createan agent that is speaking on
your behalf the same way youwould if you trained somebody.
(18:17):
Right.
I think.
That alone, that knowledge thatyou have puts you so far ahead
of the majority of people.
I mean, we obviously know alittle bit about it because we
work in the world of AI a bit.
But, but certainly I thinkpushing those boundaries to
have, you know, to ask yourvendors, what are we doing
that's custom to us?
Because we talk a lot about AIand how that is the answer is
(18:41):
that it cannot be a one sizefits all solution.
You cannot create a, you cancreate AI for the masses, but
what's going to have to happenare exactly what you're saying.
These custom AI agents that arelearning your business, your
brand, the things that matter toyou.
Yeah.
And that will just get betterand better, right?
It'll just get better.
The more people that weigh inand kind of help help me, you
(19:04):
know, Um, transform it into whatit can be for each organization.
It will just get better andbetter.
It's really brilliant.
So as you're vetting these newtechnologies that are coming
out, are you, is that somethingyou're asking them?
Like what, how can we worktogether if we were to have this
partnership?
Do you listen to us when we say,Oh, this would be great, right?
(19:25):
Are those like kind of tougherquestions that you've been
asking?
Yes.
In fact, so, um, you know,almost every demo I've ever been
on and my team has been on thosequestions come up.
So they give the presentationand we go, this is really neat.
Here's all of our questions, youknow, and at the end they say,
okay, so we have some specialrequests, you know, how open are
you to our input and, and can wepartner?
How can we help you?
(19:46):
Because we're in this foreveryone, right?
We would, we love to be able toalso impact and have influence
on the industry itself.
We want everybody, you know, todo better and to serve their
customers better and to livebetter lives.
And so, um, we always ask thosequestions and they go, Oh, well,
that's interesting.
We haven't been asked thatbefore.
I hear that all the time.
You know, that's a new question.
And so then we explore it withthem.
(20:07):
Well, what if we could help?
What are some of the ways?
And, and we've even come up withtest case scenarios for some of
these vendors, like, hey, whydon't, we'll, we'll, every
quarter we'll meet and we'lltalk about how this is going.
You can compare it to anothercase scenario, and then we can
see, is this something thatprovides value to your clients
or not?
I love it.
Wow, that's really interesting.
So, Patrick always says, thefuture, AI, you know, and it's,
(20:31):
it's very, there, basically,everywhere, once it's, once it's
everywhere, the future is goingto be.
Implementing something, testingit, and then measuring it.
Right.
And this, you're already there,right, in your head.
You're like, okay, we understandthat we, we now have this power.
How are we going to test,measure, and improve upon it?
(20:53):
And I think, again, this issomewhere where you're so much
further.
Along than a lot of people.
And so I think a great questionfor our audience right now is
when you're having theseconversations with vendors, what
is, or suppliers, what is the,what is, what are the core
questions that you should beasking and what are those
services where you feel like youcan really push those
(21:14):
boundaries, right?
Like what should somebody beasking when they're, when
someone brings AI to them?
Yeah, to me, it's starting withwhat are your brand tenants?
What are the things that you'remost.
Wanting to accomplish with thistool and then, um, who's going
to be using it.
So you got to ask yourself allthese questions.
How, you know, how are we goingto roll it out?
And then it is what sort offeatures and benefits do we want
(21:37):
to get out of it?
What are some of the nuances ofour brand that may not match
what's out there, um, testdriving it and asking for.
We always ask, can you get me infront of some of your other
clients that are using it?
And let me ask them somedetailed questions because
they're on my side of, of, um,you know, they're, if they're an
operator, they know what I'mgoing through and what I need.
I can ask them how it's workingfor them.
What are some of the challengesthey've run into?
(21:58):
And so we'll always ask forexamples, um, contacts, people
that we can kind of verifythings aren't working.
And then again, how malleable isthe product?
How malleable is the tool?
Um, what other tools does itwork with?
Right.
You know, how can, what it,what, how much influence and
what is the extent that we haveRight.
over the part we're buying fromyou.
I also always ask, what are yourfuture plans for your product?
(22:21):
Um, will you be selling it?
Yeah.
Um, you know, will you be addingon features and benefit,
features and, and, um, options?
And what are those?
What does your roadmap look likefor your product?
Um, cause that's reallyimportant and sometimes you find
out, oh wow, they have somereally great things in the
hopper.
And sometimes it's the opposite.
It's like, oh, well.
That's an obvious one.
Have you thought of this?
Um, so we'll, and we'll oftencompare.
(22:42):
So if you're demoing severaldifferent products, then ask
each one of them questions thatyou've learned from the other
one.
Um, I've also learned thatasking what their financial
strength and backing is, isimportant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you typically roll out just afew properties when you're
testing new products or do youdo the whole portfolio?
What's your, that's a greatquestion.
So, um, we do typically startout with one or two, typically
(23:05):
start out with one or two andthen kind of test and see how it
goes.
Occasionally we'll try twodifferent products at two
different.
That was my follow up question.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then kind of compare andcontrast and say, okay, this is
the one that really meets ourneeds.
Um, but if there, there havebeen times when we've just
rolled things, if we were sureabout it and we go, this is what
we need, we rolled it.
We'll just roll it out.
Yeah.
(23:25):
I love that.
Yeah.
I think it's really exciting,and that's why I'm super excited
to have you on stage, too,because I feel like these are,
this can be infused in so manyconversations where people don't
exactly know.
I tell Carrie this a lot.
I cannot stand it when I gosomewhere or to a conference and
people speak about these amazinginnovations with AI or products
that are coming out.
And then you walk away with notangible list of things to do,
(23:49):
right?
Like, I think a valuable handoutis, here's 10 questions to ask.
A supplier who's bringing youtech, new technology, especially
if it has a, I, here are thequestions you need to be asking
before you just dive in.
Right.
Right.
And so I think, you know, pieceslike that are going to be really
important for us to workshop inthe summit as well.
(24:09):
Yeah, I agree.
I also think, um, you know, wementioned the innovation council
earlier as a member, you know,you're attending every Friday or
when you can, you know, um, Iknow you're busy.
Right.
Um, what have thoseconversations.
Have they, have those providedvalue to you when you're making
these decisions?
And, and like, have you had anylight bulbs like, Oh, from
(24:31):
something someone else said,like, Oh, that's a great point.
I never thought about that.
Are you taking that into yourown organization?
Absolutely.
So I've made so many greatcontacts with the innovation
council.
It's so wonderful.
And, and the cool thing I'lljust sidebar really quick on is
the networking is fantasticbecause you do, you meet new
people and you meet people inall different areas of our
business, which is really,really cool.
really beneficial in a, in agroup setting where you can have
(24:53):
some interaction and you reallyget to know them a little bit
better.
So that's been incredible.
And I've also run into people Iworked with years ago that I
hadn't seen.
And so now we're, ourrelationships are rekindled and
we're able to then, you know,um, really serve one another in
growing our own brands andcompanies.
So that's been incredible.
And yeah, light bulbs going off.
I've gotten contacts for, youknow, This is kind of a dry
(25:15):
topic, but insurance is notsomething I'm super well versed
in.
But people on the council are.
So I'm like, oh, hey, you can,you know, what should we do
about this kind of an issue thatwe're facing?
It might be dry, but it is soimportant.
So important.
Yeah.
So important.
So those types of ahas arefantastic.
You learn so much from otherpeople that They do that day to
day.
I don't.
(25:36):
Oh my gosh.
Thank you.
I had this question in my head.
Now I understand.
Yeah.
So I think it's fantastic.
I think the whole idea of ittoo, is it's the perfect
platform for people to gettogether with no judgment and
say, What are we facing?
What are some wild ideas wehave?
It's okay if your idea is kindof weird and crazy and no one's
done it in the industry.
That's great.
That's better.
(25:56):
Bring it here.
And so I'm kudos to you guysbecause it's a fantastic
platform and I'm, I love it.
Let me be a member.
No, we love having you.
Yeah.
And a big part of that, like,you know, I'm, I'm new as well.
I'm about two months in.
So, um, and I, I love it becauseI feel like There are spaces
where people collaborate withinthis industry, but it's pretty
(26:18):
rare still.
And I feel like there's kind ofthis sense of we're competing
for the same business.
So we can't innovate together.
We can't bring the industry to acertain level together because
we're, we're competitors.
And so I think that elementbeing removed and saying, look,
this is a confidential groupwhere we don't talk about any
specifics to your business.
(26:38):
Like we literally have rulesaround it, but.
We all need to get together andthere are things that we need to
do in this industry today tobring it up to par, to bring it
up to speed, and to put it in aplace where we can innovate and,
and prepare for the future.
And there's a lot about tohappen that we need to all be
ready for.
And there, we need to createbest practices together.
(27:00):
So, yeah.
Oh my gosh.
That's so great, Lauren, becauseI actually, I'm, I'm I'm
embarrassed to say it.
Well, I'm not really embarrassedto say it.
I'll just say it.
Don't be embarrassed.
Yeah, you know what?
It is what it is.
So I've been in the industry foralmost 30 years and I found it
for a while to be so incrediblyunimaginative, boring, just
absolutely what you're saying.
(27:21):
It was like me against you, usagainst them.
And so I really took myself outof most of the industry related,
um, I did.
I just kind of stoppedparticipating for years.
And, um, actually the InnovationCouncil and the Women's Summit
were catalysts to me gettingback involved with some of it.
And I've seen how much it'schanged over the years.
(27:41):
And it's refreshing.
It's really fantastic.
There are wonderful peopleinvolved that are like, no, we
want it, we want to go the rightdirection.
And you guys are, are part ofthat.
Yeah.
And I love it.
And so it's given me a wholenew, just a re energization.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's bad word.
It, it, it sounds reallyintelligent.
Don't question it Right.
It's just giving me that whole,that passion again for what
(28:01):
we're doing is so incrediblyimportant and people get it.
They're seeing it and they'reexcited to do it and, um, and so
I'm loving it.
I'm getting more involved allover the place and, and it's
great.
Yeah, that is great.
One of my favorite things is.
when in the meetings when we'reall talking about, you know, a
specific topic and it seems likewe have a consensus and then
somebody comes on and said, youknow, I don't really think about
(28:23):
it that way.
I don't really agree.
Let me play devil's advocate.
I love when someone says, let meplay devil's advocate because I
feel like that's where the magicis.
And even on, on stage and atconferences and our own summits,
you know, it's, it's aboutforming the consensus.
And, but when that, when oneperson says, that's great, I
hear you.
But also I'm thinking somethingdifferent.
(28:44):
This is my take on it.
And it just, It opens your mindand you're like, Oh my gosh, I
never thought about it that way.
It does.
What?
Oh my gosh, that's wonderful.
I can take that back.
Yeah.
And I don't know many peoplethat would do that on stage.
Right?
Like during a panel discussion.
No, I don't agree with any ofyou, but in the, in the smaller
setting, you know, then it'swhen you're amongst friends, so
(29:06):
to speak, I think it's a lotmore comfortable to do that.
100%.
I agree.
Yeah.
And I love the way that you guystalk.
You explained to me sobeautifully, you and Patrick is
that When you're aligning overas the same goal, it brings the
masses together, whether that'swomen, whether that's men,
whether that's competitors,whether that's this company,
(29:26):
that company.
When you're all aligning overthe goal of we need to innovate
and we need to innovate fast.
Right.
That alone unites people in away where you can forget
everything else.
And you can say we can all worktowards the same goal because
otherwise we're all going to beunder pressure.
Water together trying to get tothe top, because if we're not
(29:47):
creating certain best practices,if we're not creating, you know,
if we're not innovating togetheras an industry, it's never gonna
work.
That's right.
We need each other, right?
And so you learn that you think,wow, I need these ideas.
I have all these challenges.
And we get stuck in our own ourlittle own road and our own, you
know, focus.
And we go, well, I think I knowthe right things.
But actually, you know what, I'mreally stuck right here because
(30:07):
I'm not making progress.
Yeah.
You know, centralization is abig topic, optimization,
whatever you want to call it.
And they're, depending on howyour company is structured,
whether you're an owner operatoror a third party operator or
whatever it might be, um, thereare different challenges to it.
So when you get together and yousay, wow, who's doing it well,
it's hard to say, let's shareour best practices and figure
(30:29):
out how can we do it well, howcan we figure this out?
And you need each other.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we even got into that on thecouncil meeting.
You know, we've beenworkshopping centralization and
talking about, well, what arethe unique aspects to your
company that are allowing thatthat model to work so well for
you versus what's, you know, itmight not work for somebody
who's in this situation.
And so I think those uniqueaspects and having different
(30:50):
perspectives and understanding,okay, just because someone says
centralization is where it's atdoesn't mean that's what's right
for me.
Okay.
And so to be able to hearsomeone's perspective, but also
drill in on, well, why is thatworking so well for them?
Because they actually startedout sexualized, or you might,
you know, you might actually getsome intel as to why it worked
for them and might, it might notwork for you.
(31:11):
That's a great point.
Yeah, so anyways, but we'rereally just so glad you're here
and we're so happy to have youhelping us I'm so grateful to be
here.
I'm honored.
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely So we'll wrap on thatand any final thoughts you want
to leave with our listeners, youknow I'm just really encouraged
by You know, opportunities likethis and opportunities like the,
(31:35):
like multifamily leadership and,and the Women's Summit.
So please get involved and let'shelp make this industry what it
can be.
We're here to serve ourresidents at their most, the
place they spend most of theirtime, um, the place our team
spend most of their time, right?
So we have a huge, uh,responsibility and an honor to
do the right thing for peopleall over the place and provide
awesome homes and places towork.
(31:56):
So I'm excited about all that isto come.
We are too.
Yes.
Thanks so much, Heidi.
And thanks again for tuning in.
Please visit the MultifamilyWomen's Summit webpage at
multifamilywomen.
com and register today.
Do not miss your opportunity toattend this amazing event.
Heidi will be on stage.
You'll be able to see her livethere and we will see you on the
(32:17):
next episode.
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