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of tights on, which wasn’t the most professional. I was pretty sure I wasn’t getting the job. My boss did mention he noticed what I was wearing, but he said my personality spoke more than my outfit. Erika Pierce: My really good friend, Kim Baxter, was a leasing agent for a property in San Antonio. She was on vacation when she called me to tell me her property would pay me to fill apartments while she was away. When she came home, I was telling her how much I loved it and she told me “You know, I have to tell you, my manager hated you. She said you were horrible, she said you were the worst person she’s ever worked with.” I took it so personal. I don’t like to fail, I don’t like not being the best or doing the best, so I intentionally sought out jobs within the industry because I wanted to know I could do it. I’ve now been in the industry for 30 years. What challenges did you face early on in your career? How did you overcome those challenges? Nancy: I was really young and knew nothing, but I loved the industry and I wanted to be a sponge. I just worked hard, asked questions and was involved. I stayed late to learn, as long as someone was willing to stay too and show me. Angie: Well, I’ve never worked at an A Class property, so there have always been challenges, every day. Either the property was nothing but gang-infested or drugs-infested. Every day was a fight to make sure people were living as safe and as comfortable as possible. The majority of the time I would stay late and call HPD whenever I saw anything out of the normal. You can’t do anything behind a desk, you have to be on property, walking it day-by-day with the residents. When we took over Woods of Spring Grove, we had at least 60 evictions. Maria: I was at a 565-unit, C Class property built in the ‘50s when I first started in the industry, and I had no idea what I was doing. It was challenging. There were days when I didn’t get home until 9 p.m. I was a leasing agent, but I was doing a lot of the work as an assistant, too. I was dealing with people’s roofs falling in, leaks and there was a time when the whole building didn’t have electricity for two days. I was camping out in the office and people were banging on the door – it was crazy. I was also 19 at the time, so I never got taken seriously, but I wanted to keep going further. Erika: I think the biggest challenge for me was the sadness, such as the writs on single mothers. I love that I have not become fully uncompassionate, but I have become a little bit more callused. Trying to maintain humanity, but enforcing that our community isn’t a rent-free environment is still the biggest challenge. www.haaonline.org
Mentorship is big in this industry. Who was or has been a mentor to you in your career? Whether being a mentor or a mentee, what does mentorship mean to you and how has it impacted your life? Nancy: For me, I’ve experienced both. What makes me the happiest is hiring somebody and watching them grow and progress to the next level. Watching someone do everything they possibly can to have a career for themselves and for their family makes me the happiest. On the other side of it, my supervisor Michelle Woodard and our Vice President Debbie Sulzer, they’re just amazing people. They lead by example, and I still learn from them. That’s really helpful to continue to have people to look up to. Angie: Being a mentor and having a mentor are very important in your life. When I started I had to learn everything on my own. I didn’t have a mentor until Robert Lopes. He really believed in me and did everything possible. He told me he saw a lot of potential and greatness in me. I was with a company for four years before I dropped everything and started working for Robert. We started with 50 units, and now we have seven properties. He makes me want to help my peers and employees and make sure they grow. My goal is to have my assistant become the manager so that I can give that belief that Robert gave to me. I want them to understand it’s important to become a mentor when someone else mentors you. Maria: My current boss, Karah Carrillo she’s been a great mentor to me. I’ve had many other great mentors and managers who I’ve learned from, but Kara has taught me a lot in the year and a half I’ve spent working with her. When I first started, Kara came in and asked me what my goals were. She made goals for me as well and held me accountable. With her being a mentor to me, I was able to train leasing agents, who went on to become assistant managers. I’m now a peer coach within my company and a lead2lease trainer. I enjoy being able to take what I’ve learned and contribute to my company. Erika: There are two people who have truly had an impact on me personally and in my career. Malcolm Richey, who is not with us anymore, taught me how to understand numbers and financials. John Ridgeway – just his belief in my abilities. He’s much more analytical than I am and he’s taught me how to change my thought process to be able to peel back the layers and see where the issue stems from to come up with the best solution. I can definitely say those two have brought so much to me in my personal life, too. I see John as a successful owner and as a leader, but he’s also a great family-man who gives back to his community. Watching him and seeing the fulfillment he has
found in giving back to the community has inspired me and my husband to do more in the community too. It’s such a good feeling. We went to Jamaica for vacation and on one of the days, we ended up visiting a local school to spend time with the children and donate. I didn’t need to go snorkeling, it doesn’t make me feel as good as visiting with the school and, not just giving them a monetary donation, but also a smile and meeting the children and listening to them sing for us. I’ve learned more about serving the community because of John. What is the most important element of a successful team? Nancy: Communication, teamwork and having a common goal. Communication is so important to create continual customer service. Communication amongst the office and the maintenance staff is so important. Including the outside staff in meetings so that they know all the good stuff that you’re doing as far as occupancy or the struggles you might be having. Just having them included too, so that everybody feels a part of the group. Angie: I agree, it’s all about teamwork and communication. I always tell my team when we’re having a big meeting how amazing they’re doing, of each one of them, because the motivation is what counts. The maintenance guys, without them we couldn’t do our jobs and viceversa. We all work together, it’s a full circle. If one falls, we all fall. Maria: Being a team. Your team is like your second family. You are with your team more than you’re with your family. So, communicating and working together. Like Angie was saying: If one falls, everyone falls. If you’re a team and you have a goal set together, you’re going to make it. And if not, you aren’t going to be as successful. Where I am today, I had a team behind me who brought me here, it wasn’t just me. Erika: I believe it’s communication – it’s really the key to any successful relationship, your relationship with your children, your husband or wife, your teammates, and if you don’t convey your expectation you’re opening the door to be let down and disappointed. If you convey the expectation, everyone can work together on finding the path to get to the desired result. In order to do that, you have to communicate. Each of you were able to achieve great success with your property or properties in a soft market, how were you able to do that? Was there one thing in particular that you did to set your property/ properties apart? Nancy: A combination of things, not any one in particular. The customer service aspect is so August 2017
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