Discover the unexpected journey of Amy Barricelli, Senior Vice President at RR Living, as she navigates the multifamily industry from a humble newspaper ad in the late '90s to becoming a key player in shaping future industry trends. Amy's career path offers insights into the evolution of marketing in multifamily housing, reflecting on a time when paper maps ruled and internet listings were in their infancy. Her story is a testament to the power of a growth mindset and how embracing change can lead to not just professional success but also personal fulfillment.
This episode promises a deep dive into the role of technology and innovation in transforming multifamily operations, led by Amy's candid reflections and experiences. Explore how AI is reshaping roles, allowing professionals to focus on more impactful contributions while technology handles monotonous tasks. Amy highlights how RR Living's rebranding under CEO Melanie French fosters a collaborative environment that encourages passion and creativity, proving that innovation and strong leadership can create a thriving workplace culture.
We also explore the significance of empowering women in leadership and creating inclusive environments that foster genuine human connections. Amy shares insights into initiatives like the Multifamily Innovation® Council and "RR Giving," which underscore the importance of community engagement and servant leadership. This conversation is a powerful reminder that when employees feel a sense of ownership and purpose, it leads to both personal and professional growth, painting a brighter, more empathetic future for the industry. Join us as we uncover these transformative themes that are reshaping the multifamily landscape.
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/
Back to the Multifamily Women's Podcast. We are so happy today to have an amazing guest, Amy Baraselli. She is with RR Living. She's their Senior Vice President. Amy, we're so glad you're here today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lauren. I'm really glad to be here. I appreciate the invitation and I'm excited to chat with you this morning.
Speaker 1:Same here, and so let's start with how you got into multifamily and then how you ended up at RR Living. Yeah, perfect, thank you.
Speaker 2:So I guess everybody has a story about how they didn't necessarily intend to have a career in property management and multifamily crept up on them. So similarly, I also got into multifamily by a means of which maybe others did not. I never really started out in like a typical leasing consultant position. I wasn't on property initially. I actually answered an ad in a newspaper back in 99. And then I was, without realizing it. I was responding to an opportunity to be a part of a sales team for advertising in a magazine Apartment Guide that was free to people, for people to pick up when they went shopping or when they went to pick up their Blockbuster rental videos. That's how old I am.
Speaker 1:I remember Blockbuster.
Speaker 2:Do you? Okay good, all right, good, well, and I think this is the best fun tidbit about that Okay, good, all right, good, well, and I think this is the best fun tidbit about that Back then we were offering, you know, full page ad or whatever you buy, and with it we would value, we would provide you with a value add, additional option of this weird new thing called the internet, where we were just starting to launch this website, where we had to explain to people that there would be these listings and maybe people would go on the website and they would find out more about your community. Otherwise, because back then you know, the way that I was able to generate the interest and overall handle my sales responsibilities was I just drove with a map, with a paper map, from property to property. I will say I've met so many people, so many people who are still in our industry. I see our events all the time. The one who hired me for that position is still very active in our industry.
Speaker 2:So I started out on the side of being more of the associate, member, partner, vendor, and I did that for about 10 years. Eventually, because I was selling a service. I had a regional provider, a great company. It's Corming Communities who had asked if I would be interested in selling with them because they really provided more of a corporate suite and back at the time this was going back to 09, they were providing something nobody really was with a lifestyle and experience, so that was a little bit more of a premium.
Speaker 2:Now, today, I think everyone's been smarter to that. So I ended up jumping ship and coming over on the management owner side and since then I've had a couple of different positions and, as always, different companies and, like so many of our colleagues, I ended up here at RR Living because of a collaborative opportunity with another company where we were going to merge and I had worked with our CEO for years previously. She's the type of inspirational CEO you want to be a part of and partner with. So when I had the opportunity which has been about a year and a half now I came over to Bar Our Living At the time it was reef residential and a year ago, right before Thanksgiving last year, we rebranded to have the missions, the core values and our processes, our procedures and what defines us really become part of our namesake as well. So we rebranded.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a story. First of all, amazing, I want to know. So I love that you have such a robust experience and I feel like having to knock on doors as marketing. That's just to me like an amazing start to having to really think and get creative and then introducing the internet and seeing how far innovations have come since then. I just love your story. So how has that robust experience kind of channeled in your current role or are now kind of having that background? What do you take into consideration that you feel like helps you be a mentor to others?
Speaker 2:And I'll you know, yeah, absolutely. So. I love this question because I remember the first time that I was in a training session again with one of these marketing partners to the multifamily industry was at that point. I was I think I was with a different one at that point but selling advertising, and now I think the majority of them are either not here anymore or owned by one large co-star group. So essentially it was back then. You know, it was before all, when there were kind of the multiple options out there when it came to print magazines.
Speaker 2:Probably about four years, three and a half, four years afterwards, we had this new potential medium that we had to deal with called Craigslist, and then we had this other back to back about a year, year and a half later with social media, and it was really just Facebook at the time.
Speaker 2:Myspace didn't play into things when it came to multifamily marketing. But I can remember kind of being like I'm stuck in the ways that I know work. I was, in my mind, you know, successful. I've been to our president's clubs year after year. I've done what I you know, I've been promoted, I've been this and that. Why do I need to know what this social media is why do I have to change right? So it became very much that mindset of managing to what I knew best and the. You know the reasons I even started to learn what social media was and the impact it was going to have was due to the job that I had at the time. It's part of the expectation, but the empowerment that that provided me and the change and growth mindset that I recognized a value after that, because I think you know really.
Speaker 2:I think that those days in it partly is because, as you're maturing and learning, you're open to new experiences, but I saw the value of it right. There was nothing that the industry was trying to do that was so innovative. It was trying to catch up at the time. I think that that's what's so different now. You know, I just came back from our leadership retreat, so we spent this past weekend and a couple of these last few days bringing in our best and brightest leaders and chatting about what we're ending the year with and how we perform, but also getting our minds around 2025 and how we want to make sure that it is impactful, what's working and what's not. And we had a session where we broke out into teams and we had the dry erase boards and we wrote out what to stop doing, what to start doing, what to continue doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And resoundingly. You heard of the AI, the centralization, the opportunities that simplify people's lives, not fearful of their livelihood, you know, become the forefront and which I'm so proud of. I think we tried to do this. We did this with COVID right, some of us were trying the working remotely. Or how do we integrate some basic, beyond just chat GPT, but some basic AI functions with chatbots? We all tried a little bit of centralization and it was met with some of our industry veterans or some of our team members with a little bit of concern and is this a passing fad? What does it mean for me?
Speaker 2:But I think every single person now is so aware of the value that nobody wants to do the repetitive work. It's not empowering, it's not exciting, it's not. We'll get up in the morning to feel like we're contributing to, and if that's where we're able to steer the industry away and provide even a better experience and more servitude and more opportunities for the residents to feel like they're part of something special with us, then we're giving the right attention in the right places. So, yeah, so I would say that if it's, if I'm looking back on it, my 25 years ago introduction to the industry has allowed me to really see the benefits of the growth mindset that we need today to be not just innovative, but to be courageous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's amazing that you said all that, and I'm actually really glad you went there, because all I could think about when you were talking about the internet and us going through such a wild change like that, ai is going to be the internet times a million and it's going to move 10 times faster, right, so we all need to. Not, this is not just a passing fad. This is a new, a whole new platform for which our world is going to be built on. As I told you earlier, behind me is actually our AI innovation lab, so we're literally building a space to build, to bring companies through innovation and how to move through that change, because we just see, we have the foresight to know that everyone's going to need it, yeah, so I love that you are thinking that way. I love that your teams recognize that this is not just, this is not going to go away. How do we embrace it and how do we, to your point, stop doing those redundant tasks and start doing the things we like to do?
Speaker 2:And I love that you brought an immersive experience right, I mean until people understand it. The unknown is always going to be a little bit of a concern right At best, but the fact that you're bringing in an immersive lab-like experience for people to walk through and understand the value, that's the best way to learn.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's truly. We realize that there's going to be such a level of training that comes along and just knowledge transfer that comes along with all of this to all move through it together, right? So that's why we're doing what we're doing. But I love that you went there because I want to know what our living thinks about. You know how do we think about technology and being progressive in that way.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so, um, but I noted that we were, we had rebranded to our the name our, our living, which plays on our, our parent company is Reef or, I'm sorry, Reef Holdings, so Reef Residential was the, the management and operations end of our business. We don't want to lose that, you know, we're very proud of it, and ultimately, though, what we did want to do is bring the fact that we are an experience in providing something special, and that's where the living comes through right. So you know, my team will tell you that one of my famous little sayings is that I don't get up and go to work in the morning.
Speaker 1:I go up, get up and go to life in the morning Do what we do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I also think, like the idea of work, it's a negative connotation I have to get on a plane, I have to get in by nine. I, you know those are just. That's a mindset, and revamping the mindset allows for a lot of that opportunity to think of things differently and I think with our living we're trying to embrace that it comes from the top. We have the most, I would say you know, empowering and innovative CEO that I know I've personally ever had a chance to work with and this isn't my first company with Melanie French, who's very active also with multifamily women. We love her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I don't blame you right.
Speaker 2:Like some of her best qualities are how trans, how open she is and how she's so she's everybody is. She's available to everybody. She's, you know, the first person to do the hardest job, or the first person to do whatever is, you know, the most challenging or frustrating, or, and I just think that the days are gone where we're segmented into sections and we're, you know, not as a holistically part of everybody's experience, the day-to-day environment. And you know, I think the days are gone where you, like I said, go to work and you, you know, go home and get your weekends, because that's what you live for. I used to live for my weekends. My hashtag, you know, back when that was the cool thing to have, was to create a life you don't need a vacation from. I'm not claiming everything's perfect all the time, you know. I don't. I'm not making this into something. It's not. I just think that there's a mindset opportunity where you where, the more that you're enjoying, the more passionate that you become, because it's it's the fun part of things plenty of non-fun, but my point in saying all of that is, the non-fun tends to be where your AI and change can start to allow you to be part of the things that make you grow excited and, you know, embrace the day. You know I don't really whether it's a Saturday or Tuesday. I get to do the things I want to do versus.
Speaker 2:And again, we have meetings and we have goals and we have deadlines and budgets, but we also have that experience of understanding the power that all of us can bring together as one unified group of professionals who are looking, as we are growing, to surround ourselves by like-minded individuals who want to do what's right for the team, who want to do what's right for the residents, who want to do what's right for the ownership. All those things are not independent of you know, independent of each other. They intersect. We believe we found exactly how that should run. We are no way, like I said, the most perfect company, but I just think it's a special company. It empowers people to be different. We want uniqueness. We want to challenge you, to bring magic. You know it's actually one of our core values. You know that they that the magic is in the details. We want people to do their best and be their best.
Speaker 2:Own, own your business and own your mistakes. And, by the way, if you didn't make a mistake, are you human and the area where you can, can you know less afford to make those mistakes? Let's get AI involved in that. You know, that's your FASs, to get really granular, that's your, you know. Let that be where we actually partnered with a great company. It's called BuzzCRM BuzzAI is actually what it's rebranded to run by Jake Lisby, and that company has found such an amazing way to bring AI into our delinquency and collections that our team members are not sitting in a community all day having to make those really uncomfortable calls that make them more of the problem to a resident and not a partner to the resident.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we've got a host of ways and a host of opportunities for the team members in our communities from our resident relations managers, which is the position that we feel is much more impactful than a leasing specialist or agent. When it comes to titles, you know, to somebody who's, somebody who's there to make sure that that experience works is the most upfront and prioritized item of our day, and we do recognize and we talk about this on a regular basis that it is so impactful and so special to provide people with homes In the world we live in today and politics although day after election aside and all those other things it's a major expense for everyone, whether they're owning or renting.
Speaker 2:It is probably your largest expense. It is also going to be the thing that drives you the craziest and it's also going to be the thing that you're kind of hyper-focused on the most, because you're making your memories in those four walls. So if we make those four walls special and beyond just the four walls and into a neighborhood and into an experience and you know, we hope you choose us year over year over year, and if that's not the you know, if that's not for you, then we hope that you have only the best experience while you're here for your next chapter of life. But there's a way to do it and not allow it to become monotonous. To do it and not allow it to become monotonous kind of be much more in the driver's seat of experience than allowing the day in, day outs to happen to you when you're influencing it.
Speaker 1:Okay, everything about the way that you think I am just taking notes because I just I love you just dropped truth after truth after truth and I just I love the way that you are approaching things. I love the way that our living is approaching things. We love, obviously, we adore Melanie she's a big favorite over here and Jake and you are both on the council, the Multifamily Innovation Council, which is really awesome, and that's kind of part of why we do what we do is to bring so many people together. That's kind of part of why we do what we do is to bring so many people together. And now we're building the physical space so that we can help move people through exactly what you're talking about. Right, so connect people realize like issues, how can I help solve for those?
Speaker 1:So I think it's so important to have connections and know that you're not in this alone and true partners right, know that you're, you know, not in this alone. And true partners, right, like what you just said about you know, buzzdrm or BuzzAI, that you know having those partners that you feel like are really truly alongside you in this journey of rolling something out that is truly, I think, right there, like stuck out to me. You know any supplier in this industry. That's what you aim for is that kind of relationship where it's like I'm going to lean on you, I'm going to go to you. That's again what we hope to accomplish here too. So I just think that's wonderful that you're seeing it that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. Our partnerships are invaluable to us and we don't claim to know it, like I said, any better, or be able to do it on our own.
Speaker 2:But we, just we think that the level of the passion that everybody brings and the authenticity of being part of something that people care about and again it comes from the top Our leader is very transparent we have opportunities to understand how we play into a bigger picture. We have opportunities to understand what we'd like to accomplish beyond 2025. Things that you're just feeling like you're part of something special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that's how it should feel and I really admire that about you. So tell me more about as a leader, and obviously this is our multifamily women's podcast and we have our Women's Summit. As a leader, how do you empower other women who are looking to grow in their career or want to take that next step or find that promotion? Absolutely.
Speaker 2:How do you do that? Again, that's another kind of just played on this a little bit, but I think that my team will tell you a kind of phrase that I often say is to take you or take them on the journey with you. So it's my, my approach is never to give an answer without the why Right, so that everyone's learning. By the time we've spent a few months together and we're in processes and handling some, you know, some needs or whatever the case may be or launching a new project or overseeing something new a new project or overseeing something new the team already kind of understands what's going to happen next, because I don't ever want to just provide the answer to the issue or solve a problem. I want to bring them on the journey, even the things that are outside of the day-to-day of the realm of my departments and I'm fortunate because I get to work with marketing and branding and our resident relations. I do a lot with our centralized team, you know. So I've got a hand in a few things and I will say that you know I can think of.
Speaker 2:Every leader is going to say this.
Speaker 2:I think every one of our team members is the hardest working, most genuine human beings who are experts and absolute excellent at what they do, and everybody wants to know how they can be bigger or part of, in a bigger way of of what we do in a in a more impactful environment.
Speaker 2:You know how can I continue to contribute? Otherwise it's redundant and bringing them on the reasoning and the journey behind a decision or a next step, or you know, we had encouraged the directors and our RVPs and the team members who attended this retreat with us this past few days was, you know, now bring this to the team. These are not big secrets that next year we're going to have, you know, new award ceremonies, or we're going to try this, or, you know, we'll be centralizing something differently. What we want the team to feel is the impactfulness that they have, because nothing is to be launched or to be kind of discussed in a vacuum. The idea is the team should be part of it, and I can tell you time and again when we have taken an idea or worked with a new procedure or process, heard from the team what the issues were and instead of having that that's what we're doing mentality revamped. It stopped it, you know, took the team with us on the journey and made sure, which isn't always easy with 418 people.
Speaker 2:But you know it's not that the it's less about opinions and it's more about what is right for the business, because the people are the business right. So as long as we're able to make it make sense in a way that we all want to be part of it, then we're doing the job the right way. So I think my team would say that I, I hope I inspire them that they're part of something bigger and they know that, if you know, this time, 10 years from now, they wanted to be at a particular level or different department or whatever, that they are influencing that opportunity today.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's an applause worthy answer. I think giving them skin in the game, just like you're saying, you know, like just, it's so funny because we actually spoke about this at the Women's Summit. We, you know, it's so easy to go to compensation as an assumed. You know what keeps someone around or what helps with that turnover, or, and really, nine out of 10 times, it really is just, I want to be heard, I want to be seen, I want to be a part of this, and so you'd be so surprised when you stop and you say, well, what do you think that was the best thing anyone ever did for me in my career.
Speaker 1:I was an assistant. It was 12 years ago, and someone said to me well, what do you think we should do? And I, no one had ever asked me that before and I stuck at that company for eight years. I told you about it, you know, and I was, you know, I'm like it wasn't about at that point. It was just about having a spot, a seat, you know, and being heard. So I just think that that. I think that's wonderful, what you're doing and how you're empowering people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the longer our table can be, the more people can be invited to it, right? So that's really what we're trying to do. It doesn't have to have that that exclusivity feel, has to have that the empowerment opportunity, because our leaders, the leaders of tomorrow, are sitting right next to us and we know it. So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, very inspirational, and I hope everyone takes notes and takes notes out of that book. And I was thinking when you were talking about, too, that kind of traditional that I've witnessed working for certain PMCs is that gap between the corporate office and on-site teams, and there was a lot, from my experience in the past, a lot of disconnect at those two levels, and so it really sounds like our living and you and your team are doing that, listening to connect the dots and say we're not just telling you you have to roll this out, we're asking the people who have to use this product or service or technology how do you feel about this? Have a hand in building it? How do you feel about this, have a hand in building it? And that alone, the buy-in, the rollout, all of it just kind of comes naturally after that, versus you're just telling me I have to do another thing.
Speaker 2:That's it, absolutely. I was with one of our communities in Tallahassee a week ago and I created a new position that is very resident-centric and it's part of our giving program, so we've got an entire philanthropic arm where we're really responsible, we think, to serve our neighborhood, not just the communities that we're residing in, but everything that we can create as an even bigger and better lifestyle, which I think everybody uses, but a bigger and better lifestyle and experience, so that our resident base really feels part of something special. And I was sitting down with one of our business managers and we were talking about a couple of items and I asked that specific person now that we brought in this new position, did it bring value? Did it bring value? Is your day easier? Are things being? Is it lighter? Now? Not every position is needed at every property, it's not necessary. But the fact that that person was like this is the exact. You told us that you heard us when we said we needed this resident-centric and not just leasing professionals or assistant managers handling resident concerns. And you know this was the first we felt empowered to understand how we were, you know, able to say the words and reciprocate right away as part of that, because I remember when that person brought it to me only a month before that, I thought well, why are we looking to? Maybe, you know, replace our third leasing professional there, if you're telling me there are really some opportunities? So we're open. We want to hear from people. We trust the team they are. They're CEOs of their multimillion dollar business. Again, we, we have reporting and we have procedures and we have things we need to follow. Everybody has something they would change.
Speaker 2:But ultimately, if you're not getting up and, like I said, going to life because you're excited to do it, because there's some value in it beyond that paycheck, as you said, then I want to know because that's that's. Nobody wants to be surrounded by people who are just kind of there for the for the reasons that are that are at the lowest level of of what makes us happy. Right, we just just. We all want the same thing. We all want to be happy, we all want to be heard and we all want to have, you know, a little fun while we're doing it. So if we can't laugh through it and we can't smile and we can't say yes to a resident's ridiculous request because we'll get one, we all know it and find a way to be that maverick experience and come out on top.
Speaker 2:And I just found a way to give somebody something they never thought they could have. I got a bidet in a property that's 1980s legacy. I can't actually replumb right. These are things that people get excited to just be empowered to do so. It could be a minor, it could be major, it could be position-based, it can be opportunity-based, but that empowerment, I think, is just really why people are, and I think there are a lot of our companies doing this in the industry. I will say I think that this industry has gotten a lot less rigid and there are time after time we see and hear that there are leaders listening, really listening. I just happen to personally think that my experience over the last seven or eight years with with Melanie French has been a couple of companies that that she's. She's the real deal, it's very genuine with her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I just think that absolutely and I completely agree with you. I mean, and to be thinking about the resident at the end of the day, I just think is brilliant. First and foremost right, because that's who we're serving at the end of the day. You know, when you talk about like, you know people, your people, you talk about them like and I hate to say this like adults. You know, we hired you for a reason. Yes, we hired, we trust you.
Speaker 1:You are a community manager, meaning, like you, your job is to manage this community and so to actively listen. And when you actively listen, what I've noticed a lot of to your point after, you know, after COVID shook up the way we had to work and then centralization kind of came out and people were playing with the org chart a little more what you realize is, when you talk to your people, they might say you know what, maybe we pay our maintenance guys a little more and we can run with one less and we just bump them. Little things like that I'm noticing. People are listening, making the adjustments, and those adjustments are coming from the site's team's suggestions, which brilliant.
Speaker 2:Why are we not going to listen to those who know best?
Speaker 2:You know, that's kind of like that where you take the org chart, like you said, flip it upside down I've talked about this and get your ideas from those who know best, rather than going out to communities once a quarter and claiming you know, you know what's going on better.
Speaker 2:I think one thing that really does, though, set our living apart is that our directors, our leadership, they're expected to be at our communities every month, so, and anything that needs additional like we have lease ups that are there on a more weekly basis for the leadership. But I think the touch point, the partnership, is there when you're not coming in just to do an evaluation, just to see you know if you're really walking units, you know, or whatever. But being there, working out of the office and I don't mean working out of the back, which makes me crazy Sitting with your leasing professionals, sitting with the team and understanding their day in, day out and celebrating the birthday to happen to have that week because they were going to celebrate it without you anyway, but being part of it, not making it something special because you're there, it just opens up that whole partnership in a real way. It's meaningful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and man on my onsite days I would have loved to have had that representation. I remember anytime someone from corporate would come to visit or I would. Oh, an investor must be stopping by. That was the immediate thing, you know. That came to your mind because it just was such a rarity, so I love that.
Speaker 2:And I mean, like you said, when you take your team members on that journey, I'm the first to say you know, we'll walk units, whoever will pick up a piece of trash, and it's fine. And you know that there's somebody with kind of a worry on their face and I'll say to them I'm not the VIP, in fact I'm glad I'm the one who just saw that trash. You're residents of the VIP. Worry about them, right? If they would have had to get down and pick up the trash in front of their home, that's more of a disappointment than whether or not life happened and someone dropped, of course, a piece of trash, even though you did your tour walk early, you know, and made sure that the tour path was ready. I know life happens and that is OK, no one's in trouble, it's not being documented. It feels like this real, you know, and then people will say to you like can I show you something that's going on that I know is going to become a bigger issue, a leak, a problem, you know, but I'm worried about how to present it.
Speaker 2:And we try to blur that line between the corporate team. You know the corporate team is the team in my and I actually talked about this a little bit on the retreat my experience certainly in our living. Our expectation is that corporate team is available when the on-site team community members are, which is going to mean weekends is doing more and often is influencing without deciding right. So that's a little tough too to be in a department that is going to provide solutions to situations that they don't know enough about all the time to take it as this subjective opportunity to offer something that they may not now need an answer to, but not because somebody from corporate came in and said to do it. It's supposed to be opportunities to learn and present and become part of something. I mean to this day, on Tuesday mornings, central at 10am every Tuesday, our CEO runs a 30 minute huddle and there were times that that huddle was a lot of like. You know, here are the percentages of work orders that were closed last week, or here's this or that. Now they are slide after slide about some excitement happening at one of our communities, after slide about some excitement happening at one of our communities partnerships.
Speaker 2:You know the service aspect of what we do. We do not see this, as you know, a four wall and ceiling, lifestyle, living opportunity. I mean this. We serve the residents in a way that can be meaningful in their lives. And again, you know we don't take it extreme. We understand that there are going to be those residents, but when you approach things as though this wasn't how you got into the industry is an accident and so everything, therefore, is just happening to you, versus happening because you're affecting it the way you want it to be affected. It's just a different mindset.
Speaker 1:I'm seeing the industry change it, but I feel like we're here, are living kind of you know, kind of powering through, because we're paving the way, and paving the way you know, lead by example, because even if you know and you never want that, but you know people jump from here to here, to here all the time when somebody has worked there and I know it you know, like the types of leaders they bred.
Speaker 1:And so to be a company like that, which it's very much sounds like our, our living is like you're. You're a trailblazer and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we hope so. We're listening and we don't think it's. You know, it's not rocket science.
Speaker 2:It is doing what's right for people, you know and that's really kind of and, um, you know, I think too often we talk about serving our residents or the experience the residents have to us.
Speaker 2:It starts with the team.
Speaker 2:So if we don't have those things for our team members first and foremost, you know, I remember, uh well, maybe four or five months ago, but there was a team member from a previous company who wanted Melanie to know where they had landed, not looking for a job, just being communicative, and she's sitting there typing away and texting and I asked who she's talking to. I don't think I said those words, but you know what was going on and she was telling me who it was and I thought, man, I just love that somebody outside of the industry now not looking for anything, is reaching out to somebody that they have felt like there was just a connection to, or a mentorship, or you know somebody who they felt seen by, heard by and just sharing. You know what was going on in life right now there was no motivation, there was no, it was just intrinsically a human contact. And when we get away from all those things, there lies, you know, I think, a lot of the frustrations of what can permeate any company or any, any industry. But I think we're finding a way, or we've just authentically become what makes it so that it's enjoyable to be here yeah, it's, and the word culture is so overused.
Speaker 2:Right, we try to get away from it. Maybe I'll speak for myself. I know I do, because I used to think company culture was like ice cream on Fridays, you know, like that's a great company, and I think everybody tries to be the next company culture, and so they think of things like let's do points to buy Amazon gifts for our team, or let's do this or that, but they're not hearing. Right, there's you're what your team asks you for and everyone's different, right? So we've got the team members. Like you said, I certainly treat my team like adults, because they're better at what they do than I'm. You know I would be the first to say I would be lost with them. You know, we're not gonna worry about what's happening at that exact moment and where you are. We just wanna be part of the experience of making.
Speaker 1:I think that's great and the funny thing. I always laugh too about the ice cream parties or the pizza parties, because when that would happen and I was on site and I was overwhelmed with my workload, the last thing I would be like I don't have time for pizza. We can't stop everything to have this pizza and then take a picture and hopefully post it on. It's about what you're talking about the daily touch points, the making them a part of it. Someone is so much more likely to put in that extra effort to pick up the trash off the ground. If they have personal ownership in this company objective and they feel like they actually have a say yeah, then they'll pick up the trash, you know. But if it's just I'm just doing my X, y and Z that it's required of me, it's a very different vibe, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And same with residents, right, if it's their home, if they love their neighbors, if there's, you know, different than just a breakfast on the go, which we do have, or you know our fun evenings and things like that, which is wonderful. But if we've brought in wellness, true wellness, you know we've got a nutritionist who comes out, we have some faith-based initiatives, we have opportunities for people to partner locally with us, not pay us to be a partner, you know kind of what's in that. Is it a value to our residents? Because then we want to be a partner with you.
Speaker 2:But when you do all that, you're finding residents want to take care of their homes and it's not a temporary, it's a permanent or a more permanent place for them. So they take a lot of pride in cleaning up after their dogs. You know things that might be the I'm the guy who's telling you you have to do it and following the letter of the law of the lease to becoming we're all part of this right. I work where you live and it's not lost on me that this is a special place to you. It's a special to me, but the fact that it's so special to you that you're cleaning it up or you're taking great care of it. It's a win for everybody. It's a win for ownership, it's a real win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's great that you're thinking that the site, you know, the site teams are the face of that and that's really where that energy comes from. And so when you the right people in the right seats and they're projecting that energy and then the residents are picking up on that and they feel heard and everybody's feeling heard, it really is just the gift that keeps on giving. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really is and I think it's just, it's so simple. It's so simple but it may be not the ingrained way and again, speaking from my own 22 year old self, but, knowing I've been in the industry for 25 years, I know it's not how I entered the industry and that's not about a company or anything. It was just not what business was. The face of business has allowed people to flourish personally, share their stories, participate and again going back to social media, or, I hope you know, philanthropy opportunities, a servant's mindsets and servant leadership, which, again, are so key terms that everybody makes sure they work into conversation versus the authenticity of genuinely being saying what you mean because you know what you're kind of saying is.
Speaker 1:You know people are catching up to this mentality. But you know and not to brag on you, but you've been there already for years, right, for many, many years. So it's almost like having the innovative mindset that you've grown up with, where you're kind of seeing now, okay, I have to be on the forefront of AI, I have to be on the forefront of some of these. It kind of ties everything back together because the perfect combination of being on the forefront of that next wave, of where we need to get our people leveled up to it's all going to seamlessly transition so nicely because your people trust you and they know that you're going to ping them and say, hey, we're doing this AI thing, we're playing a little and we want you to be a part of this. That's exciting for them. It shouldn't be scary, it should be exciting.
Speaker 2:You hit the nail on the head head and there is some fear right. And there's fear with centralizing, there's fear with AI, there's fear with any of the unknown. Are my jobs going to be taken away? And here's the simple answer no AI or centralized touch point can make a resident feel heard. In that moment when a resident is coming to you and tears in their eyes and they need something, because often that is how we hear things that resident's whole need right now. Yes, they may have something, they may have to explain why they're going to be late this month, they may have something else, but what they really need to do is be heard and AI is too artificial to hear. You know, to understand the humanity behind that. We will not take away the need of the human interaction on any of our communities where it makes sense for our residents to feel heard. Will we take away or we already are centralizing a number of items that could have been simplified or could have been run through a program and AI could have answered things for us? Of course, because those aren't the fun things, those at the end of the month, rushes right and all the craziness that people kind of.
Speaker 2:You know my experience, I know people were always initially in the industry, kind of starting out at one position and working at this. You know, I go from this level, usually leasing, and then in the office at least, and then I'm I'm an assistant manager and then I'm a community manager to a regional, to an RV or whatever. However, the that's not us. You know that and I will tell you that personally, I love to lease right, I love, I love spending the time with the residents, I love the resident experience. I want to be at every event. It's just who.
Speaker 1:I am.
Speaker 2:Please do not make me sit down and do FASs all day, right. So why would the best leasing professional potentially be that personality that wants to be around your residents and wants to be part of the touring and walking and having a big? What if we did a mini model? Or what if we did a candy bar instead of a mini model? Or why don't we find a fun way to make it interactive with the resident base? Does that personality always translate into the person making the delinquency calls? So there has to be opportunities that are really about that person and not about the need of the property, so that the personality of that person shines through. The excitement is there. So you know our I heard it recently and I loved it we're not looking for, you know, a ladder to climb, but a lattice to climb. So there's.
Speaker 2:The industry has so many new and different opportunities on whether it's vendors, whether it's operators, third party management. I mean there's so many things that you could be doing centralizing and, um, working in different industries. You told me there'd be a department that was just related to resident retention. You know, and how to make sure our experience and resident relations are at the forefront of everything we do. That was not even a consideration two, three years ago. So I think that we look at it differently. As long as our team members feel that they have the path to be successful, they can can't even all define it right. What do you want to do in five years? I would have said before I'd like to be an RVP, but now I'm going to say that's not my passion, it's just what I see. I thought I had to get to do next. So maybe my passion is this and maybe we can find a way to get there together.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's brilliant and I, you know I'll. I will acknowledge the concern, because even working in the the world of AI now and really trying to sink my teeth into it's not just AI, it's automation, innovation, all the things but but really trying to sink your teeth into it, I was afraid to. At first I was like, is this going to put, you know, me out of a job? Is that, I mean, marketing was one of the first things to be automated. Right, very simple, to automate marketing.
Speaker 1:So even I was getting a little concerned, but what I realized when I got deeper into it was it was elevating me as a human, and that's exactly what you're saying is it reminds you what it is to be human again and what those touch points look like. When I'm not knee deep in building out social posts all day, I'm able to kind of rise out of that and actually be a strategist and what you hired me to do in the first place. And so that's my two cents. I acknowledge that there is some fear that comes with that, but I also would acknowledge that when you lean into it, a whole world of possibilities opens up for you about who you are and what you're capable of. Truly, that's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. I agree a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:Yeah and so, okay, let's talk. So RR is so forward thinking. What are some of the things on the horizon in the future, in your future, that you're excited about, or any initiatives happening that you're excited about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I mean probably my biggest excitement right now, our focus right now, and we have a lot. You know, we've launched a lot this past year. We've got a lot that we have to make sure we are embracing in every medium and every opportunity and bringing it forward. I personally am so excited about what we call our giving. I referenced that a little bit and it's not just philanthropy, right, philanthropy is, you know, raising money for heaven forbid, you know, a hurricane victim situation. This really is such an impactful opportunity we have, with the support of our ownership, you know, our parent company. We're really creating this arm of RR Giving, or, I'm sorry, arm of our giving, or, I'm sorry, of our living as our giving. That brings our team members into being a local servant ambassador, and we've actually hired in some cases what we call residents ambassadors and resident relation ambassadors. That's a little bit kind of different, because their idea is that they are going to provide the touch points in lifestyle that you just don't typically get, and that includes a wellness opportunity that's beyond the traditional yoga by the pool. Right, we all have a little bit of something wonderful in our amenities, but, you know, this could go as far as a suicide awareness prevention. It could be mission-based. It could be mission-based, it could be. You know, there are things that we're starting to build out, recognizing that, you know, none of us have our, we're not MDs in those fields. But if we can yeah, you know, if we can bring this to our team members the way we want to and then bring it to our residents the way we envision that serving our 50,000 residents takes a whole different meaning.
Speaker 2:On We've already done a couple of things. So twice a year it's coming up in December, so it'll be fun again but we actually have a day where we close our offices and a lot of us do some of this. But our teams in our 18 markets nationally are empowered to go where I should say 18 states are empowered to pick where they can make the most impact. What mission? What you know, where are they serving food, what can they do, and take the day and, you know, be available to that need. But then we want to bring it back, we want to have a partnership with them and we want to make sure that it's not a one and done. And again, if everybody does a lot of those things like a canned food drive or toys for tots, and those are wonderful, and I hope that that's all continuing in our industry and we certainly support them as well.
Speaker 2:But there isn't only a month and a half a year where people need things, and they're not all always related to just somebody somewhere in a moment that is obviously in need. I mean, everyone has something that they have going on. We're not all therapists, but what can we do to make sure people are heard? What dreams can we bring true? What little magic can we make? We have a number of initiatives around it already.
Speaker 2:So, as we're starting in 2025, we're trying to immerse our day-to-day in with that and make sure that there's just, you know, a giving aspect or servitude aspect, as we are able to provide not just a home, and not just a home with a nice move-in gift, but a home with a specialized need based on what we understand that resident wants to either have, be a part of or become, make us aware of, in a way, because we're now promoting that we can do all these things or have additional platforms, and so we have a lot of things we're planning to launch as part of that.
Speaker 2:We'll see what sticks, see what the residents want, rather than just us saying we're doing it. You know we actually do right now. I think our residents would love knowing this. But there is a dollar from all of our rent collected on every single unit and all of our apartment communities that automatically goes to our giving initiatives so that we're able to bring in answers and solutions for them. So you know, as a phone fabric option. So I'm pretty excited about that. If you can't tell, that's a kind of project that's got my passion running.
Speaker 1:And it's so amazing because what it's really doing is uniting people, and I love that you're doing what you're starting with your teams and what works there. You know giving days, or one day day off, however often, or what frequency you know to, to take a day off and do that, but then bring that initiative back and we'll roll it out at the community. I think about that and I think a community manager is so much more likely to rally residents to do something, whether it's a toy drive or, to your point, handing out food, whatever it is, if they've already been doing that you know. So it's like it's literally uniting the residents, your, the people who are, you know, serving the residents. All it's bringing everybody together for a cause and I just that's amazing. I think it's wonderful.
Speaker 2:That reminds me of one of the um, one of the experiences. So we have a smaller community, you know, under 150 units, and what we've. We have a team member there who has created a woman's empowerment club, mainly single women who happen to have shared needs, and she heard about it and she started it herself and they spend time together when it makes sense and how it makes sense and they lift each other up and they provide each other support and they provide each other with other things, of course, any needs or you know. So that is only able to be facilitated because we've taken the centralizing of administrative work away from her day to day. Now she's connecting. How would we have otherwise known? Right? How's she ever going to know what's really going on behind the scenes? How could you spend a half an hour speaking with your residents about why there's something going on? That's of issue? And it turns out there were a number of people who would have benefited from that opportunity to all be together in that environment and handle things the way that they've decided to handle it. It doesn't mean we do it everywhere, but the opportunity for that alone.
Speaker 2:You know, our giving initiative. That seems a little bit less. You know heart string noted right. But we created kind of a little pantry area in every one of our communities that has a lot of what our service requests come in asking for. You've got the chirping of your smoke detector so you need batteries, or you've got like a doorknob or you know little things that nothing major. You know plungers and little things. I don't want anybody snaking their whole building. Anything that allows them a light bulb in the bathroom. You know little things that allows our residents to come whenever they want after hours, not have us go into their home if they choose not to because they're private. If they want to be private and it's not always, you know I need you to come out here and we can't get there for four days and now they have an odd light in their bathroom driving them crazy or whatever the case may be. So we make sure that we staff the communities.
Speaker 2:Like I said, we have funds through our giving program, little things like that that make sure that what we hear the residents want we're giving the residents. And that's not even that. You know examples I'm constantly giving about real philanthropy, but that is philanthropic. We're hearing what you're saying and what you need. We're giving you the ways to you know work or live with us the best. You want us to be part of your day-to-day experience and we hope we're giving a servant you know persuasiveness. We're hoping to persuade you into being part of our long-term neighborhood instead of just community, because you see that it's not our way. It doesn't have to be our way. You've been triaged to the lower level. We'll get to you in a week, right, how about if we get whatever you need from us and not make you feel less important than something else?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, and that really takes away that, that mentality of you know we're prior, we prioritize work orders that are more important and you know, who am I to say that a flickering light bulb is not incredibly important to somebody who works from home all day, you know, and that's driving them crazy, so, truly like. So who am I to say to sit there and prioritize your work order over someone else's? Obviously a flooding, you know, ceiling, but still, at the end of the day, I think that that alleviates some of that tension of like this is available to you. I hear you, I understand that would drive me. Drive me nuts too, to have a flickering light bulb in my eye all day. So, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:I think it's great, amazing. Well, I could pick your brain all day because I just think you are amazing and I love the way you think and I love the way that you've brought all of these thoughts to our living. I love that you and Melanie, who's, again, we're huge fans of, are just doing amazing things in our industry and you're very we're proud to have you as a council member. We're proud to have you both, as you know, sponsors of or people who attend our summit, and to have you there every year. So, thank you so much. Is there anything that we, you want to leave our listeners with? And you know any inspirational words for our group.
Speaker 2:No, I mean honestly. I would want to say thank you, because this has been a lot of fun. I always love talking about our living and what we get to do and how impactful it is. I will also say one of the best things, though, is, you know, we've participated at a lot of the events with multifamily women, and we had such an amazing time this year that, on the spot, we were buying tables for next year. We already are talking about not only how we can make this something, that, of course, we want our leaders there Everybody does but we want to bring this to the future right. We want our team members that could be awarded something special and maybe wouldn't always be at a leadership level innovation opportunity. So we've got great plans with the Multifamily Council and Multifamily Leadership. We're excited about Multifamily Women next year. So I thank you for the invite.
Speaker 1:This has been great. Thank you, and that's what we want to hear. You know, we recently opened up group pricing, really because you all were one of the first ones to be like we want to bring a lot of people how do we do that, that's it.
Speaker 1:And I love that you think of it as a gift to someone to say, hey, come here and learn and grow, and, you know, learn from others who are exactly like you, and I just think it's wonderful. So thank you for being a supporter we are huge fans of of our living.
Speaker 2:And thanks for coming on the podcast today. Absolutely, and I think you could say the same about how our living feels about everybody there. So, thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you so much. Thanks, amy, and thank you all for tuning in to the Multifamily Women podcast. Feel free to sign up for the summit next year at multifamilywomencom.