Apartment Trends Magazine November / December 2014

Who’s WHO2015 Laura Trued Christina Vigorito Regional Manager Director of Operations & Training Alliance Residential Company 1,324 NUMBER OF UNITS I OVERSEE 31 EMPLOYEES I SUPERVISE 15 YEARS I’VE WORKED IN THE INDUSTRY Zocalo Community Development 5 - 45 AVG. TIME TO GET TO WORK (MINUTES)* 450 NUMBER OF UNITS I OVERSEE 15 EMPLOYEES I SUPERVISE *Depending on where the office is that day JOB I HAD BEFORE ENTERING THE APARTMENT INDUSTRY: Bartender Extraordinaire & College Student FAVORITE “NEW” RESTAURANT: : I’m in love with Root Down in the Highlands. Great locally sourced food, fun atmosphere, and excellent drinks! DREAM TICKETS: If I can dream big, I’m going back in time to see the first Olympics – the ultimate sporting event. OFFICE SOUNDTRACK: The Mortal Kombat theme song? Just kidding! Maybe “Chemical Calisthenics” by Blackalicious. It’s fun, kind of geeky and I love the concept of mixing chemicals to get results – it’s like balancing the right blend of people: everyone brings something to the table and the right combination can create some pretty amazing things. AMENITY YOU’D LIKE TO INVENT: In my dream world, everything in the home would have some sort of electronic reporting system that notifies the office if there is a problem. It would be amazing to catch service requests before the resident knew there was anything wrong. ATTRIBUTES YOU LOOK FOR IN NEW EMPLOYEE? Time management / organization, a customer-service oriented approach to management, a true desire to grow and lead their teams and a willingness to shake things up; to compete, to challenge those around them (in the right way), to try new things and a desire to get results. “GO-TO” INTERVIEW QUESTION? Tell me about the best / worst day in your professional life. I like this question because it gives me an idea of what motivates people and what their aspirations are, as well as what will stress or disappoint them. I’ve received some very inspirational responses, and some unbelievably poorly thought out responses as well. BEST DECISION LAST SIX MONTHS? I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to help one of my co-workers out and run LRO for my company while she was on maternity leave. Two full-time jobs was a challenge to balance, but I learned so much about the system and the big-picture concepts behind it. It was worth it ten times over for the experience alone! WORST DECISION LAST SIX MONTHS? I had the chance to go to Costa Rica this summer and I didn’t go – it was the right decision from a work perspective, but from a personal perspective, I could have used the time to reset and re-center. I think the lesson I learned there is that good work / life balance can be hard to manage, but it is always worth it. HOW DO YOU KEEP WORK FUN FOR YOUR TEAM? I feel like you can’t truly enjoy your coworkers until you’re willing to relentlessly prank them. There are rules, of course, nothing cruel or damaging, but a few hundred ping-pong balls in a credenza or a glitter bomb never hurt anyone. PROFESSIONAL PET PEEVE? When people aren’t accountable for their mistakes. I would rather hear someone say “Hey, I broke this, but here is my plan for fixing it,” than make excuses, point fingers or even worse, throw someone else under the bus. It takes a strong person to take responsibility for their errors, and I appreciate the honesty! 44 | TRENDS • NOV/DEC 2014 9 YEARS I’VE WORKED IN THE INDUSTRY 70 AVG. TIME TO GET TO WORK (MINUTES)* *Without snow! JOB I HAD BEFORE ENTERING THE APARTMENT INDUSTRY: I was a nanny and a waitress. FAVORITE “NEW” RESTAURANT: Comida in The Source DREAM TICKETS: Front row tickets to the Broncos playing in the Super Bowl! OFFICE SOUNDTRACK: She works hard for the money! AMENITY YOU’D LIKE TO INVENT: It would be to have a touchscreen in the kitchen next to a dumb waiter (a small elevator for carrying things, especially food and dishes, between the floors of a building.) You could select any type of food you want and the food will be delivered to your apartment 24 hours a day. WHEN WILL METRO DENVER RENT BE OVER $1200, $1300? With the amount of new development I’m going to be conservative with the average rent over $1,200 in 2016 and over $1,300 in 2018. ATTRIBUTES YOU LOOK FOR IN NEW EMPLOYEE? Outgoing, honest, creative, motivated, high energy “GO-TO” INTERVIEW QUESTION? What’s the most trouble you’ve ever been in? BEST DECISION LAST SIX MONTHS? To make a 20 before 30 bucket list! I’m turning 30 in 2015 and have so many things I would like to accomplish before then so I created a bucket list! WORST DECISION LAST SIX MONTHS? This one is tough- any decision I have made I made for a reason and I’ve learned from any mistake so I don’t think I have any bad decisions HOW DO YOU KEEP WORK FUN FOR YOUR TEAM? I have my entire team fill out questionnaires so I know what their favorite things are (restaurants, Starbucks drink), ways they like to be recognized, what motivates them, etc. I think it is very important to understand what each employee is motivated by because everyone is different. We like to occasionally do happy hours together, potlucks, and we like to dance! PROFESSIONAL PET PEEVE? People who are late (without warning). Everyone’s time is valuable and should be respected. W E D N E S D AY M AY EDUCATION 13 CONFERENCE 2015 & TRADE SHOW PRESENTING SPONSORS www.aamdhq.org

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