Fix It Forward - Episode 9

 If you're really young, still in school or about to finish school and college is maybe not a career for you. Have you ever thought about a set of skills that you could learn in one place and take with you all over? Everywhere you go? Have you ever thought about like maybe doubling your salary within a year or two year period?

While all of that is really possible and. Also, there's many possibilities beyond that, you could create a career for yourself, for life, and that is multifamily maintenance. If you're that type of individual, that's really not now, sure, which career, which path to follow after school, this particular docuseries is for you.

We have an amazing story right here with JR who moved across the country taking his skills with him, and he's like incredibly successful in in what he does. Let's go. So, uh, Jr. Yes, sir. Thank you for having us. 

Pleasure. Thank you for having me. 

Where are we today? 

We are at Wayfern Apartments here in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and this is a Fairfield residential property.

So tell me, how did you get here? 

How I got here originally, I've always been in construction. I'm more started on the commercial side as a younger man. Um, I'm 39 now. So I started that for a while and I went through different trades, just kind of trying out a little bit of everything, and I ended up being on the vendor side in multifamily.

So I was painting units, I was resurfacing tubs. There was renovations. I was going in there and doing the demos, the build back. I was doing everything but the floors. So, um, that's really how I got started. And on the vendor side of it, during the winter times, it gets very slow. So, and I always kind of admired this industry from the outside as far as like benefits and the way that, you know, it was just a nine to five very structured.

So that's what interests me. So I went ahead and gave it a try, and I started off in ground. Um, this is, 

why don't you show us around? 

Sure. Let's go.

This is our state-of-the-art gym. We've officially been open in all buildings for about five, six months now, but all of it's state of the art. We have the echelon rooms right here. I mean, really anything. You can think of for fitness, this, like I said, doubles as a echelon studio or yoga studio. So, and then we have all the mats and amenities that you would need to be able to do all of that.

And then on this side over here is just gonna be more of our weight. We kind of separate it from like a cardio and then a weight area

and, and really we just have. I think we move in above and beyond. We have more than just the basics to live a healthy and maintain a good lifestyle. So I love, this is one of my favorite parts of the property. 

How many units here? 

2 87. 

2 87. 

We have, um, that includes 10, uh, town home units, beautiful town homes.

There's on two rows of five, and then we have, uh, five other buildings.

Uh, we're gonna go through this door to the social lounge and everything here is fobbed entry. So it really keeps our residents safe and secure. Just kind of a peace of mind thing. And this is our beautiful social lounge and pool area. 

I love it. 

Uh, we're able to rent this out for resident events as well as this area in the pool front right here with the barbecue grills.

This is perfect area for hosting events, parties. Um, our residents just come in here to relax, sometimes just peace and quiet Monday through Friday during the day. It's a good place just to kind of get a little bit of work done. We also have a coworking area for that, but just a nice quiet area to eat lunch or relax.

And then this is the only 

pool that you have? 

Yes, sir. 

Okay. 

Right now it's uh, closed for the season, so we'll probably be reopening around March. We still keep it maintained, so it's just taking off signs and the pool's open. 

What's the age of the property? When was it built? 

Uh, this is a brand, brand new property.

This is a 40,000 gallon pool handicap accessible. Um, there's just plenty of areas to lounge, little bench area to hang out, set your stuff, and then we have, um. A water fountain and a shower in that corner at night. It's really beautiful out here with all the lighting and stuff like that. Whoop, 

whoops.

Gotta be. It is icy. 

Be be careful guys. It's, it's icy. They're like, be very careful. 

Okay. I need to turn off these fountains. Do you want to grab my arm or, all right. 

This, uh, 

woo. It's getting there. Yes. 

Yeah. 

It was 73 degrees on Thursday, like last week. 

That's, that's Atlanta to 

you? Oh yeah. This is my first year in Atlanta.

Going back to your journey. 

Yes sir. 

Tell me about the moment. When did you switch from the vendor side to the management side? 

Well, at that time I just had my third child and I was really looking for security. I was looking for 401k. I was looking for a Mon nine to five, basically Monday through Friday.

Obviously this job requires, you know, on-call and things like that, but that's what I was looking for, so that's why I made the jump. So, and the position I took. The money did go down at first, but that was, in my mind, well worth it for the amount of security I was getting for me and my family. 

That was a trade off.

Absolutely. And I don't regret it one bit. 

And what was the first position? Like what was the title? 

Uh, grounds 

Groundskeeper. So you went to Groundskeeper? 

Yep. 

And which company was that with? 

Uh, Carol Management 

back in 20 

2018. 

2018. Okay. Groundskeeper, how long did it take you to move on from like groundskeeper to the next position to technician?

I went from groundskeeper to tech in three months, 

three months, 

three months. Incredible. Um, and I also was able to get my CPO and EPA certification in those three months. So it was a beautiful transition from, you know, ground level to a technician. It, it was very, well, 

that's what I'm talking about, folks, like these are incredible careers.

The upward mobility is like almost unparallel. You know, you would get all these certifications, you move up and you know, you go to like a, you know, you start at a different, you don't pay level in just three months. Of course not everybody gets the way. Right. Uh, we're talking about exceptional people out here, like JR.

But at the same time, that opportunity is available to everyone, right? You just have to like put in the time, put in the effort, and you know, results are like immediate. 

Absolutely. 

So next, next step from. Maintenance technician to service manager. How long did it take you? 

So maintenance technician, I went to assistant.

Okay. That's where I kind of stalled for a few. I don't want to call it stalled, that's not a good word, but that's the position I kept for a few years and that was so important for growth. That was where I really received all the multifamily, um, experience. Before that I had construction and stuff like that, but you know, normally you're in a new build or something like you don't have to deal with people customer service.

So that was where I was able to really hone those skills at the same time during a pandemic where, you know, everything got put off. So that was even more customer service experience on that end for me too, actually. I hate to say it, but COVID kind of helped with that. Just having to really put yourself in other people's shoes for a while and, and, you know, move with Grace.

How long did it take you from assistant to service manager? 

Three years. 

Three years. 

Three years. 

And then, uh, your current company? 

Yes. 

Fairfield, right? Yes. How long you been with 'em? 

Uh, three years. Three years? Okay. Yes, sir. 

Also three years. Yes. So tell me, how did you, how did you learn about 'em? Like how, how did you end up employed with 'em?

Um, well, I was with Bell Partners at the time and looking for that next step. And believe it or not, they reached out to me off LinkedIn. I had just changed my profile to Open to work and um, Julia McDonald, one of the recruiters reached out to me and you know, um, that got the ball rolling. 

I love this. So folks, LinkedIn, right?

LinkedIn, 

make sure we have a profile on LinkedIn. And then LinkedIn could be used as a resource for like. Moving up in, uh, in the industry as a career. 

Limitless opportunities, honestly limitless, 

uh, create a LinkedIn account and that that'll give you a promotion. Possibly 

worked for me. 

Possibly. Yeah. It's uh, it is great to hear, uh, you know, it's great to hear stories.

Thank yours. 

Thank you. Thank you. 

Uh, just so you know, just so others could get inspired too and, you know, just follow the path. Tell me about your current staff. How much staff do you have here? 

I have one on staff, but I have one rec open right now. So we will be a staff of three on maintenance. 

Why don't you show us the model?

Perfect. Uh, I want you to sell us the apartment. 

Okay. I ought to do my best, so. Here at Wafer, all of our, uh, products, our appliances are stainless steel, they're all upgraded. There's nothing of the norm here. Everything is upgraded. Uh, mowing, faucets. Um, everything is. A luxury item here. This is our one bedroom.

Most of our units don't come with wallpaper, but you know, there's other things that you can do, accent walls and things like that. But this is a base one bedroom that everything is mowing here. The energy saving lighting, the energy saving toilets, uh, this unit has a standup shower. Shower, everything mowing.

And then we have a full walk-in closet and with a shoe shelf or towel shelf, whatever you want to make it. Um, a lot of these items are standard in our units. The only difference would be maybe some of our two bedrooms have a, a tub and a shower and things like that. Uh, we also have options as far as different color schemes with the cabinets and the flooring.

And then, and these one bedroom units, they come with these state-of-the-art stackable, whirlpool, washer and dryers. These are lovely. They last long, they clean, good low maintenance on it. And uh, our residents love these and yeah, that's pretty much it. This, you know, just look around this with our amenities really sells us halfway.

And then our staff, just the way we handle the property, we handle resident problems to from maintenance to parking, you know, that gives it the extra. Oomph that makes, uh, wafer with Fairfield the best place to stay, in my opinion. 

So tell me about a favorite part of your day. What's the favorite part of your, uh, work day?

My favorite part? You know, I'm a manager, so some times I don't get to do work orders very much. Y you know, I didn't realize this before. I was a manager before. I thought it was the same job. You just have to order stuff. Not the case whatsoever. 

I I, I love that you're saying that. 'cause I think from outside looking in, a lot of people think that a service manager is kind of like a very skilled tech that runs work orders, does punches, schedule vendors and orders materials.

But then there's a significant difference between being a manager and being a technician. Right. You have to be like a decent technician when you're a manager to, to have like the technical knowledge, but you don't have to be the high, the highest skill technician in order to be a manager. You know?

Exactly. There's a different set of skills that's needed. Yes, sir. Why 

you, you know, the biggest part for me is I have strength and financials and things like that. So the ordering the PO system and I'm kind of a people person already. So that was some big advantages to becoming a manager, you know? And when I got, like I said, I thought it was just ordering stuff, but.

Basically going back to what I love is I like to get in and do some work orders because that like gets me, uh, with my resident, gets personable. Let me let 'em know if they need anything. I'm right here. Here's my card, my email, you know, and, and it's a good thing. I like people. I love people, so it's really good to, that's my favorite little nuance and getting back to doing some work orders here and there.

But, um, it's been good. 

What's the part of a day that takes the most out of you? It's the most demanding of you. 

I would say just making sure my scheduling is good, that I'm staying on top of the scheduling with move-ins, uh, coordinating with the leasing staff. Just, you know, stuff falls through the cracks sometimes with emergency move-ins and things.

So just, just being very punctual and, you know, having everything organized was. The hardest part for me and now that I have done it, you know, it's kind of a procrast now that I have a routine. It's the easiest thing now. So 

when you go back to how you started and everything. Yes. How much would you say you knew about maintenance when you, when you got your first, when you got your garage job?

Did you have any maintenance skills at all? 

No, sir. I mean more than unclogging toilets from, you know, just at home and normal stuff? No, not at all. 

Okay, so now I want you to remember your first breakthrough. When was your first moment that you realize, man, I really did this? Like something that wasn't like changing a light bulb or unclogging a disposal, someone that requires skill.

And like some steps to take some troubleshooting. What was that moment that you realized, man, I can really do this? 

It was changing my first condenser. 

Okay. So, so tell me a little bit about the experience. 

Well, you know, that comes with a lot of things. You're working with refrigerant, which is a chemical.

You, you are using the torches. There's a lot of area for error and you know, it was just so exciting. You know, I had gotten mentored on it for a while. And just to be able to install it by myself and turn on and no leaks was a beautiful moment for me. 

Okay. So how long did it take you, how many, like, uh, other jobs did it take you to get to the point where you could do this by yourself?

Well, I, I got my, I received my EPA first. And then, um, I worked with my, uh, supervisor around three or four installs until he let the rains loose and let me have it by myself. 

What, what was your supervisor's name? 

Juan. 

Juan. Shout out to Juan. 

Juan. 

I, I, I hope Juan is watching this. 

You the man, Juan. Thank you.

That, that's it. That's it. Any other mentors that you want to give a shout out to other people that you've learned from? 

Absolutely. I have mentors here at Fairfield. Uh, one is Albert Pearson and another is Jim Dormy. They have really opened my eyes, Jim, with, uh, the construction aspect and just inspecting these apartments for the, the lease up.

I've never done that before. He was vital for that. And then Albert is the one who taught me all of my scheduling, pos the right, the wrong when it comes to financials and that really ex like. Made my career go off like a rocket. Once I was able to understand those concepts. It's been easy sailing since then.

Tell me about a very tough moment that you know, you, uh, you remember. And how did you, how did you got outta that situation? How did you overcome? 

I have two. One of them was a fire in a parking garage. There was a gentleman, we don't allow smoking on the property regardless, and he tossed a cigarette in the back of a truck and a six story parking garage and burnt it up.

And that was an on-call at three in the morning. And it was a very scary situation. We had to get core engineers and it was a big, big deal. But it was also, everybody was safe, everybody was good, but it was, it was very scary. Waking up to three o'clock in the morning to the garage was on fire, you know, and, but then your training takes over what you know, the pol, you remember the policy, you remember what to do, and so that they, thank God I was trained on that and was able to assist in any way I could, which.

Meant, you know, dealing with FLS systems, coordinating with the fire department, coordinating with restoration and, and things like that to get that fixed because the sprinklers went off and things like that. The second one was also another fire, but that one I was able to get a commendation out of Farmer's Branch, Texas, uh, fire department.

We were able to save a couple lives and I put out the fire and saved millions and millions of dollars in damage. 

That's a, that's an incredible story out there. Um. How long you been in Atlanta? 

One year. 

One year. What made you move to Atlanta? 

Opportunity Growth. Yeah. I was in, so I've been with three regions, uh, in Fairfield.

First the DFW area and then I moved to South Carolina, Charleston and I helped there. And this job, this opportunity seems like it would be, uh, wrong on the ladder to start working towards my next position. 

Amazing. Why don't you show us round? 

Sure. So this is our coworking area. We have, um, just basically personal stalls, personal little conference workstations right here.

You can come in here. You don't have to rent these out. They're first come, first serve. Um, if you do want to, you can rent this area out for a big conference or anything like, or events. Yeah, exactly. But, uh, most of the time people come in here who work from home, things like that, just for quiet. We offer wifi and you know, so they just like coming in here and relaxing.

Doing their work. Here's a conference, a full conference area. You can hook up to the TV and do whatever you need. Uh, as far as work in business, if you have a, a big group setting that you need to, to have taken care of, uh, we offer printing. You know, you can come here and print just to help get, make it easy.

Um, we have two restrooms over here, and they're full size restrooms as well as some more workstations. And this is. Kind of an area most residents maybe might also come and have lunch at, and just a quiet space or just, you know, friend friends come over and you want to get out of the house for a little bit.

This job, it's an incredibly, uh, important job and very complex job for those that are young out there, that are outta school right now, or about to like finish school, like high school, and they don't necessarily think that college is for them, right. Why multifamily miners, what they should be looking into multifamily minus.

Well, that, that is a big reason why, you know, I think is our certs and stuff are minimal. You know, we, we get good school, but, but the costs versus, you know, the, the things learned, it is astronomically different, like the value of the learn to the cost, so, and. You make really good money. You make very good money here, and if you work hard, you're dedicated, you can move up very quickly.

It's a demanding job market here. And, and you know, companies like Fairfield, they hire, they love to promote from within and, and I've just been moving right up. Now that takes you, it's on you as well. You know, you have to take the time. There's nights I sit up and study about work orders. I have the next day if I don't know about it or you know, so you have to take your own initiative to do some things to be able to get to that level.

But, you know, it's a great industry for young people. I, my son, my stepson's in the industry, he did the same thing grounds for six months. He's already a maintenance supervisor at 21 years old, 

21 years old. How long ago did he start? 

Uh, 18, right out of high school. I got him a job. Yeah. And, and I think it's great for a young person, you know, just, and it gives you life skills like this.

Everything I've learned here I can use everywhere else. There's not one, anything that I can think of from Excel using Excel spreadsheets, word documents to fixing refrigerators, HVAC, to just customer service skills. I mean, it's. Like five industries almost in one job. So we, we do a little bit of everything, but I think that that builds, you know, character and it, and it helps you make this world a little bit less scary.

Very well said.

My little home, away from home.

All righty. Here's my baby. 

So, Jr when you, when you look back at your multifamily career 

Yes sir. 

Could you pinpoint the moment when you made the decision and you said, this is not gonna be just a job, like something. Like bridging some other, you know, thing in my journey that is gonna take me to the next, uh, you know, to the next opportunity.

This is the opportunity. 

What I can think is when I went from technician to assistant and the fact that I had received two promotions in one year based on my skill level, the way I handled the job, and that was like, Hey, I have something here. My pay doubled, you know, in a year and. The sky's the limit.

Like, where could this go? So I internally was like, okay, let's invest in this. Let, let, let's be all I can be in this industry and, and this is what I wanna do. Money help, security help, like I said before, but, but that was like, oh wow. Okay. You know, 

for folks looking at various companies, their next step in their career, whether from outside the industry or people already in a industry.

Why Fairfield 

Fairfield values their employees. They are supportive. They listen. I've been at several companies, five national companies, I believe, 4, 4, 4 national companies. I've been told, you know, this and that, oh, just give us six months, Fairfield delivers on what they say. Not once, not twice every single time with me.

I, it's, it's always been great. They, they're training the way they train you, the skills, they give you the resources online. It, it's just unmatched. It really is unmatched. And if I have an issue and I actually reach out to somebody, I am. I am hurt and it's not anything that, oh, well, we'll resolve this. And then the emails slowly goes down to the bottom of the list.

It, it's, uh, phone calls, action plans, you know, and, and I just love it. I'm noticed here. I'm respected, and it makes you want to pay that forward 

if your corporate office is right there looking at us right now. What is one thing that you know, you would like to communicate, you would like for them to know?

Oh, wow, that's hard because they do everything really well. I could say maybe a little bit more involvement on the hiring process, you know, at, at the beginning of the hiring stage might level out some worthy candidates versus, you know, not just for that position candidates. So I, I think that's where we could have a little bit of improvement.

But, but that's reaching like everything is really satisfactory above average, at least with Fairfield. Now 

looking into the future, looking forward 3, 5, 10 years from now. What do you see your career progressing to? 

I think if I do this correctly in 10 years, I would like to be VP somewhere and I think if I work hard, do what I need to do and, and just really be the best JR I can be.

I can do it. It. 

Any final thoughts Jr for, uh, those watching? 

Anybody who's on the fence about being in maintenance or the multifamily industry, I encourage you to jump. It was a scary situation at first, but it is the best decision I've ever made for me and my family, and there is a future. As long as you put the work in yourself, you will be successful, especially with companies like Fairfield.

Jr. Thank you for having us 

today. Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me.