Building Upon A Great Year for AAMD

Amie Robertshaw delivered incredible leadership and accomplishments over the last year and left some big shoes to fill. AAMD will continue to focus on building on those accomplishments. I would like to thank the board of directors, committee chairs, vice chairs, members and supplier partners for your dedication and hard work over the last year. Your commitment to AAMD is inspiring.

I am so excited for what the future holds for AAMD. With your continued support, we can continue reaching milestone achievements and provide additional support for our dynamic industry while helping to create a larger, more diverse talent pool.

 I've been fortunate to be in the multifamily industry since 1996. I was a poor college student when I stumbled into this industry and started as a part-time leasing professional. I've never looked back.

I have stories...lots of them. Some I can share, others I’d rather keep locked in the vault. There is one that illustrates how small the apartment industry is.

In the early 2000’s, I led the acquisition and renovation of a student housing community called Lexington Crossing in Gainesville, Florida. I was 26 years old at the time and had absolutely no student housing experience, and I was thrown into underwriting the asset
without any guidance. No pressure. 

A year or two ago, Amie and I were casually talking about our careers and how we both lived in Florida. We realized how close our paths had crossed – to the extent we may have met before. When Lexington Crossing was sold, a young manager was moved to the community during the transition. Amie was that young manager. Lexington Crossing is 1,773 miles from Denver – showing that even with such a distance, multifamily is very small.

This industry is about relationships and connections. We need to build bridges, not burn them. When we help each other, we all succeed. We need to lift each other up and keep the talent within our industry. The newbie you interview today, may just be the CEO one day.

The opportunity to serve all of you isn’t a role I take lightly. We are fortunate to work in such a dynamic, inclusive, and growing industry.

Sometimes our industry is given a bad rap. We read articles, hear news reports, and see viral social posts about greedy landlords. That isn’t who we are, who the industry is or indicative of the incredible members of AAMD.

What the media doesn’t hear is how insurance is going up 20% per year, the monstrous tax bills we just received, the skyrocketing cost of turning and maintaining apartments or the impact of all those new and pending regulations. All of that doesn’t keep us from energizing our local communities, giving back to organizations that provide housing to those in need and a host of other volunteerism.

We are fortunate to work in this industry, provide housing for people…and we truly do it with heart. We all come to work daily to make an impact on those that call our communities home. Be proud. Hold your head up high.