Professionalism On-the-Job and In the Saddle: Sheryl Frick, RPA

Posted on by brenda

Nearly every property manager can identify with the image of a hero riding in to save the day as they “rescue” tenants from everyday property issues large and small. Tampa area Property Manager, Sheryl Frick with Ryan Companies US, literally rides a horse as a volunteer of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. She joined the Posse when her son left for college, combining her passion for horses with a desire to give more time to community service.

The Posse’s two main priorities are participating in search and rescue activities and community outreach events. In order to perform these tasks, volunteers must commit to ongoing training with the Posse — Sheryl logged 150+ hours in 2018. She especially enjoys participating in community events and outreach, helping to strengthen the connection between area law enforcement and its citizens.

“Everybody loves the horses and will come up to the horse and talk to the deputy and posse members. Our goal is to help people feel more comfortable with law enforcement officers by interacting with them in a relaxed environment.”

The connections between Sheryl’s volunteer role and her “day” job as a property manager are pretty strong. Property managers require ongoing training to maintain certifications such as Sheryl’s RPA and must build strong relationships with their tenants to boost satisfaction and retention. We asked Sheryl to share some of her experience as a property manager.

1. How long have you been a property manager and how did you get started in this line of work? 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 28 years since I graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in anthropology! I gravitated towards real estate because it seemed interesting, and have had a number of jobs with great companies.

2. What skills are most important to somebody considering a career in property management?

You have be able to multi-task — to manage dozens of different projects at the same time, creatively find solutions to problems, and be comfortable with a varied day which could change substantially from your plans as tenant/property needs arise. You must be a people person and able to operate with flexibility between the lease and practice.

3. Working with A1 Orange, can you tell us about how you solved a very unique pressure cleaning challenge?

One of our properties in beautifully situated on a small pond, but the water-facing side had access issues. A1 Orange was the only company willing to provide service from a boat in the pond, and it has worked out beautifully.

4. Being a property manager is a pretty intense job — how do you relax?

Caring for my horses is a great stress reliever and very calming. Combining community service with my love of horses has been awesome!

5. Speaking of community service, Ryan Companies is pretty big on giving back — can you share a few recent projects you’ve participated in?

We cook dinners for the Ronald McDonald House quarterly, work on Habitat for Humanity projects, and volunteer with Feeding Tampa Bay.

Sheryl is currently a Real Estate Manager with Ryan Companies US, Inc., and previously was with Healthcare Trust of America, Inc., USAA/ABM/Transwestern, and Songy Partners. She has extensive experience with hi-rise and construction management and has won six BOMA TOBY Awards.

 

Participate in Safe + Sound Week 2019!

Posted on by brenda

Plan now to join  A1 Orange as a participant in OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week, August 12-18. Last year, A1 Orange office and team members participated in extra safety training programs, office/warehouse safety walk-through’s, and earned fun incentives for safety photos. Learn more. The safety photo incentive offering a $10 Wawa gift card for 3 safety photos was alot of fun for the field team members — with some posting “well-posed” photos. We put many of them on Facebook during August.

According to OSHA, this is “a nationwide event to raise awareness and understanding of the value of safety and health programs that include management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in workplaces.”

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EastGroup Team Talks TOBY’s

Posted on by brenda
“One of the biggest myths about entering your building(s) for TOBY’s is that it is very time consuming.”
Megan Tucciarelli, Property Manager, EastGroup Properties, Inc.

 

Having won the BOMA Orlando 2018 TOBY Award in the Industrial Category for Horizon Commerce Park, A1 Orange asked EastGroup’s Megan Tucciarelli and her property management team to talk about their experiences so far in the TOBY process. Getting 8 buildings on their property TOBY-ready seems like a big job, but they had fun and strongly encourage others — especially industrial managers — to enter the process next year!

1. Why did you decide to enter the 2018 TOBY Awards? How long did it take to get your property “TOBY-ready”?

I love the TOBY program and I have been looking forward to entering Horizon Commerce Park for a few years now. Since the buildings are relatively new, I had to wait until they met all criteria – 2018 was the year! I like to think that my buildings are always “TOBY-ready.” We gave our vendor partners plenty of time to put their “finishing touches” on the buildings before the inspection and it probably took us a week or two to get our presentation together.

2. People often think that entering the TOBY Awards is very time consuming – what did you get back for the extra effort?

Honestly, I think that is one of the biggest myths about entering your building(s) for TOBY. It really does not take that much extra time or effort – you most likely already have these practices in place. It takes a little time to gather the materials and prepare for the inspection, but the satisfaction of winning a TOBY makes the entire process worth it.

3. What does winning a TOBY Award mean to you and your team?

Winning the TOBY was a huge accomplishment for our team. It was also a great way to highlight our amazing BOMA vendor partners and all of their hard work that goes into maintaining the buildings. We could not have done this without them.

4. Based on your experiences, would you recommend that other property managers and engineers make the time investment to participate in their local TOBY Awards? If so, why?

1000% yes! I specifically want to encourage other industrial managers to enter their buildings. It is such a fun process and you learn so much. It is also a great opportunity to go over your practices/procedures/manuals and find areas that can be expanded or improved upon.

5. How are you preparing for the Savannah BOMA Southern Region TOBY Awards Competition in March?

Writing, writing, and more writing — because there is no site visit and everything must be communicated on the written application. My writing skills are a little rusty, as I have not written like this since college. It has been a tedious, but fun process. I am so grateful to all of the past Southern Region TOBY winners, as they have all so eager to help. We have a great network in BOMA Orlando!

6. Did you share this news with your tenants? How? Did they share the excitement? Will you include your TOBY win in marketing materials to tenants?

We notified our tenants at Horizon via an email after we won locally, they were all so excited for us!  We also had a few tenants volunteer to write a “letter of recognition,” that we included in our Southern Region write-up. Our TOBY win has been included in several marketing presentations so far. Fingers crossed we can add a BOMA Southern Region TOBY to our resume!