Brianna Charles

Honestly, I would just say gratefulness, because I could get in my head and be like, oh my god, I'm not gonna make it, or this is not gonna happen, and I think I wake up every day and I'm like, okay, hey, you've given me the tools to get to where I need to do. So I think for me, it's just hard work and my work ethic. Whatever comes my way, not letting it stop me from getting what I want. Recently, my dad has passed, I lost a relationship and lost a best friend, but I think it didn't stop me. I think it motivated me to just keep going even through the downs, you know? And even though we go through that, at least you can look forward to something, and that may be just your success and accomplishing whatever goals you wanted to, whether it be in your personal life or your work life. So, I think for me, it's just to keep going and not to stop, no matter what we're through. I kind of sound like an Energizer bunny sometimes, or a robot, but it's more just working hard for it. My mom always taught me, if you don't work for it, you're not gonna get what you want in life, so I think that's what it is - my work ethic. Nothing's handed to us. I know others have it easier, but sometimes you gotta work for it.

The best advice that I have received professionally is to trust my gut, to trust my choices. Sometimes I can be a little indecisive at times, where I'm in my head. So, my best advice was to trust what I'm doing, and to pretty much give my best foot forward and keep being me. I've never got advice where no one's ever said, just keep being you, so I think those would be my - that's the advice that I've gotten, and just to actually network as well. Network within, meet everybody. My mom's advice is just to always be kind, because you never know what other people are going through as well. So, those would be some of the advice that I got, professionally, and personally.

I know sometimes you may start feeling like you don't know what's going on, because my field can feel a little overwhelming, just because you're dealing with a lot of people. You're kind of therapists, in a sense, sometimes, and I think patience, and willing to learn the ins and outs, and asking questions, always. And not giving up, even when you fail on the first try. At least you tried, and to try, to continue to try. And, I think work hard, and still have fun. Those would be the things that - that would be the advice I give.

In my industry, currently, the biggest challenge is turnover, in general, even with employees and just with residents. Turnover's big, a lot of changes, people are not - they don't care anymore to live in the same place for 10 years as before, people are moving, people are figuring out places that work for them better than where it would be. And then again, same thing with turnover, not the best - I wouldn't say work ethics, but just people come and go easily, or people just leave, so I think our biggest challenge right now in the industry is turnover with keeping retention, resident retention, and keeping employees happy. But I would say the biggest opportunity is growth. You can always grow within the industry, as long as you start from the bottom, entry level, and then as long as you're doing the right things, and asking the right questions, and willing to grow, I would say growth within the company to being able to either train others so they can grow within a property management position, or get outside of that and do real estate. I think there's so much opportunities within my industry where you can start from the bottom, become an assistant manager, become a regional, become a director, or ask, hey, can I do marketing, or whatever it is. So, there's a lot of opportunities, I would say, within my industry to grow and to have fun and to bring your own ideas.

I think for me, loyalty, for sure. And I wouldn't say in the professional aspect, because when I say loyalty, I know some people move on from places and stuff because they're growing, but just in general, just being able to be, you know, you have great integrity. You do have - you care. So, those are just some of the values, I would say, just integrity, caring, and being honest, to be honest. Just being honest, hardworking, and truthful when there's things you need. Those would be my values.