Heather Raymond, CAM
Heather Raymond, CAM, is an accomplished community manager with nearly eight years of experience in property management, currently leading operations at Melanopolis on West, a 300-unit multifamily property in Annapolis, Maryland. She oversees all aspects of property operations, including resident relations, lease administration, maintenance follow-up, and on-site retail management. Heather also serves as an internal trainer, mentoring new community managers and helping develop staff internally to ensure consistent standards of service and leadership across Bell Partners’ properties.
Before entering property management in 2018, Heather built a diverse career spanning customer service, retail, and salon management. She transitioned into property management after being invited to join her first property as an assistant manager and quickly discovered a passion for creating positive resident experiences and building strong teams. Her approach emphasizes trust, empathy, integrity, and hard work, reflecting her philosophy of leaving people better than she found them.
Heather holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University and earned her CAM certification from the National Apartment Association. She has steadily advanced within Bell Partners, managing multiple properties and training new community managers through the Bell Buddy program. Her dedication to both residents and her team highlights her commitment to community-focused leadership in the multifamily housing industry.
• Certified Apartment Manager (CAM)
• Virginia Commonwealth University- B.F.A.
What do you attribute your success to?
I would say work ethic-wise, it's definitely my dad, wholeheartedly. My dad climbed the corporate ladder, and I got to see him and watch him and see how he maneuvered different teams that he had. My mom is very much a straight shooter, but also very caring, and I would say the idea of leaving people better than when I found them comes from her, wholeheartedly. And I have to say, being in property management, it's from Bell. They have been amazing with the time, the energy, the effort, the caring that they put into their people. Feeling fully supported, being able to make mistakes, learn from them, and grow comes from the great culture in the company that they have here.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Fail forward. That's the best advice I've received. Everything gets harder the higher you go, and the quality of issues you take on becomes more difficult the higher the ladder you climb. But just fail forward. Make a mistake, don't dwell on it, make sure that you learn from it. Everyone's going to make mistakes, and you need to allow yourself the grace to not only make a mistake, but to learn from it and to keep going.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Honestly, be you. Be unapologetically you, who you are. Because the right job will love that for you, and will love you for it, and your personal goals and missions will align with the right company. If you're believing in yourself, you're confident in yourself, it'll shine. I look very different than a lot of my coworkers. I have tattoos, I have piercings, I have a blue mohawk. But I'm very confident in who I am as a person. Yes, there are times that I have to do a little bit more than the next person to prove that the way that I look doesn't take away from my abilities to do my job, but just be yourself, be you, find your voice, and stand with it. If you are who you are from the bottom up, and have worked your way up, and you didn't change at all, that's real truth and real trust in who you are as a person and what you're really bringing to the table.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say probably, in this climate in general, just trying to make sure that people feel seen and heard. Making sure that each individual issue or problem is addressed with a new attitude and a new mindset. You could have 5 people coming in, or 50 people coming in with the exact same problem, and not letting that wear on you, but just making sure that you say, okay, this one's done, on to the next one, what can I help you with? My personal motto that I've taken from my personal life and brought over to work is that I want to leave people better than when I found them. So if you come to me with a problem, my goal is to, if I can't solve it right then and there, at least have you leaving the situation knowing that you're going to be taken care of, your problems are seen, you're heard, and we're going to figure out a resolution together.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Trust is number one. If people can trust you, then you're doing something right. You're doing what needs to be done, and you're going to be able to move up the corporate ladder if that's what you want to do. But you're also going to have people that come to you, and rely on you, and will believe in you, and believe what you're saying. If you're not truthful in who you are and what you are, that will always shine through. I'm old school in believing that if you work hard, that hard work will be recognized and shown and appreciated and developed. And I would say empathy is so important. It's more of a soft skill, but empathy matters because everybody's going through something, and a lot of times it's not what is shown on the outside. Taking that second to just show a little bit of empathy can really make or break somebody's day.