Episode Blog

TOM: Hey, welcome to CACM chat. HOA life. This is our very first podcast, I’m your host Tom Freeley. I’m the CEO for the California Association of Community Managers. I’m joined today by our SoCal Regional Director, Alia. Alia, introduce yourself, please.  

ALIA: Hello. I am Alia Saouli, and I’m excited to be your cohost, Tom. 

TOM: Well, thank you. I appreciate that so much. So yeah, we’ve got a lot of questions, Alia about well, who is CACM? What do we do? Why are we doing the podcast? So, I’m going to just tap on that real quick for our audience. First, for our audience, you guys could be literally anywhere. CACM, California, Association of Community Managers, is very specific to California. However, one of our goals is to elevate the community management industry, not just in California. That’s one of the goals of this podcast. We want to share different ideas. We’re going to be tapping in the coming episodes. We’re going to be tapping on reserve studies. Obviously, we’re walking into as we’re recording this. We’re in August. We’re going to be walking into California managers budget seasons, development of financials and so on. That’s if reserve studies have a very intricate part of creating an Association’s budget. But we’re also going to be talking on time management, tips, leadership topics and tips influencing your boards. You know how to deal with confrontational board members, confrontational, homeowners, all these things are just a little there’s only a little bit of that in our industry, not a huge amount. But, you know, some of some of our listeners, you know, might have a fantastic board of directors. Some of our listeners might be on a board of directors, and we applaud you for doing so. You know, one of the things we want to actually address is just kind of the reality behind Community Association, manager, or management, and what a manager actually goes through on a day-to-day basis. Obviously, a board of directors is a volunteer. They’re not expected to have professional expertise in the various, different components of a homeowner association, which is why they hire a manager or management company to manage their homeowner association, because there is just a slew of stuff. It’s essentially running a small corporation and many, many moving parts. 

ALIA: And you guys wear many hats too, right? 

TOM: So many, many, many hats. Well, you come out of the industry.  

ALIA: Yeah, long time in the industry, about 842 years as of today.  

TOM: Oh my God, you beat me by a couple of years. So, I’ve been in the industry for 38 years, and I’ll get to that in just a minute. But CACM, you know, was established in 1991 to provide resources and education and California certification to managers that manage homeowner associations in California. Our certification is not limited to California. Doesn’t say California Association certification, it’s just it’s a you know, specific to a community manager, so that that certificate will carry with you. You know, pretty much anywhere you go, we are all of our courses are DRE approved. We’re going to be tapping out a lot of this stuff in the coming episodes. But CACM currently is going through just dramatic changes and improvements across the board. We are in the middle of installing a new learning management system, or an LMS. We are working with a community college here in Orange County, California to help put our educational specifically to our certification courses through the Community College, in an effort to gain interest and awareness of our industry with young people statistically, registrations for four-year degree colleges are much lower than they used to be. We are seeing an increase in community local community colleges, in their registrations. Young people are staying home. Covid changed the world. Made everybody realize, oh, you can work remote.  So, we’re going to take, we’re trying to tap into that market where we can try to feed the industry with some professional guidance and professional managers that are starting out don’t really know anything about the industry, but let me tell a little bit about me, Tom Freeley. I’m your host. You know? I’m working on a personal level, I own a condo and down in San Diego, and the manager, who happens to be the CEO, we will not get in. We’re not going to name names on this, on this podcast, because that would be highly inappropriate. But the manager publicly has stated that, you know, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve only got, you know, nine or 10 years in the industry, you know, and so on. Let’s just say, you know, I was, I was publicly being trashed by the CEO of a management firm who has personal conflicts with me and so on. Why? I’m not really sure I voiced an opinion once or twice. And I guess that that’s the wrong thing to do. The New Yorker in me. And you know what, I come from the industry, so I asked very relative questions. And apparently that’s not the thing to do when you’re professional in the industry. Questioning another manager. I believe that you should. So, for all of you, Manager listeners, you absolutely should be questioning each other. You should be questioning your leadership and your leadership. You should be willing to let your leadership question you. We all learn by communicating. We all learn by getting feedback and constructive information from our colleagues, well, pretty much from anybody so, so anyway, none of that was accurate, so let me just clarify and qualify I’ve been in the prior to this role. I’ve been in the CEO for CACM since October 1 of 2018 so it’s coming up on my six-year anniversary. Prior to that, I was executive leadership in a management firm in San Diego. I come from the industry of maybe 38 roughly 38 years, I’ve managed every style of homeowner association you can imagine across the United States. I cut my teeth in Manhattan, New York, managing very large high rises, and managed a very, very, very large homeowner association in Virginia, had 7600 units, that, if I remember correctly, 11 sub associations, roughly 30,000 residents, a high school, a high school, two middle schools and three elementary Schools and a preschool that the association owned and operated. There was no management company. I was the CEO. They did not call that role the general manager. So, it’s in their documents. The first time I ever saw the general manager listed as a CEO and a doc set of documents. But you know, that’s the way it was. 

ALIA: So, you were the mayor of that of that town.  

TOM: I was the mayor. Yeah, essentially, yes, you’re 100% correct. It’s like managing a small city, small town. So, I have just a little bit of experience. I’ve managed high rises in San Diego and throughout California. So, I have a little bit of experience in the industry. Thankfully, I’m in this role where I can, I lead an outstanding team that supports managers and management companies and industry partners across California. Alia, you being one of them, share a little bit. Alia, if you don’t mind a little bit about your experience, and you know why you’re with CACM, yeah. 

ALIA: Well, I started off, surprisingly in multifamily and merged to HOA high rise. And it was a very eye-opening moment, how different it is. So, I came from very like sales, customer service makes your people feel at home too Okay, now we’re kind of running a business. So, it was very eye opening, and I was probably too young and inexperienced to be in the area that I was in at the time, because it was when Echo Park and Silver Lake. Before they got trendy. So, I actually had to be really creative and talk to like, if I was doing a property walk with landscapers, and you know, our board members, I would actually tell them, I will get you lunch anywhere. Please don’t graffiti or sleep on the lawn. And so somehow, then I merged, and I ended up recruiting from the same company and ended up in HR, and then got recruited to another HOA company to do their training for Southern California. And I had a very fabulous experience doing that, and it was supporting anybody in high rise portfolio large scale, doing different software programs, trying to relay very tangible logistics. But also, how can we give them examples to support them in their roles? Because you can’t just go through one week of training with Hoa, and then feel like you’re up and running. So it was, it was a very, very time-consuming but rewarding role. And then I ended up as a regional for portfolio and had a fabulous team. And so, so yeah, I’ve kind of bounced around similar to you. I. Would, I would say I have a little bit less experience than you. I always joke that it feels like 800 years, but one year feels like 100 you know, in this industry,  

TOM: Yes, that’s the industry, yeah. So, I feel, I’m sure, I’m sure many of our listeners would agree with that, yeah.  

ALIA: I feel like I was really, really lucky to have incredible leaders and support and yeah. And so, I left the industry, actually, for a year, and I found out about CACM, and was kind of blown away about what you guys do and how you support your members. And I was thinking back of my, you know, I was only gone for a year at a construction firm, opening a federal department for them. So totally different industry. And I was like, I miss my HOA people. There’s one thing that we do well, and it’s we hire good people in our industry, people that will be lifelong friends. So how cool that we have an organization that supports them, educates them, is their advocate. And so, I feel honored to be here, truly. Because I feel like if my team had what you guys do for your members, like how quickly they would have promoted or had additional support. And so truly, that’s, that’s kind of what happened in a, you know, a long-winded way of now I’m doing a role that kind of encompasses everything I’ve done before, which is really exciting.  

TOM: You know, you tapped on a lot of management company information. And I think management companies, our management company membership, in and of itself, is growing because I think that management companies are recognizing the importance of resources beyond their doors, beyond what they internally offer. A lot of management companies will offer their own internal training. Well, we’re we want to help supplement that. We, obviously they, want them to train, you know, their systems and you know, in their roles, and you know their style of business and their business perspectives and best business practices and so on, as they should. I did when I owned a management company. I did the exact same thing, but it’s important that they’re starting to recognize that there’s resources out there well beyond just their educational or just their four walls, yeah, but for this very first episode, I don’t want to get too deep into the weeds. I’m going to, I’m going to try to keep this first episode short. I just, I do want to ask one last question, and then I will share the same thing. Tell the audience, and me, something about you that nobody a knows or would even guess. 

ALIA: Oh, gosh, that’s a loaded question you didn’t ask me before we started.  

TOM: Podcast cannot be scripted. 

ALIA: I could do weirdly spot on. What’s the word? I’m totally blanking right now when you hear a sound, and then you can mimic the sound, or you hear a voice and you can, like, impersonating or something. Yeah, my family’s always made fun of me because I’m so good at it. And they’re like, why aren’t you a like, a cartoon, like the background voiceover? And I’m like, No, guys, 

TOM: but why aren’t you a cartoon? 

ALIA: So, my, my niece and nephews love when I read them books, because I make all these different weird noises, sounds and voices and, 

TOM: oh no, that’s awesome. So, you, you actually get into the character when you’re reading your book. 

ALIA: yeah. 

TOM: Oh, that’s awesome. So, do I. 

ALIA: there’s definitely, like either a voiceover or an actress in a past life, if that’s a thing? 

TOM: Well, apparently, so was I, because the one thing that will surprise a lot of people, and they won’t be able to find me on the internet, so in this capacity, so I’m comfortable sharing it, nor will I share the name of the music company or the or the band. But I, oddly enough, my wife and I Glenn, who’s just the love of my life and the strongest, most, smartest person I know, we both are very heavily involved in research, like we don’t make quick decisions. We don’t do things without understanding what we’re getting ourselves into, you know, so on and so on, even if we’re even if we’re going down the road of something, and then we, oh, maybe we should get some more information, so we know a little bit more when we get there. Well, in this case, we did zero information. We were invited to be extras in a music video. We, you know, filled out a random questionnaire, and they said, hey, send us in some photos they were looking, and I kid you not, for an elderly couple extras in this video. And you know, we’re not, we’re not in our Spry youth anymore. So, we sent, we filled it out and sent in some random pictures, and I’m talking about the most random pictures that we could find. And we had, we had A: zero interest or B: had no idea what we were getting into. So, we were just having fun and goofing around. So. Well, they called and said, can you be in downtown LA on Monday night at, you know, eight o’clock? And we’re like, yeah, no problem. Now we have did, we have done no research, like zero on what we’re walking into. So, we showed up, and it turns out that we were being what they term extras in a gangster rap video. And I will not share the name because I really want to know. And nope, nope, nope, and nope. The audience could search it, but they’re not going to. I’m not anywhere on the credits, so I’m fine sharing the concept and the experience. But I’m not going to get into the names, but it was a very intriguing and to a certain extent, some very raunchy parts to it. Now, for the audience that happens to know, my wife and I, you know, we’re not really that kind. We’re very random, and we do some fun and adventurous things. This one was so far out of the box that we didn’t even know we were checking something off that we didn’t need. There was no box. We had no idea that this was inside of our to do list until we did it. And it was probably one of the coolest experiences we have been through, just on a random basis. 

ALIA: I have so many follow up questions. I’m sure so many of our listeners probably do too. But you know what? The what the point is, you know, many of our listeners and in this industry, you know, we’re all we all have that professional perspective. We all have to act a certain way, behave a certain way, talk a certain way. You know, be that our perspective a professional right? But what most people forget, especially the homeowners and the boards of directors in the homeowner association, but candidly, some of our you know, the managers themselves, seem to forget you are human. You have lives outside of work. Share those stories, let people know that, no, you’re pretty vulnerable person like everybody else. Yeah, you might have some very cool experiences that other people want to check out or be involved in, or even just want to hear about, because it makes people feel, reminds people that you’re human and, hey, chill out. I mean, it’s, it’s life. Life is too short to, you know, just do nothing but professional attitude. Have fun in life. This is a, this is a crazy enough career that you can go out and just have a good time. Honestly, I think people get so hung up on their titles, and it doesn’t matter what the title is, it’s like you’re so much more than that. You know what does? What are the desires of your heart? What brings you joy? What is your family like? There’s so many other elements to life in that. So, I appreciate you saying that. 

TOM: Well, thank you well, and thank you for joining me today. To our audience, thank you for joining us for our very first podcast. For those of you who are very familiar with podcasts, I’m so sorry. This is a new thing for me, so I hope I’m not embarrassing myself, but if I am, yeah, let me know if you have ideas, thoughts, suggestions for episodes, topics to discuss a problem that you have, or scary story that you’ve been through, or a funny story that you’ve been through, please email it to podcasts@cacm.org We want to hear from you all the names and of yourself and your association and or Other names involved we’ll all be, you know, redacted. 

ALIA: We just want a fun story. 

TOM: I’ll share a fun story that I’ve received from one of our managers on our next episode. So, Alia, thank you so much to our audience. Thank you for joining us. 

ALIA: Thank you, Tom.