Health & Wellness of Buildings
and Community Managers

Episode Blog

INTRO: On this week’s episode of CACM chat HOA life to hear exclusive insights and expert perspectives on community association management from leaders across California. This podcast is about the hard work that managers do to positively impact the lives of more than 15 million residents living in over 50,000 homeowner associations across California.

ALIA: Hello, hello. This is Alia Saouli here with CACM chat, the HOA life podcast where no topic is off limits from the HOA world. I am here with the lovely Stephanie Romero, who is with Aeroscopic Environmental. And we’re going to be talking about all thing’s health from a wellness perspective for ourselves. So, health of managers, but also the health of our buildings prior to going into storm season.

We’re all in California. If you’re hearing this and you’re not in California, feel free to come. It’s beautiful here. But we aren’t really used to the rain. So, with the heavy rains coming in from last year and possibly this year, I keep getting mixed information. But I think this is a good little plug for it’ll make the farmers and the flowers happy, but we need to all make sure that we are good and our buildings are good.

So welcome, Steph.

STEPHANIE: Thank you.

ALIA:  I’m glad you are here.

STEPHANIE: I’m glad to be on here today.

ALIA: So quick little rundown. I actually know Stephanie from a personal friend, and then we found out we were in the same industry. So back when I was in the management side, we would use our services. And so, we stayed in touch, and she is a CACM member and heavily involved with different events. So, I’m very excited to hear kind of her marketing strategy and why she focuses on the health of our managers and gives us tips before the rain comes through on how to serve our properties well from an asset standpoint. So, take it away, Miss.

STEPHANIE: Thank you, thank you. Yeah, so I think what I wanted to dive in with was the things to keep an eye out on your property building, right? It’s a combination of things. For those who don’t know who Aeroscopic is, Aeroscopic has been in business for 60 years, a little over 60 years. They do fire restoration, water damage restoration, mold remediation, and the reconstruction. So, it’s really your one-stop shop from the moment you call us.

They’ve been serving Southern California you know, over the last 60 years and their services are available 24-7. There’s other services like TraumaSyn Cleanup, Biohazard Cleanup that they do as well. And I think one of the conversations that Alia and I have had in the past was the signs of mold, the health risks and prevention. Signs of mold are, it can appear as black mold or toxic mold and that’s the slimy and pitch-black color on the walls. One of the stories that we just talked about this week was we got a phone call and the homeowner wasn’t home. So, they were out maybe about three months and the neighbor sees water coming out of their front door. So, what does that mean? A disaster, right?

And our project manager went in and did the inspection, and they were sending us pictures and there was mold on their bed, on their pillows, like they took off the pillow.

ALIA: Oh my gosh.

STEPHANIE: Everything was drenched and soaked, and the vinyl flooring literally looked like a wave.

ALIA: Every time you say it because I’ve heard this story before, I still get the chills each time.

STEPAHNIE: Yeah, yeah.

ALIA: Is it because they didn’t keep their window open?

STEPHANIE: Well, no one was home when the leak happened. So, the leak happened on second floor. Mm-hmm and then you know the water basically damaged the entire first floor anyway So prevention to prevent mold growth you can, if you are home and you have had recent water damage, It’s good to have a dehumidifier to keep the humidity levels low obviously that’s not with any professional help and Let’s say I don’t know like this is just things to do to keep yourself safe during a rainy season. And if you’re working in the office space and there’s a lot of water, maybe that’ll help out your endo-earth quality as well.

Health risks with mold are you can get allergic reactions. You’ll start sneezing. You have a skin rash, or your eyes get really watery.

ALIA: There are flu symptoms in that too, right? Yeah, mean- fever.

STEPHANIE: Like the respiratory issues, chronic exposure ends up leading to like worse issues.

ALIA: I feel like I read an article recently, probably not recently, it’s probably like several months ago, but I read an article recently where mold could actually affect the way we think and our serotonin levels in our brains. Like, so it is a, it is a big deal.

STEPHANIE: Yeah. I mean, it could lead to neurological issues. Of course. I mean, sometimes even death, if the mold exposure is that bad.

ALIA: Before we get into the slimy mold. What are some things that managers can focus on even if they’re not on site? Like let’s say their portfolio managers are not on site every day. What are some things they can look for on their drives or prior to rainy season? What can they be looking for or to mitigate the risk?

STEPAHNIE: Yeah, so when I was having a conversation with our project managers, one of the things that they really brought to our team’s attention was, you know, not only do we get called out when there’s an emergency and when there’s water damage, but most of the time they’re also finding the source of the leak. And what has happened is the exterior stucco maintenance is neglected. So, there’s cracks, right? And another thing was making sure that the entry door thresholds are properly sealed to prevent water from entering.

It’s a common issue when the entryway is not sloped towards the drain. So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed entryways when you walk in, like the leveling compared to the ground, you want to make sure that there’s a slope. Another thing is making sure your gutters are cleaned out, so remove the leaves and other debris. Improve drainage if you know that water is not draining properly around your house. Inspecting your roof, everyone knows that, I hope so. Make sure your roof is inspected especially for damages.

ALIA: How often do you think they should be checking their roof and cleaning gutters? Ooh. More than once a year if it’s.

STEPHANIE: OK, so let’s say California, right? If you know that this, I’m personally I’m not the expert, right? Because I’m not the one doing the cleaning. But if you think about it, you want to prepare for water damage. So, if there’s going to be a storm damage and rains are coming in, I would say-

ALIA:  Heavier than normal. Yeah.

STEPHANIE: Yeah. Like once a quarter, right? Just, just, just so the buildup isn’t as intense. Cause if you wait once a year, you’re stuck with a year-old worth of debris and who knows what else is up there? Dead rodents, right?

ALIA: Oh Gosh.

STEPHANIE: They’re stuck in between the gutters. I mean, you don’t know what’s up there. I think that is a healthy amount of time. Once a quarter.

ALIA: Brett actually just cleaned our gutters. We have a pine tree in our front yard. And the pine needles, it’s not even like other debris, it’s the pine needles. And so, we, I think we’re a once a quarter, kind of takes care of the gutters and the roof and everything.

STEPHANIE: Yeah. And then I think it’s also adjusting and adapting to your environment. If you know that your tree, it like, let’s say you’re surrounded by trees and there’s constant leaves and debris up there, maybe once a month. I mean, I don’t know. You have to ask-

ALIA: the professionals.

STEPHANIE: Yeah, the one that’s actually cleaning the gutters. But into but back to preparing your building, making sure you seal windows and your doors. So, the caulking on the windows and doors, installing the weather-stripping chimneys. That’s another thing people forget about making sure chimneys are hooded properly. If there’s any cracks there, trimming the trees, right? Making sure.

ALIA: That’s a huge one yeah.

STEPHANIE: Another thing I feel like no one really thinks about is updating your insurance and making sure the home and contents insurance is up to date. Maybe people just think about the building itself, but contents is really important too. for example, the emergency that we had, I mean their bed, right? Who knows how much that bed costed, and it was filled with mold, you know, all those expensive, the ones that rise like on both sides and you can adjust the setting.

ALIA: Just the bedding was trashed. We’re done.

STEPHANIE: Yes. my gosh.

ALIA: Yeah. Trashed. One thing I love that you do is you focus, you know, we’re in business development. We’re out in the field. We’re servicing managers. I was on the management side. So, we focus on making sure that we give them the resources they need to be successful. One thing I love that you do for your marketing specifically to what you do is give them health tips and do events and bring goodies that are specific to the health of our managers.

And I think that’s different than we’re used to because we’re used to taking like donuts and having conversations or taking them to lunch or whatever. But everything you have done; I’ve noticed is always like with the health of the team involved. I talked about a burnout episode not too long ago, and I think taking care of ourselves is huge, but you embody that and it’s like in alignment for you.

So, I love that your marketing is kind of with that. Can you kind of share how you ended up going that route instead of the doughnut route?

STEPHANIE: You know, I love a good doughnut though, especially from Sidecar.

ALIA: Sidecar. Jinx.

STEPHANIE:  I love, I love that you brought that up because recently I have been exhibiting and having my tabletop and it says, DONUT worry call Aeroscopic, but I’ve gotten Sidecar Donuts just because they have the vegan and gluten free options and I love baked goods. But yeah, so let me backtrack. When I first started at Aeroscopic, you know, the guys here were like, yeah, just stop by the offices, take them donuts. And I was doing that. But if you’re in sales, you get paid to be rejected. You get paid to be rejected because there’s so many vendors out there, right?

And I just felt like the donuts weren’t really working for me. And as I was having conversations with property managers and onsite managers, was like, everyone is so stressed out. We are all on the same page. And I was like, I-

ALIA: fast paced. It’s emergency after an emergency, putting on different hats. Yes. And then you’re, if you’re stressed and your cortisol levels are shot, right?

STEPHANIE: Yeah, that is a lethal combination. from experience, personal experience, I felt like I wanted to bring them, what’s the word? A healthier experience, right? At the end of the day, it’s my responsibility to build those relationships, establish the relationships. And I noticed there was just so many happy hours, so much eating.

I mean, we love it, right? But at what point do we start incorporating the healthy stuff? And I think it was after I saw a slogan at our office that said, health, wait, sorry, providing safe and healthy environments is at the core of what we do. I was like, I’m just going to tie that in with my experiential marketing and boom, right? And it’s like, if someone buys me a drink, I will be grateful. But if someone shares a healthy experience with me, like a walk by the beach or like, for example, I don’t know if you know this, but I recently started a health and wellness program for our outreach committee.

And I have felt like the managers that have come out and spent this time with us have been so grateful for the space that we’ve created just because the feeling that you have after getting movement in is so much more rewarding than having a drink. And I think everyone can agree with that, right.

And of course it’s always a great time.

ALIA: Nobody wants to go to the gym, but everybody wants the feeling when they leave the gym, you never have a bad time, right? And so, let’s take the gym out of it. Nobody wants, know, right now I have a hurt knee, so it’s hard for me to walk long distances, but I love my morning walk.

So, I’m like, okay, I’ve got to do something different because I’m not getting that in. It’s not necessarily that I want to go on the walk early morning. I’d rather sleep, let’s be real. But I want the feeling after. So yeah, I think that kind of goes with, you know, when you’re talking to somebody, they don’t remember what words you say, but they remember how you make them feel. So, it’s the same kind of concept. So, I love that you’ve embodied this like wellness.

I mean, I know you work out, you eat really clean, but I love that you’ve kind of weaved it in and it’s kind of an alignment for you now, you know?

STEPHANIE: Yeah. I think for me, it’s playing on the word build, right? So, I like to build healthy habits and my Instagram handle is building restoration girl. I love the phrase build together, grow together. And at the end of the day, the relationships that I have with our clients, I want, I hope they’re lifelong, right?

Because we are in the industry. I mean, if you’re in the industry for more than three to five years, you’re locked in, honey. We’re in.

ALIA: You’re a lifer. Let’s be real.

STEPHANIE: So, I want them to know that we are here for them and we have their best interest in mind. making sure they are healthy. I mean, if you don’t have good health, what do you have? Right? You’re suffering and at the end of the day, if there’s something that I can do to contribute to someone’s health, good health standing, I will do that.

So, I’m obviously not going to share all my tips and tricks for my marketing, but one of the things is keeping a healthy lifestyle in mind and sharing that and exposing that lifestyle to colleagues and clients.

ALIA: It’s that in our industry after COVID, it’s gotten more intense, faster paced, more grumpier people, let’s be real. So, I think when we have health top of mind and that doesn’t mean go to acupuncture every day and go do CrossFit when you’re not ready, like, and go run a marathon when you’re not ready. I’m talking like a walk and breathing and five-minute meditation or, you know, one thing I have been working on is, my mindset. So, there’s a growth in the fixed mindset.

And it’s like, OK, I’ve noticed I’m going more fixed lately. And I’m like, that’s out of the norm for me. So, OK, before the end of the day, doesn’t matter how busy or crazy the day gets. What are three things I’m grateful for? And the other day I was like, I’m literally grateful for the water and the green light, like anything. But the AC in my car, like it could be something so minuscule that we just kind of take for granted. Right. And so, I think our mindset kind of goes along with that.

And so I love that we have people in this industry that are building up our managers to have that healthy mindset and make themselves a priority because they’re already serving so many people.

STEPHANIE: Yeah. You know, one thing I love, I love that you have that in mind where you’re, you kind of check in with yourself and you ask yourself, are the three things I’m grateful for? One thing that I love to do, and this is a little weird,

ALIA: I mean, we’re here for woo woo.

STEPHANIE: So, you go to Barnes and Noble and you go to the personal development or personal growth section. And I mean, there’s all these crazy titles, fun titles, and you just kind of pick three books that are calling your name. You grab them and you open up the book to your favorite number, right? For example, I’ll say mine is 22. So, I’ll go to page 22 on all three books and tell me why there’s always like this core message that is aligning with my life in that moment. That’s the book that I take home.

And for whatever reason, those books are the books that have helped me get through those really difficult times. And every time I have a conversation with someone in the industry, I always say, do you want my advice, or do you just want-

ALIA: me to listen?

STEPHANIE: Yeah. Or to hold space for you. Which one is it? Yeah.

ALIA: I can hold space, or do you want some tips? I don’t know.

STEPHANIE: So, when the tips come in, it’s literally me telling them go to Barnes and Noble and like, universe is going to give you a-

ALIA: I’m actually going to try that. I’m going to try that this weekend because I, I always just go, I don’t judge a book by its cover, but I always like to look at the title and look at the cover. I’m like, okay, I’m drawn to this. And then I’ll read the back and see if it’s, but I’ve never thought to like my number seven. So read chapter seven and see what’s in alignment. I like that.

STEPHANIE: So, here’s the thing, sometimes the single digit numbers when you’re looking at the book, it’s like the table of contents is on page seven. So just like do 777 or like 77, just do whatever. But it’s interesting because sometimes just holding space for someone is comforting. know, that’s why I really like all those like the Facebook group pages where there’s a community where you can just chat and vent and say, this is what happened today. And just hearing that you’re not alone, right?

I think also for onsite and general managers, they often feel like they’re out on a stranded Island by themselves because they don’t have the team, like the team support because they are technically the boss, the head honchos of the building. And so having that safe space where you can trauma bond together essentially.

It’s like, what trauma did you have today with your age-wise?

ALIA: Yeah, I am thinking of a moment where, you know, one thing I feel like if you’ve been in this industry a long time, one thing we really have a hard time processing is the crazy calls or the crazy interactions. And we’re like, we’re dealing with different personalities all the time. And so remaining calm and remaining kind. And sometimes you don’t want to be because you just were yelled at. like, at the end of the day, if you have a team that has your back and they are experiencing it, you kind of bond with them. And so, if you don’t have that team, you can absolutely feel like you’re on an island. So that’s when I think our events with different networking groups is important because you have that camaraderie, you know?

STEPHANIE: Yeah, that’s really important. And I mean, You know this and people that are watching this I try to attend almost every networking event in my territory just because it’s having those conversations it’s building those relationships it’s building that trust it’s like a constant reinforcement that you are there for your clients when they need you and knowing you know your sales rep or your business development manager or just any bd. rep, sales, marketing, whatever, just having that point of contact because sometimes the field workers are so busy that when there is some type of emergency, you want to have a point of contact that’s going to answer you when you need them.

And so obviously for restoration, if you need someone, I’ll be there. But if you have a current restoration company working at your building and you don’t have that point of contact, it’s so important to have that person because sometimes it’s just reports or documentation that you need to proceed or to make some type of decision and the field worker isn’t going to be able to respond to you in time.

But if you have that point of contact, you’ll get the information that you need almost immediately.

ALIA: One thing that I’m doing a shameless plug for CACM right now. One thing I’m always surprised about because I thought everybody knew this, but I have conversations with people that have been members a long time. They don’t realize that is all of our events are for managers. Doesn’t matter if you’re assistant manager, doesn’t matter if you’re an executive doesn’t matter if you work at the front desk and you’re doing CDRT, ARC applications, doesn’t matter if you’re regional, whatever your role is in the HOA world, homeowners and board members are not welcome.

And the only reason they’re not welcome, not because we don’t want to educate them, because we want you to have those safe spaces. Like we had a fall forum yesterday that we attended, Stephanie and I ran into each other. And, you know, we want those, when there’s questions that arise, we want you to feel open. There’s a place and there’s so many great other networking groups that you can educate your homeowners and board members. That’s amazing.

But here we want you to be able to ask the real raw questions or give the real raw examples and get the support you need. And I think that’s where there’s a difference between other organizations.

STEPHANIE: Yeah. What I really loved about the forum yesterday was that you guys created that space at the beginning. I think it’s very intimidating to start having those conversations because it’s like.

I don’t want to say this, I don’t want to talk about this experience.

ALIA: Me and Mary are the only one that went through this difficult thing.

STEPHANIE:  But as soon as one person started talking, it was like the ball was rolling and everyone was sharing that experience and the conversations, we were all like, well, yeah, right? And it just, regardless of whether or not you are having issues right now, there was like there was common ground in the entire room where like we’re all in this together.

ALIA:  Yeah.

STEPHANIE: We’re all struggling together but having those subject matter experts give us feedback and have that conversation with us, super beneficial.

ALIA: Yeah. Well, thank you for being here and I appreciate your time. Where can our amazing listeners find you Ms. Steph?

STEPHANIE: Well, thank you for having me. You can reach me at Stephanie@aeroscopic.com. If you want to shoot me an email or on Instagram, my Instagram handle is @buildingrestorationgirl. Or if you have any emergency service, you can call us at 800-950-2376. And last but not least, you can find us online www.aeroscopic.com.

ALIA: I appreciate that. And last but not least, we always want to make sure that we’re giving you the topics that you may need in the industry for your area. So please email us at podcast@cacm.org for topics that you want to hear in the future. This was so my vibe because it was a little woo-woo. So, if you’re wanting less woo-woo, let me know. But if you are digging what we’re talking about, please take care of yourself. Give yourself grace this season as the rains come in and we will see you soon.

OUTRO: And that concludes this week’s episode of CACMChat HOA Life. Have questions you want answered? Send them to podcast@cacm.org and we’ll address them in an upcoming episode. Make sure to regularly check out our website at cacm.org. And don’t forget to join our rapidly expanding social media community. Just follow @CACMchat on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Thanks for joining me.