Tears of joy, relief and accomplishment leaked from the eyes of Heather Buchanan as partner Courtney Dies told her she officially tested out as a sales manager.
“Does everyone cry when you tell them?” Heather asked Courtney. “Not everyone, but it happens more often than not,” replied Courtney with a smile.
The pivotal moment in her nine-month journey with The Connor Group came at Trinity Commons, where Heather learned under partner and senior director Erica McLoughlin. Erica celebrated with Heather and offered words of wisdom in true Erica fashion.
“Fly birdy, fly. But don’t screw it up,” Erica said with a grin. “You’ll do great.”
Now, Heather looks forward to putting her knowledge to work and running a sales team.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” said Heather. “I’m just so appreciative of all the people who helped me along the way.”
In nearby Charlotte, Laura Brennan tested out on the same day as Heather. The new operations manager spent time at Greenway, where sales manager Diana Canty raved about Laura’s determination.
“She’s gritty, a hard worker and doesn’t give up,” Diana said.
Laura impressively overcame losing two turn techs while running operations at Greenway. In May, with a turn tech in training, Laura helped lead her property to exceed a turn goal of 19 by turning 23 units.
“Laura works side by side with her techs,” said Diana. “She’s very hands-on and has no problem leading by example.”
Just south of North Carolina, Keith Dent tested out as a sales manager at 1660 Peachtree in Atlanta in May.
“I’ve never had a trainee walk in the door being such a relator,” said senior director Kelly Lawrence. “He was already a great leader when he started; he really just had to learn The Connor group way of doing things.”
Kelly said one hurdle for Keith was a common one for most managers.
“Keith is a doer. He had to learn how to delegate. But he was able to switch to the coach versus the player mindset,” Kelly said.
“It was the best feeling,” said Keith. “It felt like graduating college again. The best part was I felt like I made everyone proud, not just myself.”
Rounding out our most recent manager test outs is Colli Riopelle, who successfully tested out as an operations manager in the Minneapolis market.
“Colli is definitely a people person,” said sales manager Marie Almberg. “I have no doubt Colli will be the solution to any customer service problem.”
Colli’s people skills came in handy as she spent time at every Minneapolis property while in training.
“She’s gritty,” Marie continued. “She is not afraid to get dirty. Whether working side by side with a tech or with cleaners to set clear expectations, she leads from the front.”
Congratulations to our new managers!