ABODE January 2021

HAA’s 2021 President John Boriack, Veritas Equity Management, talks with ABODE about how a lifetime of going against the grain has shaped him into the business owner he is today and how leadership and serving others go hand in hand.

Whether you are the leader of a trade association or an apartment management company, the meaning of leadership is evolving with each phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For many, the pandemic has proven to be the toughest leadership test. Luckily for the Houston Apartment Association, its president for 2021 is the president of Veritas Equity Management, John Boriack.

At press time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing potential COVID-19 vaccines. Still, the future feels uncertain, and HAA must continue to tailor its services to best serve its members. Boriack is confident in his abilities to lead HAA in 2021 and hopes this year will be a resurgence period. It may seem like a daunting task to be the president of a trade association during the COVID-19 crisis, but where there is disruption, there is opportunity.

“I’m excited about the clarity COVID-19 has brought. It has presented a pruning to all organizations and companies, including HAA, to evaluate what drives success, what brings value and what can be eliminated. It has brought an extra level of accountability to all organizations, mine included,” Boriack said.

Guiding HAA through the initial phases of the pandemic as presidentelect last year, Boriack understands the potential long-term impacts of the pandemic on HAA and its members. He also understands what HAA needs to do to serve its members and generate revenue in 2021. That means being respectful to everyone’s needs and comfort levels by creating an inclusive, supportive membership experience to a diverse group of people. “Going forward, we have to recognize as an association, we can’t offer our services in one dimension anymore. We have to be able to serve everyone’s needs. Some members still won’t feel comfortable about in-person training, while others have Zoom burnout and will need to come to HAA for an in-person training experience. The product, so to speak, now has to be delivered in multiple different avenues in order to serve the whole group, which will require outside the box thinking. How can we protect our members and still provide the member benefits they signed up for? We have some members who are suffocating, and we need to be able to give them the lifeline they need through different events, support and education,” Boriack said.

Boriack was crowned the “renegade” among the HAA COVID-19 Task Force, a group of HAA leaders who were tasked with guiding HAA’s response to the pandemic in order to best serve its members, for his bold decision making and the way in which he leaned into taking risks amid the pandemic.

“Exceptional results are never achieved by avoiding risks. In order to really achieve success, there's always going to be risks in anything you do, but you have to get comfortable with that. Naturally, I’m an optimistic, glass half full person, almost to a fault. I’ve had to surround myself with a team of people who do see risks better than I do, but when the driver is optimism, you can achieve something exceptional. Successful people make decisions from a paradigm of opportunity and abundance, not fear,” Boriack said.

At 32 years old, Boriack is the youngest HAA president in its history. Before Boriack, the youngest HAA president was Trey Stone in 2014. It was Stone who inspired and encouraged Boriack to get involved with HAA six years ago.

“I was minimally involved with HAA for quite a few years before really diving in 2014 at the prompting of my friend and mentor Trey Stone. He was president at the time, and he told me, ‘We need more people like you to get involved.’ And that encouragement really prompted me to start exploring more opportunities to get plugged in at HAA. I recognized that I was young and didn't know a lot. The influences I had in my life at the time were great, coming from Lifestyles, but I didn’t have exposure to corporate real estate. What really drew me to HAA was the opportunity to rub shoulders with people who were much smarter and more successful than I was.

I'm so lucky at HAA to have the best minds in the country actively serving and volunteering here. For someone as young as me to have the opportunity to volunteer for an organization alongside leaders like Jackie Rhone (who was HAA president in 2015 and Greystar’s executive director), Mac Armstrong (who was HAA president in 2013 and Greystar’s senior managing director) and Jerry Winograd (who was HAA president in 2006 and the owner of Judwin Properties) is incredible. I knew I would never meet that caliber of an individual without getting involved with HAA. I was grateful to have the opportunity to be around those leaders. And this year, having the face time with Clay Hicks (immediate past president of HAA and the president of The Dinerstein Companies), and being on the search committee for HAA’s new CEO with people like Jackie Rhone and Beth Van Winkle (vice president of property operations for Highmark and current regional vice president National Apartment Association) – learning how they operate and how they think has been hugely beneficial for me and my professional development. And it's been a massive return on investment for somebody with my inexperience in the industry. I've seen myself rapidly grow in my leadership skills from my experience with HAA,” Boriack said.

As president-elect last year, Boriack served alongside 2020 HAA President Clay Hicks in a way that no other president-elect has done before. Hicks, Boriack and Christy Rodriguez, the thensecretary/treasurer and current president-elect, worked together to guide HAA through a pandemic and through HAA’s CEO transition. Working as one unit, the three were able to maintain an open line of communication and lean on each other’s strengths to improve overall performance. The three found that engaging the president-elect and secretary/treasurer is a powerful way to foster long-term success for HAA.

“First, hats off to Clay for allowing us to be that involved, for communicating with us as much as he did and for asking for our input. By having this continuity among the three of us, it really sets everyone up for success, especially HAA because it keeps the momentum going. It keeps the power of affecting positive change alive rather than having a reset with each new president,” Boriack said. “He really taught me that we, as the volunteer leaders, have the power and ability to change things, ask questions, question why things are done a certain way and make a difference.”

Boriack will continue the tradition Hicks started by leaning on President-elect Christy Rodriguez of Judwin Properties and Secretary/Treasurer Stephanie Graves of The Signorelli Company during his presidency.

“We got hit with a curve ball last year, but I'm excited to have Casey Morgan driving HAA and to have myself, Christy and Stephanie and Hicks (as immediate past president) as the HAA Executive Committee to lead HAA through 2021,” Boriack said. “I thrive when I can work and collaborate with others, so I will definitely be leaning on this group of incredible leaders.”

When everyone was desperately trying to survive the pandemic, Boriack searched for ways to help his team thrive. As he leads HAA this year, Boriack will lean on the executive committee to search for ways for HAA to thrive in 2021.

“It’s about to be comeback season. I think we're very well positioned to come back swinging, and not just survive, but thrive this year and develop into a way better organization than it was two years ago,” Boriack said.

This year very well may be another year filled with uncertainty and change. But with Boriack as president of HAA, we cannot fail. Not because he’ll be able to predict or control the outcome, but because he courageously leads from compassion and a commitment to find the potential in people and processes.