Rising Stars Series

NICOLE SAMSON – Carter-Haston Real Estate Services, Inc.

Years In the Industry

27 (cough cough) or so.

Volunteer Positions Currently & Previously Held in GNAA

Currently serve on NextGen and General Membership committees. In the past I have been on Communications as well.

What brought you to the apartment industry?

Actually, at first it was just going to be a summer job for me. I got the bug and here we are 27 years later!

Was this the career path something that was always on your radar?

Nope, a friend got me into the industry.

Did you have any unrelated jobs growing up that unexpectedly prepared you for the apartment industry?

I worked as a server in several restaurants for many years. I think that was a great preparation as it taught me to move fast, complete assignments quickly, and smile even when you want to punch someone out.

Best Professional advice you have ever been given?

Just keep swimming, eat the frog one bite at a time, chill out. All those speak best to my personality. I can easily get overwhelmed with workload and wanting it to all be done now. My mentors and bosses have taught me to just keep on moving along. You will be OK…one foot in front of another. As corny as that sounds, it’s some of the best advice for me. Rome wasn’t built in a day they say…you won’t be able to clear out your email inbox in a day either!

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends?

Hiking with my husband and dogs and hanging out with my girls.

Do you have any pets?

2 goldendoodle dogs!

Coolest place you’ve ever traveled?

My favorite is Italy, but Greece is a close second.

Give us a fun fact about you.

My bucket list is to visit every state. I’m at 40 and counting. I’ve already marked off Alaska which I didn’t think I would be able to do until retirement.

What upcoming GNAA event are you excited to attend and why?

The Membership lunches. We have rounded up some great speakers on several up-and-coming spaces in the apartment market this year. I think it will provide for some great discussion.

Do you have a motto you live by?

Don’t aim to break the glass ceiling, aim to shatter it!

If you could get a “do over” for something in your career, what would it be and why?

Probably something in organizing. My favorite thing to do is organize. I love when we take over a property and get to organize everything in the office. It’s my happy place.

Any advice you could give to the rising stars of GNAA?

Volunteer for everything! You never know who will be there and what doors it may open for you. If you are willing to help wherever needed, you will get noticed and that will put you in a great position to line up a fantastic career!

It’s the Law, cont. from p. 7 phone has to stay on silent and a backlog of missed messages await. When you interact with your lawyer, listen, watch and learn. Do you understand what your lawyer is doing? And why? An occasional question shows interest and also educates your lawyer. Just remember: You’re the client, so it’s your case. But you don’t want to direct their actions any more than you would direct the actions of your surgeon. Your lawyer is a professional and should be professional. If you don’t like your lawyer, switch to a new lawyer. It’s your choice.

Finally, so much of what we do these days is timebased, time-sensitive, and time-dependent. Lease terms. Notice days. Court dates. Appeal periods. Scheduled set-outs. The good news is, that as far as evictions and collections are concerned, it looks to me like the courts are mostly back to normal. In Davidson County, for example, I can routinely file a detainer case and have it set for the first hearing 7-10 days later. It’s been a few years since that was consistently possible, but it is, once again, and I think we can all agree…it’s about damn time.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, cont. from p. 17

Empathy also helps you regulate your own emotions. Ask questions with the goal of better understanding others and intently listening to the stories of their lived experiences.

4. Education

There are many resources available for anyone motivated to learn more about unconscious bias – books, articles, podcasts, videos, classes. If you are more of an experiential learner, simply put yourself in situations that will provide learning experiences, such as attending a cultural festival or interacting with people who are different from you.

5. Advocacy

Be part of the conversation. Get involved in discussions, activities and events about diversity, equity, and inclusion topics. Find ways to show support of marginalized groups by making a commitment to be part of the solution and not contribute to the problem.

When springtime rolls around, we often create lists of the many clean up projects in our life. Let’s add cleaning up our unconscious bias to this list (and not just for spring).