Property management veteran Carly Stevenson joins MHN’s Laura Calugar for a conversation about her mission and deep convictions.
Because her parents taught her early on how important it was to have a stable job with a stable income, Carly Stevenson went to nursing school with the intent to follow in her mother’s footsteps. But she soon realized that she wasn’t cut out for that craft. One day, after a fortuitous encounter with an old friend, she took an interest in apartment leasing and that’s when her 20-year career in real estate began.
Stevenson started as a consultant and climbed the ranks organically to her current role: executive vice president of property management with Avanath Capital Management. While she admits that affordable and workforce housing property management is a tough business—particularly in the current economic environment—her conviction for her mission is unwavering.
“There’s something about equating the homes to souls that just does it for me, where it helps me center and understand how sacred it is to do what we do on a daily basis,” she told me in this month’s Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast episode.
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Since joining Avanath in 2022, making an impact has been a core focus for her and her team. By partnering with rent reporting company Esusu, they have contributed significantly to renters’ credit scores. Over the past two years, 1,300 Avanath residents established credit scores for the first time and residents with previously established credit scores saw an improvement of 48 points on average.
Here’s a snippet of all the topics we covered:
- How a purse made Stevenson join the real estate industry (0:55)
- What she enjoys most about her job (3:53)
- Current challenges (7:55)
- What’s Impact through Service in community management? (10:38)
- Why property managers should help renters build or improve their credit (12:22)
- Being a female executive in multifamily (13:50)
- Why bringing diverse voices to the table is important (15:55)
- Advice for women in the early stages of their career (18:07)
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