Star Search: Multifamily Talent on the Rise
MHN honors the most promising young leaders in the industry.
The champagne bottles are empty. The confetti is swept up. And those novelty glasses with 2026 across the eyeballs are safely stored away even though there is no logical reason for them to ever be worn again (but it seems wasteful to throw them out after one use).
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s time to get back to work—to answer all those emails you were going to circle back to in January, to schedule some meetings, to get ready to kick some butt.
It’s going to be a great year for multifamily.
How do I know? I’m certainly not psychic. (If I was, I’d be rich. Or I’d at least know when to bring an umbrella.) But I’m optimistic. And one reason for this is looking at some of our up-and-coming leaders in the industry. Take, for instance, our Rising Star winners of the 2025 MHN Excellence Awards, who are profiled in Associate Editor Mikayla Sciortino’s article “MHN’s Rising Stars Take the Spotlight.”
Our gold winner, Julie Blanc, co-founder & CEO of Rentana, told Sciortino how she’s looking to innovate the industry with artificial intelligence. And Blanc is already delivering tangible results, having secured a $5 million seed round from leading venture capital firms.
And then there’s Nevaeh Arrington, a 19-year-old leasing agent at Breedon Co. who had to fight perceptions and prove her worth. “Some people look at me and they automatically ask for a manager,” she told Sciortino. “I had to learn how to show people I can do this rather than tell them.” But she pushed through, helping a mother and her children secure housing.
With stars like this, our future is surely a bright one!
Read more about all our Rising Star winners in the issue. And if you have a rising star you’d like to honor at your company (or if you’re one yourself), we’re now accepting submissions for the 2026 MHN Excellence Awards!
