Boss Talks: Episode 83 with Katie Phelan-Chostner

This episode explores Katie Phelan-Chostner's career and insights on leadership, community building, and the multifamily industry.

1. Leadership involves authenticity and creating a psychologically safe workplace.
2. Community building is crucial in both personal and professional realms, requiring trust and understanding.
3. Effective mentoring and giving back to the industry are essential for personal and professional growth.
4. Personal stories and experiences enrich leadership styles and business practices.
5. Advocacy and informed participation in industry-related legislation can significantly impact business and community outcomes.

1: Introduction to Katie Phelan-Chostner

Katie's role and contributions in the multifamily industry are highlighted, along with her community involvement. Evan Happel: "Welcome to another episode where we explore the lives of industry leaders."

2: Building a Supportive Community

Discusses the importance of building trust and understanding in creating a supportive community. Katie Phelan-Chostner: "Building community starts with a good foundational level of trust and understanding."

3: Leadership and Workplace Culture

Katie shares her approach to leadership and the importance of allowing employees to be authentic. Katie Phelan-Chostner: "I want everyone to feel comfortable to show up as their authentic selves."

4: Personal Insights and Family Life

Katie opens up about her family life, emphasizing the support of her husband in her career. Katie Phelan-Chostner: "My husband is the backbone of our family, supporting me to pursue my career goals."

5: Industry Advocacy and Legislation

Katie discusses her involvement in legislative advocacy to protect and promote the multifamily housing industry. Katie Phelan-Chostner: "It's important to participate in legislative processes to protect our industry."

1. Foster a psychologically safe workplace to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity.
2. Build and maintain trust within your team as a foundation for effective leadership.
3. Engage in industry advocacy to influence policies that impact your business.
4. Embrace personal stories and experiences to enrich your leadership style.
5. Consider the broader impact of business decisions on the community and industry.

In this episode of Boss Talks, host Evan Happel had the pleasure of sitting down with the dynamic Katie Phelan-Chostner. Katie, known for her role in shaking up the flooring industry with 1Up Floors, shared her journey from industry newcomer to an innovator challenging the norms of perfection and emphasizing the value of authentic hard work.

Katie has carved a niche for herself by leading with a philosophy **embracing imperfection**. This theme resonated through our conversation as Katie opened up about her personal and professional life, highlighting the intertwined nature of the two realms. For Katie, the journey hasn't been about striving for the unattainable goal of perfection but rather about embracing authenticity. She candidly shared stories from her career, her role as a mother, and her drive to make meaningful contributions to the industry and her community. **"Being authentic and allowing your employees to show up as themselves, to work hard but also recognize that no one is perfect,"** is a mantra that Katie lives and leads by.

One of the most illuminating moments was when Katie discussed her approach to building community both in her personal life and at 1Up Floors. She likens the process to building a house, stating, **"building the spirit of community starts with the foundation: a good foundational level of trust, understanding, and acceptance."** It's this foundation that has allowed Katie and her team to create a workplace where everyone feels comfortable to be their true selves, which she views as a marker of success.

Katie promotes a psychologically safe workplace where employees can admit when they're having a tough day openly. This level of honesty and transparency fosters a supportive environment that strengthens the team's bond. Katie is passionate about mentoring and helping her team grow, even if that means outgrowing the company itself.

Katie recounted her experience giving testimony in Olympia, emphasizing the importance of involvement in legislation that impacts the multifamily housing industry. Her story is a reminder for all of us in the multifamily industry to **"respond to call to actions... never underestimate the ability to let your voice be heard"**.

As we wrapped up the chat, the excitement about the upcoming EdCon was palpable. Katie's enthusiasm for the event and the industry's future reminded listeners of the power of community within the multifamily housing space. Her closing thoughts encapsulated the essence of Boss Talks and her life's philosophy: **"Learn, connect, grow. It doesn't matter where you are in your career; there's always room to embrace those three things."**

In this episode of Boss Talks, Katie Phelan-Chostner reminded us that authenticity, hard work, and a supportive community are the keystones of success in business and life. Her story is a testament to the power of showing up as you are and the beauty of embracing the imperfect journey towards making a meaningful difference.

People

Evan Happel, Katie Phelan-Chostner, Emily Bryant

Companies

One Up Floors

Books

None

Guest Name(s):

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Content Warnings:

None

Evan Happel

Hello and welcome to Boss Talks, a weekly podcast where we chat with the bosses of the multifamily industry. Who are these bosses? They might be a manager of many a leader with no title or just passionate about what they do. Join our host, Evan Happel, director of marketing at Community Boss, as he talks with this week's guest. Hello, everybody, and welcome to Boss Talks, episode 83.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

We have a great guest today, Katie Phelan Costner. She is with one up floors here in the great state of Washington. She is a supplier, as you can tell with flooring, is a great supporter of Woomfa, our local NEA affiliate, and has gotten involved in a lot of ways over the years when it comes to that. In fact, most of their marketing efforts are really through the association and the support they, they provide. They do some great things when it comes to scholarships and sponsoring their training facility and all the things.

So they are a great contributor to the industry and try to be a supportive part of it for sure. So really excited to have her known Katie for a while, been around one up floors and even before one up floors, some of the owners and previous owners known them for a while too. And one of the owners, I actually have coached their son's soccer team. So little fun fact on the side there. We definitely have been around each other for quite some time.

So excited to have her. She's really leading the charge when it comes to sales and really getting the name out there. She has some marketing person as well, Lacey, that I've gotten to know as well this last year or so that she's come on with one up. And it's just been really fun to see how they engage and do things a little different when it comes to the flooring industry. So we will get right to that.

Shortly. Before we do, I'm Evan happel with community boss, and we have a great tech solution for you. Managing your physical spaces, whether that's your parking, your amenities or mapping. We have you covered and have the ability to generate some ancillary revenue so that we can build value for your community, making it a great place for your residents to live and enjoy. So if you have any questions about that, let me know.

And already we have a watcher, Emily Bryant. I know Katie is her mentor for the Kerry Anderson emerging leader program this year, which is the first year. So another great thing she's doing. So let's bring Katie to the show. Katie, thanks for being here.

Emily Bryant

Yes, absolutely. So excited. Our paths have crossed in various ways, mostly connected to this industry and what we're doing here. You're very entrenched locally. I used to be, and then I became more national in my mindset, but still very active locally.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So we definitely still see each other a lot, but it's always been fun to get to know you more and be around you and see all the cool things you guys are doing. So yes, thank you so much for being here. No, thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk about our industry and ourselves with one of my favorites. And we're going to cover some things.

You guys definitely are trying to put an emphasis on being authentic and allowing your employees to show up as themselves and to work hard, but also realize no one can do perfect. This is a very true statement and sometimes people forget that it's a good approach to take. But before we dive into that any further, I would really love to get your take on a few things. So the first thing is, when it comes to building community, how is it that you approach that in your personal and professional life? In my life, personal and professional overlaps quite a bit.

Emily Bryant

So I think for me, building community, just like if you were building a house, building the spirit of community starts the foundation. It's having a good foundational level of trust and understanding and acceptance. And it's something that's really important to me. I can be a heavy person in the sense that I think it's great to be able to talk about the superficial and laugh, and anyone that knows me knows I'm a huge laugher. But if you really want to build something that has depth in sharing like minded views with someone, sometimes you have to have heavier conversations.

And I think that foundational base is just so important. Katie, phrase around here is I care more about your future success than your current feelings. And that's in my personal life and my professional, and I believe in kindness and candidness that go in aligned with each other. But if you don't have a baseline, if you don't trust the other person, if you don't trust that everyone has the same best interests, then I really don't think you can build a community. Yeah, that's true.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Yeah. If you don't have a baseline, people aren't going to feel comfortable going in that direction with you. That's for sure. Thanks for answering. And then next question.

When it comes to as the next stage of community building, hospitality, a great way to approach that is to provide food and a meal to people. So what is it that you would do to make somebody feel special and provide hospitality to others? Ooh the first thing I would do is make sure my husband prepares the meal. Not me. I am your cocktails girl or mocktails girl.

Emily Bryant

That I can do with some expertise. But my powerhouse husband is the one that makes sure we feed people well. I'm also in the stage of life where, like, hospitality is normally, come with you, come with your kids. I also have three kids, and hospitality is hearing all the pitter patters and the chicken tenders and all that stuff for me. Yeah.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So what would he make? My husband makes a lot of really good things. He is italian. He does a lot of really great pastas. He makes his own bread, so he will do some, like, focaccia, pizza stuff.

Emily Bryant

He. I mean, there's nothing my husband can't make delicious. So I am very spoiled. I'd like to think it's an earned right, but he would, you know, he. It's two meals.

We normally have the adult meal, and then, like I said, we have the kid meal. More common in our house is a make your own pizza night. Like I said, chicken tenders. We're at the classy stage of life. I can eat some chicken tenders.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Hey, that's all right. I don't bark at some chicken tenders. And when you have children, especially the dad, we end up eating the remainder of the kids food. So that's me, my life. Okay.

All right. I am the disposal. I am the one. Mom cleans the plates of the food like I'm the grazer at dinner time, where now you're helping the kids and doing the things, getting your hands slapped a little bit by your nine year old when you take that perfect bite they were waiting to eat. I'm the finisher of the food.

Nice. Yeah. In my household, it's called give it to the daddy can instead of the garbage can. It's the daddy can. Yeah.

Emily Bryant

Yours has a bit better consumption appeal in my mind. Proud disposal over here. That's funny. All right, so final question. When it comes to your caffeinated beverage of choice, what is your go to?

Depends on the time of day. I start most days with three shots of espresso and my chocolate protein mix. Like, I try to do two things at once. Can always just. I love coffee.

I also love tea. I love caffeine. I may have a problem. Acceptance is the first step. So, yeah, love, love me some.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

You have a go to. Do you prefer an espresso with some flavorings of protein drink? And I pour three. I have a little espresso maker at home, so I pour the espresso right in there. And I'm like, I'm drinking healthy.

Caffeine doesn't go, so you just mix the protein drink with the coffee? I do. Chocolate, premier protein, couple shots. Change your life. Get you going so that breakfast in the morning.

Emily Bryant

Yes. Okay. Protein and caffeine just down the gullet straight, you know, I mean, get you going right out the door. Yeah. Nice.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

All right. Thank you for answering the questions. That concludes the first part of the boss talks episode. Nailing it. All right, one up.

Floors. You guys have been around for how many years now? We just had our ten year birthday last week. Oh, I thought I saw that. Fantastic.

Good. Congratulations to you guys. Thank you. No, it's pretty cool. I was just going to say it is cool.

First of all, starting a business is hard. And then starting a business and lasting ten years is hard. So you guys did it. And probably in a somewhat crowded market, flooring isn't like, you know, uncommon thing. I've been told we may have competitors, but I'm not sure.

One or two. Yeah. So it's one of those things where to start a new company and think, you know what, we're going to be good. We're going to be all right. Flooring.

But yeah, to jump in, you guys are still here. How quickly did you join? It's actually my eight year anniversary on Friday. So I was, I think about the fourth employee hired and. Yeah, no, my start story with one of floors, I actually wasn't sure if I was going to take it.

Emily Bryant

Single income at the time. It's a newer company. I was established where I was at, but I believed in the dream. And I think it's a pretty beautiful thing when you believe in something so much that someone else's dream becomes your dream. Making that dream come true.

Yeah, I love it here. You've been in the industry basically your whole life. I can cut a key better than most these days. No, I am second generation. So I've been in property management.

My mom was a manager, a portfolio manager manager or a corporate trainer and then a supplier. I started in this industry at 16, which means I also have my 20 year anniversary in a month. But I love it. It's very rare that you know you're destined from property management. Like most people, it's they find their way into it versus I feel like the prodigal daughter.

Like I knew I was going to get into it. So I just have this great love and appreciation for this thing. So very lost. And at 16, how did you introduce yourself? To the industry.

I actually did running start, so I only went to school a couple hours day back when I was a junior in high school. And my mom called me one day and she said, someone called out, we need some help. Can you start helping out for a little bit? And I said, sure, for a little bit. Mom got there, and one day I was just helping with some filing, doing little things, and the phone would not stop ringing.

Like it was driving me crazy. This is not the way I conduct my life. So I picked it up, answered it, had no idea what I was doing or what I was saying, but I said the words, I have no idea, but I promise you I'll get back to you. And my mom was like, it's time. The time is now.

They never let me go after that. I was at perfect surface, my mom's company, for eight years. So it's rare. Your first job was an eight year stint. And what was perfect surface?

First surfacing company back in the day. So bathtubs, countertops. Yeah. And it was really cool. I got to cut my teeth there in the sense I worked through customer service department until I ran that.

And then once I turned 18, the old age of 18, I was like, I'm ready to be a rep. So at the age of 18, in the month of 18, I got a whole south end portfolio to take care of and never really looked back. There's a beautiful thing, I think, in getting to start my first experience with work that way. The safety of my mom, if that makes sense, always there to catch me. But on the same token, she's ruthlessly honest with me.

I can appreciate both sides of that. And then from there, you jumped into collections. Sales, yeah, they only when I was having a real bad day did they let me on the phones for that. But, yeah, I did sales for Columbia recovery group, who was later bought out after I left, but not because of me, just timing. But, yeah, I did that for about three years, until one day, Kenneth actually messaged my mom and said, hey, do you think Katie's happy?

Which is just a great origin story, in my opinion. And I was happy, but I wasn't necessarily fulfilled, if that makes sense. And we got to talking and I heard about the dream that has one up. I was able to come down there and check it out. And after some back and forth of if it was something we could do as a family, my husband pushed me and said, you're going to do this.

You're going to do this for you. You're going to do this for our at the time son, and haven't looked back since. They're gonna have to drag me out of this place. We'll take several. One uppers.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And you started as a salesperson, right? Yeah. And then at this point, your title is. You guys do things a little different. So what is your title?

Emily Bryant

So I have so many titles. So I started as a sales rep. Then three years after that, I was promoted to, say, to manage the sales department. We'd grown. I had sales reps under me, and then two, I don't know, one or two years after that, I was asked to run the company.

So because I am a little bit of a control freak and didn't want to let go of the sales department, baby, I built. I am both a service and sales ninja grandmaster and the executive vice president. So I business in the front, party in the back. Like, I can play in either realm. Depending on which one, and take people out to grab drinks.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So your day starts when. And when do you come home? That's a question. I'm a 04:00 a.m. Wake upper.

Emily Bryant

So, yeah, I don't. I'll sleep at some point. I'm normally out of the house. Depending if it's a hot yoga morning or a regular morning. I'm at the house by five, typically 5530.

And I get back, I don't know, six. Depends on the day. I get a lot of grace and fluidity in my work day. I am lucky enough that I work for a company that knows I'm always mom first. So I get to still catch the sporting events and the plays and the mom and me tea moments.

I always make time and priority for that, but still got to get the job done. Yeah, that's great that you guys are. You guys have started your own business and been able to put in those types of things into the DNA and the culture, and it's really great. And that is actually some of the things that you wanted to talk about is the mentality that you lead with and when it comes to coaching. And like you said before getting on the call, like I asked you if you ever get tired of talking and does that or does that energize you?

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And you said it's energizing. You really can't turn this off. And it's all you love to coach and that you love to help people to get better. And that's shown in your desire to also be a mentor with Emily. And so what is your approach and what is your kind of your mentality or mindset when it comes to that.

Emily Bryant

For me, it's the buzzword about it, but it's like a psychologically safe workplace. I want everyone to feel comfortable, to show up as their authentic selves and that might be their personality, their cultural background, their goals, whatever authentic means to them, but also authentic in the moment. Like, for me, one of the greatest wins is that I've cultivated an environment where an employee can tell me before we start a meeting, I'm having a hard day. My kid was up all night sick. I'm here.

I'm going to do my best for you, but if I don't see my best, it's not you, it's me. That means that they feel safe enough to tell me who they are as they've shown up that day. And that's a big win for me. I don't think I run one up floors and build one up floors alone. It's the people here that have created this thing from the ground up and built such a unique and special environment where, you know, most employees, when they leave this place or when they are here for a little bit, are just like, this is magic.

This is not something that's recreated where I care about you as an individual, I care about your growth. I ask, what are your plans after this? What's the goal? How do I help get you to that next goal? How do I help you outgrow me?

That's how we change the world, in my opinion. No, that's good. And it also is good because not everybody that comes to a job has the plan to be there forever. Now, some people do. You do.

I'm very stuck. But not everybody is going to. They may have other aspirations and, and things and I think sometimes we don't ask that question. Think, I don't know. You're preventing the inevitable somehow by not asking.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

I don't know. But where you are is, like you said, an opportunity to build for where you want to go. And if this place where you are like one up floors is going to set you up for your future job in a positive way and you can, that just means they're going to give their all to where they are, right? It's a hard no. Yeah.

Emily Bryant

I have the opposite problem. I have some employees that at the end of the day, when I'm leaving this place, like, you need to go home, you're done. I just want to get a little bit more work done, please. And I'm like, this is not. I was not prepared for this.

I take that responsibility too. I love that people feel inspired enough to work here and give it their all, for sure, but balance is important. But yeah, no, we accept people who they are and they're part of their journey. We play a part at. For me, I want them to look back at their time here fondly.

I want them to say, that's a place that supported my growth. That's a place that put me first, and that's a place that I left stronger than when I started. And if that happens, then I feel like I did my job as an employer. Yeah, no, that's good. Yeah.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

When people, even though they're leaving still, I'm not leaving because I hate this place. Oh, no. We've had so many. I'm not the most emotional person, other than a very high pitched excitement level. There's been several people that I have walked out of here on their last day, hand in hand, tears and tears, just hugging.

Emily Bryant

And that's a pretty special thing. Yeah. Nice. And some of them come back. That's my favorite part.

Maybe good return rate. Okay. I always want to encourage that, but we have some of our longest standing powerhouse employees left, had different experiences and chose to come back here because they wanted to continue their experience here, which is pretty cool, too. That's great. And what is it that you guys are in general, like as a company trying to do different that you saw there was an opportunity to do something different.

I think at one up we really focus on earning that trust. Transparency. We have all inclusive pricing. We also just all root cause it. We have a fundamental appreciation for our customer and a fundamental expectation of ourselves to contribute to that relationship and that partnership.

So in everything we do, we have the why behind us and why we're here. I'd like to think that with the pride in the work we do, for me, it's just not selling an apartment home or the floor. It's a resident's going to live on that floor. Life is happening on that floor. I by no means think I'm a neurosurgeon.

Little kids crawl on that floor, really cool things. And at the same time, hopefully, you're making our customers life just a little bit easier. Helping provide them a little bit more confidence in their decision making by education and their support if a problem arises. We are not perfect. I will never sit here and say we're perfect, but we try real hard and we have a chance to improve.

We take that very seriously. Definitely. Yeah. And one of the things you brought up is just the idea that perfect is unrealistic. As a mom, as a leader as a person.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And what are some things that maybe you came, maybe you used to try to be perfect? I don't know and realize that's impossible. But what are some things that you've been faced with that have helped you get to that place? For me, two big things come to mind. The first one's just motherhood in general.

Emily Bryant

The employee and the person I was before being a mom. It's different now. And every child that I've added to my crew of reservation, that has impacted that as well. My kids are nine, six, and two. I am.

And for a long time, I had this expectation that being a mom wouldn't impact me, that I just needed to work harder, that I could be the best employee, the best boss, the best wife, the best mom, the best daughter. You pick it. That's who I am. I'm a little bit of an overachiever. And one day I realized that I will never be, that there is not a single day that I'm not a powerhouse boss, that I maybe missed an opportunity as a mom or vice versa.

For me, my responsibility to myself is to make the best decisions that I can, prioritize the best way that I can, and remember the important parts of each obligation and act accordingly. And when I gave myself that grace, when I gave myself that, just that understanding, I ended up being, I think, so much stronger at both. And then my second part to answer that question would be when I took over one up floors in January of 2020. So in my first year, I dealt with COVID I dealt with fires. We're right here next to Bonnie Lake.

I dealt with flood flooding off the Puyallup river. We unfortunately also dealt with. We had a key member of the team that was killed in a car accident. I my an owner buyout like my first year was, don't just throw her in the pool, throw in the ocean. Take her out 17 miles and see how she can swim.

And I'm someone that embraces challenges. Another katie ism around here that everyone's tired of hearing is challenges are just opportunities. And I got pushed in the ocean and did not handle it perfectly. But I chose every moment as an opportunity to learn. And the only thing I could truly do during that time is to show up for everybody.

Every day I showed up, even on the days where I still wasn't sure why I was the one showing up, I showed up. I gave everything I had. And I think that allowed us as a team to come together and grow from that. But nothing like that first year taught me that no matter how much I try, I'm not going to get everything done. I can't solve every problem, but I can always control what I can control and have that expectation of myself.

And that's the way I live my life. And if you're going to try things and a lot of things and parenting and professional and all the things you quickly do, realize you can't be perfect. At the mall, some people perfect pretend comes crashing down at some point. Oh, yeah. And I'm lucky enough that I don't think I fully crashed about here.

Right about we hit there, I was like, hold on, what's, what's real for me, one of the things, I talk a lot about authenticity, too, and being authentic. And for me, it's one of the things I'm the most proud of for myself because the journey that it takes to get there. And when I say a journey, I don't think authenticity is a destination. I think that it is the way I choose to live my life personally and professionally. I am someone that, I think authenticity comes from self confidence.

I think self confidence comes from self acceptance. I think before that you have self awareness. And I think it all starts at reflection. And I have taken, I try my best. I am a human.

I take those moments of opposition, I take those moments of success and I reflect. I have honest conversations with myself that I am a human. I am one person. And all I can do is show up and do my best. And I have a lot of pride in my ability to handle that and how I do that.

And as I said before, I'm better for that. The katie that wanted to be a certain person and be perfect, to be the right leader at the right times and every moment, she was nowhere near as strong as how I consider myself today. Because today I'm realer. Today I operate in a real world where I have real employees that also have a real life. And you can approach things from that demeanor.

You tend to, I think it helps me find success. That's good, because like you said, if once you've come to the place of, you have awareness of yourself and you not only see your own areas of opportunity, we'll call them, can then have confidence. Okay. I know what I'm good at these things, not so good. And.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

But I see the people that are good at it. And so let's let them thrive in what their passions are and they're great at. So even how you and your husband approach parenting, like you guys have made decisions that not everybody else makes. And I think it's awesome that you guys are, like, doing things how you want to do it. So if you want to speak on that a little bit, go for it, because I know your husband's, like, an awesome cook and stuff, but it's more than just that.

Emily Bryant

Oh. For every accomplishment I've ever had, nothing will make me as important as my husband is. My husband is the stay at home dad. He is the. Ugh.

Told you. I'm not emotional. I'll cry. I could not do what I do without him putting his dreams on hold every day. And there is no more important work in my life than raising my children and developing our family.

And every day he shows up and does that job. When we had our first, we tried almost ten years ago. That'll make me cry harder. We tried to both work at the same time, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the parents that do that. And they all work and have to figure that out and navigate that.

But for us, it wasn't our solution. And me and my husband sat down, and I'm working days, he's working nights. We're never seeing each other. We got a three month at home. We both want to get to know better.

And at the time, he actually made more money than me. And he looked at me and he said, you love this. You love working, you love contributing. And he said, I don't love it as much, which is okay. He's a wonderful artist.

And again, he puts his dreams on hold every day so that I can go out there and make our family's dreams come true. And I believe that we both equally contribute to our life and our lifestyle. And we actually just had our 18 year anniversary together. We grew up together. Elementary, junior high in high school.

Started dating after high school. But I'm lucky. I'm married to my best friend. The father of my kids is amazing, and I could not hit any one of my goals without him in my corner and knowing that he is doing the most important job and raising those babies to be just wonderful human beings. That's great.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Thanks for sharing your story on that side. Because I know people might wonder, like, how are you able to do all you're doing and not alone? It takes a village. I also have a true village, and I think I can't. When you find your people, you hold on to them.

Emily Bryant

I talked about all the kids pitter pattering in my house. It is not uncommon for our village, who we're not related by blood, but my kids got lots and aunts and uncles, and we got. I got a lot of people that call me Aunt Katie. And, hey, I can't be here. Can you take three kids here?

Can you do two kids there? We village parent raise each other's kids and really try to instill that sense of community as well. Family is sometimes the people you choose, and I'm very lucky. I am one of the most supported people that I could imagine. Whether it's family, friends, guidance, mentors.

For myself, there's not one problem that can be put in front of me that if I can't solve, I can't find someone that'll stand by my side and help me solve it. That's great. Yeah. You can't. You really can't make certain career pursuits or decisions without support.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And you can rub against it for a while and try to, but that means something else is suffering for sure. If you don't have the support of your spouse or your support of other people, too, you really. And you have kids, I guess if you're a single person, I guess that's a different story. Probably don't know what that's like anymore. I think life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Emily Bryant

And you got to take pit stops and you need people to hand you water and to fan you down and tell you you can do it. And my life is a marathon. I sounds cheesy. I love my life. I am one of the most blessed people I know.

I don't have. My life is harder than some lives might be. I sometimes choose the difficult path as far as the expectations on myself and the growth. But I pick my life. And that's the greatest accomplishment I think I probably have thus far, other than my beautiful family is.

I would pick me. I would pick my life. And I love me. I love the way I do life. It doesn't.

Sometimes life is really hard. And there's some mornings where I'm like, oh, 30 minutes of sleep, I will cut off an arm. 30 minutes of sleep. But I would do that.

You know what? 04:00 a.m. Gives me an hour a day to myself and all the moms and dads and anyone in between. Whether or like, a moment by yourself is priceless. And I like to give myself that hour.

Every morning, I show up for me first, fill my cup up a little bit, and that lets me take care of everyone throughout the day. So for me, I can sacrifice that little bit of sleep to stay vivacious. That's good. Yeah. No, it's good that you've identified the need for that.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And even if it means at God. Awful time, eye serums and concealers have come a long way. Speaking for all women, we have options, and I like to embrace those options. Yeah, no, I probably should embrace some of those options. I'll send you some links after this.

Okay, perfect. Perfect. I don't want to look too makeup. I want an even tone to my face. A little spring freshness, little pepper step.

Oh, man. Apparently Sloan joins you at 04:00 a.m.. I. Oh, man. Hey, another powerhouse mama getting it done.

Emily Bryant

We got to find the time where we can. That's true. Oh, man. I guess maybe I need to take your guys's. I'm not a morning person.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

I'm a night. I'm a night owl. I unfortunately stay up late most times, so, yeah, how I roll. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for sharing a little bit more personally. Not everybody feels comfortable doing that, but I appreciate your candor in that.

And I am over there, so queen of overshare. I have to remind myself not everyone likes the full transparency, but I'm a. If you can't tell your people, like, you're right. If you take a look at my title and my family and everything, I appear like a woman in much more control of my life than I maybe am. Control what I can.

Emily Bryant

And I'm honest. Like, I love to tell people the things I'm failing at because for me, I see failure very uniquely. I'm failing forward. I'm learning. Even on my worst days.

I figured something out. If, even if nothing else is, I can survive this and wake up in the morning and try it again. That's good. That's great. And on the money.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Emily, she just said, we love you for it, Katie. And I just wanted to, like, use that as a segue because one thing you're doing right now is giving back to the industry as a mentor. And Emily, like I said earlier, is your mentee. What is it that made you want to take on that role? Because it is a commitment, especially in this program.

Program. Because it is commitment for the year, and there's a bunch of benchmark things that you guys are doing. So why'd you jump into that, and how's it going, and what have you learned about yourself in the midst of that? Ooh. Okay.

Emily Bryant

The why. And the reason is I don't think you can truly love anything if you don't want it to grow. And I truly love multifamily. I think because I'm second generation, like, this industry, like I said, I picked it. I'd pick it again.

I love that community and for me, it's one of my I'm probably going to butcher it. But one of my favorite quotes is the world's better when old men grow trees they'll never know the shade of, you know. And I'm someone that thinks if I'm not giving what I have and what I've learned and paid it forward, do I really appreciate this industry or am I conveniently placed within it? And that's something that I'm very passionate about. I don't exactly remember the other questions because I was focused so much on the answering the first part, but as far as the experience, go for it, remind me, cue cards.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Now I got to remember what I asked. So I think next was, what's it been like? A lot of the benchmarks and things that have been like to be a mentor so far, program for others that may consider it in the future and what is it you. The question after that is what have you learned about yourself? The program's been great.

Emily Bryant

I got an extra little sneak peek because also in my participation, my lifelong participation and WIMPFA's career development committee, I got to be part of the brainstorming that kind of brought this to reality. So I have even more of an expanded. But there's a beauty in just the energy. Seeing a room full of mentors give back to the future and to have that collection of ideas is just so rewarding. Selfishly, to participate within going to events with everyone and just, I like to think I bring the energy and fun, sometimes embracing the learning aspects, the support aspects, but also just this industry is fun.

Is there anything better than learning and growing while you're enjoying yourself? There's really not, unless there's a cocktail in your hand and one that helps us arrange that as well. So those are big things. And then what I've learned from it. Emily is so amazing.

We've worked together for a while, like in the same industry, and it shocked me how little I knew about her and her strength and her goals and her perseverance and her wants. And right away, that first emerging leader's orientation where we really got matched with our mentees and we got to sit down for just a few minutes. She reminds me so much of myself, but so much more poised and intelligent. And I get she's great. I know it's surprising people can be more poised and intelligent than me, but she is.

But there's something amazingly rewarding about getting that reminder of that energy of growth. Sometimes I'm so focused on fostering everyone else's growth that I forget about mine, and that's a hazard of the job. But just to be in that energy and having those conversations and getting to reflect again, I reflect a lot, probably more than a therapist would endorse. But to reflect on my career and my journey and the questions that I'm thankful I was asked and the questions and the support that I wish I was at lets me know how far I've come and how far I still want to go. That's great.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And where do you want to go? Other than world flooring, domination and speaking? I think I have pretty modest goals. I want to cultivate a life that I enjoy living continuously. I want to challenge myself.

Emily Bryant

I want to bring the people around me up. And I want to have that legacy of leadership when someday when I'm very old and very gray, still can dance. That'll never stop. I got a good shoulder. But when people think of me, they think of someone that contributed to their life.

That's my goal. I don't need glamorous things. I don't have this high title expectation of myself. I want to. I want to enjoy my life and I want to make the people that are touched by my life better for it.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Good. Those are good goals. Yeah. Thanks for sharing about all that. Thanks for hitting on the mentor program because it is such a new thing this year for Woomfa.

But I think it's fantastic that it's taking place, that it's happening. There's just been so much newness and trying new things by Woomfa in the last year or two, and it's really been fun to see it happening and the growth and to be a part of it as a supplier even, is really great. Even to give feedback, right? Like, just to be able to speak into things and see some of that feedback get taken. Not that all of it is.

I know that I personally have all the right answers and all the right. Feedback, but no, but that's the beauty of wympha. I have not got to experience all of naa, right? Like, I am the Washington girl for now. But Wumpha, I have been a member of Wympha since before I learned tact.

Emily Bryant

I have been a member of Wympha since I was a teenager and I have never felt like my voice didn't matter. And the OG. The Og is Trisha and Sloan especially. But everyone at Wimfoot, like, they know I'm one of the first, probably, like you, I would imagine, to give feedback positive or, hey, what if we try this next time, I got a strong voice and I like to use the power within that. And it's amazing because even if my suggestions doesn't fit within the buckets of wympha, or what they can feasibly do, I still know it's valued.

And that's what you want from your local association. That's what Wympha is designed for. We're a community of people growing, so I appreciate that. Yeah, no, it's awesome. And tied to that and your passion for the industry and supporting it.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Recently you even gave testimony down in Olympia. For those that don't know, Olympia is our capital here in Washington and is where all things politics happen. And here recently we've been having an onslaught of various bills that have come to the local legislature trying to make laws that make even suppliers in the industry of multifamily really have some roadblocks and things that could hurt even those industries. So what is it that you did and why did you feel compelled to do it? In this case, as part of the emerging Leaders program, we had this great.

Emily Bryant

Our first topic is legislative, and we got to hear a lot about what's going on, day of the hill and lots of fun stuff. And one of the things that was brought up was a pet deposit bill and some limitations. And I will say, I believe when it comes to our industry, it doesn't matter if you're on site, it doesn't matter if you're a vp, it doesn't matter if you're a supplier. We are all fighting for our industry and some potential laws were coming down the way. And there's not a lot you can call me for an expert witness, but when it comes to dog pee and damage and carpet on your table.

So it was my time to shine. I'm the Liam Neeson of pet deposits, but luckily I had some data and I had some facts, and it was such a rewarding experience to be able to feel like I could impact this industry in that way and support what we needed. I encourage anyone and everyone that has even a 1% interest to reach out to wympha. They will get you up to speed and make sure your voice is also heard in all the ways it can be. But it was, again, 20 years, like, I don't get a lot of new experiences, and that one was really cool.

It was really fun for me and I'm just glad it was received so well. I honestly was not expecting it to be like, received the volume that it was. I had so many people reach out and thank me. And honestly, I just did it. Cause sometimes doing the right things reason enough.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So as a result, that bill did not pass. Right. I think that's a result of wympha more so than me, but. Well, not just you, but you helped. My brain hurt it a certain way.

Emily Bryant

It felt very complimentary. But no, no, I'm glad that I got to just hopefully provide some facts and some reasons on why I just didn't pencil out. And yeah, that bill did not move through. It did not pass. Helped score a win, which was great.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

And what is it that you said? Because some people might be like, oh, everybody, all the multifamily, they're just trying to nickel and dime me and get all my money and all these deposits and things, they're just garbage. But what is it you said? I broke down some facts. There was.

Emily Bryant

One of the things specifically was talking about putting a cap on the amount of pet deposit you could get, which was dollar 500, I believe. And the average, I just talked about some numbers. About $1,300 is actually the average cost just for carpet. If you got a higher flooring, it's more to deal with some pet damage. The frequency of the amount of work we do, the percentages in which require that.

And honestly, the part of me that can never really follow a script heard. I was like out of 17, I think I was the 15th person to testify. And I just heard person after person share their own beliefs and opinions, which I respect. But also I did not jive with my facts and my understanding of things. So I also just shared that with 20 years experience, I can promise you, pets create damage.

I love pets. I've got dogs, I've got. The boys aren't pets, but I've dealt with them. Learning, too. Understand that part of living sometimes is damages.

But that's why we have pet deposits, that's why we have fees, that's why we have protections for those that provide quality housing. And as someone that puts in floors in a lot of smelly places sometimes just because the previous pets doing the thing, I feel a responsibility to make sure that operators are set up for success, to take care of that for the next resident coming in. A lot of people focus on the monies of it, and that is a very valid thing for operators. But let's talk about the quality of living for the next resident. That should also be taken care of.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Absolutely. So, yeah, I think we also need to realize when you don't personally own something, when you're renting, you don't necessarily have as much ownership in that. So the level of care of a unit and things by some people, not everyone, isn't always the greatest. Yes, I think I've been into lots of places, whether they're owner occupied, rented, whatever it is. I've seen some things I can't come.

Back from, especially around pets. Oh, I've also experienced this, but, yes, go ahead. I have been in a unit where I. Many years ago. Sorry, this is a side note, but it's a great story.

Emily Bryant

I've been in a unit where I was in this apartment home, and the resident had said, there's something wrong with my floors. They're wavy, they're not working. So the property manager was like, can you come out? I think we have an issue. And I came out, and pretty quickly, not to get too carpet nerdy technical, found some delamination due to some urine saturation.

And I was like, hey, and that's not my job to talk to the resident. Right. But I was trying to explain it to both of them, that we have to be diplomatic. That's part of it. That's being on a podcast.

That's part of it. But while I was in the unit and the resident was adamant, she said, my dog has never urinated in this unit. And out of respect for where my role is, I didn't explain the general ambiance of smell. But as we were having this conversation, her dog came and lifted their leg and started peeing all over me. My dog is never, and then my.

Dog has never and then immediately proved my point. But we listen. They're homes. Things happen. If you're a resident that's going to care for your, for the property in the right ways, posits come back.

If you're using amenity spaces, if you are using dog runs, or if you have a dog that gets excited when they finally get to go down an elevator, those pet fees, like those, I can tell you, like, they affect, there's a reason why they're there. So I am not the smartest speaker of this by any means, but I got opinions. And you have an educated outlook because you've actually been in the industry observing all that's taken place regarding it. So I think when we don't actually call on people that are educated or have firsthand knowledge of how these things impact the end product, the housing, and then who's going to then be able to use it? Because if we can't make it and or it's not covered by deposits, that means it just more and more gets eaten.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Into the profits or even just the ability to maintain a community. And then where are we? We just have these communities that get worse and worse and worse. Yeah, it's, it's just part of life. It's part of the industry.

Emily Bryant

We got to take care of our responsibilities and our property. I will do a plug for wympha, respond a call to actions, whether it's on pet bills or something else. Like I said, you got that voice. So I just, Lucky, was lucky enough to have a little bit of experience in this category and the ability to not be quiet. We put those together.

This worked for me. But I would encourage every, we all have our own expertise. Whatever your local association or affiliation is, do what feels right to you, always. And never underestimate the ability to let your voice be heard and how impactful that is. Takes a lot of little voices to create a roar.

So. Totally, and I think we have two great people on our staff at Woomfa, Ryan and Carter. And they are doing their best to educate us all on what's going on in Olympia and otherwise, and bringing it a little more dumbed down for us. People that can't read bills and stuff, we're not lawyers. When we watch videos on how to create a bill, I refreshed all that.

I did some googling, but it's been. Really great to get those alerts and I've actually participated. I've clicked the link and I've done the testimony written in, said, hey, this is my opinion. Said yes or no or whatever. Honestly, before I saw that, I didn't even know you could do that.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So I didn't think anyone would ever. Want me to do it. But yeah, yeah, but even just the simple, like giving your opinion and also saying yes or no to it, it's very simple and it's something then they have to show the lawmakers, hey, there's this many people that are opposed to this or whatever it is. And the more educated we can be about all these things that affect everybody. Housing is something everyone has.

Emily Bryant

Absolutely. Hopefully has. So knowing how it affects us all, both in our job and just how. We live, very much agree. It's.

I think the goal is that there's this stigma sometimes that landlords are the bad guy. And I think because I have such a depth of appreciation for the fact our industry provides housing. How's that? The bad guy, that the more we can do to collaborate with both sides and the more we can do to make sure voices are heard can only lead to better outcomes. You can't complain if you didn't say anything, in my opinion.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So I was raised, yeah, say something. And hopefully we can have more and more dialogue over time and the parties can come together. That would be really good. Cause there's some very strong opinions, especially on side of rent control and stuff. So it's passionate and I get it.

Like, you want your housing to be affordable. I totally agree with that. You know, I think most, as most things in life, true collaboration only makes them better. It's hard when you. Sometimes it's hard housing.

Emily Bryant

It's our homes. Right. Emotions are tied to homes. I don't think there's a bad guy in this. I really don't.

I think it's people that are looking through it through different lenses. Now, fundamentally, you have to make it in this state and in all states where people can logistically provide quality housing. And sometimes that includes rent increases, sometimes that includes other things that you have to make sure business operators have the ability to do. Otherwise you're not going to have enough housing. And then we truly do have a different level of housing crisis.

We're going to need a lot of units coming on board in the next few years. And the way we make sure we can do that is by making sure that it makes sense for developers and operators to have quality rental housing in the state. It's just housing in general. Build more of it. If you have less, that that just fundamentally means it's more expensive.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

So let's not encourage less. I'm not an expert on it, but like you said, rental stabilization, also known as another word that might not protect that kid coming out of college, that family that's getting divorced, that single mom that the next resident to come in. All businesses have to operate and everything has to balance. So my goal would just be that we can come up with a collaborative, cohesive plan that serves everyone. At the end of the day, I'm a mom and I'm a human being.

Emily Bryant

I would love to live in a world where everyone has an opportunity for housing as long as they're willing to take those opportunities. And I want to make sure that we're supporting, creating more opportunities. Yep, absolutely. Katie, thank you so much for being on boss talks today. This was fun.

Thank you so much for letting me, Gabbage. Yeah, and thank you, everybody for the comments and the cheerleading. I consider all of you part of my village, too. So thank you so much. Yes, thanks for joining us.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

Thanks for talking. Contributing your comments definitely makes for a fun show. So I again, just thank you so much for jumping in for all you do for our local industry, which has waves into other places too. So even though you are here and you are Washington, there is an impact beyond that, I'm sure. Keep doing what you're doing.

Totally appreciate all our interactions and the time we get to spend together in the different things that we got going on here in Woomfa. And next week, Ed Kahn. Yeah. Over 1900 attendees. Our first time at the Washington Convention center.

Emily Bryant

The powerhouse team at Wympha is putting on one of the best shows I can imagine. I am so excited to be there. We are the registration sponsor, so everyone will get to see one up floor. This is their first arriving. But I love Ed Conde.

I've had so many of them. I'm so excited. So yeah, I can't wait to see you on Tuesday. Yeah, me as well. We have our largest booth to date and we're trying to have a little fun with our booth.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

This year we actually bought a photo booth. So come get your photo with your boss bling and all the things and we are ready to host you at the community boss booth as well and have a good time. Enjoy Edcon and learn lots as we what is the tagline? Learn, connect, grow? Is that the word?

Yes. Learn, connect, grow. I think all those things will be done and some at Edcon. Love the energy. I cannot wait.

Emily Bryant

So let's party. Absolutely. All right, see you guys next week. Thanks for watching. This has been boss talks.

Katie Phelan-Chostner

If you want to be a guest, you can be because I host all the bosses. Whether that's a person that is just starting out in the industry but killing it, or you're a maintenance tech or a regional CEO, whatever you are, a supplier, property manager, I want to know you. I want to give you an opportunity to share while you're a boss at what you do. So reach out to me and we'll make it happen. But this again has been boss talks and I'll see you next week.

Evan Happel

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Boss Talks podcast. If you would like to be a guest on the show, please reach out via email@infocommunityboss.com if you enjoyed the show, be sure to like, share and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the podcast podcast live every Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on the community boss, LinkedIn or Facebook pages. Until next time, manage like a boss.