February 2017

PRESIDENT’S CORNER DENISE BECKER, CMCA, AMS, PCAM CAI-NJ 2017 PRESIDENT | HOMESTEAD MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.

“Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest places if you look at it right.” Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia – “Scarlet Begonias”

I n last month’s column, I talked about mentoring and how every member of CAI has the potential of being a mentor/ ambassador for a younger member and the chapter as a whole. As a follow up to that, I wanted to share my own story about my mentor in the community association industry. When I was in high school, I participated in a program that allowed me to leave half a day to go to work “in the real world” to earn credits towards graduation. My assign- ment was with a small accounting firm as the mail clerk. After graduation, I was offered a full time position, and the firm sent me to accounting classes at the local college. My boss, who was a staff accountant, spent a lot of time with me, not just teaching me accounting principles, but also business etiquette and, basically, how the real world worked. She was my first real mentor. A few years later she was approached by the partners to be a part of a new division of the firm that would handle financials for condo- minium associations. As luck would have it, she asked me to join her team. While the team was being assembled I sat there in sheer panic. She must have noticed the look on my face and asked if I had any questions. Sheepishly I asked – “what’s a condominium?” That was 1985. The rest, as they say, is history. It is no great stretch to say I owe her a lot of the credit for where I am today. She never held me back, even when I moved on as her employee to other opportunities in my career. I was taken along where she went, introduced to people that would influence my career path, joined com- mittees with her, and saw her at many, many CAI events. My mentor has now retired, and is enjoying her family, children, grandchildren and now two great grandchildren, having left her mark on the industry and on me. As members of CAI, we all have the potential to bring along someone new, to introduce them to the benefits of CAI

"Sheepishly I asked – 'what’s a condominium?' That was 1985. The rest, as they say, is history." And speaking of mentors, let us not forget the wealth of knowledge that is our chapter’s past presidents. I know that when I have an unfamiliar issue, I can pick the brilliant minds of those who came before me. People like Ron Perl, Chris Florio, Nina Stanton, and Marie Mirra, to name a few and, yes, even Larry Sauer. I could never forget to men- tion how I wish I could still chat with Jules Frankel. It means so much to me to have the support and encouragement (and cell phone numbers) of all those fantastic individuals. Finally, part of having such an amazing and active chap- ter is recognizing and honoring those individuals who have shined their light over the past year for their efforts in support of the chapter. That includes all those who spoke, sponsored and attended chapter programs, wrote an article or articles for Community Trends ® , gave selflessly to charity causes and those who have contributed or assisted in any way to the advancement of the chapter or a committee. On Thursday, February 16, 2017 at The Palace at Somerset Park, we will celebrate those individuals for their support of CAI-NJ. I look forward to seeing many of you there, toasting our award winners and to another great year! membership, to join and serve on a committee and to attend a networking or educational event. If you do one thing this year, if you have one goal, please find a person that you can mentor. Even in the smallest sense. Shine your light!

Peace and Love, Denise

5

F E B R U A R Y , 2 0 1 7