What ties the multifamily industry together is our mission to give people a place to call home — a place where they can grow and thrive. The options for you to grow and thrive in your multifamily career are numerous.

So, how do you pick your path? Zillow Group gathered multifamily marketing leaders together to provide you with insights on how to elevate your career.

Advice they received

When I first started in this industry, colleague and mentor at the time said to me, ‘It's much more important to always do the right thing rather than always do things right.’  And that has been a compass for me through my career and is advice I give my team as we grow.”

— Sarah Greenough, Chief Marketing Officer & Executive Vice President, Princeton Properties

“Empathy. Whether it's your direct team or the field teams that we support or the customers, understand what they’re thinking about. What are they going through? If you have with your customers, it changes what you deliver for them. And if it's a part of your culture, it really changes how the teams interact.”

— David Dear, Vice President of Interactive Marketing, Equity Residential

Advice they wish they'd received

“When I look back at when I started in the industry, I was almost straight out of college. I wish that at that time I collaborated a little bit better and utilized the resources that I had at my fingertips, I think I quickly learned how to do that. Think about all the other team members that you're surrounded by and really utilize and leverage the knowledge that they have.”

— Jennifer Staciokas, Senior Vice President, Pinnacle Property Management Services

“I wish I had picked up earlier in my career how valuable national connections are within our industry, because it's a very unique environment that we are collaborative — even though we are competitors — where that is not the same in a lot of other industries. So, I would have liked to tap into that earlier, and I strongly recommend it to anyone coming up with me now.”

— Sarah Greenough

Advice they give

“You don't always want to stay inside your comfort zone. If an opportunity presents itself, go through that door, no matter how scared you are … I think that affords you the maximum opportunities to really move into a leadership role yourself because you expand your breadth and depth of knowledge and experience within the company.”

— Michael Manfred, Vice President of Marketing, Brookfield Properties

“I always say to my team, ‘If you're going to spend 50 percent of your waking hours at this job, you should enjoy it.’ If you're not having fun and you're not enjoying the people you're with, you need to go on and get another job.”

— Kevin Thompson, Chief Marketing Officer, Carlisle Residential Properties