CR Magazine - Summer 2018

Continued from page 17
They also think I’m funny! I’m pretty laid back and I joke around a
lot. I connected well with members in Seattle because they could
stop by and see me. I’m not formal and I’m not untouchable.
CR: What has been most instrumental to your professional success?
MMC: I’m a listener. I like to listen to the needs of staff and members
— you learn more from listening than you do from talking.
I also have good instincts. I’m good at elevating strengths as well
as complementing weaknesses. I like to create an equal playing
field — working with everyone from the board of directors and
executive team, to the front-line staff. I see great value in what
different people and viewpoints can bring to the table.
CR: How did you know association management was what you
wanted to do?
MMC: I was working at a TV station as an associate producer in
college at Bradley University in Peoria. I remember walking out of
the station and another producer’s car was smoking in the parking
lot. As he slammed the hood of the car down, he said, “If you stay
in tv, this is what you’re looking forward to!” I was like, “I definitely
don’t want that. I need to find another job!”
I enjoyed event planning and working for nonprofit organizations
in college, so I looked for a job that had that. I ended up at the
Boy Scouts of America doing fundraising, volunteer management,
training and working with the board. It was all encompassing,
which I loved. From there, I took on another fundraising and
volunteer management position with the Muscular Dystrophy
Association. My commitment to association management
came when I went to work with the world’s largest association
management company, SmithBucklin. SmithBucklin manages
more than 200 different associations, and they train you to be as
effective and valuable as possible for those association clients.
It’s basically a crash-course in board governance, volunteer
management, member relations and leadership training at a
fast pace — and I loved it. To have my career focus on helping
people be the best they can be, and have the best resources and
experience they can have in their professions, means a lot to me,
so I made a strategic decision to stay in that realm.
I am not the person that likes to sit behind a computer all day —
I’m a people person, and associations give you that opportunity
to meet with members and engage one-on-one. My mom still
doesn’t entirely understand what I do [laughs] but she recognizes
the REALTOR ® brand.
CR: What drew you to real estate?
MMC: When I moved to Seattle, association management wasn’t
viewed as a career the way it is here in Chicago and in Washington,
D.C. So, I got a certificate in commercial real estate from the
University of Washington, which solidified my interest in the industry.
I started at NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate & Development
Association, working with developers. I’d walk around my Seattle
neighborhood and identify new projects that were going up.
Seattle is booming in commercial real estate, and we watched
the Amazon campus grow up around us. It underscored the
importance of the real estate industry to everyone’s lives.
Then, when I switched over to working with brokers and was
introduced to the MLS system, that was intriguing. I had been on
the consumer end, in going through the homebuying process,
and I’ve seen real estate from the developer perspective and
the commercial broker perspective. Real estate touches so
many people, and I love being able to continue to educate
people on the industry and its importance. It came out the blue,
but it’s been such a good fit.
This role at CAR — I wasn’t looking for it. I was content in Seattle.
But, CAR is an organization that is so well respected — not just
in real estate but throughout the association world. I love what
CAR represents in being the Voice for Real Estate in Chicago —
and Chicago’s such a major market. It’s a real honor.
CR: What opportunities do you see for CAR to expand our influence
and better provide resources and services for our members?
MMC: I’m excited to be back in my hometown and learn more
about what’s coming down the pipeline in real estate. It’s exciting
to see how the city is poised to transform and how the market
could react to that, good and bad. Being born and raised here, I
have a different appreciation for what Chicago’s been and what it
is — to have a hand in shaping our city’s future through our work at
CAR is incredible.
The REALTOR ® organization is the largest trade organization with
an outsized lobbying influence. In Chicago, the political machine,
tying the REALTOR ® brand to that is very impactful — we can have
a positive influence on the issues that can negatively impact the
community.
Our government affairs directors are good at looking at, “What’s
the impact of this ordinance on REALTORS ® as well as the
community?” I want CAR to be at the forefront of working to
educate the community on these issues and how it can affect
them. Homeownership in general is a win-win for everyone. So,
how can we put our resources and membership to work for the
community? I want the community to know that if they work with
a REALTOR ® , they’ll be taken care of and have all the information
they need.
As I learn more about our members and their involvement in
our 77 different communities, I’m very interested in ensuring our
services and resources are accessible to our entire member base.
I have a strong interest in ensuring all areas of our membership
are represented and provided for, regardless of their geographic
location — including education. CE and education is at the core of
keeping your license — we must ensure our education offerings
are accessible to all.
I’m interested in continuing to build our commercial presence and
involvement. That’s where a lot of my background is, so I can be
a huge asset to our CommercialForum members. Commercialspecific
CE and education is important to me; I’d like to continue
to grow that, too.
18 Chicago REALTOR ® Magazine