At Cardinal we believe we have the most well-trained, experienced professionals that care about the communities they serve. Each month we’ll feature one of our awesome team members in our Employee Spotlight. Today, get to know Ashlee Schmidt, Administrative Manager
My role here at Cardinal is the administrative manager. I overlook all admins in our Naples office and handle the entirety of the lease/purchase applications.
I first learned about Cardinal through my mother, Lori, who started working here a few months before I did. She would talk about the fun-loving office environment, and I thought I could thrive in such an uplifting work environment.
She would also talk about how friendly, welcoming, and accommodating her coworkers work, and I was excited to start my journey with these peers.
With Cardinal's family-oriented perspective, I have been able to balance my career and family life amazingly! I have been able to be there for my family when something goes wrong, and I have been allowed opportunities to take beautiful trips with my family with Cardinal and its staff supporting me while I'm gone. Especially with Covid 19, Cardinal was very accommodating to those who felt it unsafe to come to work during these trying times.
What I find most challenging about my role/position is customers bring another level of challenge into the mix each day. The vast majority of customers and clients that I deal with on a daily basis are polite and understating, there is generally an element that is belligerent and hard to handle. This can potentially frustrate employees as well as managers like myself which is what is most challenging about my role/position.
Cardinal has been wonderful when helping me with my career development by showing me that failure is never a fail. Like it or not, messing up is an essential part of the success process. Cardinal has given me the tools and determination to become better with each role I take on. The three lessonsI have learned thus far is don’t let silly things rob your happiness, what worries you masters you and together is always better. Many people would rather go it alone, here at Cardinal success is a TEAM sport.
I would like to see Mila Kunis cast as me because she has a great personality and tackles each and every scenario in life with each film she is in.
Cardinal Management's Naples office is one big family. Not only are we coworkers, but we are all friends and family. Working in such a small office environment allows us to know each employee who works here personally. We often have office get-togethers to celebrate our hard work at both the end of the season and the end of the year. Cardinal works hard to ensure that each employee knows that their hard work is noticed and appreciated, even in such a thankless job.
A few tips I would give someone looking into the community management industry are don't be afraid to ask questions, don't take anything personally, and continuously reassure yourself that you're doing a great job.Most people who come into community management feel it's not okay to ask questions as they should "know what to do." That statement is not accurate. Many times a new hire comes in; we tell them, "we prefer you ask a billion questions rather than setting yourself up for fail." Community management is a very thankless job, and it's hard sometimes to feel like you are doing good work. Most owners are frustrated with their circumstances, which often leads to nasty remarks that often can hit hard to one's self-worth.However, Cardinal will make sure to show appreciation for the hard work you do daily.
