• 01:26 - Meet Vanessa Grayson, business manager at Lincoln Property Company in Kansas City, Missouri
• 04:48 - How Vanessa got started in multifamily
• 06:39 - Working hard and living strong with a support system
• 08:38 - Things I’ve learned over my 8 years in leasing and multifamily
• 17:00 - Looking backward to measure personal growth
• 21:01 - Enjoy your work, but stay professional
• 23:33 - More lessons that the multifamily taught Vanessa
• 26:45 - A note about diversity in the multifamily industry
• 29:11 - It’s never too early to start mentoring others
• 32:57 - Our 3 favorite Community Boss questions

Although unconventional, Vanessa went from working in a bar to business manager in a matter of a few short years. How’d she do it? (And how can you do it too?) “There is no fast track to this…it all comes down to work ethic, drive, and what motivates you to get up every day and get the job done.”

Navigating work in the multifamily industry — “probably one of the toughest industries” — and balancing life behind the scenes takes some skill. Here are 10 nuggets of truth from Vanessa, also known as The Queen of the Hard Route:

1. Life is hard. From single motherhood, no post-secondary education, depression, and anxiety, Vanessa partnered hard work with a strong support system to work her way up in the industry.
2. You have a purpose. “Once you understand the purest and truest form to accept yourself for who you are and to not quit because there is so much light at the end of the tunnel — it is the most invigorating thing I've ever felt in my life.”
3. Don’t glorify the grind. Not everyone will understand your drive for work, yet give yourself permission to rest. “It’s okay to take a step back and take a break and realign yourself with your purpose, just recenter and refocus.”
4. Be grateful. “This industry has just afforded me so much support and love, and has put me in a financial state to have bought my first home and to make sure that my children have whatever it is that they need... multi-family truly changed my life.” 
5. Let someone tell you “no.” “Having someone tell me no was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Having someone make me feel like I could do better, or there was more of me to give, or there was more that could be pulled out of me.”
6. No table is designed with your seat pulled out. “You have to be ready and willing to do the work, put the work in, and provide a level of work ethic that you may not have seen from yourself.”
7. Lean on the people around you. “Because when you’re doubting yourself, you've got other people still rooting for you to keep pushing and keep grinding it out.”
8. Don’t be afraid of change. “It can be extremely scary. But if you don’t tap into that, you’re going to become stagnant. If we do things the way that we've always done them, the only thing that we have coming to us is the same thing that's already here.”
9. Embrace diversity. “It’s uncomfortable. It's outside of what you know. But easy doesn’t get you very far, right?”
10. It’s never too early to mentor others. “It’s incredible to see [my mentors] light the path for me so that I can go and light the path for someone else.”

And one final piece of advice from Vanessa: “If Evan asks you to be on the Boss Talks podcast, you have to go be on Boss Talks.”

#bosstalks

*The views and opinions expressed on Boss Talks are those of the host and their guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Community Boss.