Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Ward.
Whitney, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story starts back to me growing up in the DMV (DC|Maryland|VA) area. I’m originally from Maryland and went to college at George Mason University, where I not only majored in Public Relations but also played Division I basketball for the Lady Patriots (2004-2009 seasons). After graduating in 2008, it was significantly hard to find jobs…the market had crashed in 2006 and 2007 and was still hurting around this time. I was fortunate enough to begin my corporate career at Enterprise. My beginning was humble, I started as a Management Trainee and worked myself up to a Branch Manager within two years. After two years… At my first “Adult Job”… I knew that this career wasn’t going to be my forever career, so I applied to several jobs both locally in the DMV area and the Atlanta area and finally after several applications and resumes, I landed an unpaid internship as the Events & Marketing Intern with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in Lilburn, GA.
I was so excited for the opportunity to get back around the game of basketball, while also getting out of a career that I was not passionate about… It didn’t matter to me that it was unpaid, I have always been driven to go after what I believe in and my passions. I moved to Atlanta in January 2012 and began my internship with the WBCA. While interning for the WBCA, I was one of six interns that participated in organizing and coordinating the 2012 Women’s Final Four in Denver, CO, in which Baylor University won that year. It was an amazing experience, but as I mentioned earlier, it was unpaid… When the internship ended I was still working hard to pursue a career in Women’s Basketball. I sent applications and resumes for Director of Operations/Assistant Coaching positions to over 150 schools (literally) and was either turned down or never responded to from every single school. This wasn’t my first time failing…I had lost games, been turned down for positions, not called back for jobs, but this was the most painful. At the time, I had no real source of income, I was working a part-time retail job in a city I was completely new to.
During this time, I looked for opportunities for employment everywhere… Even considered joining the military…but then I got an interview call from Coca-Cola in Atlanta. This was my first big break in Atlanta… And I was enormously thankful. While at Coca-Cola, I brought the same competitive mindset and hard working attitude… I was with the company for five years and within those five years, I was promoted twice. At the time, I didn’t realize how many valuable business and leadership skills that I had learned from my past career/internship and continued to learn at Coca-Cola. I knew that I was able to adapt, learn quickly, lead, and be successful… But I didn’t know what this would mean for my future. Moving into the last year with Coca-Cola, I started to feel that familiar feeling of boredom, unhappiness, constraint, and lack of opportunities/growth. I needed to move into a career that challenged me and offered me endless opportunities for success. I’m driven by competition, learning, growth, and development and my current career at the time was not providing that for me. So this time, I changed the script… I did not apply for another job, I started obsessing over personal development and growth. I started identifying what I wanted and how I needed to get it. This simple started with me picking up books to read and listening to podcasts.
Now I had always been interested in Real Estate but never knew how to get involved…. Until I listened to a podcast by Clayton Morris, and was introduced to passive income. I begin listening every day to this podcast, taking notes, creating educational reference folders, attending conferences, and started learning the Real Estate language. I not only learned Real Estate, but I learned the value of Financial Freedom and the four quadrants of Income. I realized the quadrant I had grown up learning and was currently participating in would likely result in me working for the rest of my life. (probably without a retirement). So, I decided to change this by getting my Real Estate license in Georgia. When I first became licensed, I continued to keep my career job because of my limiting and fear based mindset. I thought that I would be successful keeping my 9-5 and also brokering deals, but in reality, I was scared to take the risk. I battled with deciding to quit until one day after a long conversation with my dad… He said to me, “If you’re not happy… Then just quit”….. This response was the push I needed because the next day I quit my 9-5 and went into Real Estate full time – and haven’t looked back since.
During the early part of my Real Estate career, I dedicated my time to learning my niche. I knew that Investment Real Estate was my interest and was the reason I originally got my Real Estate license, so I stayed focused on this… And started taking financial classes, learning the investment real estate language, how to underwrite deals, how to identify good deals, and the relationships I needed to be successful – (self made is what I call it!). Over time, I was able to grow my knowledge, experience, and reputation in the industry to propel my real estate career and open my own Commercial Real Estate firm. The journey wasn’t easy but every day I wake up and I’m able to live my passion, I’m humbled and grateful.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
NO! I say that with conviction because not one day was easy. Not one path was paved for me. Both my parents are hard working and responsible individuals and did a great job raising me and my three siblings, but they aren’t Entrepreneurs. They had never built a business from the ground up… Making me the first to do this in my immediate family. I’m in Commercial Real Estate, a lot of my competitors have been blessed with the opportunity of having a family history in the business or a pathway that already identified them being involved in this industry.
For me, I took the lessons, hard work, and determination that I learned from my parents to build my opportunities. I look at challenges and struggle as a learning lesson with a solution… I keep a solution based mindset and never make an excuse for myself. I believe excuses block growth and success. I never regret my decision to be in this career or compare my life to anyone else’s. I continue to have success and opportunities by staying focused, working hard, constantly educating myself, and my faith in God.
Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Intuitive Management Partners is an Atlanta, GA based Commercial Multifamily Investment Sales & Portfolio Management firm. We specialize in small to mid-sized multifamily properties and use our specialized expertise in Portfolio Management to help both Private Capital and Institutional Investors achieve maximum property performance. Through our expertise in operations, we can aggressively sell the asset and procure the right buyer for exit strategy optimization.
I work directly with our investor clients to identify their Multifamily investment goals, once identified, I either bring on my Portfolio Management team to drive operational initiatives or aggressively sell the asset to maximize the disposition goals of our clients.
I’m most proud of the fact that my company and team found a niche market in Commercial Real Estate. By providing a niche service, we can separate ourselves from what other Commercial Real Estate firms do and bring value to our specific cliental.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is the actions that are taken when no one is looking. This means choosing to better yourself every day… This could be by reading, listening to webinars, attending conferences… Going to the gym… Eating clean… Whatever it means to better yourself… That is success to me. Success is not always measured on the wins vs losses… Because if you’re doing the things to better yourself… The wins are always destined to come.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1000 Parkwood Circle Suite 900 Atlanta, GA 30339
- Website: www.intuitivemp.com
- Email: info@intuitivemp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intuitive_mp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/intuitivemanagementpartners/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneywardmultifamilyinvestments/
Image Credit:
Superluxe Studios
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