Proving Yourself

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Hey friend,

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 And welcome to the 25th weekly edition of Pillow Talk! This is where I share my personal thoughts on life, business, and property management.

This week is episode three of Common Threads🧵

As part of the 2025 Leading Women in Property Management program (LWPM), each honoree answered a questionnaire covering a wide range of topics. We noticed that, despite coming from different generations, backgrounds, geographies, and companies, they share remarkably similar experiences and perspectives.

This series explores those common threads and shares what it takes to become a leader in property management 💪

Common Threads 🧵 Episode #3: Proving Yourself

The climb up the property management ladder is a tough one. It’s even harder when others dismiss you for something you can’t control.

That’s the common thread in property management we’re talking about this week. Like many of you reading this, the Leading Women in Property Management faced negative biases that made proving their credibility to coworkers, clients, and vendors an uphill battle.

Misty Berger, who sold her PMC after 12 years, had to overcome an age barrier when she was starting out:

Former Operations Manager of PURE Property Management of Georgia, Bess Wozniak, was seen as the “boss’s daughter” when she joined her family’s company:

“My biggest challenge was proving I belonged. As a young woman in property management, and the boss’s daughter, no less, I knew I had an extra hurdle to clear. Clients and maintenance vendors who’d worked with my dad for decades often defaulted to, “Let me talk to your dad,” or “I trust his opinion more.”’

And Director of Property Management, Ashley Andreoni-Romo, faced a very similar challenge when she entered the industry:

“Because my mom was a highly respected accountant at the same workplace, I felt I had to prove to everyone that I deserved to be in this space, and that it was not due to sheer luck or nepotism. I was also extremely young – 19 – when I began my career.”

The Leadership Lesson

These stories show us that leaders don’t let negative bias stop them. Every day was a battle to prove themselves, but they pushed through.

Was it fair? No. Understandable? Maybe. Green employees do tend to need their hand held. Kind of comes with the territory. And we’ve all seen or heard true examples of nepotism in the workplace, which can cause us to see it where it isn’t.

Fair or not, everyone at some point will face negative biases from others. But as we see from Ashley, Bess, and Misty, what separates leaders from the rest is their drive to overcome them.

Good night 😴

Lior Abramovich
Co-founder, CEO