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In multifamily housing, leadership is often measured by what someone manages.
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Properties.
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Teams.
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Portfolios.
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Problems that rarely come with simple answers.
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But leadership is also measured by how someone shows up for their residents, their teams, and their industry.
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On this episode of The Brief, Aubrey sits down with Jennifer Spadeenee, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, past MHA board chair, longtime instructor, and active member of the MHA community.
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Their conversation covers Jennifer’s path into property management, business ownership, service, and the kind of legacy built through steady involvement over time.
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Because as Jennifer says, “iron sharpens iron.”
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And in this industry, people grow by learning from each other, challenging each other, and showing up again and again.
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This is The Brief.
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You're listening to the Brief, a podcast from the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association.
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Whether you're a property owner, manager, maintenance pro, product/service partner, or just curious about the industry we've got fresh insights, and quick takes, to keep you informed and ahead of the curve.
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No fluff.
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No filler.
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If it affects your residents, your business, or your bottom line.
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You'll hear about it here.
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This industry provides more than buildings.
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It offers Minnesotans a solution for home That solution is multi housing.
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Welcome to MHAs, The Brief.
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This episode of The Brief is proudly sponsored by our founding partner, Citizens State Bank.
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Rooted in the Upper Midwest with a growing presence in Minnesota, Citizens State Bank is deeply committed to supporting the region’s housing providers and small businesses through personalized financial solutions.
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Whether you're financing a new property in the Twin Cities, refinancing in Rochester, or expanding your operations across the state, their experienced team is here to help.
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Citizens State Bank specializes in property management banking solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of Minnesota’s property owners and managers.
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From commercial real estate loans, competitive deposit accounts, and a state-of-the-art business online banking suite, they provide the local insight and resources you need to keep your business moving forward.
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Experience the difference of working with a bank that understands Minnesota communities.
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Visit csbnet.net
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to learn how Citizens State Bank can help you achieve your goals.
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Member FDIC.
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Equal Housing Lender.
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Thanks to Citizens State Bank for backing this podcast and helping us bring valuable industry insights to Minnesota and beyond—week after week.
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Hello.
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Joining me today is Jennifer Spadini, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, and someone many MHA members know through her years of leadership, teaching, and service to the association.
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Jennifer began her career in property management in 1990, later purchased the company that became Guardian Property Management and helped it grow into a company managing more than 1,100 units with a team of 28.
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She's also a past MHA board chair, active committee member, and a familiar face in MHA classrooms.
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Jennifer, welcome to the Brief.
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Hello.
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Thank you for having me.
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I am excited and looking forward to this okay, let's dive right into it.
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So before we talk about leadership and legacy, I'd love to go back to the beginning.
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How did you first find your way into property management, and what has kept you in the industry? So back in 1990, I was 19 years old, and my father and I managed a mobile home park, and we did that for about five years, and then I moved into the multi-housing industry.
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So that's how I got into it, and what kept me is two things: the people and the variety of the day.
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No day is ever the same That is very true.
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So in 2004, you purchased the company that became Guardian Property Management.
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What do you remember most about that transition from employee and leader within a company to the owner? So the biggest thing is really the surprise.
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I had never wanted, like, I wanna own a business, and this is my end goal.
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I really found myself in that situation.
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I was working at a company that was a startup.
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We were managing scattered site, single-family homes, some small apartment buildings.
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And then company went up for sale, and my husband encouraged me to purchase it.
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So I worked hard, and again, found myself in a situation where I am now owning the company, and I loved it.
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I was having a very good experience.
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And what I remember most about the transition from employee to leader, in the beginning, it was a lot of hard work, lot of hours, lot of time at the office, a lot of figuring out things that I had to worry about now that I didn't have to worry about as an employee.
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the transition went smoothly, and I enjoyed having a very small team.
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When I first started, it was myself, a person in the office, a leasing person, and one handyman what is one leadership lesson you think you had to learn the hard way? Do you have a story around that one? I do.
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So one thing that that I, when I look back that I see as significant is when you're first growing the business and you are growing the company, you will take any client.
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People come in and they want you to manage their properties, and you're just looking to build that unit count, grow the company, add employees, then there comes a tipping point where maybe the owner of the property, their business philosophies do not align with your own business philosophies.
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they don't want to approach maintenance the same.
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The, maybe the owner doesn't want to approach maintenance in the same way that Guardian wants to approach the maintenance.
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And you finally hit a point where you're stable and you've grown, and you're able to make some business decisions and realize that not every owner is a good fit.
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And at that point, you're able to make some business decisions and really align the business to your core values So it sounds like you've had a variety of owners and a lot of different types of properties and situations.
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What has that taught you about the role of property managers play in communities? Yes.
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So we really, when doing receiverships or dealing in any difficult property situations, we found that we're really a liaison.
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There's lots of different factors that you're juggling.
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So number one especially in doing the receiverships, we have city ordinance, and we have city code, and we have an owner, and then we also have our relationship with the resident, and you're doing what's best for the whole situation, and sometimes those might be competing agendas.
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The resident might want a renovated unit, whereas the owner is not willing to fix something, and we can come in, and we are able to do what is best for all parties involved.
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So get it up to code, make it a very safe and livable, habitable property, as well as serving the resident with good customer service and a well-maintained property that they can function in That is a great place to pause, Jennifer.
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You've touched on something that comes up again and again in this industry, that leadership is not just about properties.
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It's really about people, judgment, relationships, and really showing up consistently over time.
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We're gonna take a quick break, and when we come back, I wanna talk more about your involvement with MHA, your work as an instructor, and really your legacy.
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Welcome back to The Brief.
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I'm here with Jennifer Spadini, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, longtime MHA leader, instructor, and past board chair.
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Before the break, we talked about Jennifer's path into property management, owning a business, and leadership generally.
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Now, I want to shift towards service and legacy.
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So Jennifer, you've been very active with MHA, including serving as board chair, teaching, chairing, participating in committees, you name it.
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Why has staying involved in the association mattered to you? Thank you for asking.
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I love this question.
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These are my people, and iron sharpens iron.
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I've been in the industry for many, many years, and you have your day-to-day where you're doing business with different property owners and MHA, and your head is down and you're working hard, and for a greater good, providing stable, well-maintained housing for thousands and hundreds of thousands of people.
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But there's also that we're all doing life together.
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We're growing our businesses.
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We're talking about marriages and children and grandchildren, and you're really just all growing up in the industry together, and that's really, at the end of the day, the things that matter Well, that might be our title of the podcast.
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Iron sharpens iron.
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I love that What do you think people gain when they move from simply attending MHA programs to actively contributing, teaching, volunteering, leading, et cetera? Piggybacking on the question I just answered, they're building relationships, and they're growing both and professionally.
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So again, staying in the industry and being active, there's just this year over year where you're advancing both in your career, but you're watching also these life events that the people you're surrounded by are having Here's one that I know when we prepped for this that you really liked.
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Do you think legacy is more about big career milestones, or is it built through smaller choices over time? I think it's a combination of both.
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I think that you have your day-to-day, the incoming, and your head is down, and you're just doing your tasks every day to provide good, stable housing.
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And then the result of that is these big career milestones.
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Maybe it's a promotion in your career.
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Maybe it's taking on more properties or growing your business.
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I think the legacy is when you look back and you see all of these things Speaking of legacy, what do you hope your own legacy is, both at Guardian and within the MHA community and the industry? One thing that I've always wanted my kids and grandchildren to remember me by is just that I have tried my best.
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Anything I've approached, personal, that I gave it my best I think that culture is very important, and I think that comes from the top down.
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So at Guardian, we have five core values that we live day to day, and those are only as good as I am living them.
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We hire around them, we train around them, and we do our reviews around them.
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And if we're not able to hold that culture, the legacy is unsustainable What do you hope the next generation of MHA leaders understands about this industry, and what gives you hope about the future? Well, I do think that the next generation is probably a step ahead of the current generation.
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They have the technology, they have a lot of resources, and they have the speed of resources that we didn't have when we started our careers.
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So I have great hope that they're already a step ahead of us.
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And then from there, it's about building relationships, whether it's vendors, owners, or your other peers.
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And then for the future what gives me hope is just how adaptive the industry is, whether it's changes in legislative law or whether it's changes in the economy.
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I have seen over and over that our industry is extremely adaptive That's excellent.
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Thank you.
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For someone who is listening out there and wants to be more involved, active within the industry, where would you recommend that they start? I recommend that they start with building relationships, and how to do that is to sign up and go to everything.
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For example, MHA has Link Up.
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These are networking events where you get to meet different people in all sorts of roles within our industry, whether they're doing property management or they're a vendor servicing the property or they're a property owner.
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This is a really good chance to get to know others and build those relationships.
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then there's also lots of classes, and one thing I have said over the years is the variety of classes at MHA is phenomenal.
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For example, if you're managing your own property or you're just looking to get more education, you can take anything from a fundamentals of property management course, fair housing, to appliance repair.
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just so many options, and that's where you're gonna be in classroom settings, getting to know other people, and finding common interests all right.
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Thank you, Jennifer.
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Any final remarks yes, I'm glad you asked that question.
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At Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, we have a core value of laughter and positive attitude, and we have found that to be such a great part of our day, and we think that's extremely important.
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So keep that in mind as you're going along your day-to-day Jennifer, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your story, your perspective, and your heart for this industry Thank you for having me.
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I've had a good time I think this conversation is such a good reminder that leadership in multifamily is not just about title or position.
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It's built over time through the way people show up for their teams, their residents, their clients, and the broader professional community.
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Sounds like you've done that in so many ways through your work through Guardian, your service at MHA, your time as board chair, your committee involvement, teaching, mentoring.
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That kind of steady, generous involvement is exactly what helps shape the next generation of housing providers.
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So thank you very much.
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And for our listeners, I hope this episode encourages you to think about your own legacy.
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Whether you're new to the industry or have been here for decades, there is real value in showing up, getting involved, and asking good questions That is all for this episode of The Brief.
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Thank you for listening, and thank you to our sponsors for their continued support of this podcast and MHA's work.
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We'll see you next time on The Brief This has been The Brief, an original podcast produced by the Minnesota Multi Housing Association.
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It is hosted by your two favorite AI voices—me, Denise Wilson… …and me, Logan Garcia.
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Our story editor is Todd Lillgenquist.
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Aubrey Albrecht is our showrunner and managing producer.
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The Brief’s executive producer is Sesil Smith.
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Follow and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, mmha.com,
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and wherever you get your podcasts.
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And one more big thank-you to Citizens State Bank, our founding sponsor.
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Their support powers this podcast—and their team powers smart financial solutions for Minnesota’s housing providers.
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Visit csbnet.net
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to learn more.
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See you next time!
00:00:02,631.092628131 --> 00:00:06,861.0926472045
In multifamily housing, leadership is often measured by what someone manages.
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00:00:07,270.7171635881 --> 00:00:07,850.7171468988
Properties.
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00:00:08,110.7171373621 --> 00:00:08,650.7171588197
Teams.
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00:00:08,800.7171349779 --> 00:00:09,590.7170968309
Portfolios.
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00:00:09,800.7171349779 --> 00:00:11,820.717354323
Problems that rarely come with simple answers.
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00:00:12,470.717163588 --> 00:00:18,820.717068221
But leadership is also measured by how someone shows up for their residents, their teams, and their industry.
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On this episode of The Brief, Aubrey sits down with Jennifer Spadeenee, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, past MHA board chair, longtime instructor, and active member of the MHA community.
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Their conversation covers Jennifer’s path into property management, business ownership, service, and the kind of legacy built through steady involvement over time.
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Because as Jennifer says, “iron sharpens iron.”
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And in this industry, people grow by learning from each other, challenging each other, and showing up again and again.
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This is The Brief.
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You're listening to the Brief, a podcast from the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association.
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Whether you're a property owner, manager, maintenance pro, product/service partner, or just curious about the industry we've got fresh insights, and quick takes, to keep you informed and ahead of the curve.
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No fluff.
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No filler.
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If it affects your residents, your business, or your bottom line.
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You'll hear about it here.
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This industry provides more than buildings.
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It offers Minnesotans a solution for home That solution is multi housing.
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Welcome to MHAs, The Brief.
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This episode of The Brief is proudly sponsored by our founding partner, Citizens State Bank.
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Rooted in the Upper Midwest with a growing presence in Minnesota, Citizens State Bank is deeply committed to supporting the region’s housing providers and small businesses through personalized financial solutions.
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Whether you're financing a new property in the Twin Cities, refinancing in Rochester, or expanding your operations across the state, their experienced team is here to help.
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Citizens State Bank specializes in property management banking solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of Minnesota’s property owners and managers.
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From commercial real estate loans, competitive deposit accounts, and a state-of-the-art business online banking suite, they provide the local insight and resources you need to keep your business moving forward.
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Experience the difference of working with a bank that understands Minnesota communities.
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Visit csbnet.net
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to learn how Citizens State Bank can help you achieve your goals.
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Member FDIC.
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Equal Housing Lender.
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Thanks to Citizens State Bank for backing this podcast and helping us bring valuable industry insights to Minnesota and beyond—week after week.
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Hello.
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Joining me today is Jennifer Spadini, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, and someone many MHA members know through her years of leadership, teaching, and service to the association.
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Jennifer began her career in property management in 1990, later purchased the company that became Guardian Property Management and helped it grow into a company managing more than 1,100 units with a team of 28.
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She's also a past MHA board chair, active committee member, and a familiar face in MHA classrooms.
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Jennifer, welcome to the Brief.
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Hello.
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Thank you for having me.
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I am excited and looking forward to this okay, let's dive right into it.
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So before we talk about leadership and legacy, I'd love to go back to the beginning.
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How did you first find your way into property management, and what has kept you in the industry? So back in 1990, I was 19 years old, and my father and I managed a mobile home park, and we did that for about five years, and then I moved into the multi-housing industry.
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So that's how I got into it, and what kept me is two things: the people and the variety of the day.
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No day is ever the same That is very true.
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So in 2004, you purchased the company that became Guardian Property Management.
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What do you remember most about that transition from employee and leader within a company to the owner? So the biggest thing is really the surprise.
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I had never wanted, like, I wanna own a business, and this is my end goal.
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I really found myself in that situation.
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I was working at a company that was a startup.
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We were managing scattered site, single-family homes, some small apartment buildings.
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And then company went up for sale, and my husband encouraged me to purchase it.
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So I worked hard, and again, found myself in a situation where I am now owning the company, and I loved it.
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I was having a very good experience.
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And what I remember most about the transition from employee to leader, in the beginning, it was a lot of hard work, lot of hours, lot of time at the office, a lot of figuring out things that I had to worry about now that I didn't have to worry about as an employee.
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the transition went smoothly, and I enjoyed having a very small team.
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When I first started, it was myself, a person in the office, a leasing person, and one handyman what is one leadership lesson you think you had to learn the hard way? Do you have a story around that one? I do.
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So one thing that that I, when I look back that I see as significant is when you're first growing the business and you are growing the company, you will take any client.
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People come in and they want you to manage their properties, and you're just looking to build that unit count, grow the company, add employees, then there comes a tipping point where maybe the owner of the property, their business philosophies do not align with your own business philosophies.
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they don't want to approach maintenance the same.
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The, maybe the owner doesn't want to approach maintenance in the same way that Guardian wants to approach the maintenance.
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And you finally hit a point where you're stable and you've grown, and you're able to make some business decisions and realize that not every owner is a good fit.
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And at that point, you're able to make some business decisions and really align the business to your core values So it sounds like you've had a variety of owners and a lot of different types of properties and situations.
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What has that taught you about the role of property managers play in communities? Yes.
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So we really, when doing receiverships or dealing in any difficult property situations, we found that we're really a liaison.
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There's lots of different factors that you're juggling.
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So number one especially in doing the receiverships, we have city ordinance, and we have city code, and we have an owner, and then we also have our relationship with the resident, and you're doing what's best for the whole situation, and sometimes those might be competing agendas.
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The resident might want a renovated unit, whereas the owner is not willing to fix something, and we can come in, and we are able to do what is best for all parties involved.
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So get it up to code, make it a very safe and livable, habitable property, as well as serving the resident with good customer service and a well-maintained property that they can function in That is a great place to pause, Jennifer.
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You've touched on something that comes up again and again in this industry, that leadership is not just about properties.
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It's really about people, judgment, relationships, and really showing up consistently over time.
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We're gonna take a quick break, and when we come back, I wanna talk more about your involvement with MHA, your work as an instructor, and really your legacy.
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Welcome back to The Brief.
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I'm here with Jennifer Spadini, owner of Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, longtime MHA leader, instructor, and past board chair.
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Before the break, we talked about Jennifer's path into property management, owning a business, and leadership generally.
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Now, I want to shift towards service and legacy.
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So Jennifer, you've been very active with MHA, including serving as board chair, teaching, chairing, participating in committees, you name it.
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Why has staying involved in the association mattered to you? Thank you for asking.
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I love this question.
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These are my people, and iron sharpens iron.
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I've been in the industry for many, many years, and you have your day-to-day where you're doing business with different property owners and MHA, and your head is down and you're working hard, and for a greater good, providing stable, well-maintained housing for thousands and hundreds of thousands of people.
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But there's also that we're all doing life together.
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We're growing our businesses.
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We're talking about marriages and children and grandchildren, and you're really just all growing up in the industry together, and that's really, at the end of the day, the things that matter Well, that might be our title of the podcast.
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Iron sharpens iron.
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I love that What do you think people gain when they move from simply attending MHA programs to actively contributing, teaching, volunteering, leading, et cetera? Piggybacking on the question I just answered, they're building relationships, and they're growing both and professionally.
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So again, staying in the industry and being active, there's just this year over year where you're advancing both in your career, but you're watching also these life events that the people you're surrounded by are having Here's one that I know when we prepped for this that you really liked.
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Do you think legacy is more about big career milestones, or is it built through smaller choices over time? I think it's a combination of both.
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I think that you have your day-to-day, the incoming, and your head is down, and you're just doing your tasks every day to provide good, stable housing.
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And then the result of that is these big career milestones.
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Maybe it's a promotion in your career.
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Maybe it's taking on more properties or growing your business.
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I think the legacy is when you look back and you see all of these things Speaking of legacy, what do you hope your own legacy is, both at Guardian and within the MHA community and the industry? One thing that I've always wanted my kids and grandchildren to remember me by is just that I have tried my best.
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Anything I've approached, personal, that I gave it my best I think that culture is very important, and I think that comes from the top down.
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So at Guardian, we have five core values that we live day to day, and those are only as good as I am living them.
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We hire around them, we train around them, and we do our reviews around them.
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And if we're not able to hold that culture, the legacy is unsustainable What do you hope the next generation of MHA leaders understands about this industry, and what gives you hope about the future? Well, I do think that the next generation is probably a step ahead of the current generation.
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They have the technology, they have a lot of resources, and they have the speed of resources that we didn't have when we started our careers.
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So I have great hope that they're already a step ahead of us.
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And then from there, it's about building relationships, whether it's vendors, owners, or your other peers.
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And then for the future what gives me hope is just how adaptive the industry is, whether it's changes in legislative law or whether it's changes in the economy.
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I have seen over and over that our industry is extremely adaptive That's excellent.
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Thank you.
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For someone who is listening out there and wants to be more involved, active within the industry, where would you recommend that they start? I recommend that they start with building relationships, and how to do that is to sign up and go to everything.
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For example, MHA has Link Up.
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These are networking events where you get to meet different people in all sorts of roles within our industry, whether they're doing property management or they're a vendor servicing the property or they're a property owner.
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This is a really good chance to get to know others and build those relationships.
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then there's also lots of classes, and one thing I have said over the years is the variety of classes at MHA is phenomenal.
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For example, if you're managing your own property or you're just looking to get more education, you can take anything from a fundamentals of property management course, fair housing, to appliance repair.
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just so many options, and that's where you're gonna be in classroom settings, getting to know other people, and finding common interests all right.
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Thank you, Jennifer.
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Any final remarks yes, I'm glad you asked that question.
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At Guardian Property Management and Guardian Property Maintenance, we have a core value of laughter and positive attitude, and we have found that to be such a great part of our day, and we think that's extremely important.
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So keep that in mind as you're going along your day-to-day Jennifer, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your story, your perspective, and your heart for this industry Thank you for having me.
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I've had a good time I think this conversation is such a good reminder that leadership in multifamily is not just about title or position.
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It's built over time through the way people show up for their teams, their residents, their clients, and the broader professional community.
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Sounds like you've done that in so many ways through your work through Guardian, your service at MHA, your time as board chair, your committee involvement, teaching, mentoring.
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That kind of steady, generous involvement is exactly what helps shape the next generation of housing providers.
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So thank you very much.
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And for our listeners, I hope this episode encourages you to think about your own legacy.
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Whether you're new to the industry or have been here for decades, there is real value in showing up, getting involved, and asking good questions That is all for this episode of The Brief.
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Thank you for listening, and thank you to our sponsors for their continued support of this podcast and MHA's work.
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We'll see you next time on The Brief This has been The Brief, an original podcast produced by the Minnesota Multi Housing Association.
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It is hosted by your two favorite AI voices—me, Denise Wilson… …and me, Logan Garcia.
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Our story editor is Todd Lillgenquist.
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Aubrey Albrecht is our showrunner and managing producer.
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The Brief’s executive producer is Sesil Smith.
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Follow and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, mmha.com,
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and wherever you get your podcasts.
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And one more big thank-you to Citizens State Bank, our founding sponsor.
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Their support powers this podcast—and their team powers smart financial solutions for Minnesota’s housing providers.
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Visit csbnet.net
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to learn more.
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See you next time!
