In this episode, Kerri Davis, CEO and Founder of Fortress, sits down with Marc Pollack, Managing Director at FirstService Residential, for a candid conversation about grit, leadership, and the human realities of multifamily operations. Listen in to hear Marc:

• Share how growing up as a lifelong apartment resident in Queens led him intentionally into property management—and how early career risks, asking for more responsibility, and learning “through fire” shaped his leadership style
• Break down what it means to bridge capital and community, translating income statements into lived experiences while balancing owner expectations, operational realities, and resident needs across affordable, workforce, and luxury housing
• Reflect on the grind of multifamily, the emotional toll on on-site teams, and why empathy, culture champions, accountability, and scalable—not perfect—processes are essential to building resilient teams and livable communities

In this episode, Kerri Davis, CEO and Founder of Fortress, sits down with Zachary Guerin, Vice President of Residential Property Management at Seldin Company, for a grounded conversation about leadership, innovation, and the realities of running teams in a rapidly changing industry. Listen in to hear Zach:

• Share how this industry is sitting on untapped potential, why many people are too tired or burnt out to challenge how things have been done, and how he focuses on finding people who will challenge what people have been doing every day for the last several hundred years of property management
• Break down how AI cleaned up all of our ledgers, how his teams rose to the KPI and AI challenge with a challenge accepted mindset, and how he pushes operations to meet KPIs or risk being outperformed by automation
• Reflect on treating managers and operators like they are running micro economies, why he wants his company to bet on courage instead of comfort, and how he creates space for teams to become indispensable while navigating burnout, staffing challenges, and multigenerational leadership

In this episode, Kerri Davis, CEO and Founder of Fortress, sits down with Julie Runyan, Compliance Director at AdWest, and Alex Westad, President of AdWest, for an inspiring conversation about modernizing affordable housing management while preserving heart, legacy, and community. Listen in to hear Julie and Alex:

• Share their origin stories—from Alex literally growing up in rural development housing and eventually purchasing his family’s company, to Julie discovering affordable housing by chance and building a career rooted in education, compliance, and deep care for residents and site teams
• Break down how AdWest is transforming a legacy company into a forward-thinking organization through clearer leadership structures, Notion-powered knowledge bases, ChatGPT-assisted operational tools, and weekly training programs designed to support and strengthen onsite teams
• Reflect on balancing family-founded values with modern innovation, investing intentionally in people, reshaping roles to match strengths, and building a culture where team members are encouraged to collaborate, problem-solve, and continually improve the resident experience