Julie Smith
Stephen Voss
President, Bozzuto Management Co.
Julie Smith dubs her career in the multifamily industry “a series of fortunate events,” but it’s clear that more than luck has helped the 2013 MFE Executive of the Year thrive.
After working in various real estate fields, including marketing and property management, Smith went to work with Tom Bozzuto a year after he founded The Bozzuto Group in 1988. She never looked back.
“When I started, we had three properties and 750 units,” she says. “Now, we have 200 properties and 50,000 units. It’s an incredible team of like-minded people.”
Chief on that team is Bozzuto himself, whom Smith describes as a great source of guidance. “Having a mentor to serve as a sounding board and provide advice is really important,” Smith notes. “Women need to be very open about cultivating those relationships.”
Open communication, about both the desire for career advancement and what’s needed to accomplish it, is something Smith regards as critical for success.
“Managers want you to be successful, but they don’t know what you need in your life. Women need to be really clear about what they need to be successful, and they need to ask for it; otherwise, you’re in a guessing game,” she says, adding that this is especially true for women who are juggling a developing career and a growing family.
It’s certainly worked for Smith. Nowhere are the benefits of that direct and balanced approach more evident than in what she lists as her proudest accomplishments: helping to elevate The Bozzuto Group to its current stature and raising two confident and driven daughters.
