Meet Taylor Pena

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Pena. Taylor was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Reginald Andre.

Taylor, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
I started working at a luxury high rise condominium, Grovenor House, as an overnight door person. I was clueless what I was getting into but I had just returned from sea (I worked on cruise ships for a year) and needed any job. Once I started, I was in awe of condominium life. Residents were so friendly, the staff was so fun to work with, and there seemed to be so much opportunity to learn and grow. I quickly was promoted to front desk, then front desk supervisor, and within 6 months I had obtained my CAM license. Grovenor House created an Assistant Manager role for me that had not existed at that site before. I was ecstatic about my new found career path. From that first property, I went on to help with 2 startup condominiums as Assistant Manager. After 5 years of being in the industry, I landed my first Manager position, opening Infinity at Brickell. After establishing the building, I moved on to my next challenge- my first take over Association at iconbrickell master association. This was very different than starting a building. I also managed iconbrickell tower 1 for a couple years. I knew after several years at this location, that startup was my passion. I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my career and leave the management company that had groomed me into the manager I was for more than the last decade in order to follow my love for opening new condominiums. I am now with Marquis Association Management at Echo Brickell.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I am a firm believer that you have to be happy doing what you do. It is not a job for me. It is enjoyment. And that sounds kind of funny coming from someone who has to deal with multiple personalities, constantly changing people around, and usually the point person to solve others’ problems. The challenge is enjoyable to me. The success of starting a building from scratch by wearing hard hats and boots before the building is open to wearing my heels and dresses a year later is so fun. The evolution of taking a construction site and turning it into a customer serving residence provides a sense of accomplishment. Identifying the right people to work with you is the most important part of my success in this industry because you want to have a positive connection with the people you see every day. While management of Condominiums has been a fulfilling career choice, I am most prideful of the work I am involved with in the philanthropy world. I have served/ still served on the Nicklaus Children’s Young Ambassadors Board, Gracious Hands orphanage Board, and its4thekids Board. Serving on a Board to me is just a title. Doing the hard work is the joy. Finding the time between work and family obligations to know that you are working towards improving a child’s life that is not as fortunate as my own, grounds me. I don’t know if I have a bigger reputation as a community association manager or a philanthropist.

As you know, we’re big fans of Reginald Andre and ARK Solvers we know you’ve worked with them quite a bit as well. We’d love to hear about your experience working with Reginald Andre.
I started working with Ark Solvers when I opened Echo Brickell. Ark Solvers is a great IT company because they provide dependable IT service, which means more production onsite. However what sets Reginald and Ark Solvers apart from other companies aligns in what I explained in the previous questions on what was important to me. The first is hiring the right people that you enjoy working with. Happy employees= Happy customers. Echo Brickell is a very technological property with many hands in the mix. The first employee I worked with at Ark took all my calls and helped guide me in the right direction on who was who and what issues needed to be addressed with each company. He would explain complicated IT language in terms I could understand. He became my IT crutch, even when it wasn’t his responsibility. He just wanted to help. More recently the Board is considering changing one of the technology components onsite and Reginald has been there to do the same exact thing his initial employee did. He has helped speak the IT talk with the competing vendors, review proposals, and support me along the way – even though this is not his direct contractual responsibility. It shows that Reginalds’ employees are eager to assist because of his leadership and desire to help, the second connection I have to Ark Solvers experience is their philanthropy mindset. I have supported and have an admiration for the work Tania Andre does with Mavuno Project and she has supported Gracious Hands orphanage in Haiti along my side. Ark Solvers has been sponsors of events at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Their passion for giving back to community and not just being a sole IT company is so important.

Other:  www.its4thekids.com
www.gracioushands.org
www.nicklauschildrens.org