To ensure a community maximizes its potential and has happy employees and residents, you must have a fantastic community manager leading the way. At P.B. Bell, the community manager oversees all operations and employees located at their respective communities. This includes leading, supporting, and assisting leasing and maintenance personnel, ensuring the community is kept in optimal condition, communicating with residents and potential residents, providing reports and communication with our owners, and much more.
Meet Carrie Otto, the Community Manager at The Premiere at Eastmark. Carrie has been a part of the P.B. Bell team for many years, and proudly shares her favorite memories with the company and what she does outside of work.
How long have you been working at P.B. Bell?
I’ve been working at P.B. Bell for eight years and have been in this industry for 12 years total. I started as an assistant manager in Chandler, then did some roving and leasing for a short period, and was then promoted to the community manager. I have a Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) certification and have helped lease-up three P.B. Bell properties during my tenure.
What does a typical day for you look like?
No day is ever the same, but my day typically starts with emails and completing reports for that day or month (depending on what’s going on). I will then have a quick meeting with the team where we discuss high-priority maintenance orders, which units to turn, and areas that need to be sparkled. I walk the property for tours of the day to ensure everything is in place. The rest of the day depends on the time of the month. Sometimes I have meetings with owners and supervisors, other times I have resident events with the team and we host food trucks. I also run the community’s social media content and process invoices, so I’ll likely have miscellaneous tasks involving those items as well.
What is a favorite memory from working at P.B. Bell?
My favorite memory was when I won the Creative Champion Award in 2021, in reflection of the content I created for social media as well as the resident events we held for our community. This was a huge accomplishment because I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and wanted to try something new and my efforts were recognized. I appreciate my peers nominating me! Check out and follow The Premiere at Eastmark on Instagram!
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy that I get to be a mentor to the team. I always find new and exciting ways to motivate them. I have a lot of fun with my team and enjoy the challenges that being a manager provides, especially during a lease-up. This role stretches my creative muscle. Plus, I enjoy working with people.
What is a fun fact about you?
To start, I am a proud ASU alumni! I have been married for 10 years and have two little girls, Paisley and Brynley. We love to travel! So far, my favorite destinations have been Alaska and the Caribbean. This summer I’m looking forward to taking my girls to Florida so my youngest can see the ocean for the first time!
What kind of community/volunteer activities do you take part in?
I am involved in P.B. Bell’s community give-back events such as when we helped with packaging food boxes at St. Mary’s Food Bank.
What is your favorite thing to do in Arizona?
Most weekends, you can find me at my cabin up in Pine, Arizona. I love taking my girls hiking, sledding (when there’s snow), seeing all the wildlife, and just hanging out and enjoying the weather.
What is your favorite thing to do/restaurant/shop in the area?
My favorite restaurant in the area is San Tan Flat. They have live music and a great atmosphere so it’s great for a date night or a family night with my five and two-year-old daughters.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
I enjoy taking my daughters to their ballet and tap classes. As a family, we enjoy going bowling at Fat Cats, and swimming at home.
What is your life motto or words to live by?
I believe that teamwork makes the dream work – in property management you’re only as good as your team and I’m fortunate to have a great team, we have a lot of fun!
Thank you Carrie for sharing your story with us and for being such a great addition to the P.B. Bell team! Your energy and passion for your community help your team shine every day.