Celebrating a Decade of Jessica Bauer at Cardinal Group

At Cardinal, our culture embodies many different elements: it’s about improving as a team while having fun growing together both personally and professionally. Our team members are the heart and soul of our culture! We are so grateful for the efforts our team members put in daily to go the extra mile to help change the industry and challenge the status quo.

Today we’re celebrating Jessica Bauer and her dedicated years of service to the growth of our team over the last five years.

Learn more about Jessica’s journey below!

What is your role?

As a Systems Transitions Manager at Cardinal, my primary focus is ensuring seamless migrations for our new communities. I help set up the Property Management System (Entrata, Yardi, RealPage, etc.) for all incoming Transitions to Cardinal. I also assist with shutting off the PMS for dispositioning communities. 

Describe your Cardinal Journey.

I started at Cardinal the summer before my senior year of college. I had an unpaid internship at a local baseball team but needed a job somewhere that would actually pay me. The leasing office at my apartment community was hiring and the rest is history! As a CI, I quickly fell in love with the industry. After I graduated, I was promoted to LMTL at the community. From there I joined the travel team as a Traveling Leasing Manager, where I ended up being a dedicated traveler for HSRE. When the HSRE cell became one of Cardinal’s first super cells, I was promoted to be one of the two PSMs for the cell. After being in that role for a couple of years, I was ready for a new challenge and joined the Systems Support team where I got to really dive in and expand my knowledge on the systems side. Since 2022, I have worked on our Systems Transitions team and have held both the Systems Transitions Specialist and Systems Transitions Manager roles. 

Who has been influential in your life, and how have they helped guide you?

I’ve been incredibly fortunate throughout my Cardinal career to work closely with the best of the best. During my time in Operations, Courtney Richardson and Jo Adolfs made a huge impact on how I approached my first major leadership role as a PSM. Courtney helped me learn how to be ultra-organized, how to be a human leader, and how to prioritize when a million things are coming at you. Jo helped me get out of my comfort zone and be more creative with all things marketing and leasing. 

But from my early days as a CI, Isa Aguilar has always been my biggest cheerleader. She has encouraged me to embrace new challenges and believe in myself. She has always been my go-to for support and guidance. She has been a constant sounding board over the past 10 years and a true mentor and friend.   

What is something about the culture at Cardinal that you value or enjoy?

One of the aspects I value most about Cardinal’s culture is the emphasis on treating each other like human beings. Specifically on the IT & Data team, we lead with empathy and see each other as humans first and team members second. We all know that we have lives outside of Cardinal, but at the same time, we show up for each other at work and truly care about one another. 

Can you share a home office tip that has improved your work-from-home office experience?

I have a dedicated working space, and I’ve decorated it to be comfortable & cozy and somewhere I enjoy spending time. It allows me to get into a “work mode” even though I’m still at home. 

I also always make it a point to completely shut down my computer at the end of the day, which helps me maintain a work-life balance by truly stepping away when I am done with work so I can focus on my family. 

If you could spend a day in any department at Cardinal, which one would it be and why?

If I could spend a day in any department at Cardinal, I would spend a day on the Transitions Team. I get to work so closely with them every day, but I would love to be a fly on the wall and see every aspect that goes into their day-to-day and how they handle all the organized chaos that is Transitions. 

What is a skill you have developed during your career that you didn’t know you had?

Even though it is my 34th strength in StrengthsFinder, my adaptability has greatly developed throughout my career. In this industry, things are constantly moving & changing, and you always have to be on your toes. I have had to challenge myself to be more adaptable and roll with the punches every day, especially on the Transitions side where dates and plans are always changing.  

What’s a memorable project or initiative you’ve been part of at Cardinal?

One of the most memorable projects I was a part of was the first large pack of HSRE transitions in 2018. I was a Traveling Leasing Manager at the time and was able to travel to many of the new communities to assist with onboarding the teams. They all transitioned in the middle of June, so it was leading up to Turn and there was A LOT going on. It was such a great experience to see so many people come together, demonstrating exceptional teamwork and dedication to ensure those transitions were successful and set the communities up for long-term success.