From the newsroom to Multifamily Property Management

Once an aspiring TV journalist, Ariana Rasansky now takes the same powers of observation and gift for communication to her role as Vice President of Regional Operations for JLL’s growing multifamily property management platform.

Ariana Rasansky Multifamily Property Management, JLL

She oversaw a 586-unit lease up in Chicago’s West Loop submarket and transitioned the property through stabilization. She also has overseen several stabilized assets in the Loop and River North submarkets, including brand-new lease-ups in Fulton Market,

Property management wasn’t her original plan — becoming the next Katie Couric was. But despite earning a degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and internships with various broadcasting companies, jobs in TV news were scarce when the Wisconsin native graduated in 2009, during the Great Financial Crisis.

“I needed a job, I needed money, and I needed to do something,” she recalls.

A local Milwaukee developer had just opened several apartment buildings downtown and needed a leasing agent. It seemed like a good interim position while Ariana waited for the economy to recover to get into a newsroom.

Instead, she found her path.

“I absolutely fell in love with it,” she says. “I liked that every day was different, that I wasn’t behind a desk, that I was able to figure out random issues and problems that you wouldn’t experience if you weren’t in multifamily property management.”

The interactions also appealed to her. 

“I really enjoyed that I was finding people their homes,” she says. “There’s something very personal about that.”

Her career progressed quickly, from a promotion at her first company to a move to Chicago to more senior roles in operations, business development and marketing. 

After a diverse background of working for local companies, vertically integrated organizations, owner/operators and more, she found JLL, which was building a third-party multifamily management division.

“I hadn’t done that yet,” she says. “Utilizing everything I’ve learned from the owner/operator side and thinking like an owner even though I don’t own the real estate is huge.”

JLL’s philosophy of taking ownership of its third-party management assets is reflected in all of the decisions the team makes, guiding a group with different backgrounds and experiences, she says. Working collaboratively, the small team has already completed two lease-ups and are working on growing JLL’s portfolio in the sector.

“The decisions and recommendations you make, how you treat the asset and train the team to think like owners is a critical and really important differentiator in what we do and how we do real estate,” she says. “Making the jump to JLL was about working with people who have been in this industry for years, have both similar and different experiences, and whom I could learn from, be challenged by and become better as a professional and a person.”

One aspect she’s discussed on panels and in the media is the growing importance of technology. The team has built a multifamily tech stack that it implements to increase its own efficiency, with other applications to enhance the residents’ experience.

“It allows our team to actually get up from behind the desk, to be present with the residents and the other team members at the communities they manage,” Ariana says.

Three years in, she admits she’s still learning the benefits of being a part of a global organization.

“There is support,” she said. “There’s someone for everything. To be a startup within this huge company is a huge opportunity.”

Outside the office, she remains close to her family and loves exploring restaurants around the city and traveling. She’s also dedicated to exercise and loves running, completing two marathons and 10 half-marathons. 

“It’s the hour of your day you get to yourself, my escape before the day goes crazy,” she says.

Her communications training continues to be of use professionally. She enjoys public speaking and just day-to-day interactions. But a return to the newsroom? Not in the plan.

‘I still watch the news and have my favorites. But it’s not something I’d wish to pull off the shelf anymore,” Ariana says. “I use my training every day, whether it’s communicating with my on-site team, my corporate team, my colleagues, bosses, clients. There’s a form of communication in everything that I do.”