Creating the “JLL Way” in Multifamily Management

What employee hasn’t said, “I’d do this differently if I were in charge?”

As Senior Vice President and Head of Operations of JLL’s newly formed multifamily management platform, Mendowa Martin gets to do just that. In overseeing operations nationally for the business line, she is using her more than 20 years of experience to create not just a department, but an entire mindset. 

“I distill the essential from everything I’ve learned throughout my career, and get rid of the nonsense, unnecessary bureaucracy, and inefficient practices. When someone tells me, ‘That’s how it’s always been done,’ I don’t see convention; I see a red flag. To me, those words often signal missed opportunities for improvement, innovation, and growth,” she says. “My goal is to focus on what truly drives results — establishing our standards of performance based on proven effectiveness and common sense rather than tradition. I also believe in collaborating with my team to determine what works best, because at the end of the day, we’re in this together to get real results for our firm and our clients, not just to check boxes.” 

She joined JLL nearly four years ago as a consultant while the firm considered the idea of creating a multifamily property management team and was the second hire once JLL decided to move forward.

Though the platform is still in its growth phase, it benefits tremendously from being backed by the global powerhouse that is JLL —with the extensive resources that help shape and develop the “JLL Way” of managing multifamily. Fortunately, Mendowa notes, Mark Zettl, President of Property Management, Americas, believes in hiring the best people and letting them do their jobs. 

“It might come as a surprise, but we’re not the first company to do multifamily property management,” she deadpans. “There are many management firms, but we knew we wanted to do it differently, shake up the status quo, and approach it in a new and innovative way. And that is exactly what we’re doing. We’ve hired the best talent and built the best team of people I’ve ever worked with — and we’re letting them do their jobs.”

JLL’s approach to doing the job is a bit different from many of its competitors, who frequently silo various aspects of management such as pricing and budgeting, sometimes to the detriment of developing knowledge. 

“I’m not saying centralization is bad,” Mendowa says. “It certainly has its merits — creating efficiencies and quick returns. But this approach can backfire. Removing the task without replacing the learning opportunities it provides can shortchange an associate’s development. They miss building the fundamental skills that drive future performance.”

Instead, the JLL multifamily team is diligent in finding ways to strike a balance that delivers immediate efficiency without sacrificing professional growth. 

“For us, property managers aren’t ‘just’ property managers — they’re stewards of multimillion-dollar real estate investments. And we approach this responsibility with the seriousness it deserves by creating a culture that reinforces this elevated perspective. Our people embrace the full scope of their impact and rise to the occasion,” she says.

Innovation and determination have been key to her career, which has spanned different industries. Born and raised in Sarasota, FL, Mendowa studied marketing and business, even selling advertising for a local newspaper. It was then that one of her clients suggested a career in property management. At 24, she joined the real estate business. Six months later, on her 25th birthday, the property she managed burned down. 

“I was not deterred. Maybe I should have been, I still stayed in it,” she said. 

As a property manager, she’d joined several local business organizations, and at a golf outing she chaired for the local chamber of commerce, her co-chair, a buyer for department store Jacobsons, brought her into the retail business, also as a buyer. 

When Jacobson’s went out of business, she joined T.K. Maxx, the European division of T.J. Maxx/TJX Cos., as a womenswear buyer for the company’s stores located in the U.K.

“I had a blast,” she says. “I spent a lot of time in Europe and sourcing goods in China. Some of my most valuable skills came from my days as a retail buyer. I learned the undeniable importance of profit margin, that I loved the art of making a deal, and — perhaps most crucially — how to properly accessorize.”

Love brought her back to the U.S. and to property management in 2008, where she worked in the Washington, D.C. office of a Chicago-based company. Her bosses back then? Lela Cirjakovic and Mark Zettl, her same bosses today at JLL. As she says, “We got the band back together.”

The dedicated, yes, bedazzler (“If it sits still, I will glue a Swarovski crystal on it”) loves to travel and play tennis with her husband, a (stylish) software executive by day and drummer during the off hours. And don’t get her started on her two Russian Blue cats, Frick and Astor, named after her fascination with industrialists from the Gilded Age. 

“One of my former clients was the great-great-grandson of a robber baron and once I went down that historical rabbit hole, I was hooked,” she says.

Mendowa is active in JLL’s committees as well, recently attending its Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. 

“It was truly a privilege to hear from so many remarkable leaders within the organization.  I was inspired by the unique experiences that have shaped their careers at JLL,” she says. “And one thing I learned about JLL is that the culture encourages exploration and growth — you can change paths and do just about anything you want to,” she says. 

Equally impressive to her is how JLL finds the right role for the person, not just building on an existing resume. That allows its teams — and her team — to grow, one of Mendowa’s chief goals. But she does remember her 25th birthday.

“At the end of the day, I hope nothing burns down and everybody gets out alive,” she says, mostly in jest. “But in all seriousness, my true hope is that my team feels valued and supported, that they have what they need to be successful. Because when they’re successful, so am I — and so is JLL and so are our clients.”