Melissa Hargreaves, RMP®, has worked in property management since 2014, when she founded Peace of Mind Property Management. Peace of Mind serves the Central Maryland Region.
Melissa is the President-Elect of NARPM®’s Baltimore/Washington Chapter and is serving on the NARPM® Broker/Owner Planning Committee for 2023 and 2024. She is working on her Master Property Manager (MPM®) designation with hopes of completing it before the end of 2023.
The following article was written by Melissa Hargreaves and was originally published in the October 2023 issue of NARPM‘s monthly news magazine, page 27.
How I Got Involved with NARPM
Greetings from Baltimore!
Although I’ve been a member of NARPM® since 2018, I didn’t truly understand all it has to offer until March 2022, when I attended my first Broker/Owner Conference & Expo. Talk about a game changer!
While at Broker/Owner I heard about the upcoming California State Conference that was taking place in Napa in the following month. I booked my tickets right away! I’d always wanted to go to Napa, so why not make it a business trip? It was there that I saw the close friendships, camaraderie, and teamwork between the incredible property managers I met. I was a little jealous and wanted this back at home.
Upon returning to Baltimore, I reached out to the Baltimore/Washington Chapter’s current President and asked how I could get involved. I attended my first Board meeting and left as the Chapter’s incoming Secretary.
NARPM Involvement Since COVID
Like many businesses during the COVID pandemic, NARPM® Chapters entered survival mode. In-person meetings shifted to Zoom meetings. Conferences were cancelled. We all buckled down and tried to get through it. Since COVID restrictions were lifted we’ve seen many people shifting from survival mindset to growth mindset. This is evident in the Baltimore/ Washington Chapter!
2023 has been a year of growth. The first step was bringing back in-person meetings. At our November 2022 Board meeting, we laid a plan for the coming year. We made a commitment to meet monthly with a great topic to draw people in. It started slowly, but attendance grew each month. Meeting in person gives us the opportunity to not only learn from each other but to get to know other Members and Affiliates. The energy in the room gets better and better each month!
NARPM Affiliates, Members and Resources
Speaking of Affiliates, our Chapter is revamping its Affiliate membership program! Our 2023 strategy is to invite vendors to speak. This serves a double purpose: providing great content to lure Members into the real world again and showing vendors the value of becoming an Affiliate. One of our goals is to formalize our Affiliate Member Program. I learned there is no need to re-invent the wheel. I’ve reached out to other Chapters to learn how their Affiliate Member Programs work.
We have also tapped into some of the resources provided by NARPM®. Did you know that NARPM® will provide a remote professional to assist your chapter? Game changer! We now have someone who can help with remembering to send out email reminders for upcoming meetings.
We also plan to enlist the help of our remote professional to build a Facebook page for our Chapter to help spread the word about NARPM locally and attract more new Members. We’ve also learned about grants available from National to help with growth. We plan to use grant money to hold a drive to recruit new Chapter Members.
Get Involved with NARPM
While we’ve made a lot of progress in 2023, there is much more to do! I look forward to helping our Chapter continue to grow when I become 2024 President. While I was hesitant to take on a Leadership role, I’ve seen firsthand how many hands make light work. As meeting attendance and energy increases, more people are stepping up to help. My concern has turned to excitement! If you have been sitting on the sidelines like I did from 2018–2022, now’s a great time to jump in. Joining a Committee (local or National) can be a simple way to get involved. Just do it! You won’t regret it. See you in Atlanta!
