Simply Camden

Allie Hartnett (Raleigh District Coordinator) and Jen Fitzpatrick (Assistant Community Manager: Camden Westwood) a.k.a. Camden Besties

How I Met Your Mother is a funny, little comedy about a guy telling his kids (in flashbacks) about…wait for it…how he met their mother.  While they are well into their 7th season and we’re only a bit closer to finding out who the mom is…I’m just gonna show you the baby. This is how I met Camden. 

Flashback to February 2007…
This was a particular time in my life that was a bit of a rough patch. I needed a job and would have seriously taken ANYTHING that was thrown at me to get out of where I was working. I just didn’t like the person I had to be there. But not only was I needing a job that didn’t make me hate myself, I also needed a new place to live. So I decided to tackle that first.  I went to Rent.Com and stumbled upon some Camden communities. I honestly never even knew they existed before then. So the first thing I did was Google them (and let it be known that I Google absolutely EVERYTHING). After going through their local apartment communities, I decided to do some checking up on them as a company. You know…some recon.  I remember finding their Values and Mission Statement and being perfectly impressed. They had me at hello. After all was said and done, I decided to move to Camden Lake Pine. Best. Decision. Ever.

And this is how I came to work at Camden…
(I will try to make this as short as possible and without the fluff, however, be forewarned I might not be able to.)  One night I went to the front office at Lake Pine to ask if I could walk an empty apartment as I needed to do some measuring for furniture purchasing. The Assistant Manager was totally cool with it so naturally, in my delight, I lost my head and at around ten feet outside the front door, I realized that I didn’t have the key ingredient to measuring…a tape measure. I walked back in and apparently said something so adorable while asking for one that the she was smitten. Upon my return, she inquired as to if I was looking for a job. At that moment, I felt as though I had just been sprinkled with pixie dust and at the same time, contemplated her psychic abilities. I told her that incidentally I was and asked what she had in mind. She said she thought I would be perfect as a Leasing Consultant and instructed me to send her my resume and she would then send it to the District Manager. Needless to say I was on that like white on rice and I’m pretty sure I spent that night wide awake. The next day I received a call from the D.M., went through a couple of phone interviews and eventually had an in person interview with LaVerne Blankenship, the Community Manager at Camden Reunion Park. Within 39 seconds of meeting LaVerne, I felt at home. I knew where I wanted to be and I knew these people were awesome. March 5, 2007 was my very first day.

And this is how Camden became my family…
I could tell you story after story of how Camden became my family and has stayed my family. Like enough stories to keep you captivated for months…literally. I could tell you of how they were there for me when my Mema passed away within the first two weeks of working here, how supportive they were when I had to go out on medical leave, not once but twice, due to back surgery, how we laugh every single day, how they’ve seen me cry and seen me through bad days, how they’ve been reasons for good days and how I’ve made some of the best friends I’ll ever have here.

It’s not surprising we are on the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work list again. I consider myself extremely fortunate to work for a company like Camden and I know I’m not the only one.  I seriously love what I do and who I work with near and far (super special shout out to my BSC girls, Shannon and Carla who make me guffaw on a regular basis and to all my Camden BFF’s from Mentor training, who are spread around the U.S. You all have special places in my heart.). Yes, the tangible things like our out-of-the-blue bonuses, the long list of perks, our community outreach and the Ace Awards are amazing but at the core of it all, the reason why Camden is so awesome is because of its heart and soul. And boy do we have a lot of heart and soul. Our cup runneth over.