Hillary Day, Assistant Property Manager at Goodman is one of our fantastic rising Principal Young Leaders and is an active member of our Young Leaders committee. She’s also been nominated for our prestigious Rising Star of the Year and Allied Member of the Year awards. We interviewed Hillary this month to learn to learn more about her career aspirations and experience of being a part of BOMA OC. 

BOMA OC: What company are you with?

Hillary:  Goodman.

BOMA OC: What services does your company provide?

Hillary:  Goodman is a global property group. We own, develop, and manage industrial real estate in 17 countries including logistics and industrial facilities, warehouses, and business parks.

BOMA OC: What does your BOMA membership mean to you?

Hillary:  Opportunity. When I first got involved in the industry, I was a service provider. The main piece of advice I kept hearing was to get involved wherever I could and that I would get out of BOMA what I put into it. Throughout various committee involvement between the Orange County and Los Angeles chapters, my business relationships grew into some of my closest friendships. Particularly, my involvement with the Government Affairs committee led me to my mentor-turned-boss, that opportunity changed my life for the better.

BOMA OC: What are three lessons that you have learned the hard way?

Hillary:

1. 1.  Don’t make assumptions. If you never ask the answer will always be no.
   2.  Things don’t always go according to plan. It’s okay to let go and go with the flow.
   3. Sometimes, things end up working out better than you could have ever imagined.

BOMA OC: What are three traits that you admire of your closest mentors?

Hillary:

1. 1. Patience
   2. Integrity
   3. The ability to give constructive feedback.

BOMA OC: What is your “personal motto”?

Hillary: “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So, when life is dragging you back through difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus and keep aiming.”

BOMA OC: What is your proudest moment?

Hillary:  One of my proudest career moments involves my grandma. As many times as I’ve tried to explain to her what my job entails, she never fully understood it until she came to visit me onsite at our Eastvale property. She made applesauce and when I brought her into the construction trailer to put it in the fridge before I took her around the site, she met a couple of my colleagues. Her face lit up hearing them talk about the project and learning more about what my involvement with it was. After lunch, we drove around the site. I’ll never forget how big her smile was seeing everything. That day, she told me she finally understood what it was that I did, how happy she was to see me happy and how excited she was to tell her friends “the big green Amazon buildings off the freeway” is one of my granddaughter’s properties. It was a moment of pure joy. This industry is challenging but it’s also extremely rewarding. That day, my grandma validated the decision I made to take a leap of faith and not look back!