Wendy Wilson: Find Where You Belong

Joel Galloway: Welcome to the Blueprint. I'm Joel Galloway, Client Development Manager for Concrete Careers. Today, our CEO TJ Crosby and our Chief of Staff, Braden Garrett, join us as we visit with someone who's made a tremendous impact in Braden's life, our guest, Wendy Wilson. It's a conversation you won't want to miss, so let's jump right in.

Braedon Garrett: thank you for joining us. I know y'all were chatting when I got on, but I appreciate you doing this. Just so y'all know, Wendy and I caught up a few months ago. We've texted and I feel like we've emailed.

Joel Galloway: meaning this.

Braedon Garrett: And we follow each other on social media, but it was nice to sit down and chat because I feel like so much has happened since we last worked together. We last worked together in early 2019 before I went to the company that I met TJ at. So I think we've both gotten married. I've had two children. We both had many career changes, it feels like. But thank you, Wendy, for joining us. I wanted you on the podcast because I feel like... You, although you were never my direct boss, it was always so nice to work with you and your team. And it was no surprise that your team was the nicest, most efficient, and supportive of all of the regions because they had you as a leader. But I appreciate you joining us specifically. I thank you and shout out Sharon Hatfield, your leadership and how much it affected, even though you probably don't know it my career path.

Joel Galloway: Bye.

Wendy Wilson: Thank you.

Braedon Garrett: But you and TJ, I think you both lead with kindness and honesty, which is so appreciated. And I feel like you've always stayed true to yourself. So I feel like you and TJ have that in common. But yeah, I'm just, happy you're here.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that opening. It's I loved working with you obviously and I've enjoyed keeping up with everything that's been happening in both of our lives over the last few years and was excited when when you and I connected again right before you went out with your second baby to talk about meeting both Joel and TJ today. So thank you for helping to coordinate that.

Joel Galloway: Beautiful. How sweet.

Braedon Garrett: Yeah, of course. I don't know if TJ knows this, know Joel definitely doesn't know this, but the company we worked at previously, we went through a lot of hardships together. I feel like my first week there, one of Wendy's partners, her husband had passed away. I think my first week working there and then a year later, I forgot what Tim's title was, Wendy, but he had passed away in a tragic accident. then literally month later, our CEO passed away in a tragic accident. So we went through it together for sure.

Joel Galloway: my God.

Braedon Garrett: you always led with kindness. And I think that comfort was appreciated throughout the entire company.

Wendy Wilson: Thank

Braedon Garrett: it was hard.

Wendy Wilson: amazing how those kinds of events really bring you closer. a lot of significant and impactful transition from all of that. it,

T.J. Crosby: One thing Braden has taught me is the difference between, between being a nice leader and a kind leader. And, you know, sometimes I aired a little bit too much on the side of being nice and you don't have the tough conversation you need to have or so, but it's kinder to be candid and frank and like, this isn't working well. I need you to improve. Right.

Wendy Wilson: my goodness.

Braedon Garrett: Wendy, do you wanna, do you have any like core memories working with me that you can share with TJ and Joel?

Wendy Wilson: always appreciated your sense of organization and keeping to a timeline. Because you had a lot of different personalities to corral and from a lot of different departments and a lot of different levels of leadership. And you always seem to be able to do this, right? To kind of keep us all centered and on task. There were times you could be a little rigid.

Joel Galloway: vicious.

Braedon Garrett: Things have not changed. I'll just say that.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, so I don't remember any one thing. I always appreciated that sense of organization because like you and I were a lot alike in that ways. We knew how we wanted something named and configured if we were going to put something in a shared file so everybody could find it and this and this and it just made sense. I think you and I were very similar in that regard.

T.J. Crosby: Ha!

Wendy Wilson: I don't know. mean, you had a lot to manage with all of us.

T.J. Crosby: A lot. Right. Yeah. And force of personality makes her able to do it really, really well. mean, truly. Yeah. yesterday, I think I was not on my best behavior and, and Brayden finally turned on the caps lock key. everything she was saying to me in the chat was.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joel Galloway: She's excellent. I like that. No, she can yell through text. It is possible. I've experienced this. I can hear it.

T.J. Crosby: Ha ha ha!

Braedon Garrett: I definitely do. I'm not saying I don't. I definitely do. Yeah, you can hear it in my voice.

T.J. Crosby: Yeah.

Joel Galloway: I literally hear the voice inside my head.

T.J. Crosby: Yeah, I love when we get the messages from Brandon, you hear the tone that she's saying it

Braedon Garrett: This is all good. That means my children will be afraid of me at some point which is like well keep them pretty straight legs because I was certainly afraid of my mother

Joel Galloway: Is that the goal?

Wendy Wilson: Thank

T.J. Crosby: Right? Yeah. What is it? The Michael Scott? I want my people to be afraid of how much they love me. Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly.

Wendy Wilson: my goodness.

Joel Galloway: Better to be feared than loved, or people to be afraid of how much they love you.

Braedon Garrett: How much they love me, yes.

Joel Galloway: That's me. I'm terrified.

T.J. Crosby: Jeez, that's funny. That's

Braedon Garrett: this.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah.

Braedon Garrett: So, Wendy, I was talking to TJ yesterday a little bit about like our relationship and working past So I don't know if you wanted to talk about your previous role and how you were.

Joel Galloway: you

Braedon Garrett: kind of tied and what you were doing and how very like last minute and unpredictability you were just like, I'm gonna do it. And then you came to work for where you're currently working and that whole story, cause it's a good one.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah. my industry, it can be a revolving door. People shift and move organizations in property management and real estate pretty, pretty frequently. coming from CF, we were very boutique. We were very selective in the clients that we worked for. You know, we wanted to grow. organically, we had gone through rebranding and so we were shifting our image And then things started to change like any organization can, right? mean, business strategies, business plans change are certainly dead and it you know we were in a serious growth mode know, for a period of time had even wasn't even networking myself because I was just heads down working remotely But some things happened in my last year there that

Joel Galloway: you.

Wendy Wilson: I just couldn't get behind. I took my stand. I said what I needed to say. I was carrying on and doing my business. according to the business plan that I needed to execute on,

T.J. Crosby: All

Wendy Wilson: In the end, it was mutual. But I parted after 11 and a half years on the books

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: During that same time, however, some personal things were happening in my life. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. was traveling an awful lot for work. my father, my elder, they're both in their 80s. My father and I wanted to do anything we could to be able to keep my mom at home as long as we could sustain that. And... the timing of all of that evolving with her health and then me separating from the company really was a blessing. I didn't necessarily see it in the moment, but that change freed me up to have time with my family that I otherwise never would have

Joel Galloway: Thank

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: But I lost or I thought I had a part of me from not being gainfully employed and in this executive level role.

T.J. Crosby: Right.

Wendy Wilson: last year was a lot of transition for me personally and professionally. had to re network. I had to get back out there, ramp up my LinkedIn presence, you know, attend conferences. I started a consulting business, which was, which was great. really, really enjoyed that. and relied a lot on connections that I had in the, in the industry. People had formerly worked with prior mentors of mine, for, you know, Give me some candid feedback. We've not worked together in a couple of years. What can I do differently? So had an opportunity really to, you have to be very vulnerable to do that, right? To allow myself to absorb feedback. What could I have done differently? Where did I go wrong in the thing? What should I do differently? What should my trajectory look like? for six or so months last year at the beginning of the year, just really working to reinvent myself. so I, again, didn't necessarily see it at the moment, but had an opportunity to tap back into what I was passionate about, the things that meant the most to me.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: and was interviewing and was being very, very selective, doing a lot of investigation about companies I was talking with or who I would even entertain having a conversation with. You know, wanted to make sure that I was going to be, that my values were going to be aligned with that company's values. And so I had an opportunity, a big challenge to go to work with a student housing provider. I don't know nothing about student housing. But the group was going to, they were fully invested in creating a conventional silo of business. And so I was hired to launch and lead the conventional or multifamily side of business. And so it was very entrepreneurial. You know, it was startup and. know, selecting platforms and a tech stack and, you know, trying to get getting ready to build my bench and working with business development to get out in of new clients and was was having a lot of fun. You know, didn't know that I necessarily was an entrepreneur, but just really enjoyed, you know, helping to create something. But it didn't take off. It was really slow. Out of all the initiatives I needed to help line up and be ready for that business, we were ready, but we didn't have the business. so I wasn't largely responsible for that. I had some influence, but. we weren't known in that space. We were known in student space and very, good at that. But a lot of times, you know, it's referral or, your experience and we just didn't have those kinds of connections for the conventional side. And then in late August, got a call from a former, two former employees at the same company. One, Braden and I worked with, who was our CFO way back in the day. And then a VP that I had hired and recruited from another company to help me open Florida, the Florida region rather, the same day, got a call from Rangewater. We've got a position. This is right up your alley. I'm like, yeah, but I'm not unhappy. I'm kind of enjoying, a little bored, but I'm kind of enjoying, you know, learning this and ready for this to kick off. Yeah, but this is, you need to talk to us. You need to talk to us. And that was on a Monday. Had my first interview on a Tuesday. Had a second interview Wednesday evening,

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: Thursday morning had a very casual conversation with who is now my supervisor's peer. And the next day I had an offer. And.

T.J. Crosby: Wow.

Joel Galloway: Wow.

Wendy Wilson: in the months that I had spent earlier in the year interviewing and how lengthy that was. And I haven't interviewed in years, right? Cause I'd been with this company for 11 and a half years. haven't interviewed. And then, you know, that concentration of interviewing in the spring, it's like, gosh, why can't these people make a decision? We've talked six times, right? And this instance, I mean, it was moving fast. And the two people that had reached out to me had been talking with executive leadership, like we need to get her.

Joel Galloway: Thank

Wendy Wilson: whatever all those conversations were behind the scenes. And so it moved very, very fast. And I took that weekend, talked with my father who has always been an advisor for me. And he's like, Wendy, he said, have you prayed about it? I said, I have, yeah. And he said, is this a better scenario? said, daddy, said, I won't have to travel nearly as much.

T.J. Crosby: Mm.

Wendy Wilson: and it's the same footprint that I had before, so it's familiar. And there's some crossover with clients and, you know, it's my wheelhouse, you know, and everything else checked all the boxes and I accepted that offer on Monday. And my acceptance call lasted six minutes. I didn't negotiate anything because everything

T.J. Crosby: us.

Joel Galloway: Thank .

Wendy Wilson: was there. And, you know, went back to the company that I was working for and I said, I had been there for only a couple of months and like, I've been given this opportunity and you know, it's all of these things and I would have been responsible for the entire country. And there was a lot of travel during that, that those few months and that was not going to change. And that was the only thing I didn't like about the job. And then I said, you know, I want, I want to leave on good terms. I'll give you a 30 day notice. I want to help make sure that this is launched. And if I can be a resource to you with the new hire or whatever, then like we don't.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: understand this is a fantastic opportunity for you, blah, blah. We absolutely are going to refer back to you. We don't want to close this door. Who knows what the future might look like. And so, and then they let me work out just a two week notice and paid me for that 30 days. I'd only been there for a few months. And companies just don't do that. And so I left there having gained, just

T.J. Crosby: Wow.

Joel Galloway: Amazing. No, they don't.

T.J. Crosby: No, yeah.

Wendy Wilson: such an amazing perspective on another great organization, high caliber integrity people that I still talk with today. joined Rangewater in late September. I feel like I'm home. sense of camaraderie and team ship or teamwork and we're good people want to do good work. You know, it's not perfect, but that makes it challenging and that's exciting. Trust the people I work with. It's been good. It's been really good.

T.J. Crosby: You know, that's awesome. I mean, as you were telling the story, what I had in my head and you just said it already, but you're talking about the territory and the people and the values. I said, I was thinking to myself, it doesn't sound like Wendy took a new opportunity. It sounds like you went back home. Is the. Yeah.

Wendy Wilson: And in so many ways, I have said that. And the CFO that Braden and I used to work with had said to me when I got that call that first day, this is the closest thing to a culture fit that we have had since. And he was right. And so it does. It feels like home. It's challenging. I'm stretched right, I'm learning, I'm responsible in many ways, more responsible for my business unit than I was previously. And I'm involved with all the things. So in some ways it is entrepreneurial, which was sparked in me last summer that I didn't know I was even interested in. And so it is fulfilling a lot of things for me.

Joel Galloway: you

T.J. Crosby: Thank you. you're talking about, the different places you've been and learning a little bit about yourself, maybe more entrepreneurial and, you know, having a chance to learn about the student housing. One, one question I'm curious about is, you've been in these different environments, especially as you had to adapt to the merger.

Wendy Wilson: Thank

T.J. Crosby: happened, how have you seen your leadership style evolve across those different career shifts? What'd say?

Wendy Wilson: You know, I've been working for many, many years and I've been in this industry for 30. You always know the kind of boss you don't want to be, right? You want to learn. think you learn that early on in a career, right? And I've had some amazing mentors over the years, amazing mentors that I consider friends today, you know.

T.J. Crosby: yeah.

Joel Galloway: Yes.

T.J. Crosby: Right. Right.

Wendy Wilson: and nuggets that I picked up from them along the way that maybe I could have applied way back when, but I think are even more relevant now. And some of that is learning when or where to lean in with your teams. And I used to say this often, I will stand with you. It'll be beside you at times. It'll be behind you at times. There'll be times it'll be in front of you. And I think more than ever that's that I'm feeling that now in this role because we are rebuilding in some of the markets that I'm responsible for. And, you know, I've got I inherited the team that work in my portfolio, but I would hire nearly all of them because they're that good. And

Joel Galloway: That's awesome.

Wendy Wilson: but I see that there's an opportunity to refine, to help elevate some of them. And so I'm leaning into some of that advice and coaching that I had had over the years. At times I'm gonna stand beside you just to support you, because you know what you're doing, right? But let me help guide you. Let me just be here for support in case you need to nudge me or whatever, right? I'll stand behind you when I know you got it.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Joel Galloway: Thank

T.J. Crosby: Right, right.

Wendy Wilson: you know, and just to be there to be your audience, your cheering section, whatever. But I'll also stand in front of you if it's unfamiliar and you're uncomfortable so that you can watch and observe, right? And so I've had an opportunity to do that here with this team of professionals that I've inherited. And so it's been wonderful to see light bulbs go off. right, in some of their minds or hadn't thought about it like that. And for me, it's like, I'm still new. I mean, I've got people on speed dial phone a friend, right? Like, where do I find this? What is this? Where's this? You know, but I've learned to go to my team for that rather than peers or other departments because they need to feel that sense of, let me help her. Let me stand with her or beside her or in front of her. And so

T.J. Crosby: you

Wendy Wilson: I think that's something that I've taken and I've adapted over different positions that I've been in. But I think more than ever, I've gotten to use it here. And I think it's served me and my team pretty well.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm. That's awesome. That's awesome. know, Brayden, I know you were curious about, you know, kind of her recent life change of getting married. I'm curious what you wanted to kind of ask her about that.

Braedon Garrett: Yeah, I mean, I think I think when Wendy and I caught up a few months ago, it's interesting. I've seen Wendy through other relationships and I haven't I don't know her now current husband. So I'm like, my like, of knowing that she's with her person like makes me so so happy because she's one of those people that just like deserves all things good. And then she's finally found it makes me so happy for her. But yeah, I mean, she's in a place now or she's a newly

Wendy Wilson: Huh.

Braedon Garrett: but she also has a son in his early 20s who's starting to figure out his life too, which is such an interesting place to be just like in life in general and starting a new job. how does all of that just come to fruition and place that in your life all of sudden?

Wendy Wilson: yeah. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So like I said, 2025 was a year of transition, right? I met my now husband a little over two years ago online. was the last dating site that he or I had ever gotten on. I'd never been on this one and it was, it was eHarmony and it works. It's very expensive, but it works, right? Anywho. So I met him back in 2024 and

T.J. Crosby: Bye.

Joel Galloway: Yeah.

Wendy Wilson: you know, it was probably six months or so in that I thought, this is something. I don't know what it is, but it's something right. And he asked my father, my elderly father, I am 55 years old. Okay. He asked my father, I guess about nine or 10 months in if he could marry me. And he asked me to marry him on his birthday about a year later.

T.J. Crosby: That's funny.

Wendy Wilson: and we had, I don't know, or seven month engagement and we eloped in October. And, you know, it's, I didn't expect to get remarried. I was enjoying life, you know, as a empty nester again and solo travel and just, you know, kind of doing my own thing and

T.J. Crosby: wow.

Joel Galloway: Aww.

Wendy Wilson: wasn't just wasn't expecting it but he is a wonderful man and life is just so rich. I didn't know that I would be this happy being married. I just didn't know. My son will be 23 tomorrow. He yes.

T.J. Crosby: incredible.

Joel Galloway: wow, happy birthday.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, he has been gainfully employed for about two years and off my payroll for about two years.

Joel Galloway: There we go.

T.J. Crosby: That's what?

Joel Galloway: That's, that's it.

T.J. Crosby: That's what?

Wendy Wilson: You know, but yeah, so Brandon and I worked together when he was a teenager and was doing all the crazy things and you know,

Braedon Garrett: Mm-hmm.

Joel Galloway: Weren't we all back then?

Wendy Wilson: I didn't have time for anything else because I was, know, having to manage that. But my son is thriving. He's in a fabulous job.

T.J. Crosby: Right.

Wendy Wilson: He's on his first solo trip this week for his birthday to celebrate, which I'm really proud of him. Travel is really something that I love, that I'm really very passionate about. And so he's on a trip this week and just he's thriving, thriving.

T.J. Crosby: That's incredible.

Joel Galloway: What a gift to watch your kids be great.

T.J. Crosby: What a yeah, yeah, for sure. Now where did y'all look? Where did y'all look to? If you don't mind me asking.

Wendy Wilson: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

Braedon Garrett: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: We got married in Asheville at the Biltmore and yeah, it was so beautiful. It was beautiful. And it ended up being in the week of peak fall color, which we could not have planned any better. And so it got married on Tuesday at one o'clock in the afternoon and it was lovely. And about a month later, five weeks or so later, we had a big party at a

Joel Galloway: my word. man.

T.J. Crosby: I love it.

Wendy Wilson: veteran owned craft brewery here in Columbia, which is definitely his and my style. And so that allowed our family and friends to come and celebrate with us, got to wear the dress twice, you know, he got dolled up twice. And so, you know, took the pictures, all of the things to check the parents boxes.

T.J. Crosby: with us.

Joel Galloway: Bill Moore is beautiful.

T.J. Crosby: You know, more and more people I've known have done the, the actual wedding in a very small way, either a low or just a small ceremony and then have the kind of the celebration later on. and so actually my sister-in-law did that. She got married in Hawaii, but then had a celebration here, in the mainland. I was able to be the efficient, not actually cause I'm not ordained, but I was able to still do it because they were already married.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah. how special. Yeah, that's

Braedon Garrett: you

Wendy Wilson: special.

T.J. Crosby: That's pretty neat. Yeah. That's a cool way to do it.

Joel Galloway: like some of that has to do though it's like when you do the small thing it really lets the two people be able to focus on each other because let's just face it y'all weddings are insane and crazy and there's logistics and the bride and groom are often very distracted during them so i'm sure that was beautiful for you to be able to just focus on each other in that moment

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: Yes.

Braedon Garrett: and I'll guys later.

Wendy Wilson: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, and it can be stressful and we just didn't want that. I didn't have that kind of elaborate wedding when I was married the first time, neither did he. And, you know, I wanted something very special and intimate, but I knew I wanted to wear a dress because I didn't wear a true wedding dress for, you know, when I got married the first time. And we were married for 19 years, but just, you know, I didn't do that kind of ceremony. And I wanted my parents to have the experience of going with me to try on the dress. And so we did a lot of of those things still, but then had the private elopement and, you know, being able to get dressed again and, you know, have a first dance. And my father said a blessing for us. And Braden's and my former boss slash mentor slash friend Sharon Hatfield spoke on our behalf at the party. you know, so we we were able to do a lot of the things that other people wanted to experience in helping to celebrate us. it was low key, it was fun, it was not stressful and beautiful memories. It was everything that we would have wanted.

T.J. Crosby: So as a company, I will say as a person too, but as a company specifically, we've had a lot of success in having mothers work here. specifically, I mean, you know, everybody contributes, but, we have a very strong, I think mother tribe here, here at concrete careers. And yeah, for sure. And, would love to know kind of from you and your own personal journey.

Joel Galloway: They're the backbones for sure. Yes.

T.J. Crosby: What do feel like motherhood has taught you about business and business principles that you feel like, you know, or what has mother to tell you just in general that like running a business never could, do you think?

Wendy Wilson: Hmm. well, as a parent, as a mother, you ask a lot of questions. You stay curious, you ask a lot of questions. You don't always want to hear the answers that you hear. So I would say staying curious, you know, asking questions, poking holes. It's an opportunity to learn, obviously, an opportunity to

T.J. Crosby: Yeah. Right.

Wendy Wilson: to able to provide insight and so forth. think that that's a valuable contribution. learning how to balance and juggle. You know, with any business, you you've got to continue to work to keep all the balls in the air, right? Sometimes balls are going to drop, but it's how you react and, you know, proactively what you do so it doesn't drop and then how you react to it after the fact, I think is also really important. You know, I can remember

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: my son asking questions while I was driving and I would just cringe like, where did that come from? Right? But you can't let him see that reaction because he's like, that did something, right? It's the same thing kind of in business, right? And so I think just learning how to communicate with others on the level that they understand, staying curious, doing whatever you can to.

Joel Galloway: Thank

Braedon Garrett: you

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: keep it all moving and being able to back up and reset, right? Re-center. Because gosh, as parents, we do that all the time. And I think a lot of times in business you have to too, right? If something's not working or you need to explore, you gotta ask questions. You gotta poke holes and what could make us more efficient or is this solving exactly? the why or what's the what, you know, and so I think just staying curious and being able to ask those kinds of questions and keeping an open mind oftentimes is really, really important.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm. That's a great principle. It's funny. You know, I think about my, my son, he's 13 and so, you know, keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Cause we're moving more into that, you know, sweet and kindhearted, but you never, never really know what's going to happen during those years. But, but he and I will talk a little bit, you know, he'll ask me questions or whatever, but, but Valerie, his mom, I

Joel Galloway: embarking on teenagerdom.

T.J. Crosby: He really talks to her like she's cultivated. You're talking about asking the questions and, not having too much judgment, like allowing space to just, you know, not react too much. And so really she has cultivated over years and years, that sort of trust level and comfort level. He'll, he'll walk right by me and tell her this whole story about what's happened today. And I'm like, where'd all that come from? know, she may, you might, but.

Wendy Wilson: Bye.

Joel Galloway: Holly may do that with you because of the dad daughter thing. You never

Braedon Garrett: That's true.

Joel Galloway: know, it may work out like that.

T.J. Crosby: I told Valerie the other day that, know, similar thing with Polly, she encourages the same. So I've told about her. I don't think Polly is happier than whenever she's, she's taking a bath and Valerie's hanging out in there with her. And Polly is able to just talk to her. Cause I'll hear Polly just giggling and laughing because she just, I don't know. It's just, so I love that idea of asking the question, staying curious, but without too much judgment in the outset, you know,

Wendy Wilson: Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, and I remember when my son was, was, I don't know, seven or eight years old, and he was asking those kinds of questions. And like, you need to talk to your dad, right? And he said, Daddy always, Daddy, Daddy always jokes around. I'm like, okay. My mom was in education. His uncle, my son's uncle was a wrestling coach in high school, guidance counselor. I'm like, okay, he's asking these questions. How am I supposed to approach this? And they're like,

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: You need to be honest, right? Tell him what he wants or tell him the answers. Stop talking when he stops asking questions, because that means he's absorbed everything that he can in that little mind. I'm like, OK. And my his daddy did not support us having that conversation yet, but I decided it's time. And I remember talking to him one morning like, look, you can ask me anything. But in turn.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm. of life.

Wendy Wilson: I get to ask you anything that has to be our rule. And so I was very honest. Well, he never stopped asking questions. So he learned the whole kit can bootle that day. But so from the age of about eight, he and I had that relationship where he could ask me anything, even while I'm driving and white knuckled without judgment. And I would answer honestly.

T.J. Crosby: Hahaha

Wendy Wilson: he had to do the same with me. And so we've had that kind of that kind of relationship, TJ, that you described your son with your your wife. And even today, you know, he'll come to me with with things and like, it's probably better served you talking to your father, however, you know, and and and I love that we've had that that kind of relationship. But I do think it's important to be honest and transparent. But it's got to go both ways.

T.J. Crosby: Right?

Joel Galloway: What a safe emotional space you've created. That's very admirable as a parent.

Braedon Garrett: Mm-hmm.

T.J. Crosby: Mm. Yeah. You talk about the juggling. I'm I see, I see Braden do that on a regular basis all the time. Braden's funny. She'll. Right. You'll, you'll tell me like, I'm sorry. I felt like I'm not as available to you with this. That the other would be in a mom. And I'm like, I have no idea. Like, what are you talking about? Because what I see is this like constant flow of things being accomplished and done and communicated and taken care of. I don't know if you're, if you feel like you're splitting time right now, I have no idea what Braden.

Joel Galloway: You don't feel unpresented.

T.J. Crosby: It's going to look like whenever you don't have split time, it sounds like, are you talking about? think you're talking about the motherhood of juggling juggling and the balance. the real talent. Yeah.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah.

Braedon Garrett: No, we used to joke because Joel met me when he started. I in my first, I think was either in my first or second trimester of pregnancy. And I've always, you know, I've always been just like, not energetic, but just very organized and on top of it. I think TJ at one point looked at Joel and he was like, wait until Brayden's not pregnant anymore and not in her postpartum phase, like how she's going to treat you. She's going to treat you that involved like.

Joel Galloway: Thanks He's like, you haven't even met the real Braden yet. Like you just wait until all that energy is directed at work.

Braedon Garrett: Yeah, you can't remember all the way then.

T.J. Crosby: Right, right.

Braedon Garrett: That's right, get ready.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah.

Joel Galloway: And so then what was that ominous message you sent, you posted in the group chat on like the day before you came back is, you know, or you said something like, get ready Joel. I'm like, you know, five days I'm coming back. You better look out that kind of thing.

Braedon Garrett: What?

T.J. Crosby: Get ready to go or something like that. Yeah, well, funny. It's like Wendy, she took maternity leave, you know, and we're like, did you ever really leave though? Because you were kind of kind of here lurking the whole time, you know.

Joel Galloway: She was never gone.

Braedon Garrett: I was lurking. I'm a big, big lurker. I just, I'm an enneagram too. I'm a cancer. I'm a woman. I'm a millennial. I like need to be needed and loved. I have lots of personality flaws and issues. I just need to be needed, which is why I thrive in the role that I'm in. Cause I'm needed for the most part. feel like.

Joel Galloway: Yes. You bad.

T.J. Crosby: 100%. Yeah. I was telling Valerie that this morning, I was joking about, was laughing about me updating that agreement yesterday and, and Braden's like, let me do that. I'm like, well, I'm trying to let you know, let you get some rest, you know? And she's like, my wellbeing is, is when I get to help, you know, she said something about job security. And I was like, I was like, felt about her and said, Braden clearly doesn't know how far over a barrel I am at this point. And my dependency on Braden to do all the things like job security.

Wendy Wilson: I love them.

Joel Galloway: I'm in trouble. of security.

Braedon Garrett: security.

Wendy Wilson: That was fun.

Joel Galloway: Yeah.

Braedon Garrett: the

T.J. Crosby: I'm just like begging her not to ever leave at this point, you know.

Joel Galloway: Job secured.

Braedon Garrett: Anyway, the theme of this conversation is that mothers can do it all and I joke all the time with TJ I'm like just hire a team of mothers because we can balance 70,000 things we can see what's present in front of us We can lift ourselves up and see the future like we can do everything Shout out to the Datsun. I think that's Kim, the mothers. Come on

T.J. Crosby: That's right.

Joel Galloway: They can. Thank you.

T.J. Crosby: That's right. That's right.

Wendy Wilson: But it does help when you've got a support behind you. Like when I used to have to travel like I was, you know, whether, you know, my son would go to his dad's or my mom and dad would come over or my dogs, you know, it's like taking the dogs to the kennel. It's like they were frequent flyers at the kennel, right? And so you have to have a support group.

Braedon Garrett: 100%.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: to be able to accomplish all those things. Fortunately, I've had that.

Braedon Garrett: my husband is a very big part of that too. Speaking of support and all of the things, I actually have to depart because my four month old just woke up. So I have to go be a mom for a few minutes. I'm gonna, but I appreciate you, Wendy, so much. And hopefully you and TJ and Joel will continue the conversation for another.

Joel Galloway: He is. He's a great dad.

T.J. Crosby: yeah. Yeah.

Wendy Wilson: Good seeing you, Brayden.

Braedon Garrett: minutes or so at least.

T.J. Crosby: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Brad.

Joel Galloway: We'll say only good things about you while you're gone.

Wendy Wilson: Thanks, Raiden. Good seeing you.

Braedon Garrett: Thanks Joel. Bye.

Joel Galloway: Okay, so that's a perfect segue then you have to tell us the craziest story that you can tell on air.

Wendy Wilson: There's so many, we always joke that we could write a book. was actually telling my husband this just about a week ago. Early in my career, I worked for a small local owner in Charleston. beautiful solid older properties. The property that I was a community manager on was a large military demographic. At the time, you know, the Navy base was still in Charleston, the Air Force base, of course, just a large military background or demographic rather. And we would do preventative maintenance inspections. You know, we would notice the residents a couple of days in advance were coming in, we're going to change filters, check your smoke detectors, whatever, Put your dogs up, da, da, da. And oftentimes our service supervisor would walk ahead and like unlock a couple doors in the breeze ways, you know, so that we could get in and out efficiently, right? Be less disruptive to residents if they were home. And I remember getting a call on my little radio, Miss Wendy, can you come on over to apartment? Okay. And Miss Wendy now. gosh. Okay. Right. And walked in and this resident who was not home behind a baby gate blocked off in the kitchen was a caiman. It's an alligator. about three foot long, a caiman in the kitchen, blocked off behind a baby gate, an exotic animal.

T.J. Crosby: What?

Joel Galloway: bet they lost their security deposit.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

T.J. Crosby: Hahaha! I'm just, I'm just glad when I go to the zoo, you know, that they have all those baby gates keeping all the animals in locked up, you Right. Yeah. Sheesh. That's crazy.

Joel Galloway: Apparently, that's an ad for the Baby Gate Company right there. What in

Wendy Wilson: Yeah.

Joel Galloway: the world? See, I knew that you would not, you would not under deliver with this. I knew. please, please.

Wendy Wilson: Same. Well, one more just really as quickly as I can.

T.J. Crosby: That's hilarious.

Wendy Wilson: About the same time of my career way back when. think it was a maintenance call. We'd gotten a maintenance service request call I don't want to say that it was the same property because if anybody listens to this in my industry, they might be able to tie it back. got a call on the radio, Miss Wendy. I get there and this resident had sacrificed a goat in their apartment.

Joel Galloway: my...

T.J. Crosby: Wow.

Wendy Wilson: And it was horrific.

Joel Galloway: my word.

T.J. Crosby: was at least in the bathtub.

Wendy Wilson: It was in the bathroom. So a lot was contained, but it was horrific. Yeah.

T.J. Crosby: Okay.

Joel Galloway: Uhhh...

T.J. Crosby: Wow. That, I mean, it really does take all kinds, they say. And in property management, you meet a whole lot of people, right? I mean, there's people that think that people think they know what humanity is like, but when you work in property management, you get to meet a whole lot of flavors of humanity. Yeah, truly.

Joel Galloway: man. the

Wendy Wilson: We do. We do.

Joel Galloway: That is incredible. Well, on a lighter note, I hear you do a lot of volunteer work and I'd love to hear a little bit more about that and the things that drive you to be able to commit your time to help your community.

Wendy Wilson: Absolutely. I am pretty passionate about finding ways to give back. and because I'm new here in the Midlands, in Blythwood, I'll have to reestablish some things here, but I've been involved with a group called 100 Women Who Care. A former colleague of mine was involved with that chapter in Charlotte and was seeing some of the things that she was doing, found a chapter in Charleston. There is a chapter here in the Midlands, they're not as active, but I'm hoping that maybe I can help have some impact there to change that, but It's all women. The goal is that once a quarter, from a financial standpoint, the contribution is every woman $100 per quarter. So $400 a year. And every quarter, the chapter selects a charity focus on where those funds will go, if there's an opportunity to participate in something in person that would support that particular initiative. And so it's...

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: And all the money stays local, which is really important to me. And so, you know, we've had things down in Charleston where, you know, respite care was a focus one time. Other times it was supporting a farm that had therapy animals and where children and people could come for that. Other time it was, you know, for...

T.J. Crosby: That's awesome.

Wendy Wilson: women and children that were in a domestic violence situation and needed to have a safe refuge. So 100 women who care. I'm very, excited about that. I've also been involved with Cinderella Day in Charleston. There's something similar here in Columbia. I didn't get to do that this spring, but you help young women.

T.J. Crosby: you

Wendy Wilson: generally high school juniors and seniors to come in before their prom. They get to select a dress. They get to go to hair and makeup. They get to pick accessories. And so they get all dolled up for their prom. Whereas otherwise they may not have the means or the ability to do that. And you volunteer. It's a full day. It is so much fun. There's so much excitement in the air. You everybody's cheering. She said yes to the dress and you know, that kind of thing. And so you either get to be help be a personal shopper which helps them pick out. There's no cost, but that's what you're called, right? And you get to bring the dresses in.

T.J. Crosby: dude.

Joel Galloway: I love that.

T.J. Crosby: Bye, friend.

Wendy Wilson: and show them how to style and da-da-da-da, and then you take that same young woman to hair and makeup, or you take them to find accessories, and just to see how the women, young women light up and shine when they feel beautiful, and they have a formal dress to go to this event. That's been so, much fun. And I've gotten a couple of girlfriends involved to do that together, so that's been a lot of fun.

T.J. Crosby: That's incredible.

Joel Galloway: What

Wendy Wilson: And then one other thing here in Columbia that we have found, my husband is a former Marine. And so we're looking for ways that we can do something that support veterans here. And we found the Austin Wilkes Home, which is, it helps to bridge where military.

Joel Galloway: a gift.

Wendy Wilson: veterans as they're separating from the military and they're going back out into civilian life, maybe they need assistance with housing or place to stay or close or a business suit because you're going to do an interview or something of that nature. So Alston Wilkes Home does a slew of things to support veterans in that transition period. They have a facility here in Columbia and one in the upstate of South Carolina. And so we've done some fundraising for them, but we're looking for other ways that maybe we can actually get in hands-on to do some stuff. So anything veteran related, I'm also very passionate about.

Joel Galloway: Thank

T.J. Crosby: That's incredible. I have a friend of mine who also works in property management space, Brian Stan, works for hunt military communities, he's a CEO over there, but he's a Marine. and, he was involved with higher heroes. It was like a veteran hiring transition. So anyway, that's just cool that y'all are giving back in that way. think Joel would be awesome if we can find a way to share maybe links to some of those.

Joel Galloway: Love it.

Wendy Wilson: Okay. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Joel Galloway: Yes.

T.J. Crosby: things in when we post the episode on the, on the website, for sure. So, so in that similar vein, this could be professionally related or otherwise what's something that, that younger Wendy thought mattered a whole lot that, Wendy today is like, Nope, it doesn't matter as much as you thought it did back then.

Joel Galloway: Absolutely.

Wendy Wilson: Hmm. You know, instantly the first thing I think about is used to be really important to me what hung on my wall and what came after the comma after my last name. Designations, awards, degrees, certifications, and there's a place for all of that, right? Bringing experience and value, knowledge.

T.J. Crosby: Mm.

Wendy Wilson: higher learning. There's a place for all of that, but it's a lot less important now. What comes after my last name and what hangs on my wall, because those things don't define me. They're layers to who I am or what I've done over my career or personally, but those things don't define me.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Joel Galloway: Right.

T.J. Crosby: that's well said. And I thought, uh, I will say to my son, seems like middle schoolers these days that they're and kids in general seem to have a healthier relationship around, um, how they treat each other and for whatever reason, I'm thankful for that. But a couple of things is like that image doesn't matter as much as you think it might. Like it seems really important right now. And the time you get to high school, which thought matter to middle school doesn't matter anymore. And by the time you get to college, certainly. what you thought was important. High school doesn't matter anymore. Right. And it just seems to keep happen like each as each decade goes by for me. It's like, well, that that didn't matter as much as I thought it did. You know, you're going to like, so like NBA, I'm like, yeah, I got an NBA, whatever it was. And now it's like, even like even my niece, the deaf, just call me TJ. That's just who I am. TJ.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah. for sure. Exactly. Well, and it's like, if I'm going to introduce somebody that is on my team, it's this is Joel, he and I work together. not a title thing, you know, and so I do I think I think that there's a lot of ways to incorporate the feel good part of being a good human into what you do.

T.J. Crosby: Braden wanted me to ask you if you would hire me, I think for one, but also if I did work for you for a week or a month, what role do you think I could work in your team?

Joel Galloway: Yeah.

Wendy Wilson: goodness. Well, I'll say that there's a lot of things that I do not know about maintenance and construction and facilities and those kinds of things. but I would probably say, is there something you can help me do from a maintenance standpoint? Cause there's a reason I don't carry a screwdriver. don't know how to fix things. Right. So I would probably think along that lines

T.J. Crosby: Yeah, yeah.

Wendy Wilson: know, finding a way even to be a mentor or an ambassador.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: I think that people crave that kind of person or role model to look up to for things that might have a different perspective, a totally fresh set of eyes. So maybe something like that.

T.J. Crosby: I love it because my dad and his dad were homebuilders. my dad doesn't do homebuilding anymore, but, know, but I, you know, I've learned how to swing the hammer and turn the wrench and know the difference between, know, and close in and open in wrench and that sort of thing. And, no, it'd have to be dangerous at this point, but I would, I think I would enjoy the maintenance side because, and you've probably felt the same way in roles like these where they're very relationship centric. It's metrics. It's. Hey, last month we had on paper, we did this thing, right? There, when you have an opportunity, either volunteering or just at home or whatever, to do something that's a little more tangible that like you, you spend some time doing something else. And there's, there's like a physical product there that's better now as a different, I don't know it accesses a different part of the brain, but there's a different sense of accomplishment. Um, right. Right. So I'd love it. Be like, Oh, and help fix some things.

Joel Galloway: There's a thing at the end of the-

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, appreciation for it. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

T.J. Crosby: That's a good choice. Sorry. Joel, what are your thoughts? Is that what? Be on the radio?

Joel Galloway: Just make sure you call her when you need her on the radio. Yep. I said, make sure you call her the radio when you need her.

Wendy Wilson: Miss Wendy. It's like one of those cringing, knuckled minutes.

T.J. Crosby: All right, Miss Wendy.

Joel Galloway: Need you now. Yes.

T.J. Crosby: Well, it's funny.

Joel Galloway: Yes.

T.J. Crosby: I'm right here. So I pick on her. Brayden has told me that I cannot ask her if we could talk for a minute without telling her like what we're to talk about or like it's not bad.

Joel Galloway: Yep. He's got, he's got a preference like, Hey, can we talk this afternoon? Like everything's fine. Cause otherwise we all are like, what did we do? What did we do?

T.J. Crosby: Right, right. But you

Wendy Wilson: Right.

T.J. Crosby: talk about the Miss Wendy thing. My daddy is, you know, even now, if he goes into another room and says, TJ, I'm like, what did I do? I don't think I did anything wrong, you know, because that's what he would do growing up. He would, he was polite. So he would call me to another room and get on to me. So now if he's in another room, it says my name.

Joel Galloway: You

T.J. Crosby: I still feel like at 42 years old, I'm like. What does it

Wendy Wilson: first

Joel Galloway: That's what Raiden was talking about about her kids being afraid of her. That's what it is.

T.J. Crosby: That's all.

Wendy Wilson: The first in middle name, Wendy Marie.

T.J. Crosby: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My mom does the whole, you know, she names all four kids when she's trying to call your name and she's mad at you. I couldn't, couldn't, couldn't, can't, TJ. well, last, last question I'll ask you, cause I know you're busy. Have, have other things you got to get to, but you know, as far as the future, what excites you most about?

Wendy Wilson: Yeah.

Joel Galloway: Yep, when she gets to you.

Wendy Wilson: Yes. That's so funny.

T.J. Crosby: kind of the next few years, do you think in work and life, whatever the case, you know, what are you most excited about ahead of you?

Wendy Wilson: A couple of things probably. So I am anxious about what our future looks like at Rangewater because of the opportunities to implement new technologies. I'm not a techie.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: My husband's in IT. I've learned some things, but I'm excited at the opportunity to learn some new stuff and to have some exposure to some new tools because I think that that's, you know, invaluable. And that's just where we are from a work standpoint.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Wendy Wilson: excited that I have more balance than I've probably ever had. And I have something to look forward to at the end of the day and that my weekends are important, more important than probably they've been in 10 or so years. just, know, spending time with my new husband. We're intentional about dating. We have a date night every week.

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's awesome.

Wendy Wilson: For wedding gifts, we told people we didn't want anything. I mean, we blending two houses. We're in our 50s. We don't need stuff. Help us plan dates. Help us plan date nights for our first year together. And so, you know, we've got gift certificates and things to do and cooking classes and painting classes and all these kinds of things. And so just enjoying time being newlywed and again, just something else to look forward to outside of work. Haven't had that in a long time.

T.J. Crosby: Drive, drive. Well, that's, I mean, you talk about the, yeah, for sure. When you talk about the commas behind the name and all that, I mean, the identity, it's awesome to see like you've reached a point in your life where you know what matters to you. You know what you want to focus on personally and professionally, the balance that's needed to have a healthy life. And it's, I've had a lot of people talk to you that talk about getting into their fifties that they started to like they're getting to a point they know they've learned how to thrive.

Joel Galloway: someone to come home to is magical.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, it is.

T.J. Crosby: or so. That's awesome.

Wendy Wilson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. got like 40s were great. People get hung up on turning 40. I loved turning 50. I have loved these years just because I know who I am and I'm comfortable on my own skin. I do know what's important. Last year I really had to reevaluate some things and but again I wouldn't have had that opportunity had.

T.J. Crosby: Right, right.

Wendy Wilson: what happened not happened. And so I am thankful for that. were blessings upon blessings last year, but thriving is kind of that word. I used it to describe my son and how he's doing, and that's how I feel. Yeah.

T.J. Crosby: That's awesome. Truly. Well, Wendy, it's been a pleasure to have you. Pleasure to meet you. hard to believe we haven't met before now, but it's, we know you really well at this point and love that you've taken the time and so thankful to Braden, that she introduced you to us and, reached out to you and got you onto the podcast. So excited you've been here.

Joel Galloway: Yes.

Wendy Wilson: You also. Yeah. I appreciate your time, both of you. Thank you for making this an enjoyable and entertaining conversation. We've covered a lot of things, but have really enjoyed my time with you both.

T.J. Crosby: So Joel, what do you think about Wendy? Spend the time with her.

Joel Galloway: love her. Like, Braden's not right about very much, but she nailed this one.

T.J. Crosby: Ha ha!

Joel Galloway: she's just part of our little family now and definitely would love to spend more time with her. Such an inspiring person. And one of the key takeaways for me, and I didn't say it when she said it, but it jumped out at me, is she said at, in her fifties that she's she now knows who she is. And that just kind of hit me in an interesting way because I always assumed growing up that you figure out who you are for real kind of in your thirties, you know, and and I know we'll see living it now. Everything looks different with, know, with the rear view mirror, but I always

T.J. Crosby: Mm-hmm.

Joel Galloway: felt like I looked at the adults around me and my parents and all that stuff. we're like, you know, by the time I'm 30, I'll, I'll kind of have life figured out in a lot of ways. And at 39, I'm figuring out how little of life we really truly do have figured out by this point. And so, but I just think it's awesome that no matter what each individual's personal timeline is for that, that she 100 % confidently looked us right in the eye and was like I know who I am now in a way that I have never fully had the whole picture of jobs can change relationships can change all that stuff is fine. That is part of life and those things will happen births and and and losses of people

T.J. Crosby: Awesome.

Joel Galloway: but to be able to look yourself in the mirror and be like, am who I am and I'm proud of that person. That's beautiful.

T.J. Crosby: It is, I mean, for me, there's, there's two main takeaways. You know, she talked about the importance of keeping open lines of communication. I think that applies to family, but it applies to coworkers and employees

Joel Galloway: Yes.

T.J. Crosby: Asking a lot of questions helps to make sure it's a two way communication. One way is that's one really big thing. And the other piece is, I've often told people whenever seemingly bad things happen, you know, a job change happens that maybe you didn't want or whatever, but oftentimes what comes next is better and richer than the thing you're in now. We kind of cling so hard onto what we have today, just cause that's what we have today. But to have a little more confidence to step into what's next, it can really pay off like it has for her,

Joel Galloway: what we can see. we just want to feel, it's not even comfortable in the way that it gets kind of negatively appropriated now, the word being comfortable, like, oh, if you're comfortable, you have no aspiration and you have no dreams and drive. It's not like that. It's just hard to let go of what, what you see around you by, because it, because that is real. You talked about things being tangible.

T.J. Crosby: All right.

Joel Galloway: and how few things really are tangible in life. So when you do have things that you can actually touch in front of you and know that this is kind of safety and to take that leap, it is difficult. life getting shaken up for you to really actually undo the roots where you are. to be able to get kind of moved to a new garden, if you will.

T.J. Crosby: Right. Yeah.

Joel Galloway: And so I think that's very interesting.

T.J. Crosby: And, before we go, I want to try to the opportunity to share that Brayden we joke around and we laugh, but Brayden does a lot of things behind the scenes as our chief of staff. if people haven't got a chance to get to know her, she's an incredible person, incredible member of our team keeps all of us together. she's really.

Joel Galloway: Cheers.

T.J. Crosby: A lot of ways to glue and the oil machine that keeps everything running. And so just wanted to express my thanks for her giving her time to support the way she does and to lead the way she does to help make the business better. Even though she's got family responsibilities and things like that, it's, it's, it's a lot to balance, but she does a phenomenal job balancing it all.

Joel Galloway: She is 1000%. She does with grace and as much as she gives me a hard time, she knows a lover and she really is the backbone of what we're doing. There are so many things. mean, even this very episode, she orchestrated so much of what made this run smoothly, not just in bringing Wendy on, but helping us have a natural flowing conversation with her. So just another example of her excellent work and skill. She doesn't always ask for the spotlight. Actually, she never asks for the spotlight, but she really deserves it. So I'm proud to work with her and proud to know

T.J. Crosby: Never ask, just drive. That's right. And thank you as always, Joel, for helping us put together a great episode.

Joel Galloway: Well, thank you as always TJ for being such a gracious host and looking forward to the next time.

T.J. Crosby: Save here.

Joel Galloway: And just like that, another episode of the Blueprint is in the books. Make sure you like, share, and subscribe and check us out at BlueprintPodcast.com. We'll see you next time.