I am so HONORED....

Joel and I were having our afternoon catch up. As usual, I was prying for office gossip, (which usually never gets anywhere!) and he mentioned ever so casually, that he received an email from the VP of the company, that went out to the entire company. I asked him to read it to me, and as he did, my heart filled with gratitude! I asked him to forward it to me. Of course he asked, "WHY?". He is going to be super embarrassed when he finds out that I am blogging about it. We'll see how long he lets me keep it up here. But, it explains alot about Joel's character. Joel can over re-act in situations, and make them out to be a bigger deal than they really are. As a wife, that drives me batty sometimes, but in a professional environment it is useful. He takes his job very seriously, and because he over re-acts sometimes, that makes other aware how dedicated to his job he is. He is as/if not more dedicated to our family. Being "proud" of him, would entail pride, and I would rather be honored to be his wife, partner, and best friend.

Here is the email: (We thought we would have our own copy, so if we ever needed a letter of recommendation... hehe... JUST KIDDING!!!)

From: Royal Caswell
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 2:43 PM
To: McKinley
Subject: Celebrating Joel Evans . . .

Many of you know Joel Evans. If not, let me tell you about a young real estate professional who is a shining example of a McKinley employee who has lived the Core Values from day one.

Joel responded to one of our recruiting advertisements in December 2002. He began his McKinley career as a Residential Groundskeeper at the Lake in the Woods Apartments in Ypsilanti Township , Michigan . Joel was earnest in his approach to the job and realized very early on that hard work and dedication were rewarded at McKinley. His ingrained work ethic and Can-Do Attitude made him a stand out from the beginning. He quickly rose to Lead Groundskeeper.

After I took over the responsibilities for the Commercial Portfolio, I knew that Joel would work well at a Maintenance Technician in the Michigan Region. I should apologize to my good friends Nancy Dolan and Don Golec for stealing Joel, but they were proud to see Joel progress in his career! Joel’s hands-on approach made him a natural for the facilities/maintenance positions in which he worked. Joel could always be counted on to quickly assess a situation and use his Adroit abilities to find new and less-costly ways to accomplish tasks.

Later, Joel was an obvious pick for the Rising Stars program and I got the pleasure of being his mentor. It was immediately evident that Joel was an individual with limitless potential. When Joel said "I can be a Property Manager", I said "Let's go." He made the decision to move into a Commercial Property Management career path, becoming an Interim Property Manager in late 2007. This move required Joel to step outside of his maintenance and facilities comfort zone and step into the somewhat daunting collections, accounting, budgeting and lease interpretation zones. Joel attacked these areas with his passion for learning and was soon handling his own properties. In mid 2008, the Interim was removed from his title. Joel was showing everyone his Results orientation.

While this rapid rise is amazing - it continues on from there! Not long after Joel’s promotion to Property Manager, a similar role in Virginia became available. Joel made the decision to apply for the position and Len Cercone selected him as the top candidate.

Joel now works as a Property Manager at Janaf Shopping Yard in Norfolk , Virginia . Janaf is McKinley’s single largest asset . . . residential or commercial . . . owned or managed. With 1 million square feet of retail space, this asset is valued at over $100 million. Joel’s meteoric 7 year rise from Groundskeeper to Property Manager is a testament to Joel’s commitment to the McKinley Core Values.

I can guarantee you one thing. You will continue to hear more about Joel's progress and success, because it is part of his DNA to always develop and to always learn. You cannot stop him!

While we are all happy to see Joel's success, let me take a moment to ask YOU some questions. What do you want to be in your professional life? Have you completed your development plan with your supervisor? Do you have the education you need to advance? What work experiences will help you progress towards your goal? If you do not have answers to these questions, then why not? Get to it! You are part of the McKinley family. We want to see you succeed. We have developed world class systems and tools to aid in your development. That being said, it all begins and ends with your desire. Seven years will pass you by in flash. Where do you want to be in 7 years?

Please join me in celebrating Joel Evans for all that he’s accomplished in his short 7 years with McKinley!

Royal Caswell
Executive Vice President
Managing Director Commercial Real Estate

PS. This is the company that I was working at, when Joel and I met, and fell in love!