Women In Community Management
Community Managers see it all – our members’ achievements and successes, disappointments and heartbreaks. We see collaborations form and partnerships die (and of course, the occasional printer jam or electrical outage).
“Because we invest so much of ourselves into what we do, it can be hard to separate ‘work’ from ‘life,’” says Avital Gottesman, WeWork’s New York City Lead. Somewhat of a Community Management extraordinaire, Avital explains that “working with members makes it easy to get emotionally invested.”
For this Member Spotlight, we spoke with Avital about going after what you want, taking people’s advice, and what it means to be a community.
Benefits Of Female Managers
I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, in a household of five girls. After high school, I studied for a year and a half in Israel before moving to New York to study English and Communications at Stern College. During my senior year, my boyfriend’s brother (who is now my brother-in-law) had started an internship at WeWork. His building was only a few blocks from my dorm, so I would go visit him and study from empty offices. The company was still under the radar at the time but was already buzzing with entrepreneurial energy. I was in awe of it all, and knew I had to be a part of it.
After graduation, I basically stalked Adam [Neumann, CEO of WeWork] until he offered me the receptionist position at our Empire State location. I decided early on that working hard wasn’t optional and was quickly promoted to Associate Community Manager. I then moved to our newly opened Meatpacking location where I transitioned into the Community Manager role, eventually taking on the same position at Fulton Center last year. This spring, I became a City Lead, which entails supporting the New York CM team so that they can do their jobs effectively.
Through these transitions, I discovered the importance of attaching yourself to strong mentors. There are so many lessons I’ve learned from my own mentors: My mom, WeWork’s COO Chris Hill who has taught me so much about leadership and operations, and Valerie Batista, WeWork’s Head of Sales and a true expert in hospitality and member experience. Growing professionally means not taking things too personally. I don’t like to say I’ve been “lucky” because that implies a lack of hard work. I’ve remained very patient, remembering that success rarely comes fast and certainly never easily. And even once you reach new levels in your career, you need to prove that you deserve it.
What I do is not a job but rather a part of me and part of my life. Everything that you put into this job, you get out ten times over, and I’m fortunate that I constantly see the fruits of my labor. There’s so much inspiration in my surroundings stemming from my members and colleagues alike. The people I work with care so much about what they do, which makes the prospect of failure all the more devastating.
“Community” means understanding those around you and being an active participant in your space. There’s a certain connect-the-dots element of Community Management, and if you don’t ‘get’ the people you’re with, you miss opportunities to foster what could be awesome collaborations. We have the power to be facilitators, to inspire others to get to know those around them. It requires relating to all types of people, but there’s also this common denominator of working hard, hustling, and reaching for our goals. I’m part of a core team that influences our members directly, and it’s my job to do what I can to support them every day.
Photograph by Lauren Kallen