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Community Managers see it all – our members\u2019 achievements and successes, disappointments and heartbreaks. We see collaborations form and partnerships die (and of course, the occasional printer jam or electrical outage).<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we invest so much of ourselves into what we do, it can be hard to separate \u2018work\u2019 from \u2018life,\u2019\u201d says Avital Gottesman, WeWork\u2019s New York City Lead. Somewhat of a Community Management extraordinaire, Avital explains that \u201cworking with members makes it easy to get emotionally invested.\u201d<\/p>\n
For this Member Spotlight, we spoke with Avital about going after what you want, taking people\u2019s advice, and what it means to be a community.<\/p>\n
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I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, in a household of five girls.<\/strong> 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n After graduation, I basically stalked Adam [Neumann, CEO of WeWork]<\/strong> until he offered me the receptionist position at our Empire State location. I decided early on that working hard wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Through these transitions, I discovered the importance of attaching yourself to strong mentors.<\/strong> There are so many lessons I\u2019ve learned from my own mentors: My mom, WeWork\u2019s COO Chris Hill who has taught me so much about leadership and operations, and Valerie Batista, WeWork\u2019s Head of Sales and a true expert in hospitality and member experience. Growing professionally means not taking things too personally. I don\u2019t like to say I\u2019ve been \u201clucky\u201d because that implies a lack of hard work. I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n