When something sounds too good to be true, it just might turn out to be a scam. That’s what Esther Gomez assumed when she first saw an ad on Craigslist for an on-call front desk position with Action Property Management. “Who gets a job on Craigslist?” she asked herself.
This was back in 2018 when Craigslist was a leader in classified advertising, but it still seemed to Esther like an odd place to find a job. Despite her initial skepticism, she followed up on the ad and eventually landed an interview. That interview led to a job offer and a major life change.
With ten years of food service industry work behind her, Esther was ready to move on. The grueling schedule, constant turnover, and lack of appreciation had gotten to her. Even though she had achieved the position of General Manager at a local Five Guys restaurant by the age of 21, she was willing to take a step back and start over.
The on-call position with Action was the perfect bridge. Since it was part time, she had control over her schedule and was able to maintain her current position at another restaurant while experimenting with the Action job. After only six months, the decision she needed to make became clear.
In the food service industry, workers are expected to push through illness and report to work regardless. With Action, for the first time in her life, Esther was given the freedom to go home when she was sick.
“I fell in love with it — the residents, the buildings, the managers. Everything lined up perfectly.” Esther said. She went on to discuss how much the leadership at Action really cared about her as a person and it was that personal care that pushed her to make the full-time move.
Esther Gomez
”I fell in love with it — the residents, the buildings, the managers. Everything lined up perfectly.
Today Esther serves as the Manger Assistant of Special Services working out of Action’s Los Angeles office. These duties have her assisting with both the hospitality and engineering departments in all of Action’s Los Angeles area high-rise buildings. On the hospitality side, she helps with employee training and implementing Action’s SnapHOA app. For the engineering team she gets to know vendors and helps arrange engineer meetings as well as handling billing and scheduling tasks.
No matter the job, Esther is a firm believer in the Action value of “We care about people.” For her it isn’t a burden or another duty to perform. Caring for others energizes her. She sums up this idea by saying, “I don’t like to leave anyone behind.”
With aspirations to continue moving upward, Esther plans to further her education and better prepare herself for future responsibilities.
Though she has left the food service industry, the industry hasn’t completely left her. When she isn’t busy at the office, Esther still loves to cook and experiment with recipes. For her, preparing a meal isn’t an event, its a work of art and no work of art is complete without a generous amount of spice. “It has to be spicy!” she said of her cooking.
Esther’s artistic side doesn’t stop in the kitchen either. It extends to a love for poetry. She enjoys both reading and writing poems, finding beauty in the written word. While her poetry is currently stored in a closet, out of public view, the idea of one day making it public has crossed her mind.
Action Property Management is recognized nationally as one of the best workplaces in America and this designation rings true for Esther. Throughout her career working in restaurants Esther saw leadership that failed to impress. Now that she is with Action, she not only has the chance to work for impressive leaders, she has the opportunity to impress others. And that’s an opportunity she just can’t miss.
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