What Wins Renters in a Concession-Heavy Market │ Marcella Eppsteiner, CXO at Mission Rock Residential

What Wins Renters in a Concession-Heavy Market │ Marcella Eppsteiner, CXO at Mission Rock Residential

Marcella Eppsteiner holds one of the most unique titles in multifamily, and she makes the case that it's about to become essential. As Chief Experience Officer at Mission Rock Residential, she owns both the customer experience and the team member experience, spanning marketing, revenue management, learning and development, and people and culture. Marcella has spent more than 20 years in the industry, starting onsite for student housing and rising through sales and marketing leadership into the CXO seat. Jacob Kosior and Marcella get into why experience, not price, is the real differentiator in a concession-heavy market, what a micro moment is and why every interaction is one, why staff turnover is more of a clarity problem than a pay problem, and how the onsite role is being redefined as AI absorbs the busy work. They also talk about the data she watches every day, why she reads every resident review herself, and why she believes the human layer only grows more valuable when added on top of AI. Timestamps: 01:09  This or That 02:04  The rare CXO seat, and what it actually includes 04:06  Why experience beats price in a concession-heavy market 04:32  Every interaction is a micro moment 06:25  The data she reads every single day 08:44  Centralization: centralizing functions, not just roles 13:40  Two causes of turnover you can actually control 15:50  A leasing consultant in 2026 vs one index card in 2003 17:05  The human layer, and why it grows more valuable with AI New episodes twice a month. Follow the show so you never miss one.  In Good Company is a multifamily podcast by EliseAI.  🔗 Learn more: https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b [https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b]

Why Your Next Leasing Agent Might Be a Bartender │ Nick Deveau, Co-Founder & CEO at GrottoAI

Nick Deveau is on a mission to fix billions of dollars being lost through apartments sitting vacant each year. As Co-Founder and CEO of GrottoAI, he's built a coaching tool that works alongside multifamily leasing teams on their calls and onsite tours, a first for the industry, to find insights into what moves a prospect to lease. Nick has spent nearly a decade building vertical AI in highly regulated industries, from hiring to healthcare to insurance. Most recently, he and Co-founder Ben Epstein led the core technology behind EvolutionIQ's $730 million acquisition in late 2024, one of the first major vertical AI exits. He has graduate training from Stanford, and a long-running fascination with behavior change that traces back to his early days in psychiatry research. Jacob Kosior and Nick get into the half-trillion-dollar vacancy problem hiding behind every empty unit, the human signals that predict whether a prospect moves forward, why the tour is the richest and most overlooked data source in leasing, how operators are hiring for rapport over resumes, and why leasing is sales. Plus Greta, the in-house AI employee that built Grotto's paid-search engine over a weekend. Timestamps: 01:31 - This or That 02:50 - The psychiatry-to-AI thread 04:41 - Leaving a $730M exit for apartment leasing 05:34 - The half-trillion-dollar vacancy problem 06:43 - What the data says converts a prospect 09:04 - The tour: leasing's richest data source 10:36 - Hiring for rapport, and why a bartender works 13:16 - Leasing is sales 14:58 - What vertical AI sees that horizontal tools miss 16:11 - Greta, Grotto's in-house AI employee New episodes twice a month. Follow the show so you never miss one.  In Good Company is a multifamily podcast by EliseAI.  🔗 Learn more: https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b [https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b]

One in Three Prospects Never Get a Follow-Up: Inside Grace Hill Data │ Jen Tindle, VP of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Grace Hill

Jen Tindle has spent her career at the intersection of real estate and technology. Today she's VP of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Grace Hill, where she leads M&A, partner programs, and data products. She also writes the All About CRE Substack newsletter and co-created Build Order, a podcast and essay series about how systems shape cities. Before Grace Hill, Jen led data and analytics at private equity firm Pennybacker Capital before co-founding CREx, a CRE tech company that she ran as CEO. Jacob Kosior and Jen get into what Grace Hill's data is actually showing about the multifamily industry right now, including why one in three prospects never gets contacted after their tour. They talk about the fastest proptech consolidation Jen's ever seen in her career, the one thing every operator should be focused on for the rest of 2026, why AI adoption keeps getting driven from the wrong seat of the org, and much more. Timestamps: 0:52 - Get to Know Jen 4:00 - Beyond the Day Job 7:17 - Where Humans Shine 9:52 - What the Data Shows 12:04 - The Priority in 2026 17:16 - AI in Work and Life New episodes twice a month. Follow the show so you never miss one.  In Good Company is a multifamily podcast by EliseAI.  🔗 Learn more: https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b [https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b]

25 Years In The Multifamily C-Suite: Why The Onsite Role Must Change │ Jamie Gorski, Founder & President at Catchpoint Collective

Jamie Gorski has 25+ years of C-suite multifamily experience across marketing, operations, and resident experience. Through her companies Catchpoint Collective and Journey Lens, she advises operators, proptech companies, and investors. Jamie started in multifamily as a groundskeeper in Baltimore. She was picking up trash, walking door to door, and helping residents with the kinds of small but meaningful things that stay with you. That first job taught her something she has never forgotten: this industry matters because we provide homes. Jacob Kosior and Jamie get into why the onsite role has to change as AI and centralization reshape multifamily operations. They talk about tours that have not changed in years, residents getting a better experience buying a purse than renewing a lease, centralized leasing teams that can improve speed and consistency, and much more.  Timestamps: 1:14 - Get to Know Jamie 4:40 - Redesigning the Onsite Role 6:40 - Where Humans Shine 11:11 - The Proptech Landscape 16:41 - Getting Centralization Right 21:00 - AI in Work and Life New episodes twice a month. Follow the show so you never miss one.  In Good Company is a multifamily podcast by EliseAI.  🔗 Learn more: https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b [https://meet.eliseai.com/4nSeP7b]

Centralization in Multifamily: The Hard Skills Aren't the Hard Part │ Brittany Gonzalez, Senior Manager of Centralized Services at RangeWater

Brittany Gonzalez has built centralized services teams twice, at two different organizations. Brittany is Senior Manager of Centralized Services at RangeWater Residential. Before RangeWater, she spent over six years at Cardinal Group, starting as an assistant community manager in student housing before becoming one of the earliest hires on Cardinal's centralized services team.  Jacob Kosior and Brittany get into what it actually looks like to go from on-site burnout to building a centralized program across 75,000+ units. They talk about the moment she realized the community manager role wasn't for her, what changed when she moved into centralized services, the skills she looks for when hiring that have nothing to do with property management experience, and more.   In this episode:  00:18 — Introduction 01:01 — Getting to Know Brittany 03:28 — From On-Site to Centralized 07:27 — Why Centralization Matters 09:10 — New Tools and Workflows 12:31 — Building the Right Team 16:45 — AI in Work and Life  New episodes twice a month. Follow the show so you never miss one.  In Good Company is a multifamily podcast by EliseAI.