As CAMICB celebrated its 25^th anniversary, we reached out to CMCAs who’ve held the credential for 25, or more, years. Many CMCAs graciously offered to share their experiences, highlights, career paths and advice with us. 

Paul Orlando, CMCA, LSM, PCAM, began his career in 1974 when he moved to Virginia from Connecticut to manage community facilities and direct recreation programs for the Reston Homeowners Association (RHOA, now Reston Association, RA). He was awarded his CMCA in 1996, earned his PCAM in 2001, and LSM in 2011. In 2003, Paul was appointed to CAI’s Virginia Legislative Action Committee (VALAC) and later in 2012 became a member of the CAI National Faculty. Now retired after a career that spanned 45 years, Paul reflects back on a profession where he greatly enjoyed the interaction he had with fellow professionals and when clients (and even homeowners) expressed gratitude and recognition for the job he and his colleagues did for them. 

Said Paul, “Early in my career, I felt having the CMCA credential and other designations demonstrated a very high level of professionalism to my future employers and clients.

“My first job as a community manager was on-site at a large scale homeowners association in Loudoun County, Virginia for two years. From there I went into portfolio management for both condos and HOAs. Condo management is very challenging but I’m glad I had that experience. The turning point in my career came when I returned to on-site management at a very large, developing community, earned my PCAM, was welcomed to the CAI National Faculty and became increasingly involved with CAMICB and CAI activities on a National level. I served on the CAMICB Exam Development Committee for several years; I currently serve on the CAMICB Continuing Education Review Committee, the VALAC and CAI National Faculty teaching M-100 courses.”

Paul’s advice for those entering the community association management profession is, “Be prepared for long hours, evening meetings (perhaps less challenging now in our virtual world), juggling many balls at once and learning a lot with the expectation to be knowledgeable in the many areas of association management. Make time management and task prioritization the focal point of each and every day, and be disciplined about this! When you do so – and you recognize that you did the best you could do – the results are very satisfying both personally and professionally. Finally, do things others are not willing to do and you will have what others don’t have: professional and financial rewards and the respect of your colleagues and peers.”

Paul’s outstanding career includes, serving for more than four years (January 2015-December 2019) on the Virginia Common Interest Community Board (CICB, a gubernatorial appointment), and prior to that he served on two CICB committees to write regulations for management companies and their employees. Paul is currently serving on a CICB committee that is reviewing and updating those same regulations.