Mike Browne of Advantage Property Management joins ‘Strata Gal’ Katharine Olson of Groundbreaking and Thomas Beattie of OctoAI for a candid chat about the wild ride that is the BC strata industry. From inheriting—and transforming—his father’s brokerage (“The Wild West days”) to surviving a dramatic staff exodus, Mike pulls back the curtain on managing not just one, but two overwhelming portfolios while juggling a real estate and mortgage business on the side. Through setbacks, burnout, and sleepless nights filled with dreams of an unregulated strata world (don’t ask!), Mike shares why building a community—and investing in people and education—is now his north star.The episode dives into:Dealing with high staff turnover after taking over the family firm, including the emotional and business realities of “factory reset” moments.Learning the hard way about burnout, unsustainable workloads, and the often lonely journey of strata management leadership in BC, where collaboration is scarce and competition runs deep.How empathy, trust, and straight talk have helped Advantage rebuild—and why Mike believes that great service isn’t the cheapest, but it’s the most valuable.Their commitment to industry-leading training, including a 33-week in-house program and ongoing skill deep-dives, aiming to make their team not just the best compensated, but the best equipped in town.Light-hearted stories from the trenches—including seniors smuggling extra dogs past the bylaws, the eternal war on pet poop, and why “corn-fed Chilliwack” leadership means trusting your team to say when your idea is a turkey.Whether you manage strata properties, sit on council, or just love a good tale about surviving in the world of condos, this episode offers honest insight, hard-earned laughs, and a heartfelt look at what it takes to build a resilient, people-first strata management company in BC.Watch now and join the conversation about elevating the industry through education, collaboration, and a little self-deprecating humour.LEARN MORE► Discover Condo Intelligence from OctoAI: https://octoai.com/ ► Guest Partner Website: https://groundbreakingstrata.com/ ► Special Guest Website: https://advantagepm.ca/► See how Eli Report helps Condo Councils: https://elireport.com/ ABOUT OCTOAIOctoAI operates within the real estate sector, providing artificial intelligence-driven insights to owners, buyers, realtors, attorneys and other stakeholders in the multi-family residential space through its Eli Report platform. As a source of building intelligence, OctoAI is entering the commercial property insurance market in collaboration with strategic partners to provide solutions to these multi-family communities.GET CONDO COMMUNITY INTELLIGENCEWe work with condo communities and stakeholders to provide intelligence, plan for the future, and save money. If you are trying to solve problems affecting multi-family communities, we’re here to help. Contact us and learn more https://octoai.com/ CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIALLinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/octoai-technologies-corp/posts/Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/elireport/Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/elireport/00:00 – Introduction of Guests & Episode Theme00:44 – Family Legacy & Buying the Firm05:36 – Staff Exodus and Rebuilding07:21 – Double Portfolio Workload & Burnout11:46 – Industry Collaboration vs. Silos15:45 – Leading by Example & Empathy19:12 – Investing in Team & Training23:45 – Trust, Culture, and Candid Feedback25:47 – “Race to the Bottom” in Pricing30:29 – Stories from Strata Communities32:05 – The Great Pet & Poop Debate33:27 – Licensing, Education, Volunteers36:59 – Training Programs & Strata School41:11 – Team Communication & Leadership41:58 – Closing Thoughts on Growth42:47 – Playful Farewell & Next Episode Tease
