Margaret Spalding

Yardi

By Leah Etling on Oct 31, 2012 in People | 2 Comments

Margaret Spalding’s clients know her as the Yardi application specialist who helps make life easier, and as someone who will always follow up with the answer to their question or problem.

Her coworkers know her as a strong member of the Yardi team in Glen Head, NY, who not only inspires client loyalty but has been known to bring some fantastic home baked cakes and cookies into the office.

At home, Margaret is content to simply be Mom to her three boys, Matthew, Devin and Lucas, aged 7, 6, and 4, who along with husband Michael are her first priority.

A New York native, one of Margaret’s formative life experiences as a young adult was spending a year volunteering for So Others Might Eat, a non-profit that ranks as one of the top Washington D.C.-area charities helping the homeless and low-income populations.

Her work for SOME involved activity planning at a Single Room Occupancy home, where low-income residents from all walks of life had their own bedrooms but shared communal space for cooking, dining, living and bathing.

The work and the residents she met, ranging from addicts in recovery to seniors on fixed incomes, opened Margaret’s eyes to what she appreciated most about her own life.

“I went in to it expecting to learn to appreciate the stuff that I had. It turned out that I already appreciated the stuff, and more than anything I learned to appreciate family and support that I have,” she said.

Drawing from that lesson for her own kids, Margaret and Michael have created a supportive home life that involves family togetherness, including travel and camping adventures, as well as community activities like Cub Scouts and religion class.

All three of the Spalding boys are very different, noted their proud mom, so she encourages their diverse interests and learning styles. One thing they have in common: all get excited about Halloween, and are already planning their costumes for this year.

Her approach to raising her boys isn’t all that different from one of the practical approaches she takes to assisting Yardi clients. Some clients are adventurous and explore software on their own, she notes, while others need some prompting to see what the Yardi platform can do for them.

“Training, as opposed to troubleshooting, helps me make their jobs easier,” Margaret said. “We offer such a big program, that from a client side, you really can’t know everything. Adventurous clients know a lot of things. But other clients may need a little help.  If no one showed them how to run a report, they’re not looking through the menus and saying: ‘What does this do?’ It’s gratifying to show them how to run a report that may make their lives easier.”

Learn more about Margaret:

What is your favorite type of music?

I like stuff from the  80s, musicals and dance music.  I will basically listen to anything but opera.

What is your favorite book of all time and why?

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.  I love to read it to my kids.

If you have an hour of free time to spare, what do you do with it?

Play with my kids.

Where is the most interesting place you’ve ever traveled?

The New Forest in Southern England.

What do you like best about your job?

The people.

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

Someone people admire.

If you could own one piece of famous art, sculpture, memorabilia or historic artifact, what would the item be?

An original by Peter Ellenshaw.

What are some things on your bucket list?

Drive across America, open a play facility for kids with special needs, write a book.

What was your last Do It Yourself project?

Put together some shelving for toy storage

What online sites do you visit?

I start with Facebook and end up doing a Wikiwalk. I tend to look at a lot of real estate, home and garden as well as parenting sites.

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Healing hands.