Louise Steeves

Team Yardi Canada

By Lee Ann Stiff on Aug 24, 2018 in People

Yardi Canada introduces Louise Steeves, product manager for Canadian development (and the residential modules in the Canadian market).  Louise was Yardi Canada’s first Voyager account manager and has been key to the company’s success — and it all started with an unusual interview.

Jumping In

Adaptable by nature with a desire to keep learning, Steeves has an intimate understanding of the needs of the social housing market. “In my past role over 16 years ago, I helped implement software for a large social housing provider in Toronto. I quickly became a subject matter expert, which led to a project management role,” says Steeves.  

Software, however, was an entirely new realm for Steeves. “When I was working with the social housing provider, I recall one meeting that I had with Peter, where he mentioned that they had just signed a large deal which would mean that they would be implementing 40 clients all at once.”  That exciting news led her to make the impulsive decision to apply for a position at Yardi.

Her interview with Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager for Yardi Canada and Tom Kearns, senior director for global solutions, was not at all what she expected.

“When I arrived at Yardi to meet Peter for my interview it was really early in the morning, around 7:00 a.m., and I was the first one there. Peter came rushing in. He had just gotten off a red eye flight. He grabbed some coffee and we sat down to start talking. I hadn’t had an interview in about 17 years at that point, and I thought to myself, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Steeves recalls with a big laugh.

“Peter asked me some accounting questions, which I stumbled through and then he paused the interview and gently suggested, ‘If you don’t know the answer it’s okay to say so.’ That made me more comfortable. He then brought Tom Kearns in to ask me a few technical questions, which I was a bit nervous about,” this being the very first time she was interviewing at a software company.

“Tom came in wearing faded jeans and a Hawaiian shirt,” Steeves recalls vividly. “He didn’t ask me a single technical question. I really didn’t know what to think!” She later realized that this interview was just as much about fit as it was about abilities and knowledge. You didn’t have to know everything, you just needed to want to learn and grow.

Steeves made the decision to join Yardi because the software was, “so modern and different” and it was the first hosted system that she had ever used.

Steeves remembers her first day at Yardi, “I walked into the small office space, everyone came to greet me and was truly excited for me to join the team.” Thinking back to those early days, Steeves fondly recalls everyone in the Yardi office knowing each other well. “It was a friendly group, and on Fridays we would all sit around one table for lunch and talk and just have fun.”

But this small, friendly team was also very focused and ambitious.

A Mighty Small Team

As Yardi Canada’s first account manager, Steeves went onsite with many early Canadian clients to help implement Yardi Voyager 5.0. “I jumped right in and soaked up all the knowledge I possibly could,” she recalls.

Steeves returned from those onsite implementations to the Yardi Toronto office, where she supported more than 20 clients. “I felt like I was a really good fit for my role then because I really understood the market,” says Steeves.

At the time, there was very little tech support for her team and they had to address and solve issues themselves. “We really had to learn a lot about the software, which I found both interesting and challenging. It helped me as I moved into different roles within Yardi,” adds Steeves.

When she moved to the Quality Assurance group, Steeves worked on various accounts including Ontario Coordinated Access. This was the beginning of her path to becoming product manager for the Canadian market.

Moving Forward, Together

With expansion and all the changes that come with tech disruption and innovation in an evolving industry, Steeves is very proud of her strong client relationships. And to support those clients, she knows exactly what to do and where to turn. “When I have questions, I have people I can count on to provide the information I need. I have both clients and colleagues who are ready and willing to help me out,” says Steeves.

She also listens carefully to both clients and colleagues, so they can come up with solutions together. “I really like working with other Yardi teams, because none of us can do it all alone. We need to take advantage of each other’s strengths.”

When it comes to strengths, Steeves will tell you that Yardi has plenty of them. As a woman in the technology and real estate industries she has never felt at a disadvantage at Yardi. “We are a very inclusive company and I’m very proud to work for Yardi. In addition to dedicating time and resources to giving back to communities in which we operate, we empower our employees to do whatever it takes to be client focused and support them through their goals and growth.”

Visit our People page to learn about other team members who are energizing Yardi for tomorrow.