John Caputo has a life mantra that encapsulates his multi-tasking, many faceted work personality. It’s “those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it!” A medal-worthy multi-tasker, John is a talented IT professional with a big heart, diverse job history, and amazing love for his family. He recently ran his first 5K to benefit his children’s school and takes care of all the IT needs for Yardi’s offices in Glen Head, N.Y., as well as for the New York-based Property Shark, Multi-Housing News and Commercial Property Executive teams. Before finding his calling as an IT professional, John held a variety of jobs of all kinds. He managed a Manhattan pizzeria, delivered auto parts while attending trade school, worked in a bank and was a DJ. But the worst gig he ever had was working for his dad’s garbage company in Brooklyn. The work day began at 8 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m., the neighborhood was rough and the garbage – well, you can imagine. “It was a bad section of town, and I’m not even going to go into detail about what we picked up,” he recalled. But he stuck it out for four years, when his father sold the company and encouraged his son to pursue a professional job. John had tinkered around with computers since his teen years, and heard about a networking education program that led to his current career. At work, everyone knows John as the guy who can fix everything – and we’re not just talking about computers. He gets asked to work on iPhones and cars, too. And the requests don’t end after he leaves the office; his neighbors rely on John for IT support as well. He tries to accommodate...
Vesna Uljarevic
Yardi
Vesna Uljarevic’s outlook on how to best approach life’s difficult moments is simple: You should not get upset about things that you cannot control. But the story behind how the Toronto-based technical account manager for Yardi came to have that perspective is a true drama. A native of Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina that was under siege for four years during the Bosnian War, Vesna and her husband Velimir moved to Canada as refugees after fleeing their birth country during the war. Initially, they did not want to leave. But the danger of living in close proximity to bombs and sniper attacks, and no foreseeable conclusion to the conflict, gave them no choice. Velimir left first, to avoid being conscripted into the fight, and Vesna followed several months later in a harrowing escape on foot, and then hitchhiked her way to Croatia. It has been reported that 11,541 people lost their lives during the siege, which was the longest in the history of modern warfare. The Uljarevics lived in Croatia for several years, but jobs were near-impossible to come by. In 1996 the couple applied for a Canadian program that accepted immigrants from war-torn nations as refugees. “When we were accepted it was the best day of my life,” Vesna told us. The program included plane tickets to Toronto (which the refugees must later repay), assistance with housing and food for the first year of residency, and English as a Second Language classes. A work-experience program led to her first job in Canada at a corporate office for United Colors of Benetton, the clothing retailer. She then had a data entry job, and decided that she really wanted to learn more about how software worked behind the front-end user interface. When...
Neal Gemassmer
Yardi
When it comes to getting away from his ever-present Blackberry, Neal Gemassmer will go to some extreme measures – like signing up for a 7-day, 250-kilometer trek through the Himalayas with a combined 39,000 feet of elevation gain. As Yardi’s Vice President for Asia Pacific & Middle East, Neal is frequently traveling between the company’s four offices in the region. When he takes time off from his busy corporate life, his preference is to really get away from it all – and simultaneously stretch his limits of physical performance. He also goes above and beyond with charitable fundraising efforts that are connected with his endurance challenges, focusing on non-profits that benefit children, women and literacy in underdeveloped countries worldwide. “Everyone can give, and everyone can contribute. You don’t have to give a lot to make a difference,” said Neal. His value set is in line with the corporate philanthropy policy embraced by Yardi, which donates to multiple national and local charities each year. During his 2011 Himalayan Trek, Neal raised $10,000 for a Cambodian children’s hospital, Children’s Surgical Center, which provides rehabilitation surgeries for Cambodian kids that vastly improve their quality of life. He’s also completed extensive fundraising for Room to Read, which provides libraries and reading resources to communities worldwide. His efforts to help others have rubbed off on his family (Neal and his wife Kim, who live in Hong Kong, have three young children). For his last birthday, son Luc, 11, asked his dad if he could make a contribution to Room to Read instead of receiving presents. Neal said that one of the highlights of running through rural Nepal, often on single-track trail used by goats and villagers for travel between tiny communities, was seeing local children who might walk up to two hours one way to attend school. “The kids dressed in their school uniforms, called out namaste, ‘what’s your name’, ‘what is your country’, ‘give me chocolate’ and the occasional ‘give me money’,” he recounted in a blog about the trek adventure. You can read all of Neal’s posts detailing his journey day by day. Professionally, Neal’s enjoyment of his work expanding Yardi’s products and services to the international marketplace comes from helping clients solve problems and bridging communication barriers. His ability to relate and connect with other cultures is a universal standard in his life. And you can expect that if he doesn’t respond almost immediately to your email message, he’s out of Internet range – and probably running all day long. Continuing his adventures, he plans to complete 50K and 100K events in 2012 and gear up for another charity benefit 250K, the Atacama Crossing, in...
Dylan Cline
Point2 Homes
Dylan Cline hates being the center of attention, but when it came to cutting off the long hair he’d spent over a decade growing all the way down his back, he made an exception. The customer care representative for Point2 Homes, a subsidiary of Yardi Systems based in Saskatchewan, Canada, decided to drastically change his look, extreme makeover style, for the benefit of kids with cancer. The Big Haircut ceremony featured all of the Point2 team joining Dylan and a barber down in the basement for snacks and encouragement. Picture yourself getting haircut while all your coworkers stand around, snack on cheese and sparkling juice, and watch. “That was incredibly different for me,” Dylan admitted. “I didn’t like being the main focus.” And despite all the compliments he’s gotten on his new look, it also took him awhile to realize that his lengthy locks were no longer attached to his scalp. “For the first couple days I kept reaching back to take out of the ponytail and realized that it wasn’t there anymore,” he said. Jacquelyn Bauer, Director of Point 2 Customer Care, gave us her version of the pony tale. “Ever since Dylan started working at Point2, his hair has been halfway down his back. We always teased him and asked when he would be cutting his hair, to which we received non-committal responses. “After a recent return from maternity leave, I was catching up with former team members. Dylan was sitting in my office one day chatting, and the topic turned to his hair. I asked him if thought he would ever cut it, to which he replied, ‘You know, I’ve actually been thinking I’m ready to.’ I can’t take the credit for coming up with the idea as we had a...
Marilyn Hansen
Yardi
Marilyn Hansen has a life she loves, from her work as a programmer at Yardi, to dedicated community volunteering efforts, and athletic achievements as an age group runner. Recently, she served coinciding presidencies, from 2009-2011, on the boards of two Santa Barbara non-profit organizations that are very important to her: the Arthritis Foundation and the American Cancer Society. “Both are very close to my heart. I’ve had a lot of friends who have had cancer,” said Marilyn, adding that she and her husband are both cancer survivors also. As a longtime organizer of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, she put together a team from Yardi Systems that raised much-needed funds for the organization. Her fundraising work is also important at the Arthritis Foundation, where she helps organize the annual Arthritis Walk and popular Taste of the Town event. “Marilyn Hansen is a dedicated, passionate, hard-working volunteer,” said Jeanne David, director of the Arthritis Foundation, Santa Barbara chapter. “We have been honored to have Marilyn serve on our board for the last 5 years. She always goes above and beyond the call of duty and is always willing to step up to new challenges.” As a longtime programmer, Marilyn has seen tremendous changes in technology since her days as a student at the University of Arizona, where she studied math and systems engineering. She compares the programming process to a creative task like painting, and says her work is something she truly enjoys. “I love coming to work every day,” said Marilyn, who has been with Yardi for 16 years. “To have someone pay you to do something that you really love – that’s amazing.” Another love in Marilyn’s life is long distance running. As an active member of the Santa Barbara distance running community, she’s been a volunteer course marshal at the annual Santa Barbara International Marathon and also holds the course record for her age group in the race. Her reasons for running are practical as well as for fitness and love of the sport. “I run to eat,” Marilyn said candidly. She hosts a weekly Sunday dinner for her family where she enjoys trying new gourmet recipes from Bon Apetit, particularly desserts. A mother of two and grandmother of two, Marilyn enjoys hiking as well as running and climbed Mt. Whitney with her husband to celebrate his 70th birthday. There’s no sign of her slowing down anytime soon. * * * * Learn more about Marilyn: What is your favorite type of music? I love classical music … especially classical guitar. What is your favorite book of all time and (optional: why)? I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one … If you have an hour of free time to spare, what do you do with it? Sit on the patio and read! What kinds of food do you like? Unfortunately I love almost everything! There are only a few foods I don’t like. If I had to decide on just a few it would be lasagna, Caprese salad, rare filet mignon, fresh ahi sashimi. Where is the most interesting place you’ve ever traveled? Tibet. My husband and I were there in 2007 just before China started making it harder for tourists to travel there. It was very interesting to see the contrast between native Tibetans and the Chinese. What do you like best about your job? I love programming! I’ve been programming for over 45 years!! I don’t think of myself as being artistic, but programming is artistic to me … a way of creating something that all fits together just right. If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or historical, who would it be? I think I would have to have a dinner party and invite more than one person! The guest list would include Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Leonardo Da Vinci, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Theresa. ...
