The property management team at Dart is made up of people from all walks of life, with one thing in common: the drive and desire to work with others to grow and maintain our thriving Camana Bay community. Savannah Stokes, an assistant property manager with our team, shared her Dart journey with us.
“Jeffrey Wight (senior property manager) is the one who brought me to Dart," Stokes said. "I was working at the YMCA as a programme coordinator for aquatics when I met Jeff. He encouraged me to consider coming to work here. The position of programme coordinator for sports became available at Dart, so it seemed a natural progression for me. I thought, 'OK, let me give this a try.' I started with Dart on 4 July 2023 and have since moved from programme coordinator to assistant property manager.
“My first day was the first day of summer camp so I jumped in the deep end, but it was the best thing for me to start with camp because that is where I feel the most comfortable. I love working with children. They are hilarious, and you never know what they are going to come up with.”
CBT: What drew you to this field?
SS: Well, I started here as a programme coordinator within the sports field. I knew sports and sports facilities management, so I get to use that knowledge in my new position. The foundation of my previous work was keeping the asset safe, keeping the people using the asset safe and creating a community environment, and I thought, that’s property management.
CBT: What is your favourite part of your job?
SS: The people, without question. I think property management has this unique position where they get to connect with every department within Dart, and being able to work with all these people helps you to grow and learn how to build strong relationships. I get to work with vendors, clients and parents — a beautiful smorgasbord of people — and I am a people person, so it really suits my personality.
CBT: Do you have a set schedule for tasks or is every day different?
SS: Every day is different, which is the best and most exciting part of this job.
CBT: What are some examples of the variety of tasks you are presented with as assistant property manager?
SS: There are so many things to choose from, but I can go from planning our summer camp programmes to organising our corporate leagues, to making sure the sports facility is up-to-date and well-maintained. If the pool is broken, for example, I figure out a way to get it fixed. With that comes responsible budgeting as well and making sure everything is falling in line. We work hard to ensure our long-standing clients are happy and have a facility they enjoy using.
CBT: Who inspires you?
SS: As cheesy as it might sound, my parents inspire me. They have always had this great ability to see the joy in life even through hardships, and they shared that with me and my siblings. They explained to us that, yes, you have to work hard and be able to support yourself, but above all, life is meant to be lived.
Timeline of a typical day
My job has seasons, so my daily schedule changes depending on where we are in the year. For example, during the summer season I have camp, but during the school season my focus is more on Camana Bay as a whole.
7:15 a.m.: Before I get to work, I check my phone to see if anything happened overnight or early morning that needs my immediate attention as that will determine the trajectory of my day for the next eight hours.
8-10 a.m.: Arrive at work and review the three email accounts for which I am responsible, answer any queries or requests and check in with team members to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Walk the sports complex and Cayman International School to make sure everything is running smoothly, and check in with our general maintenance technician, Perry, and our security team.
Lunch: This varies from day to day depending on my workload, so I take lunch whenever it is convenient.
1 p.m.-5 p.m.: I try to schedule my meetings in the afternoons as much as possible, as that frees up the morning for urgent matters. I check in on clients and vendors, work on ongoing projects and connect with the engineering team to make sure projects are on schedule. Anyone who works in property management knows it is in many ways a 24/7 job, but the variety is what makes it interesting!
