She got into real estate by accident, but worked her way up to the executive suite. Lela Cirjakovic is now on Waterton’s leadership and investment committees, heading the company’s property management division. As an executive vice president of operations, she oversees a multifamily portfolio of roughly 50 multifamily assets throughout the U.S. In the latest episode of our Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast series, Cirjakovic talked about the importance of being authentic and transparent going forward, and how professional trade organizations can support multifamily operators’ needs.