18A —November 19 - December 23, 2021 — Thriving Over 50 — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marej.com
T hriving O ver 50
Victor L. Guzman, AKF “I just want to help others succeed personally and professionally”
W
I feel that I didn’t have the op- portunity to completely spread my wings at the other firms I worked for in the past. Here at AKF I was encouraged to share my ideas and supported to implement them. What was the most defin - ing moment for you? As an engineer it was when I had the opportunity to design a breathing air system with a bottled air back up system for the first time. As a manager, it was the first time someone referred to me as a mentor and thanked me for the positive influence I had on them. What is the funniest, most unique situation you have faced / conquered during your career? Or in your life? About 29-30 years ago, one of my counterparts and I inad- vertently mis-labeled the water closets (toilets) in a new elemen- tary school. We didn’t find out until approximately 110 child- size toilets (typically used in kindergarten classroom toilet rooms) were installed through- out the school. It eventually got fixed and it wasn’t funny until after the fact. Needless to say, I never got that wrong again. What outside activities do you enjoy during you free time? When I’m not renovating or building something, I enjoy listening to music, sipping on some Bourbon, and smoking cigars. MAREJ these are a few of my favorite things College: Mercer County Community College/ New Jersey Institute of Technology Magazine: Fine Homebuilding Movie: Godfather Series App: Houzz Sports Team: Long time Philadelphia Eagles Fan (I know but still a fan) Dessert: Puerto Rican Flan Restaurant: Buen Provecho (Puerto Rican Restaurant) – Hamilton, NJ Hobby: Residential design and construction (including some furniture)
hat is your great- est professional accomplishment?
What unique qualities and or personality do you feel makes you most suc- cessful in your profession? I have been told by some of my mentors that I have a unique ability to motivate people and have them come together to work successfully as a team. My personal feel- ing is that I just want to help others succeed personally and professionally. What challenges and or obstacles do you feel you needed to overcome to be- come as successful as you are today?
Victor L. Guzman Years with company/firm: 17 Years in field: 31 Years in real estate industry: 31
My greatest professional ac- complishment is becoming a Team Leader here at AKF. How do you contribute to your company and / or the industry? As a Team Leader, I am able to mentor and lead two teams to success. What were some of your early goals and did any- thing happen to change them? I went to college with the intent of working in the
Residential Construction field. During an internship at a small engineering firm in Princeton, NJ, I was offered a full-time position as a Plumb- ing/Fire Protection Engineer. Since the job market was not
great at the time, I took the position “temporarily” until I got an opportunity to work in the residential construction field. 31 years later, here I am still in the engineering field with no regrets.
Creating flexible spaces that allow people to live, work, heal, grow, and inspire akfgroup.com
Photo © Connie Zhou Photography
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5