Throughout my career, I have said, “if you're not willing to invest in yourself, how can you expect someone else to invest in you?” A mentor from one of my management courses said it to me and it stuck. I realized that not only did I need to look for ways to learn and improve myself, I needed to also put the time into making myself marketable and worthy of someone else’s time to basically “invest” in me whether through a job, networking or friendship.

In parking, we are always faced with investment relationships and what I term as “resolution issues” so having resources is key to survival as we need answers and solutions right here, right now. All of you have resources, it is just knowing where to find them and the Texas Parking and Transportation Association (TPTA) is a great one to have on hand. As a member, you have access to professionals in the University, City, Airport, Hospital and Service side of the business.

TPTA not only offers the networking and educational classes at their annual conference but they also offer quarterly Roundtable and Networking Sessions. The next one will be at Baylor University in Waco, Texas on June 13, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This session will feature topics on Social Media with speakers, Kathleen Laney with Laney Solutions and Robert Broward with University of Houston Parking and Transportation Services. So why not take the time to attend because it is a “FREE” session which includes breakfast, lunch and parking.

Why not invest in yourself or your staff and attend the next Roundtable, because you never know if you may have something you can share that allows another professional to invest in themselves.