BonnerSprings.com

To be a good leasing agent requires passion, the desire to always continue learning and the willingness to meet new people.

Jeremy Allen Lawson, leasing agent with the Overland Park region of Fogelman Management Group, wrote an article outlining these and other aspects of a successful leasing career for Units Magazine, a trade publication with the National Apartment Association, in January of this year. And soon he will have tangible proof that he is the embodiment of the professional he described when he receives a NAA Paragon Award for National Apartment Leasing Professional of the year.

“I was really shocked honestly,” said Lawson, who is from Bonner Springs and graduated from Bonner Springs High School in 2001, of hearing he was to receive the award. “It was really cool though. It’s a huge honor.”

The NAA Paragon Awards recognize excellence in different areas of the apartment leasing industry, such as apartment management and association executive. Lawson’s award is the second Paragon to be awarded to anyone in the Fogelman Management Group — a national company that has been around for 46 years and manages many apartment complexes throughout the county. In the Overland Park region, some of these complexes include Preserve at Overland Park and Hampton Woods in Shawnee.

Lawson said he had been involved with apartment leasing for about seven years and has been with Fogelman for a little more than four, but his passion for the industry began years ago.

“That’s what I always wanted to do,” Lawson said. “Even growing up, I always drove by an apartment complex and thought that would be so cool.”

Lawson was nominated for the Paragon Award by Kansas City Apartment Association Executive Debbie Haukenberry in March, not only for his work with Fogelman but also for his involvement with KCAA. He serves on several of the association’s committees, including one devoted to building and maintaining its website.

“It just kind of shows me that I’m in the right industry, that I’m definitely in the right field, and there’s definitely a future in it, too, and it’s really exciting,” Lawson said of the award.

Lawson gives credit where credit is due to BSHS and those teachers that made him feel like he could accomplish anything.

“I definitely appreciate where I came from,” Lawson said. “The teachers there were really great, and they pushed me, and I still think back about memories I have from going to school there. I’m very appreciative.”

The NAA Paragon Award won’t just benefit him but others at Fogelman as well, Lawson said. The only direction to go now, he says, is up.

“I think everyone in our company’s really amazing, I really do, so I think it’s going to push more people in our company to get an award … I think it’s going to open doors for us,” he said.

Lawson will receive his award in June.

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