Small-business Owner has Learned to ‘Roll with the Punches’

Story and photos by Brandy Cruz

She’s is a wife, a mother and runs a small business, but she’s also honest, diligent, has a witty sense-of-humor and is tough-as-nails — as evidenced by beating Stage IV breast cancer.

“I love business, I love working, I love being busy. That being said, I also learned from that lesson in life that you can’t take it with you,” Tonya Autry said about facing down cancer. “I learned that family is definitely more important.”

Tonya is the vice president of Colonial Property Management, a family-owned property management company that takes care of people’s homes or investment properties when they cannot. She said the best part of her position is being able to work side-by-side with her entire family.

Her husband, Robert, is in charge of maintenance, her oldest son Cullen is the head inspector, and her youngest son Ethan is the assistant property manager, while also serving as a real estate agent. She has the toughest job of all. As vice president, Tonya has to play the role of the “bad guy” when tenants are not taking care of the property they’re renting.

“If it’s the hardest job in the building, it’s usually my job, and as a leader, that’s how it should be, at least in my opinion,” she said. “You have to be passionate about it and you have to love it to do it well or it will eat you alive.”

Tonya said she feels good knowing that she’s helping average homeowners by ensuring their property is being properly cared for by renters.

She said that renting a home out to strangers can be a scary situation, especially for a young couple who are leaving their home in the hopes it will still be in good condition when they return to the area.

“I really, truly find a lot of pride in those situations — caring for the home, making sure I do the job and then hand it back to them in the condition they can turn around and sell it,” Tonya explained. “It’s terrifying when you take a beautiful 3-year-old house that you owe everything on, put a stranger in it and hope it’s going to be cared for in a way that you can sell it in a couple of years.”

A fifth-generation entrepreneur, Tonya worked most of her life as a high-end wedding photographer, before retiring and moving back home to Central Texas with her husband of nearly 30 years. Shortly after returning home to Killeen four years ago, her mother-in-law, who owns Colonial Property Management, asked her to come on board.

As a small-business owner herself, she learned quickly that she has to be able to handle any situation, no matter what a person throws at them.

“At the end of the day, you’re dealing with people and that doesn’t come with a recipe,” she added. “You have to be able to handle whomever you have in front of you. There are people you have to be firm with and there are people you have to handle with kid gloves.”

Being able to read people and figure out those situations comes easily to Tonya, who has to vet every person who steps through their doors looking for a place to rent. Sometimes a person can look good on paper, but she said if her gut is sending up a red flag, she listens, because in the end, she is working for the homeowner.

Even after someone starts renting, her job isn’t over. She said she ensures the renters are taking care of the home by doing a walk-through at least every 90 days.

Sometimes, she explained, if the lawn is overgrown or she sees damaged blinds while driving by a home, she conducts an inspection before the 90 days.

Unfortunately, she also has to deliver the bad news when a tenant is to be evicted. Sometimes it is for tenants not taking care of the homes, but more than likely, the homeowner has decided to sell the home and needs it empty.

“Our job is to make sure we take care of that house,” she explained. “We hate to lose them (homeowners), but at the end of the day, when they are ready to sell, they have something worth selling.”

Tonya strives for perfection in everything she does. As a Hispanic woman working in the business world, she said she’s been called every name in the book, but sometimes “you just gotta roll with the punches,” … and have a thick skin. While her career is not always fun, she said it is never boring.

“I really feel that all we are in this world is walking through one big lesson and your job is to be a good student,” she added. “You’re either a good student or you’ll repeat the lesson.”