Meet our President's Award Winner Tiffany Vine

Each quarter we shine a spotlight on team members who exemplify our dedication to service and our core values. This quarter we are pleased to honor Tiffany Vine, Account Manager, with our President’s Award.

When Tiffany joined CRI in September of 2022, she was completely new to the relocation industry. But her love of learning and curious nature quickly shifted her career from operations to account management in a few short months.

“I had no experience in the relocation industry at all when I was hired at CRI, but I had recent experience as the client advocate department lead at a financial firm that handled refinances and title work,” says Tiffany. “I also have a degree in Finance/Chinese & Asian Studies. During college, I assumed I would go into International Accounting, but I soon realized that I didn’t want to live my life looking an Excel spreadsheet!”

After seeing a LinkedIn ad for a consultant job at CRI, she applied and was hired as an associate. It wasn’t long before CRI realized an associate position wasn’t the right role for her and fast-tracked her over to account management where she participated in a pilot training program with another colleague.

“As an eager and curious person, I just voraciously dug into the job, especially the relationship building part of it,” she says. “I really enjoy learning about our client companies and what their priorities are, and that makes it easier to connect with them and serve them as an advocate.”

Despite her education and experience in Finance, she admits she didn’t know much about the relocation industry during her early days at CRI but credits her colleagues with bringing her up to speed in short order.

“CRI has such experienced and skilled people who are so open to help and share their knowledge and wisdom regarding the industry. I’ve been really lucky to work with a team that is supportive of my growth.”

And what about that minor in Chinese? Has she been able to leverage that knowledge in her work?

“I don’t get to use it very much, but I do try to brush up on it,” says Tiffany. “It requires a lot of studying to be fluent – about 7-8 years of study -  but I did complete three years of study and spent about a month in China in an immersion program.” From this experience abroad, she does find a great deal of benefit in her role at CRI, especially when it comes to clients involved with international relocations.

“After being immersed in a very different place (China), I believe I have good insight into what struggles a transferee goes through, as well as being able to understand the challenges related to travel and culture that a company experiences with international relocations.”

Tiffany’s overall positive perspective and willingness to try new things have been major assets throughout her career journey. “I think there’s such a perk in not having a structured life path,” she says. “I just try new things and sometimes they work out fantastically and sometimes I have to pivot again. And for me, that pivot has always seemed to go in a positive direction.”

Q & A

What components make up a good team?

A good team is one that openly and freely exchanges information and ideas and encourages each other’s growth - one that removes competition and learns from each other. Everyone brings a different skill set to the table in a work environment and it’s rare for everyone on a team to have the same skills – it’s all about collaboration.

What are three critical traits a client should look for in a prospective relocation management company?

• Partnership and being invested in the success of their clients
• Transparency and honesty
• A detailed skill set that enables them to manage cost containment as well as the transferee experience

If you could go anywhere, where would you relocate to?

I’ve been to a lot of places I love…but when I retire, I’d like to be in Costa Rica. It’s a little bit of everything – delicious food, it’s tropical, they accept the U.S. dollar and it’s not too far away. It’s a quick flight back to the U.S. and my family and friends are a priority so I wouldn’t want to go too far away where I couldn’t easily see them or they couldn’t come see me.

What’s either the best advice you’ve ever received or worst advice you’ve ever received?

Best Advice: Don’t be afraid to fail. More specifically - don’t be so afraid to fail that you don’t try new things or do things outside of your comfort zone.

For example, with this job…I had no experience in relocation. I’m a very firm believer that almost anything, aside from natural abilities like music and athletics, can be learned. If you give something a try and fail, it’s not the worst thing that can happen.

Tell us something you’re excited about.

I always spend Christmas in Colorado where all of my family lives but since I have a milestone birthday this year (the day after Christmas), I decided to run away to Paris by myself!