The Ryan Leak Podcast - Making Genuine Connections w/Rachel Frank

Episode Date: November 16, 2020

Rachel Frank is the Premium Account Executive at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks. She is dedicated to creating lasting memories and providing exclusive luxury experiences for premium clientele and their guests. Highlights from this episode: "I found that communication is the key to wearing many hats well."   "You have to be okay asking questions and knowing that you're not going to have the answer to everything."   "Be willing to listen and learn from your peers and those who have more experience than you."   "When someone asks you to do something you might not want to do, or you don't think it's your responsibility. Think about the fact that they trust you enough to put that  thing in your hands."   "It's the relationships you foster offline that are invaluable." Shownotes can be found at ryanleak.com/followership.

Welcome to Follow the show with Ryan Leika podcast designed to equip you with the tools you need to succeed in the workplace, regardless of the kind of leader you have that does not have to determine the kind of follower that you can become. Hey, today's episode, we're going to discuss the importance of a good attitude and how to excel and cultivate genuine relationships through hospitality with my friend Rachel Frank. Hey, before we get to that and we learn a little bit about what Rachel does, you got a really, really cool job. you don't want to miss this. I want you to know that all show notes for today's episode can be found on RyanLeak.com slash followership. Again, Ryanleek.com slash followership. That's where you can get everything you need.

All you need can be found there. RyanLeak.com. There's also some other fun stuff there, too, if you want to check it out. Hey, without any further ado, I want you to hop in on a conversation I had with my friend, Rachel Frank. Rachel has a background in marketing and promotions as well as community outreach. in the nonprofit sector. She worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves

for a while in premium services, and today she is a premium seating account service executive for the United Center. Basically, she works with high-end clients for suites at events at the United Center. If you don't know what the United Center is, it's where Michael Jordan played, folks, the goat. That is not what we're discussing today.

But Rachel has worn many hats in her career, and I just love her energy. perspective and how she goes about her job. So I said, hey, would you, would you do me the honor of coming on to followership? So my friends, welcome Rachel Frank to followership. How are you today, Rachel? I am good. Ryan, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. Oh, that's awesome. Well, here's the deal. When we talked about, you know, just your career, other relationships you've built, you know, it seems like you've just worn a ton of hats in your career. And I know that sometimes when, you know, you're following a leader and they're asking you to do multiple things that sometimes are even outside of your job description, I know that can be tough.

So my first question for you is what has helped you wear many hats well? Sure. You know, I will say it's definitely a balancing act. And it does, it does help to be organized. I'll say that. I'll say that. I take a lot of notes. I take a lot of mental notes. I'm the queen of observing. So in most settings, I kind of like to sit back and get all the info before I react. And this might sound really obvious, but the key I found, and it's nothing new, but it's communication.

And you have to be okay with asking questions and knowing that you're not going to have the answer to everything. And also be okay leaning on others, especially. you know, if you're working with a team or group of people, you know, just be nice, be gracious to those people and have a good attitude. And really, all those things combined has helped me be successful and wearing all those different hats. And, you know, just be willing to listen and learn from your peers and those who have more experience than you. And honestly, these are skills that I'm still working on to this day. So it's a work in progress.

I get it. I get it. I think we all. are. Do you have an example of maybe something you were asked to do and maybe you didn't want to do it or didn't feel like it was your responsibility to do it, but you did it anyway. So you just mentioned attitude. Talk to us a little bit about that. Yeah. You know, that's a good question. And, you know, I guess I look at this a little bit differently. You know, when someone tasked you to do something you might not want to do or you don't think it's your responsibility, think about the fact that they trust you enough to put that in your hands. And so, Just take it and own it and just go with it and do it. You know, when you're in entertainment and hospitality,

it sort of becomes ingrained in you to just kind of roll the punches. And you're likely going to be put in a position where you're going to do something that you might not want to do. But in the end of the day, you're contributing to something for the greater the people that you're serving. And, you know, for me, people coming to the United Center, you know, they're coming to be entertained. And so, and that's your job. You know, so on a day, the game day, let's say, you know, we have people coming into the arena and I'm walking through one of our high-end exclusive clubs. And we're all in there. We're a team, you know, on game days and just in general, we work as a team.

And so if I see, I'm walking through the club and I see, I say, a table that needs to be bust that there's, there's plates and there's just kind of food around. I'm going to clean that up. It might not be my job, but it's things like that that you kind of just step in and do. And it's not always glamorous, but you just do it. You do it because you want to create a good experience for the people that are coming through. Yeah, I really, really like that point. You know, think about the fact that they trusted you enough to ask you to do it. That's huge.

That's massive. Because I think sometimes what happens is when someone asks us to do something, we're almost offended that they asked us to do something outside of our job description. But what you said today gave it a whole different perspective. It was like, hey, well, back up for a second. Think about the fact that they trusted you enough to ask you to do it. I think that's a perspective shift that I think people need. You're in the business of hospitality.

It's very much a part of your current job description. But how would you say that hospitality has played a major role in all that you've done in positions where hospitality perhaps wasn't on the job description. Right. It's been a major part of my, I guess, not just my career, but my entire life. And it's created a space to build some just really great relationships. And it's been a driving force for me because it makes people feel really good. Yeah.

And in turn, it makes you feel good too. It's funny, but it's really just that simple. I mean, you think about it. for example, when you walk into a restaurant, you want to feel welcome. It's such a different vibe when you're greeted versus when you're not greeted. So just little things, little things like that. And I grew up in a household with five sisters. So as you can imagine, it was always pretty chaotic.

My parents were constantly telling us, you know, pay attention, be nice to each other. And so it's been ingrained to me, but it's something that I've carried throughout my life and my career. and it's something that it's just really easy to do. Yeah, no, I love that. You know, I think hospitality sometimes can come natural for some people. It's not as natural for others. But I do think it's key to build relationships, treating people well, treating people how you want to be treated.

And sometimes it's like, well, duh, but it's not always, duh. I mean, especially in polarizing 2020, you know, treating each other with kindness isn't the norm. But one of the things that I've noticed about you, heard about you, is the amount of relationships that you have, you have such a robust network. And I think networking sometimes gets a bad rap. It gets this negative connotation that it's a bunch of people in a room.

If you go to a networking event and they're all there with some sort of agenda, something up their sleeve. It can just get this negative tone, but I've never felt that with you. I've never sensed that with you. It seems like you have genuine relationships and you've been able to build a network in a way where, like you said, you're hospitable, you treat people well. But what advice would you give to someone who wants to extend their network without being fake? You know, like what have you learned over the years?

about just building relationships. Well, you know, in today's world, we live in such a digital world where it's so easy to connect with people on social media, LinkedIn. You can click a button and you can connect with somebody. But I've found that it's really those relationships that you foster offline that are invaluable.

And it's surprising how supportive and willing people are to talk with strangers and give advice. Right. And I'd recommend, you know, as you begin your career, you're going to meet people. So that relationship building is really important. But start with your network. Start with people that know you well and go from there. And that's how we met, you know, through Lacey, who she's so amazing.

She's someone that I look up to. And go from there and build your network that way versus kind of just going out and just not cold calling, but reaching out via social media to people that you don't know. But that's okay too. I've learned that that's what LinkedIn and things are for. So don't be afraid to put yourself out there. I think there's a way to approach it in a way, you know, you're talking to a stranger, so don't go and just ask them for a favor.

But be intentional about who you're networking with. What's the reason behind it? if there's a position with a company that you're interested in, you know, look on LinkedIn and kind of try to find people that could possibly be a good connection for you to talk more, or that might be open to talking more about the company itself and the position itself. But yeah, be intentional about who you're networking with and who you're following. For me, I know I like to read articles.

That's how I learn more about just things that are happening and other opportunities and things like that. And so I'll connect with someone just because I like the content that they share. So things like that, I guess that's the biggest thing that I've learned throughout just this whole journey is. And then also goes back to that just being hospitable and be nice to people because it's, it creates an opportunity again to form relationships, to broaden your network. Totally. You know, I'm a firm believer in relationships that are two-way streets.

I'm always looking for an opportunity to add value to someone else's life. And my hope and prayer is that they would be doing the same thing. You know, we're helping each other win. We're sharpening each other. We're making each other better. I think those are some of the best relationships. question I have for you is I want you to brag on somebody for a moment. I want you to think about somebody over the course of your career that has poured into you that has added value to your life

in some way should, like they reached out. It was a, it was a, it was a, it was a key relationship. Like if you could look back and go, man, I'm really grateful for this relationship. And here is the value that they that they've added to my life because I think our listeners, if they can walk away thinking about how they can add value to somebody's life, I think that would be a big win

for them. So can you think of a person, of a relationship that you would look back and go, they've made a difference. Oh yeah. I have someone that comes to mind right away. Are we naming names? Can I do that?

You can name drop if you Don't tell me. You don't have to name names, but if you want to name a name, you can name a name. That's on you. All right. So this person I worked with at the Timberwolves, I won't name names, but he'll know who it is if he hears this. But he was my boss and someone that he, you know, at the beginning of our relationship working together, it wasn't always, we didn't always necessarily see eye to eye. But he pushed me. me to a point that may be uncomfortable and he challenged me to be better. And I, now he's just one of those people that I go to advice for everything. And I know that, that I can count on him and he can count on me. But he also, you know, he trusted me to do, to do my job. And that was something that I really appreciated. Because sometimes you don't always get the opportunity to just

to kind of run with things, but he trusted me to do that. And he just, he had a lot of experience also. And so, you know, looking for somebody that has those same types of values as you. And someone you see, you know, I want to be like that person. I want to have that same type of attitude that he had, obviously gotten him really far in his career. Yeah, this person really, he's a good friend. of mine too. Yeah. I so appreciate that conversation I was able to have with Rachel Frank.

You know, every single person I talked to about Rachel has nothing with good things to say. And I'm honored that she would take some time out of her day to be on followership. A couple of takeaways that I have for you is I want you to find a way this week to be hospitable to someone. Find a way to go the extra mile for someone you work with. Perhaps it's your leader. I mean, you want to think of ways that you're not. you can add value to your leader's life. The second takeaway that I have for you is I want you to ask yourself,

are you walking in humility? I mean, what's your posture when you're asked to do something that perhaps isn't your job? I love what Rachel said. She said, you should consider it an honor that they asked you to do it. They thought that highly, they trust you. What a perspective. What a great attitude to have as a follower. Hey, here's a deal.

if today's episode added value to your life this is what you can do. You can go to Ryanlake.com slash followership. You can get all the show notes there. And we want you to rate it. I want you to review it. We want you to subscribe. And guess what?

We also want you to share it with a friend. Until next time, I want you to have a fantastic day.