10 Years Of Service
Rachel and me at the launch of Permission to Screw Up in New York
You see this amazing human right here?
Her name is Rachel, and on Sunday, she celebrated 10 years with our company.
10 years. A decade. 3,650 days.
It’s times like these that feel surreal as a leader: to know that someone as talented as Rachel—who could work anywhere and have any job she wanted—has chosen and continues to choose our company . . . It’s humbling, to say the least.
Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Rachel about her journey with us on our LIVE show. (In case you missed it, you can catch it here.) Her journey is a special one. It’s gone a little something like this:
As a college student, Rachel applied for a part-time cleaning job with us in 2011 after growing tired of her summer job selling produce in a parking lot. We trained her during our busy move-out season and then totally forgot to give her work (#permissiontoscrewup), so she reached out and asked us for hours. And just like that, she earned a spot on our regular schedule.
She was only on the team for a short while before I discovered that she had a passion for writing. She majored in journalism at the University of Florida and had a part-time job working at the independent student newspaper. I asked her to help me with some creative projects, such as writing copy for our website and helping me launch a Student Maid newsletter. A sign of what was to come.
As Rachel continued to wow us with her work ethic and leadership skills, we offered her opportunities to help in the office in addition to cleaning houses. After she graduated from UF in 2012, she decided to stay with Student Maid while she looked for a job that would start her career. And then, one fateful day, I got a call about an opportunity to open a second location of Student Maid in Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola is Rachel’s hometown, so I asked her if she had any interest in moving back home to launch Student Maid #2. Terrified, she said yes.
We went to Pensacola and decided we wanted to give it a try. Rachel recruited her friend (who is also named Rachael) to help her launch the location. She built a team from the ground up and emulated the culture we had in Gainesville. I remember the first time I walked into a team meeting, I couldn't believe it. It felt like our culture at our headquarters. I hadn’t even trained Rachel on how to do that. (Again, #permissiontoscrewup).
After being in Pensacola for a bit, we realized that the opportunity we were given wasn’t what we signed up for. We found ourselves in a contract that wasn’t serving us, and ultimately, we decided to end it. Rachel and Rachael had to then build a client base, which they did despite not having any real business or sales experience.
After a year or so of that, Rachel met her now-fiance (they get married this month!), who moved to California just a few months later. I had a speech in California, and she just so happened to be there visiting him, so she came to the speech and asked if she could speak with me afterward. She told me two things: 1) She didn’t know when, but she wanted to move from Pensacola to California, and 2) She wasn’t feeling fulfilled running the Student Maid location, but she wanted to stay with the company. We were determined to find a way to make it all work, even though it would be a little while until we actually figured out how to do that.
A little less than a year later, Rachel moved to California and continued to help with the Pensacola location from afar. Around that time, I got a contract to write the book, and I asked her if she wanted to help me. In the process of writing, we came to some important realizations as a team: First, we didn’t want to operate our business in Pensacola any longer. It wasn’t what we wanted or how we wanted to grow. And second, we wanted to keep our location in Gainesville and continue to focus on growing the leadership development part of our business.
We eventually sold the company in Pensacola, and Rachel went all-in on the book with me. I took many a trip to California, where we would write together for days. Rachel taught me that I work too much, and I learned a lot about boundaries from writing the book with her. I also learned how insanely talented she is (she wrote the introduction to Permission to Screw Up . . . Chapter 1 . . . the story of me sitting in the clubhouse.) We had no idea what the future held for Rachel’s role after the book was over, but we had hope that once we were finished with the project, we’d figure it out, just like we always had.
After the book was published, our work continued to spread and our leadership development business grew. All of a sudden, Rachel had a new role: Chief of Experience. Today, her job is to make sure that the content we share with the world reflects our values, our culture, and our beliefs about human leadership. She edits this blog with me every week. She helps prepare workbooks for sessions that I lead. She creates tools and resources for our amazing community. She connects my vision to everything we create to serve others. And in the fall of this year, she will be helping me with a new (yet familiar) project . . . Book #2.
I love Rachel’s journey because it shows the power of taking one step. It shows the power of being open to opportunities before you are ready. It shows the power of “doing it scared.” Who would have ever thought that a part-time cleaning job could lead her to where she is now in her career?
I think about how we got here. What are the factors that go into making a partnership work for ten years?
The thing I admire most about Rachel is her constant courage to speak up. When she isn’t feeling fulfilled, she says it. When she feels she’s outgrown a part of her role or a project, she shares it. Her willingness to be honest is what has built an incredible trust between us, and it’s what allowed us to ensure that her role evolves as she evolves. As the leader of a team, I want our people to be fulfilled. I want to know when something isn’t feeling right anymore so that we can do something about it. Rachel has always given me those pieces of the puzzle.
I thought it might be special to ask Rachel what she thinks the answer is . . . from her perspective, what has made her choose our company for a decade, and what makes her continue to choose us?
This is what she said:
I’ve never met anyone whose career path looks quite like mine. Not because I’ve been with the same company for 10 years (that’s a third of my life, by the way, for those keeping track), but because of the trust that’s been placed in me; the ways I’ve been encouraged to lean into my strengths; and the opportunities I’ve had to grow, change, and push myself.
I can point to many moments that clearly demonstrate to me why I’ve chosen this company again and again, but there are two big ones that stand out: The first is when Kristen chose me to lead the Pensacola branch, and the second is when I told her I was ready to leave that role.
Shortly after Kristen got the call about Pensacola, I remember looking at her from the other side of her desk and saying, “But . . . you know I have a degree in journalism, right? And that I don’t know anything about running a business?” I don’t remember exactly what she said, but it was something along the lines of, “Yes, I know, but we can teach you. I really believe you have what it takes to do this.” I was equal parts shocked, flattered, overwhelmed . . . and excited. That this person who had known me barely more than a year was willing to put an insane amount of trust in me must mean that I really could do this. And as the saying goes, believing in yourself is half the battle. I remember thinking that if I could go from cleaning houses and helping in the office to running a whole branch in 18 months, where could I be in five years? My Student Maid career felt full of possibilities, and I wanted to see it through.
As the leader of the Pensacola branch, I learned more about myself than I ever thought possible. I stepped out of my comfort zone every single day as I learned how to deal with clients and property managers and team members and inventory and paperwork and training programs and so, so much more. But as you may know from reading Permission To Screw Up, the situation in Pensacola was not what we thought it would be, and I eventually learned that I didn’t want to have what it took to be the general manager of a cleaning business. The role had gone from exciting to uncertain to scary to downright miserable because of situations outside of our control, and I hit a breaking point. And when I did, Kristen was willing to listen. I knew that by leaving my role in Pensacola, I would be putting Kristen and the business in a really tough spot, but that was never the main subject of our conversations. More prominent was that she wanted me to know that as long as I wanted a place in the company, I would have one—even if neither of us knew exactly what that looked like or whether it was even financially feasible for the time being. So many times, she could have simply said, “Thanks for everything, but if you don’t want this job anymore, it’s time to walk away,” but she didn’t. Kristen chose me just as many times and I chose her and this company. I’ve learned that that kind of encouragement, loyalty, and support is practically unheard of.
Today, I truly have my dream job. Every day, I get to do work that feels fulfilling, use skills that come naturally to me, and work with people who truly love and care about me for who I am. There’s nothing I feel like I can’t say to Kristen or to our leadership team, and I know that I will always have their support. How many people can say that about their jobs?
It’s really, really tough to sum up what the last 10 years have meant to me. But what I’m absolutely certain of is that when I chose Student Maid all those years ago, I made the right choice. And I can’t wait to see what the next decade holds for us.
Thank you, Rachel. Thank you for 10 years of service when you could choose to be anywhere else. Thank you for working so hard to build a better, more human world. Thanks for sticking with me through the good times and the hard times. Thank you for your courage, your honesty, and for keeping it real. I love you, I am so grateful for you, and I can’t wait to see what the next decade has in store!
Hugs through the screen,
Kristen
PS: I’m excited to introduce a new format for our weekly LIVE show, which takes place this Wednesday (and every Wednesday!) at 11 a.m. ET! I’ll be interviewing some of my most favorite inspiring humans and leaders. Every week, there will be a surprise guest (or guests), and you never know who! The one thing you can always count on is that it'll get real. Join us for REAL TALK every Wednesday by registering here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT. Hope to see you there!
