Megan Riksen (00:00:17):

Hello, and welcome to the Work Like a Laker podcast. I'm Megan Riksen, and today I am here to intro a very special episode. This is the 100th episode of the Work Like a Laker podcast.

Megan Riksen (00:00:34):

We have a really, really fun episode for you today that Grace and Dani and I actually went up to Traverse City and recorded all of this last July. So we know it's February. Hopefully the sounds of Northern Michigan in the summer give you a little peace and, you know, make you feel a little happy here in February. So you will hear us kind of day in the life, what we were up to as we were visiting Traverse City, some of the fun stuff we did. And then we also got to talk to some amazing people who are working up there and doing lots of great things. So you're gonna get to hear a lot about what it's like to work in Traverse City, what it's like to live in Traverse City in northern Michigan. So we hope you enjoy,

Grace Joaquin (00:01:28):

We're here this morning having some coffee at Megan's Cottage in Traverse City, and we're about to have an exciting day meeting with employers and Shannon and just different people in the Traverse City community to learn more about living in this beautiful area. Megan, tell us a little bit about what you love about Traverse City.

Megan Riksen (00:01:47):

Yeah, I feel like I can drive from Grand Rapids for two, two and a half hours and just really feel like I'm on vacation, even when we just come up for a night or two. Just the, the natural beauty. I mean, you're gonna hear that in all of the interviews I think we do for this podcast. But there's just so much water, so much green space, and so yeah, just vacation vibes right away.

Grace Joaquin (00:02:13):

We had a delicious dinner last night at Poppycocks, which we wanted to get some sound clips, but we didn't sit near an outlet, so we couldn't <laugh>. But we had, I had a yummy curry. Megan got the Whitefish cakes and Caesar salad, and then Dani got the chicken caprese, which was, everything was delicious, and we tried each other's, and we had the sticky toffee pudding, which is my absolute favorite thing ever. So if you're in Traverse City, go to Poppycocks, at least for the sticky toffee pudding.

Megan Riksen (00:02:50):

All right, so we are here now at TentCraft with Rob Hanel, the Director of People and Space. Hi Rob.

Rob Hanel (00:02:57):

Hello.

Megan Riksen (00:02:58):

Thanks for joining us today. We're excited to be at your space this time.

Rob Hanel (00:03:01):

I'm excited you were open to being here.

Megan Riksen (00:03:03):

Amazing. So can you just start with a little introduction of yourself and maybe what brought you to TentCraft originally?

Rob Hanel (00:03:09):

Absolutely. So again, department of People and Space. That is also an internal acronym pronounced dope-ass <laugh>. And I had to throw that in there.

Megan Riksen (00:03:21):

Works great. Thank you for doing that.

Rob Hanel (00:03:22):

And yeah, and I've been at TentCraft for going on 10 years, and Traverse City is actually my hometown. And I went to Grand Valley and...

Megan Riksen (00:03:31):

That's right, I should've said that in the intro. Laker alum.

Rob Hanel (00:03:34):

So Laker for Life, which is, which is what Shannon Owen always likes to say. Which I love that slogan. And yeah, I, I had moved away and was looking to come back to Michigan and TentCraft was a company that was growing. It had a, a culture that that was you know, seated in in humility, but also fun and a little weirdness, which was attractive to me because I was coming out of the outdoor industry, which is also a, a pretty fun place to work. And so looking for a unique opportunity in Traverse City was, was important to me. And what drew me to TentCraft was that we were, again, growing, but also the leadership the direction we were going and manufacturing was something that I never thought was that. And I actually didn't put any thought into manufacturing ever.

Rob Hanel (00:04:29):

And and, you know, but human resources, which is, which is my profession is, is something that is, you know, applicable in any industry. And so but what we were making was, was fun too, and interesting to me. But yeah, after about 10 years out west Utah, Oregon, California working in the outdoor industry, I moved back to my hometown here, Traverse City. And this is also where we were ready to start a family. And you know, the cost of living in northern Michigan compared to some of the places that I lived was obviously attractive as well. And I know Traverse City gets you know, gets sometimes a bad rap for cost of living, which I, I think it absolutely can be a factor, but compared to other states in our country, especially where I had lived, this seemed to make a lot of sense. And you know, family still in Michigan and...

Megan Riksen (00:05:24):

So nice to be close by.

Rob Hanel (00:05:25):

Yeah. So yeah, I think that if that answers your question, it's a quick, quick overview. And and the opportunity to start something fun and special, which culturally was, was very attractive too. So being the first HR hire for this company and then helping scale and grow, not only the, the business, but the people side was what I was most excited about.

Megan Riksen (00:05:48):

That's a great opportunity,

Grace Joaquin (00:05:49):

And we will go further into your culture, which I loved learning about as you gave us a tour. But first, can you just give us an overview about TentCraft and what you do here? Or not you, but the company.

Rob Hanel (00:05:59):

Yes, for sure. So, TentCraft, we we make tents and signage for events, outdoor events primarily, but also indoor events. We we have a host of different styles or types of clientele, and that ranges from agencies, so agencies marketing agencies that represent larger brands are, are a big part of our business. But we also work with the local farmer farms and, and for farmer's market tents and high schools, or colleges and universities for tents and signage around their college campuses and for their sporting events and things like that. So it, it's a, it's a little bit of a, we're a catch all. Yeah. we can, we're, we're, we're big enough to support some of the biggest brands on the planet. That's awesome. But small enough and vertically integrated enough to, to take care of you know, the one-off clients as well.

Megan Riksen (00:06:58):

Yeah. You definitely have some fun clients.

Rob Hanel (00:06:59):

We do.

Megan Riksen (00:07:00):

I suggest everybody pop onto their website. You can see we were pretty impressed.

Grace Joaquin (00:07:04):

Very impressed.

Rob Hanel (00:07:05):

<Laugh>. Yeah. I, I too get sometimes blown away. I'll be walking down on the production floor and I'll see a brand of something that maybe I use at home. Yeah. For example, it was the body wash that I, that I ordered off of Instagram. I won't say it 'cause I don't know if there's any, but they but I saw a, a tent for them, and I thought, my gosh, what is my body wash company making a tent for? But okay.

Grace Joaquin (00:07:28):

That is so cool.

Rob Hanel (00:07:29):

I'm sure, I'm sure it's gonna be a fun experiential marketing campaign, <laugh>,

Grace Joaquin (00:07:34):

That's so neat.

Megan Riksen (00:07:35):

Totally.

Rob Hanel (00:07:35):

But then you'll walk the floor too and see discerning brands like Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors.

Megan Riksen (00:07:40):

Oh, yeah. The big ones.

Rob Hanel (00:07:42):

All the, all the big ones.

Megan Riksen (00:07:44):

Incredible. Okay. So yeah, as Grace alluded to, we did get a little bit of a sneak peek at your culture, which definitely seems fun and innovative. But I don't wanna put too many words in your mouth. So how would you describe the company culture?

Rob Hanel (00:07:59):

This question comes up often and, and sometimes it's hard to, to respond to, because I've been living in it. You know, and, and helping create it for so long.

Megan Riksen (00:08:08):

Like the fish in the fishbowl.

Rob Hanel (00:08:09):

Yeah. But the best way that I like to describe it is we are trying to create the best place to work in Traverse City, in northern Michigan. And then beyond. And when we think about what creates the best place to work it's, it's not, and we, and people always say culture, it's not ping pong tables. It's not the kegerators or the...

Megan Riksen (00:08:32):

Thank you for saying that. I completely agree with that.

Rob Hanel (00:08:34):

It's not the twisty slide. It's also not to say we don't have those three things. <Laugh>,

Grace Joaquin (00:08:40):

<Laugh>, I was so impressed by the twisty slide.

Megan Riksen (00:08:42):

The twisty slide is pretty epic.

Rob Hanel (00:08:44):

Yeah. But what, what it really comes down to is, is kind of your total rewards. How do you, do you pay competitively. Do you market your brand in a way that is attractive to young talent? And also aging talent too. And are you are you problem solvers? And do you, do you look at things like employee benefits in a way that is important to your employees? You know, business needs aside. Are you taking care of the people who are, who are taking care of your business? And so although, although there, there are ancillary things that make working here fun what's most important is that people and their families feel taken care of. Yeah. and that coming to work doesn't suck. And Right. Be, because if you want to retain talent, and we all know that today you know, people change jobs.

Rob Hanel (00:09:41):

Every two and a half years. We take a lot of pride in that. We have a lot of people who have reached their 10 year anniversary at TentCraft, and, and they earned two plane tickets to anywhere in the world. It's like, whoa. That's, that's not a, that's fun. It's not a, it's, it's not a...

Grace Joaquin (00:09:57):

Wait, where did you go? Because didn't you just have your...

Rob Hanel (00:09:59):

I'm coming up in December on 10 years. So I'll talk to the wife about that. But you know, that's, that's something that you, you, you know, a lot of companies may do cash rewards or, or, you know, Rolex watches or, or whatever for anniversaries and milestones. And that's, and that's okay. But we, we would, our hope is that somebody takes their spouse or their girlfriend or their sister or their best friend and they go and they go on an experience and, and that they remember that. And so that's like, that's like a little example of just like problem solving and being creative and kind of forcing fun, we like to call it, and, and you will go on this trip. You will go on the trips. You will, you will present a, a PowerPoint on, on your trip. You will.

Grace Joaquin (00:10:50):

That's so fun.

Rob Hanel (00:10:51):

And, and so, you know, there's that, and there's the way that you approach healthcare too, which everybody's talking about you know, childcare as well. You know, we participate in a, in what's called the Michigan Tri-Share Program, which is which is a child care subsidized program where companies pay for a third of healthcare, the state of Michigan pays for a third, and then that leaves the employee with only paying a third.

Rob Hanel (00:11:17):

Now, there's, there's qualifications of course, but, you know, we proactively seek out different ways that we can support our employees. And, and I think like that's what's important when it comes to culture, are those, those what may seem little, and maybe not everybody in the company can participate in that, but it's important. Subsidized childcare, paid parental leave. You may not have to be the highest paid manufacturing company in Traverse City. You could maybe be middle of the road, but you're offering these other things.That in conjunction with a base pay and benefits, other benefits really kinda level the playing field with some of the bigger manufacturers. And not to take away from the benefits that, that bigger companies do offer and can offer. We, we are, we're special and unique in that we, we are small enough to be able to not just ad hoc, but do things that maybe larger companies can't do. And that's what I love about Traverse City too, is you have a lot of innovators and not just in products in our area, but in, in the way that we're looking to attract talent and retain talent.

Grace Joaquin (00:12:22):

Well, that's a perfect segue to our next question, because I was curious, it sounds like innovation is, is one way that this company kind of reflects Northern Michigan culture, Traverse City culture. Can you think of any other ways that TentCraft might reflect and embrace the culture of northern Michigan?

Rob Hanel (00:12:38):

So, a couple of things. I guess the one way we embrace for sure is I, I mentioned that I, I graduated out of the outdoor industry. So the, my first three jobs in my career were, were all in outdoor recreation. So and specifically products. And, and we always had, every company I worked at, we had direct access to things like mountain bikes, like standup paddleboards, kayaks. You name it. Things sleeping bags, tents, you know that you could use for free or purchase at cost or, and this was a huge benefit to somebody who has a passion for the outdoors. And I would say nine times outta 10 people live in Traverse City will say one that they're, they live here because of the, the, the beauty, the beaches and, and the culture.

Rob Hanel (00:13:32):

And so we do, one of the first things I did when I started working here was applied for a grant. This kind of, again, goes back to like culture stuff, is, is looking out for your employees by what, what, what resources are out there. The Department of Health and Human Services, you know, they have a grant and well, let's apply to that one. Let's apply to this one, and let's see if we can purchase outdoor gear with a health and wellness grant. And Absolutely we could. And you know...

Grace Joaquin (00:14:01):

We're taking notes.

Rob Hanel (00:14:03):

They, they definitely didn't maybe expect that, but it was but, but we, we funded our first full round of outdoor gear, which are standup paddleboards, kayaks, snowshoes long boards yoga mats 'cause we do yoga all on, on a, on a health and wellness grant. And so that people can get outside because either, you know, those are expensive items to own. They can be. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. they're also hard to store. Hard to transport. So to have them right here at their fingertips so they can get out on the water, the rivers, the lakes around here was, was a big hit. And so I, I think that

Megan Riksen (00:14:47):

It's just a few places to choose from where you could bring those things.

Rob Hanel (00:14:49):

Yeah. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. But, and in other ways I think that we embrace the region is we, we, we love experiences at TentCraft. And so when we do a company outing we've been known to take the entire company out on the tall ship Manitou, which is a locally owned small business. You know, where, where it's a, a historical landmark. The Manitou a big sailing ship, you know? It's fun. Yeah. it's basically a pirate ship if you want it to be and fulfill all those childhood dreams, <laugh> and yeah. Or, you know, or the, the Nauti-Cat is another one, which is a, a sailing ship on the Bay. So we have all these local businesses that we try to incorporate our culture into and our experiences, our downtown development authority has gift cards that you can only use downtown and circulate, you know, through monies through the economy that way.

Rob Hanel (00:15:45):

We always buy those. When, when we have giveaways and things, it's not the Panera Bread gift card. Nothing wrong with that. But we, we have done a lot to embrace our local business community, because we're also a local business too, even though we serve a much broader clientele. We need to make sure that, that our, our local businesses are, are supported. And then, you know, our universities are, are our colleges here too offering training to our employees. Yeah. through those programs at our community college, or through programs that are based in Traverse City Training services is important too. And so we have several employees, including myself, who have all gone through certificate programs through NMC, which is Northwestern Michigan College Community College here in Traverse City. Those are just things off the top of my head of...

Megan Riksen (00:16:39):

You did a great job.

Grace Joaquin (00:16:39):

That was a wonderful answer. Yeah. And I think a lot of students are gonna be really intrigued by that idea of like the outdoor piece and stuff, and, you know, if anyone wants to live in a, in a cool place, Traverse.

Megan Riksen (00:16:51):

That really values all of that. Yeah, for sure. Alright, so let's talk a little bit about opportunities here at TentCraft, and specifically for students and early career professionals. What sorts of things are we looking at?

Rob Hanel (00:17:05):

Yeah. Some of the things that really always pop out to me are what a, how unknown a lot of these companies, similar to size asTentCraft, or similar to industry, can be easily overlooked. We're not always at career fairs because you, you know, we, they, for, for a host of different reasons, we're too, we're very busy. Oftentimes your HR person, if you have an HR person. Yeah. Most companies don't get an HR person until they've got 50 to a hundred employees and so businesses our size in this, what I call kind of the small medium size just aren't always out there publicly facing. And so the, it's, it's getting, sometimes you have to get in front of them, and so digging in as a student and finding these companies, I think are, are such a great advantage that that doesn't get taken as often especially when you're a senior.

Rob Hanel (00:18:07):

Whether you've interned or not, but showing up at somebody's front door, connecting with them on LinkedIn calling the sales line and asking for the HR or hiring managers. Like phone extension or something. The these are things that, that I believe and a company our size. I mean, I, I can't tell you how many people we've hired because they have come to us before we maybe had a need. Or maybe we had a need brewing and it hadn't been fully fleshed out and, but hey, you have this, you, you have this, this hyperactive kid looking like banging on your door. It's like, yeah, I'm gonna talk to that person. And, and so I do think that that there's that in Traverse City as well as other larger companies. That, that are absolutely on the map.

Rob Hanel (00:19:00):

But showing up connecting on LinkedIn. The networking. Going to the small events. Grand Valley State University does a phenomenal job up here in Traverse City in the last few years. Really post pandemic of putting putting gatherings together, whether those are happy hours. Whether those are you know, meet and greets. And the students that show up to those events connect in a way that, that just is impossible in, in other settings. And I think our community is that size too. Right? We're not a huge city. We're not, we're not very big at all, to be honest with you compared to, say, Grand Rapids. We're, we're like, people will call Traverse City, Grand Rapids' Little Sister. It's like we're, we're, we're like their twice removed Cousin. It's, it's quite a bit. It's quite a bit smaller. So when you connect in this community, you, you can connect easily and on multiple levels, and oftentimes you'll be talking to business owners where people making hiring decisions when you target companies our size.

Megan Riksen (00:19:59):

Yeah, for sure. And specifically at TentCraft, do you find that students or recent alums are moving into sales roles here? Marketing? What sort of positions are they going for?

Rob Hanel (00:20:12):

Yeah. And I, I love you bring that up because we have, and we talked a little bit about this on the tour, is TentCraft is, is what you would call a vertically integrated organization, both in in the professional setting and in the manufacturing setting as well, where we, we make everything that we sell we sell everything that we sell, and then we market everything we sell. So we have every desirable position in the professional setting for the most part. And, and I'll rattle through those. We have an entire team of it. And that ranges from software development to help desk support to Salesforce administration. Many people are familiar with Salesforce. It's a CRM, which we use. Then you have an engineering team that is hiring mechanical engineers that to design our products, to improve our products.

Rob Hanel (00:21:06):

We also have a art team that has graphic designers. We do production art, which is a phenomenal first job for somebody outta school with a graphic design degree. And because it's production art is a little different than just jumping right into graphic design. Sure. Utilizing the same tools and applying the same tools that you've been using for the last four years in school in the real world gains quick very quick experience. We also have a marketing team. We do all of our own paid search. We do all of our own content. We do all of our own website management. And and so we have an, a marketing team with that specializes in all of those things. So social media and and so, and then we have a sales team. We have a big sales force.

Rob Hanel (00:21:52):

We, we have 14 sales reps at TentCraft, and a lot of those sales reps will, will move on to different, different positions where people will move from customer service into sales. And so, gosh, we have an HR team. We have a facilities team. We have an accounting and finance team. We have on the production side, we also have, we, we do custom print. And so we have digital print operators, which is a very technical role. CNC machinists to run our machines that, that fabricate all the, the different metals that we work with into these tent frames. And those are very technical positions too, where maybe not college four year degree roles, but those are technical college graduates. For sure. And then we oftentimes we'll see, we'll hire people with maybe specialized degrees, whether that's accounting or, or art.

Rob Hanel (00:22:48):

And for example, I have a gentleman on the floor on the production floor right now with a four year degree in graphic design. And he's working a production position. And maybe there's going to be in the next year an opportunity in our art team. And instead of being an outside applicant, he now would be considered an internal applicant, which is always helpful as well. And so our production floor is, is really unique because you have people who are working hard on the production floor, who have an opportunity to advance at TentCraft. Which is fun.

Grace Joaquin (00:23:22):

Sounds like you have a lot of opportunities. And so I'm wondering, you know, if some students listening are thinking of relocating here for a job at TentCraft. Do you have, I I'm from Gaylord, which is an hour east of Traverse City about, and I do think it's a different lifestyle up here. And so I'm curious if you have any advice for any students who are thinking of relocating to Traverse City area?

Rob Hanel (00:23:43):

Oh, yes. The, the housing and the relocation and my first bit of advice is it's, it's very difficult to talk to a student and, and take their move seriously if they haven't already started down the road of finding housing. I love the students that I talk to for a job role who, who tell us yep, my family has a cottage on, you know, such and such a lake or on the river, and I talked to my uncle and he's gonna let me stay there until I find an apartment. That's great. That, see, they've actually put in some efforts, some thought about this. And now not everybody has a family cottage. Right. Okay. But what I love to hear, aside from that is 'cause that's a guarantee is I'm on a wait list at an apartment. Or I have a realtor who's working, that I'm working with to find an apartment or a house, or I have rented a long-term rental or a short-term rental for a couple of months.

Rob Hanel (00:24:49):

I'm ready to move. And in those couple of months, my focus is going to be on learning my new job and finding a, a more permanent place to live. So where, where we get as employers especially for when, because when we're hiring, we're ready to hire. A lot of larger companies or other companies may have a very long hiring timeline.

Megan Riksen (00:25:12):

Yeah. That window can get pretty big.

Rob Hanel (00:25:14):

Yeah. So it's not to say that, that we don't have a a rigorous process. We do have a pretty rigorous hiring process, but we move quickly. So just like our product, we move quickly. Yeah. With, with with hiring people. So you'd need to be, in most small businesses, small to medium sized businesses, when they post a job, they're ready to hire. They need somebody now. And so having that, just showing that you've put some initiative into moving to the area by doing a little bit of research, understanding your budget, and being realistic about, about that budget and goes a long way that can continue a conversation where it could be a conversation you know, stall out. If, if I talk to somebody and we're looking to hire somebody in the next couple of weeks, and they're just putting their feelers out there we, that's hard. That's very, it has its challenges.

Grace Joaquin (00:26:09):

Yeah. That's great advice. Thank you.

Rob Hanel (00:26:12):

Yeah. And I do wanna kind of put a I wanna poo poo a little bit of the notion that it's impossible to move to Traverse City. And that wait lists are a year long for apartments. And there's no affordable housing. There is, you just have to, you have to be proactive. You have to work at it. There are apartments right now that are taking people in. It may not be the apartment that you want long term. But there are apartments. And there are places for rent that are affordable. But there is a strong you know, there's a strong ideology that it's impossible for a college graduate to move to Traverse City if they don't have connections or ties. And, and that's just not true. But you will have to put in some extra effort. You will have to network, you will have to put in the time. So yes. I wanted, I wanted to throw that out though because I feel so many students don't even consider Traverse City because of, because of what they hear.

Grace Joaquin (00:27:13):

Seems impossible. Well that's good to dispel that myth because I think a lot of students wanna be here.

Megan Riksen (00:27:17):

Yeah. Absolutely. Awesome. Well, I think that's all the questions we have for you today.

Rob Hanel (00:27:22):

Well, that's great. Well, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

Megan Riksen (00:27:26):

Thank you for having us. We enjoyed the tour and it was great to chat with you. So thanks again.

Rob Hanel (00:27:30):

Awesome. Go Lakers.

Megan Riksen (00:27:34):

Alright. And we are here at Cherry Republic with Madison Partak, who is the recruitment manager. And I'd just like to welcome you to the podcast. How you doing today?

Madison Partak (00:27:46):

I'm doing so great. Thank you so much for having me.

Megan Riksen (00:27:49):

Thank you for being here. So yes, Dani and I are here to chat about Cherry Republic and all the great things you all are doing. So can you just start by introducing yourself?

Madison Partak (00:27:58):

Yeah. So my name's Madison Partak. As Megan mentioned, I'm the recruitment manager here at Cherry Republic. I am responsible for all things hiring for Cherry Republic, all around the state of Michigan. I get to work with all of our stores, our fulfillment center, our production facility, our restaurant and just talk about why Cherry Republic is a great employer. So it's a wonderful job.

Megan Riksen (00:28:19):

Awesome. Sounds so fun.

Dani Lauer (00:28:21):

Very cool. Okay. So tell us a little bit more, you mentioned a few areas of, of Cherry Republic, I some that I didn't even know about. So can you tell us just about the company in general?

Madison Partak (00:28:32):

Yeah. So I grew up with the company. If you're anywhere from the Northern Michigan area, you kind of know, you know about Cherry Republic.

Dani Lauer (00:28:40):

We've had the snacks with the jam on the crackers.

Madison Partak (00:28:45):

Yep. The samples bring you in <laugh>. Yes. And so when I started working here, I just thought we were a bunch of retail stores. And so as you get to know the company a little bit more, you'll come to find out that we have seven retail stores around the state of Michigan. So Traverse City, Glen Arbor, Charlevoix, Mackinac City, Holland, Ann Arbor, and Frankenmuth. To list them off for everybody.

Megan Riksen (00:29:06):

Way to go.

Madison Partak (00:29:06):

And then we have a restaurant in Glen Arbor. So Glen Arbor is kind of our hub. That's our flagship store where we were established in 1989. And where we continue to kind of grow and make our home base. So we have a winery, a retail store, and a restaurant there. Check out the food if you're ever up in the area.

Dani Lauer (00:29:23):

It's so good. It is so good. It's got a really cute patio, <laugh>

Megan Riksen (00:29:26):

And the little ice cream shop. Like, it's just all adorable.

Madison Partak (00:29:28):

It's so fun. And it's just so great to see all the tourists come in. And we just love the energy in the summer. So summer is kind of our favorite time of year up here. And then we produce a lot of our own products, which is something that people don't know. So in Empire, which is about a 10, 15 minute drive from Glen Arbor, we have our production facility and our manufacturing or those are the same thing, production facility and distribution center. And so that is where we are shipping out all of our products for our e-commerce orders. And so people are getting gift boxes from us right to their homes. And then all of our raw goods and just products are going to stores from there as well. So it's a pretty cool operation. And I just love touring it every time I get to go. So...

Megan Riksen (00:30:14):

Such a fun place to work. Awesome. All right. So can you tell us a little bit about what sort of job opportunities, career opportunities there might be for students in recent grads?

Madison Partak (00:30:24):

Yeah. So we have a kinda wide range of things that we offer. So we have everything from seasonal positions to full-time, year round professional positions. So seasonally, if you're looking to just learn more about the company, we have retail ambassador positions in all of our locations. We hire ages 14 and up. So you get to work with people of all ages. And then we also have seasonal culinary positions and server positions. So if you're in the culinary industry, looking to get hands on experience as a line cook, a prep, cook, dishwasher we also have those opportunities in Glen Arbor and we do have seasonal housing available for people as well.

Dani Lauer (00:31:01):

That's a nice perk.

Madison Partak (00:31:02):

Big time. It is. Yeah. <laugh>. And then going up, we also have internships. So we tend to offer internships in marketing, graphic design, logistics and then retail hospitality or restaurant hospitality. So those are kind of our mix every summer. They do change based on business needs. So can't guarantee they'll be there, but that's kind of our normal rotation. And then summer is usually peak season for that. And then for recent grads we have everything from marketing, human resources, it, finance to retail and hospitality management positions. So think retail supervisor, assistant manager, manager. And those roles we really try to develop from the ground up. We have a lot of folks who've came in as retail ambassadors when they were 14 or as interns, and they now are retail managers. And so we really love to do that development here. Cool. and we like to train. So anytime you come in and have the core values in your heart, like we are here to help develop you into whatever you wanna be here.

Megan Riksen (00:32:04):

Amazing.

Dani Lauer (00:32:05):

That's so cool. So, curious what your advice would be to someone who's maybe considering moving to northern Michigan. Maybe that's Traverse City, maybe it's Glen Arbor, kinda anywhere up north for work. What advice would you give them?

Madison Partak (00:32:21):

I think my biggest advice would be to find what you're passionate about. I think Traverse City in northern Michigan, we have a lot of niche areas and you will be able to kind of find that passion here. I think over the years, and it's been cool to grow up here and see where Traverse City was to where it is now. I think we've grown into this place where there are these awesome pockets of really skilled professionals and very niche things that you can do. And so, and I think Cherry Republic's one of those perfect examples. I mean, we are hospitality, we are retail, food and the manufacturing. Like, you don't find that everywhere. And so I think find the thing that you're passionate about or the thing that you wanna explore that's super specific and start looking here. And I think the more that you can network, the more opportunities are going to be available for you.

Madison Partak (00:33:07):

Sometimes it's hard for us to, to see a resume and see, oh, okay, you live in, in southern Florida and you're trying to move up here. Yeah. And so we want to consider everyone, but there is the piece of housing that is a little difficult. We're a growing city and have lots of housing available, but we kind of need you to be here now. When we're hiring. And so the more that you can start to like actively look for that as you're looking for jobs up here, I think that's great. And then, like I said, network with people in the area. Mm-Hmm

Megan Riksen (00:33:37):

That's great. Great. Awesome. All right. So we've noticed that Cherry Republic and some of your colleagues have had success on TikTok of all places. Right? Of course. What impact would you say that's had on your business?

Madison Partak (00:33:51):

So this has been a really cool journey over the last probably year or two to watch TikTok play into the company. And to hiring.

Megan Riksen (00:34:01):

Ooh, okay. Yes. Tell us more.

Madison Partak (00:34:02):

And so I know per, personally as a company, we have started to really grow like our TikTok channels. And I think that has gotten us a lot of traction just for brand recognition around the state. And nationally, people are starting to find us more and more because we're really trying to share that like Northern Michigan spirit. Which it's our mission. And I think we're doing that on social media. But then we've also had employees who have kind of blown up on their own platforms, who have been advertising the company and what it's like to work here.

Megan Riksen (00:34:31):

Wow. So cool.

Dani Lauer (00:34:32):

I love that.

Megan Riksen (00:34:34):

Free advertising.

Madison Partak (00:34:36):

Yes. And I'm gonna do a shout out for Ellie Dulude. So I don't know if you guys have seen her platform. And so she was a former employee. She is onto really wonderful other things in the community here in Traverse City. But she was on our marketing team and started kind of her journey of content creation. She's also a Grand Valley alum.

Megan Riksen (00:34:53):

Oh my gosh. Amazing.

Madison Partak (00:34:54):

And so she was posting videos about what it was like to work here and kind of like the inside scoop. And we had this influx of applications like you've never seen for positions here.

Dani Lauer (00:35:05):

That's so cool.

Madison Partak (00:35:06):

And so I was like, wow, this is amazing.

Megan Riksen (00:35:08):

Let's keep this going.

Madison Partak (00:35:10):

Yeah. And so I think that showed me the power of social media and I think that was a cool clue. And to me, I am supposed to be the one who's running our LinkedIn not the most creative minded. So I'm getting some great help from our marketing interns this summer, but I think it just showed me the power of social media and how if you can show people what it's like to be here and what your values are. And like

Megan Riksen (00:35:33):

Authentic.

Madison Partak (00:35:34):

Yeah. The more it's just gonna help everything come together. And so that's kind of been our like cool last year journey on what TikTok is.

Dani Lauer (00:35:44):

And probably like, it sounds like it was unexpected, like just kind of popped up like, whoa, okay, here we go.

Megan Riksen (00:35:49):

People are paying attention to this.

Madison Partak (00:35:51):

Totally. We have a general application on our website, and so if you're ever interested in just submitting your application to us, please do it. We keep a big resume bank, but after Ellie was sharing her posts, I was getting general application after general application. Which was not something that we had ever seen before. And so Thank you Ellie, thank you Grand Valley for developing her. But yeah, I just, I think it's such a powerful tool and I think it's been cool to watch our company lean into it over the last couple of months.

Dani Lauer (00:36:19):

That's awesome. That's so cool. So talking through professional development, so what would you say, as a young professional, what kinds of, you know, professional development opportunities have you really started to get involved with throughout your career?

Madison Partak (00:36:35):

That's a great question. So I have a interesting kind of career journey. And I think Cherry Republic has been the one to help kind of really just open my eyes to it. So I graduated with a degree in accounting. I knew it wasn't my passion. I worked in it for six months and knew that I needed to do something with people. And I needed to do something with Northern Michigan and just the values that I embody. And so when I moved back up here, I knew that that was what I was looking for. And so Cherry Republic kind of took a chance on me with this recruiter role, and I knew that it was something that I wanted to do, but had never done it before. And so they hired me in as a recruiter and immediately they were doing everything they could to just develop some of those skills in me.

Madison Partak (00:37:18):

And so throwing me into conversations that I maybe didn't belong in as a very entry level employee, just getting to observe. Get to go sit in the manufacturing facility. And watch what happens there. And so they're just really great at getting you that exposure. So there was a lot of professional development in that way. And then I think the company has also done a really great job of just throwing you in and letting you kind of figure it out in a very structured and supportive way.

Dani Lauer (00:37:46):

We love that.

Megan Riksen (00:37:46):

It's the best.

Madison Partak (00:37:47):

But we, we really just, we want people to try things. We want people to fail and like have that support system when you do. And I think that has been such a growing experience for me. So our professional development here is, I think, a little different than everyone else's company. We, I say we kind of grow like roots on a tree rather than like a beanstalk. We try to kind of develop you in all of these subtle ways. You don't necessarily know it. And then three and a half years down the road you're like, wow. Like grew so much.

Megan Riksen (00:38:16):

Like I know so much. That's like a cherry tree though, right?

Madison Partak (00:38:19):

Yes. Like a cherry tree. So I think that's like how our company does it, but then we also are really great about supporting everyone's kind of external endeavors. And so I've been involved in a couple organizations outside of the company. I'm involved in Traverse Area Human Resources Association. So once a month I meet with 150 HR professionals from around the region, and we have lunch and network and talk about some type of HR topic. And so it's been great to learn with like-minded individuals. And then I'm also a part of MCEEA, which is Michigan Career Educator and Employer Alliance. So getting to talk to universities and colleges around the state, talking to other employers about what's going on and how to better facilitate just opportunities for students coming outta college. And so I think all of those opportunities have really helped to develop me post grad. I mean, I'm four, five years outta school now. And I feel like I, I'm hitting some of my like five to 10 year targets a lot sooner. And I think like that's kudos to Cherry Republic for just encouraging me to go and blossom and, and to these other organizations for giving me the opportunity to, to meet with like-minded individuals and just learn and grow.

Dani Lauer (00:39:30):

It's a very cool like, career pivot story, even though that pivot took place like six months after graduation. So you weren't super far down the road in your career, but still there was a pivot and just cool to see the ways that you flourished in this career that you found post grad.

Megan Riksen (00:39:46):

And No, and like really realizing I wanna be with people more, these are the values that I have.

Madison Partak (00:39:51):

Yeah. And I think my biggest advice to new grads is if you're graduating in a degree that you maybe aren't the most excited about, that's okay. You, I use my accounting degree so much in my HR job. I'm the one on the team who's doing all of the data. Other people are doing data. Of course. But I like, I love doing the data portion. And I love doing the budget and things like that. And so there's so many ways you can use your degree, even if it's not in that field. And so don't be afraid to like, when you know it's not for you, you don't have to hold onto it. And as a recruiter, I can say I do not look down upon resumes that look like, okay, well they got a major in geology and now they're, they're in a retail position. Like, I think that's wonderful. Like we're all always evolving. And so once you know it's not for you, don't be afraid to take the leap into something else.

Dani Lauer (00:40:38):

Great advice. Yeah.

Megan Riksen (00:40:39):

Amazing. I think that's a really good place to end. But I think our last question needs to be, what's your favorite Cherry Republic product?

Madison Partak (00:40:48):

Ooh, this is the hardest question.

Megan Riksen (00:40:50):

You can give more than one if you need a top three or something. We're good with that.

Madison Partak (00:40:55):

So I think right now my favorite product is our artisan mustard.\

Dani Lauer (00:41:00):

Oh, I have not read about this.

Megan Riksen (00:41:02):

I wasn't expecting that.

Madison Partak (00:41:04):

It is something that I put on charcuterie boards in the summer. Love it on a chicken breast. So good. So the artisan mustard's really good. And then you can't ever go wrong with our extra dark chocolate covered cherries. So those are staple.

Megan Riksen (00:41:18):

Yeah.

Dani Lauer (00:41:19):

Yeah. So good.

Megan Riksen (00:41:20):

For sure. Awesome. Well, this was so fun to hear more about Cherry Republic and your journey here. So thank you Madison for joining us.

Madison Partak (00:41:27):

Of course. Thank you so much for having me.

Grace Joaquin (00:41:37):

Okay, we're here at Cherry Republic. We just had our interview with Madison and we were able to go and sort of sample some of the, the treats. Madison gifted us a few, like she let us each pick out one thing to take home. So I wanted to quick share what we got. Megan, what did you pick out?

Dani Lauer (00:41:53):

I grabbed the cherry almond butter, which I have had before, and I also have sampled hundreds of times and it's still good. So that's what I got. And this is Dani and I picked out the Cherry Artisan Mustard, which was a recommendation from Madison. It's her favorite product. Sampled it in store. It was great on a pretzel. I think it'd be great on a sandwich or a wrap. So excited to try it at home.

Grace Joaquin (00:42:20):

And this is Grace. I'm a copycat and I got what Megan got because she said it was good. So I'm excited to try that. I did try their cherry pecan butter, which was also very tasty, so I'm very excited to have this on some toast when I get home. We also were able to sample the gummy bears, which were so flavorful.

Dani Lauer (00:42:40):

And their cherry salsa, which I didn't know if I would like. So good. Got to sample those in their imperial covered cherries. Amazing. They have so many samples in the store.

Grace Joaquin (00:42:53):

Not only is this a good place to work, but also just to visit. So make sure you check out locations near you if you want to sample any of these goodies yourself.

Grace Joaquin (00:43:10):

We are here this morning at Mundos Coffee. We are having some breakfast burritos. I have a grain bowl and waiting on a croissant, and it is delicious. Dani, how is your meal?

Dani Lauer (00:43:24):

So delicious. The coffee is excellent. Mundos has multiple locations in Traverse City, and every one of them is so cute. Great coffee, really good food, great vibe. We're next to a river with like a beautiful lawn and outdoor seating space. It's very cozy in here and family friendly.

Grace Joaquin (00:43:49):

My favorite part of my grain bowl are these little, I don't know what they're, they look like little tomatoes, but they're very sweet. We, we checked and they are sweet drop peppers and they're sweetie drop, so delicious. So if you ever get a chance to have some sweetie drop peppers, <laugh>, you can either buy some or come to Mundos coffee and get a grain bowl.

Grace Joaquin (00:44:14):

We are currently sitting in Megan's car in the parking lot of the GVSU Omni location in Traverse City. We're a little bit early. It's a beautiful day though. So we've had the windows down. We've been chatting, but now we're ready to head inside.

Megan Riksen (00:44:35):

All right. We are here at the GVSU campus in northern Michigan with Shannon Owen, who is the director of Northern Michigan up here. So, hi Shannon. Welcome to the podcast.

Shannon Owen (00:44:46):

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be part of this.

Megan Riksen (00:44:49):

I know. We were really excited to come and see GVSU space up here. I had you just moved.

Shannon Owen (00:44:55):

Well, we're in the process, but

Megan Riksen (00:44:56):

Yes. Yes. And I should say, if you hear any ambient construction noise, that's why but you're, you're handling that.

Shannon Owen (00:45:05):

We are doing very well. Our staff moved over, so by the time you hear this, we will be fully moved into our new location, which is on Northwestern Michigan's college's Front Street campus. And this is a good move for Grand Valley. It puts us where all the NMC students are. Our Grand Valley students are very excited because the coffee shops and the cafeteria And the housing. It's, it's a great move for us just to create more engagement here on NMCs Front Street Campus.

Megan Riksen (00:45:35):

Amazing. And so close to downtown.

Shannon Owen (00:45:37):

It is. And the bays we're right in the middle of the bay, so sometimes we just walk over there and stick our feet in during lunch. It's so nice.

Megan Riksen (00:45:48):

Oh my gosh. The best. Good. All right. So I know we've already kind of jumped in, but can you just backtrack a little bit and just tell us about yourself a little bit and kind of what brought you to this role?

Shannon Owen (00:45:56):

Yeah, absolutely. So I have been in northern Michigan for about 17 years. And I worked at a, another institution. They were not sure what they were gonna do in Northern Michigan. And so I left that position and started working at Northwestern Michigan College as a career and academic advisor. And during that time, I really saw that Grand Valley was doing things that other institutions couldn't figure out how to do. So I kept watching, and then the director position became available, and I thought, this is a way I can give back to this community in ways that I haven't been able to in my previous positions. And I also, when I was working with students, I saw that they were looking for additional opportunities that the community college wasn't offering. So again, when I saw Grand Valley, it was right when they started the physician assistant studies program that I jumped in and said, this is something that I really wanna do. And that's been 10 years ago now.

Megan Riksen (00:46:55):

Wow.

Shannon Owen (00:46:55):

So I have the privilege of serving this Northern Michigan community and using Grand Valley as a resource to do so, and I have a lot of support within Grand Valley to do all of those things. And, and just, yeah, really happy to be part of the community and Grand Valley here.

Megan Riksen (00:47:11):

It feels really special just being up here for this podcast. It's, it's been great. We've already met some, so many amazing people. And now to be here with you, it's awesome.

Shannon Owen (00:47:20):

Yes, yes. I'm so glad you're having a great time here.

Megan Riksen (00:47:23):

We're we're, yeah.

Dani Lauer (00:47:25):

So we'd love for you to just expand even a little ibt more about Grand Valley's role, kind of in northern Michigan. Can you say more about that?

Shannon Owen (00:47:34):

Yeah, absolutely. So we as I said, I've been in the role for 10 years, and in the last four years, we really identified our strategic priorities, and that has helped us focus in on what's most important. We vetted those focus areas across the region, talking to different community leaders, and, and I'll share what those four focus areas are. So the first one is increasing access to rural healthcare. That's a really important component to this whole region. And we do so by our Allied Health Science Bachelor's program and the Physician Assistant Studies Master's program. The College of Health Professions is one of our strongest partners, and they anticipate growing programs here. Public health, medical lab science are two that are at the top of our priority list. The Kirkoff College of Nursing is also a strong partner. They have a good relationship with Munson, where they are actually they piloted an immersion program last year and this year they anticipate that they're gonna have 12 students in the fall and 12 students in the winter doing their final semester of nursing at Munson Medical Center.

Shannon Owen (00:48:43):

Oh. So the hope is that they can get hired after that which is a huge need that Munson has. So Rural Health is the first one. The second one is supporting the K through 12 system. So this last year we actually certified 38 people that were paraprofessionals to become teacher certified. So we know that there's a teacher shortage across the state. And it certainly has hit us hard in northern Michigan. So working with our partner at Northwest Education Services to upscale paraprofessionals is really helpful. The third one is the blue and green economy. Most people when you talk to them like, why do you live in Northern Michigan? It's because of the water. It's because of the environment. And so that's really important for us to be here and to be able to say that we're supporting that.

Shannon Owen (00:49:32):

But also the Freshwater Center for Research and Innovation is a project that's currently under development. It'll open in the fall of 27, and we wanna be a, a large player in that. And we anticipate that with the Annis Water Resource Institute, we'll be able to do so. The last one is the Michigan Veteran Entrepreneurship Lab, which falls into the focus area of entrepreneurship and innovation. So working with Shorouq in the Seidman College of Business to expand that program up here has really been helpful. And we have a lot of support with 20 fathoms, the Office of Possibilities, Grove Incubator to support those individuals that go through the system, because all of our programs are not about just bringing Grand Rapids to Traverse City. It's about immersing them here in the region and, and working with community partners to do so.

Megan Riksen (00:50:23):

Yeah, each of those four really makes sense.

Dani Lauer (00:50:24):

It does. And it's so cool to hear like, we're identifying the needs in the community and then finding ways to meet those needs.

Megan Riksen (00:50:31):

Like that comes first. That seems really important.

Shannon Owen (00:50:35):

Yeah. It's again, when we vet those four focus areas out, people are like, yeah, that makes sense. I personally have another interest area that I recognize and, and just looking at ways that we can support is behavioral health. We know in rural areas behavioral health is a challenge. Our physician assistant studies program did receive a $1.4 million grant to embed embed is, might not be the right word, but to teach the students how mental health should be part of primary care. And they also are teaching the, the primary care physicians in the region, those skills as well. So that is something that it's not one of our focus areas, but it's something that's always top of mind. And I'm thankful that the PA program has been able to respond in that way.

Dani Lauer (00:51:25):

I love that. That's so cool.

Megan Riksen (00:51:26):

So cool.

Dani Lauer (00:51:27):

And so needed.

Megan Riksen (00:51:28):

Yes. Right. Okay. So you've been here a while. So tell us, what do you think are some of the unique benefits of studying in Northern Michigan?

Madison Partak (00:51:36):

The community itself is so supportive. I think the students that we have here recognize our role in connecting with the community. So it's not just taking classes and going back to, you know, your family and your high school friends, because our goal is to educate and train people from Northern Michigan to stay here. Yeah. So our goal then is to connect them with other things that are happening. So, for example, startup Week is a really important connector for our entrepreneurs. There's also a young professionals program through Traverse Connect, and making sure that our students are engaged in that. Because again, if if you stay in your little high school bubble, you're never gonna expand. And often people think that there's not a job here that's gonna sustain them, you know that they can't live here. You're gonna have to go somewhere else.

Shannon Owen (00:52:27):

And our goal is to really help show them that this is a place that you can get your education, a robust, solid education. And then get a good paying job and expand your community network here. So, for example, partnering with the career center, with all of you folks. We've done etiquette dinners, we've done networking nights, mock interviews, and this is all part of our professional series that we do up here to help prepare students for the future after Grand Valley. I, I know you talked to my good friend Rob Hanel, and I was at an event it's been a little bit now, but I was at an event where he said, an important part of the job interview process is actually like having a meal with someone. And I thought, do our students know that? Are they gonna be prepared?

Megan Riksen (00:53:14):

Are they gonna be ready.

Shannon Owen (00:53:15):

To have a meal with people? And so having this etiquette dinner and it was with Northwestern Michigan College's Lobdell's restaurant. Oh, just a stunning location. Just to say like, yeah, you know, Cindy Brown came up and said this is what you have to do. This is how you have to sit at the table. This is what it looks like. This is how you start a conversation. So all of those, those skills that we provide students here is a really important part of what we offer.

Megan Riksen (00:53:42):

Amazing.

Dani Lauer (00:53:43):

I love that. So you kind of spoke to this already, but I'm, and I'm sure there's more that you could share, but I'm just curious, like, in your opinion, like what makes Northern Michigan just a great place to build, not just your career, but also build your life? You talked about, you know, wanting to keep students in the area, in the region to really create their, you know, career and plant roots. So yeah. Can you share a little bit more about that?

Shannon Owen (00:54:09):

Yeah, I think it's, and it's part of one of our focus areas, right? The environment, the water. I mean, out outdoor resources is so prevalent. We have a strong school system, vibrant community that supports innovation. I mean, we have a lot to offer here. There's a genuine spirit of collaboration. So even, for example this last winter, there's a policy conference and some of our colleagues go to the policy conferences all across the state. And so I'm very limited in my knowledge because I'm here. But what they shared is, it's very different at our policy conference to see legislative members on the stage working together, talking about how they're trying to expand the, the region's needs. And, and they work together to do so. And that spirit of collaboration is really important to this region. When we've had conversations with some of our partners, like, again, 20 fathoms and NMC, we talk about ways that we could look for grants together or fundraise together. So we're not doing this in isolation. It's too small of a community to try and do that sort of thing in isolation. In isolation. We have to do it together. And, and there's a real strong spirit of collaboration here.

Dani Lauer (00:55:25):

I just wanna say too, you, we've felt that throughout our time here.

Megan Riksen (00:55:29):

Yes. We've been here a day and we've felt that.

Dani Lauer (00:55:32):

Yes! So many of the conversations we're having are already, you know, those collaborative efforts are coming through. We were even at a coffee shop, and I was talking about a collaboration that I found out that they did with another, you know, business in town. And just so many of the different ways that you see that in this community is really special.

Shannon Owen (00:55:51):

Yeah. I, I feel that in, in everything that we do. We can't move anything forward without our community partners. So I, that probably isn't just special in northern Michigan, but I feel it particularly here, and at least some of our other colleagues have said that too, so I'll own it.

Megan Riksen (00:56:10):

Yeah. Yeah. That's great. I mean, how do you think the region is changing? And what, I guess maybe what's challenging, but also what's exciting about those changes?

Shannon Owen (00:56:20):

Yeah, that's, that's a really great question. I feel like we have a lot of support in northern Michigan. For talent development. So there are individuals that want to keep people here. And, and there are partners that are saying, what can we do to keep those partners. Or to keep those people here. The entrepreneurship ecosystem is growing at a rapid pace, and I'm thankful that we're part of that growth as well. The small businesses that we have here really drive our economy. They're trying to get away from the tourism, not as much. I mean, we know that there's gonna be tourism because everyone wants to come to Northern Michigan. But in order to sustain that that tourism doesn't last all the time, it doesn't last in the winter. Or even in the spring. So we need people to, to have that entrepreneurship, innovation and, and sustainability. As well. Higher education is gonna play a key role in that. And, and I'm thankful that we're part of those conversations and, and at the table for that. Yeah. I, I think that this is just a really exciting time and the more conversations we have, the more people are interested in Grand Valley to be part of that and to play a role in that.

Megan Riksen (00:57:38):

Yes. Awesome.

Dani Lauer (00:57:39):

So, cool. Okay. I know you mentioned a couple at the beginning, but what other kind of standout partnerships has Grand Valley really been a part of in northern Michigan?

Shannon Owen (00:57:52):

Yeah. this, if I, if I think of our focus areas Munson Medical Center and Munson Healthcare Systems is one of our strongest partners. We need to be close with them in order to grow our health programs. And, and yeah, I did, I mentioned that earlier, the Annis Water Resource Institute and the Freshwater Center for Research and Innovation, those connections for innovation technology. Blue Tech. And what, you know, there's so much engagement that's happening here, solving the problem of PFAS, microplastics, invasive species, Annis Water Resources already engaged in those conversations. So working with the Discovery Pier Traverse Connect, NMC, 20Fathoms. We're all part of this collaboration that's trying to support entrepreneurs in growing that Blue Tech area. Gosh, what else? Yeah, I, I, those, I mean, those are the big ones. But it's, it's, I guess I can say Northwest Education Services is what houses our career tech center.

Shannon Owen (00:59:01):

This last actually Northwest Education Center was the first place that we piloted a program called Direct Credit, where in the career tech center students have the ability to get Grand Valley Credit if they successfully complete their career tech center coursework. And so, they were the first ones that said, you know, yeah, let's try this out. And so I feel like as we get creative and, and are around creative people, they're always ones that are gonna say, how would we do that? And how can we work together? And what might that look like? And so I feel like there's just, there's so many innovative and entrepreneur mindsets here. You just gotta have the right people in the room.

Dani Lauer (00:59:42):

It's exciting to be around.

Shannon Owen (00:59:43):

It is. It is. There's NMC started, it was called the Office of Possibilities. So they, they call it OOPs, for short.

Megan Riksen (00:59:52):

Great acronym.

Shannon Owen (00:59:52):

And this group meets every Tuesday. And sometimes I just go, well, when we were doing the Michigan Veteran Entrepreneurship Lab, I would go to share. If you're looking for support and you're a veteran, this is a great place. But sometimes I just go because I wanna be part of that, like creative thought and creative energy. Sometimes I have things to offer and sometimes I don't. But just being part of that, it's so fun.

Megan Riksen (01:00:16):

So fun. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your perspective on everything. Again, like we, we just feel proud to work at Grand Valley and get to see what you all are accomplishing up here. So thank you so much.

Madison Partak (01:00:28):

And thank you for spending time with some of our favorite people up here.

Megan Riksen (01:00:31):

It has been our pleasure. For sure. So fun.

Shannon Owen (01:00:35):

Well, thank you.

Megan Riksen (01:00:35):

Yeah. Thanks Shannon. Great. We are here now at Michigan's Creative Coast with Abby Baudry. Welcome.

Abby Baudry (01:00:47):

Thank you so much for having me.

Megan Riksen (01:00:48):

We are excited to chat with you. And why don't you just kind of get in there, tell us, introduce yourself, tell us about yourself a little bit.

Abby Baudry (01:00:55):

Yeah, of course. Yeah. So my name is Abby Baudry. I run the Michigan's Creative Coast program at Traverse Connect. Our program serves as the talent attraction and retention program for the Grand Traverse region, which is basically northwest Michigan, the, the Pinky area. So we get to help people who want to move here, newcomers to the area and locals alike to establish their lives and careers here.

Grace Joaquin (01:01:20):

And so speaking of the region, what are some opportunities like growing industries or fields that students might be aware of if they want to live in this area?

Abby Baudry (01:01:30):

So some of our key industries of employment are healthcare, education, business and professional services, as well as manufacturing. But some of our emerging industries that we're really excited about are Blue Tech. Rural healthcare innovation as well as advanced aerial mobility, AKA drones.

Megan Riksen (01:01:50):

Oh, really?

Abby Baudry (01:01:51):

Yeah. It's exciting stuff.

Megan Riksen (01:01:52):

That's really cool.

Grace Joaquin (01:01:53):

And can you speak more to Blue Tech?

Abby Baudry (01:01:56):

Blue Tech is an industry that is anywhere from freshwater and marine research and innovation, all the way to recreation applications.

Grace Joaquin (01:02:07):

That sounds so, like, such an interesting field to work in.

Megan Riksen (01:02:09):

Yeah. And makes sense that it would be up here.Surrounded by fresh water.

Abby Baudry (01:02:14):

Surrounded by the beautiful great lakes.

Megan Riksen (01:02:14):

So much fresh water. Awesome. Okay. So for students or recent grads who want to live here or move here or already live here what should they know about the job market and opportunities in the area?

Abby Baudry (01:02:28):

I would definitely say keep your horizon open to unique opportunities. For instance, you may be a marketing student and then land a position with an innovative manufacturing company. Or you might be a finance student and then find yourself in a role in the nonprofit world. All of our diverse industries have needs for talent like you.

Megan Riksen (01:02:47):

Cool. Yeah. Amazing.

Grace Joaquin (01:02:49):

And I feel like in like a smaller community, you have maybe the opportunity to work for some smaller businesses or medium sized businesses where you can wear a lot of hats and have more variety in your day to day. So I think keeping your mind open to those possibilities is a great piece of advice. Speaking of advice, any other advice for students who are wanting to relocate to this region?

Abby Baudry (01:03:10):

Yeah, definitely a couple things. First, be proactive. We have lots of opportunities to engage with employers and explore your career while you're still in school and getting started. We have a resume pack that gets sent to over 250 local employers as well as a job board that receives new positions every day. So sometimes I know what it's like and it can feel like when you're applying to jobs on some of the bigger sites, it can feel like you're shouting into a void. But by using a curated local job board, you're connecting with companies that are actively hiring.

Megan Riksen (01:03:45):

Yeah. That's so valuable.

Grace Joaquin (01:03:47):

And nice you help with that process.

Megan Riksen (01:03:49):

And that you do the resume. Did you call it a resume book?

Abby Baudry (01:03:51):

Resume pack. Yes. both of these resources include both internship opportunities as well as entry level roles. So if you're interested in moving up here for work, be sure to submit your resume to our pack. And then set a reminder to check our job board. We also do a weekly roundup of new roles on our Instagram every Tuesday.

Grace Joaquin (01:04:13):

That's awesome.

Megan Riksen (01:04:14):

Okay. That's some passive, that's like a passive way to keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on. Like literally just, is it Traverse Connect or Michigan's Creative Coast that we should be following?

Abby Baudry (01:04:23):

It's Michigan's Creative Coast. Yeah. And it'll just give you a good idea of what kind of positions are available up here as well.

Megan Riksen (01:04:31):

Yeah. We recommend that to students a lot. Like start thinking about this early. Because if you can be browsing a job board before you actually need to be looking for a job you're gonna be much more equipped with the information and can plan better when it comes time to actually apply.

Abby Baudry (01:04:47):

Yeah. I'd also say that a lot of the best connections up here are made by word of mouth and sort of who you know as well. So if you are here, I would say show up and network. We have the Traverse City Young professionals which is a great opportunity to get involved, meet other people your age and get to know the business community.

Grace Joaquin (01:05:06):

When is that typically?

Abby Baudry (01:05:07):

Oh, all the time. They have morning meetups as well as happy hours, and I think they call them Sunday fun days as well. There's always something going on with them.

Grace Joaquin (01:05:19):

Yeah. So students can really just kind of plan whenever to make a trip here, and maybe plan around an event that's happening.

Abby Baudry (01:05:26):

Right, yeah. And if they're not here, we also have ambassadors. Our creative Coast ambassadors are called Northern Navigators, and they're available to meet with people one-on-one virtually. Oh. So they don't have to be in town. They can reach out and meet with these people online and sort of pick their brain about opportunities here as well.

Megan Riksen (01:05:45):

Is that what you would recommend as like a good first step for engaging?

Abby Baudry (01:05:48):

Yes, definitely. Yep. We have 15 different navigators and they're across all different industries and personal backgrounds. So you can sort of check 'em out, see who sort of relates to you, and then book a meeting with them right there.

Megan Riksen (01:06:02):

Oh, that's even better if you can kind of see like, oh, they're in this industry. I'm interested in that.

Grace Joaquin (01:06:08):

What an amazing resource.

Megan Riksen (01:06:09):

Cool. Yeah. That's so helpful.

Grace Joaquin (01:06:11):

Yeah, thank you for sharing that.

Megan Riksen (01:06:12):

So good. So how would you describe the community vibe here?

Abby Baudry (01:06:16):

Oh, it's definitely unique and I love it. I moved here from Atlanta, Georgia, and I have found that I love our laid back, slower pace of life. While still having lots of options that keep my nights and weekends busy.

Megan Riksen (01:06:31):

What are some of your favorites personally?

Abby Baudry (01:06:33):

Oh, boy. Well, I love a night out with my girls on the town. So many good places to go. So many good places. And there's usually live music at places. The Little Fleet.

Megan Riksen (01:06:44):

We have stumbled upon live music at Little Fleet before, like, oh, cool. There's just a band here.

Abby Baudry (01:06:49):

Yeah. You just, you can walk down Front Street and find live music and, and good deals anywhere really. And then also just venturing out into the rural areas around is super fun. We have lots of opportunities to go hiking, paddle boarding, kayaking those, the opportunities are endless.

Grace Joaquin (01:07:08):

Do you have, I'm just curious, coming, you know, since you're from Atlanta, anything that was a challenge to like navigate moving here for you?

Abby Baudry (01:07:20):

Oh yeah. Well, I'd say some of the things that I miss are some of the bigger, like sporting events. Or live music things, but Grand Rapids is only two and a half hours away for larger events like that. And then we also have Interlochen Center for Arts, which is a great place to go see shows.

Grace Joaquin (01:07:38):

That's where I saw my first concert. Well, second concert.

Abby Baudry (01:07:41):

Wow, there you go.

Megan Riksen (01:07:42):

I was at one there last week!

Abby Baudry (01:07:44):

And I'm going to one later this summer.

Grace Joaquin (01:07:46):

Oh my gosh. Yay. It's a beautiful venue.

Megan Riksen (01:07:47):

Yeah. The venue is amazing.

Grace Joaquin (01:07:49):

I feel like for people who like Frederik Meijer Garden concert venue in GR, then you would like Interlochen if you haven't been.

Megan Riksen (01:07:56):

Absolutely. Yeah. View of the lake...

Grace Joaquin (01:07:58):

It's beautiful.

Megan Riksen (01:07:59):

Yeah. So fun. Good. Well, anything else that we didn't cover that you wanted to share?

Abby Baudry (01:08:06):

Yeah, I guess also on the topic of the community vibe it's really, I've found that there's this unique enthusiasm to help each other succeed here rather than in some bigger areas where it may be more competitive, maybe like a dog eat, dog type environment. There's this common sentiment that a rising tide lifts all boats here. Which I have found is really special.

Megan Riksen (01:08:28):

We've actually felt that in our day and a half here.

Grace Joaquin (01:08:32):

Yes. Everyone's like, everyone knows everyone and is so positive about everyone else. Like, oh, you're meeting with Abby. That's amazing. Like, we love her and just, it's good vibes.

Megan Riksen (01:08:40):

Yeah, anyone we've met with was like connecting us to someone else. Offering up help for our students. You know, like, just so helpful.

Abby Baudry:

Yeah. I'd say that that comes with sort of the smaller city aspect. Like you can really get around, get to meet people and make a big difference compared to a larger city where you might be more anonymous.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. Yeah. I think that definitely. Great. I think that's a great place to end. So thank you so much, Abby. We really appreciate your time.

Abby Baudry:

Thank you so much.

Megan Riksen:

Well, that wraps up our 100th episode. Thank you so much to everyone for listening to this slightly longer episode, but we hope you enjoyed it and we hope you tune in to a future episode soon.