I think as an owner of a business, which I was for twenty plus years, I think that gives me a little different perspective. Maybe when I go to work for somebody else, I take more ownership in it, so to speak, because I know I've sat on the other side, you know, and had people working for me, and I always appreciated when people would go the extra mile. Sometimes
the HR department shies away from hiring business owners. Someone who's independent and entrepreneurial might not fit with company culture. But Mitch McNeil of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was a great choice to become a leader in a new job, even though he was working for somebody else. That's largely because he knew what it meant to have his own shop. As for Terrika Ellis, spend just five minutes with her and you'll have no doubt she's all in sure to
make us success of whatever she tackles. I want to grow. I want to learn everything that I could possibly learn, and you're always learning new things. On this edition of On the Job from Hired to Retired, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals, we meet two people whose work
involves helping others find the comforts of home. I'm your host Steve Mencher and over the past thirty four years, Express Employment Professionals has put millions of people like Mitch and Terrika to work in meaningful and fulfilling jobs and careers. If you're looking for work or want to grow your workforce, go to express pros dot com. I'm on my way
to Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's one of the places in the Midwest that has been successful in reinventing itself for the twenty one century, and it seemed likely that people at work here would be able to pursue their passions and interests. Meet Mitch McNeil. Some of his earliest childhood
memories involved sports. Even as he was preparing for a career with an undergrad degree in public administration, a minor in business management, and then a law degree, he kept trying to discover how he could make a living in sports.
His brother helped with the brainstorming, and the two of them finally figured it out, and basketball in the driveway was was kind of the king for us year round, and uh so we actually just for fun had started a three on three basketball tournament in our backyard and did that during the summers one time a year, and then had an opportunity through an ad agency out of Grand Rapids UH and some sponsorship connections to actually take it on the road and do events in different parts
of the country. We had a nice tent paige article in Sports Illustrated about our event, and ABC World News and WHY World of Sports and all these people were covering our one backyard event, and we decided to turn what we were doing just for fun into UH into a career. So that's what what we started doing. Did this benefit someone? Was it a charity thing? Would tell me how that turned out? What was how? Was it a business? Yeah, it really is a charity thing. We
weren't a nonprofit organization ourselves. We were a for profit business entity. But in we developed a program where in each of the communities that we would run an event, we would have a local charity that was involved. They would help us with volunteers and and they had opportunities to raise money through other means that we gave them.
But at the end of the day, that was the the ultimate goal, was this fun event for people of all ages, all playing abilities, but also raising money for some local cause in each of the communities that goes on for how long it's still going on today. But I left there back at the end of two thousand nine, so at about twenty five years did that full time.
Maybe you've started or been involved in a business like Mitch and found that the record keeping, the organizing, the hiring and firing, all these things began to overshadow the reason you'd become involved in the first place. That's what happened to Mitch. At that point he figured it was time to move on. The one thing I landed on eventually in two thousand and ten was working as a landman, an independent contractor, a landman on behalf of an oil
and gas company. You may not have heard of this job. I know I hadn't, but CNN Money calls landman one of the best jobs you could have. A landman negoti yates on behalf of energy companies, serving as a liaison to property owners who have oil or gas on their land or who might be on the route of a pipeline. Almost immediately, this took a toll on Mitch McNeil's family life, since he needed to be in a remote part of
the state for several days each week. So did that for a few months, the oil ran dry, so to speak, and and things kind of shut down pretty rapidly, So I was only there for a couple of months. About a month or two after that, I got a call from the same company wanting to know if I'd be interested in going out to North Dakota and working as a landman out there and working on pipelines and that kind of thing with with landowners out there. So they
took that opportunity. Was that the height of the boom in North Dakota went up. The height of the boom in Williston and in that area of North Dakota was unbelievable. Yeah, definitely an experience, but once again it was an experience that Mitch from his family, he was growing tired of that and there was more personal level. Was definitely the faith journey that I was going on at that time.
I think obviously was unemployed for a while, obviously had those struggles and that kind of thing to go with along with unemployment. Had family that just you know, men everything, and wanted to make sure I was a part of, you know, what they were going through at college or in high school and being available at their events. So on a personal level, Those were the things that that was, you know, kind of driving me on a job level. I was looking for something definitely back in West Michigan.
We knew that's where we wanted to be and really was kind of focused on because I had worked, even though I didn't work for a nonprofit organization, worked with a number of nonprofit organizations through the basketball events. Kind of had in my mind that that's the direction I wanted to take, was maybe towards something involved in a nonprofit. Ideally would be a faith based nonprofit. The drive to
be part of something bigger than himself. That was the feeling Mitch used to have when he helped communities raise money with his basketball events, and all the jobs he'd held before gave Mitch a great story to tell about his flexibility and people skills, being able to uh, you know, literally cold calling, uh, these landowners out in North Dakota and Northern Michigan and trying to convince them that their land was going to be valuable to somebody and would
they be willing to part with part of it. So, yeah, that that part of it, I think was some skills. And then obviously through our events, the other side of it was through our events. They were all outdoor events. You know, you don't send people into panic mode if there's a storm coming through and in that kind of thing. So I think those are again key ingredients. In the second half of our podcast, we'll follow Mitch to the job he found and does every day with commitment, humor,
and unflagging energy. First, we're gonna meet Terrika Ellis. She's another Grand Rapids resident with an interesting work journey, and you'll see once we're done how her job is similar in some ways to Mitcha's. While I was in college thinking about a career path, I've always liked finances. Um, that's where I thought that I wanted to be. And that's because I am the finance chairperson at my church.
So and I've been doing that for years. I started off as the assistant secretary, then went to secretary, went to treasurer, and I'm the finance chairperson. So I've held different positions and I won't give up that position. You will have to literally snatch it away from me in order for me to give it up. Um, But I thought that I always wanted to be in finances and for a person that does that don't really like accounting.
I am very good at it, but going and applying to jobs at banks, and you know, they want you to have so many years of experience when it comes to counting money and and all of that. It's just like sometimes been in a business. You have to take a risk. Banks most of them anyway, aren't known for risk taking, and Terrika wasn't having any luck convincing a bank to take a chance on her. Besides, women have to make some decisions about work that men don't, especially
as they're having and caring for their children. Terrika, who married her husband in two thousand six, has tried to adapt to circumstances as each of her kids was born. I worked in between and while I was pregnant and with my second child, I took off. I took work off. So I took a whole year off of work with my second child because I felt as though with my first child, I felt as though I neglected her a little when it came to work because I worked all
the time, and you know, it just wasn't right. I should like spend more time with her. And then my son, being that he was six weeks early, I nursed him for an entire year, just so I can make sure that nothing is wrong with him, so you know, and he's just as smart as he want to be. As Terrika saw it help in finding just the right job. She had the advantage of certainty about what she wanted.
Some tip agencies was just like, well, you know, it's gonna be hard to get you into customer service because you have so much factory experience. I think that you will be better off by during factory. But that's not what I want. That is not what Terica wants. Terka is sitting here telling you that Terriica wants a customer service position. Terrika is not working in factory. If you cannot help me get a customer service position, then there is no reason for me to waste your time or
you to waste my time. So I can move on to the next agency and see who is going to help me with that. Who's going to oblige my my demands, Who's going to want to help me succeed in life? You know it's it's the one thing I liked about the agency that I went to is that they made sure that whatever position they put me in, it was going to be a long term position. It wasn't going to be something where it is going to be continuously
short term and short term. Her goal for me was to start me off at some short term positions and then get me a long term position with the possibility of being hired in you were starting to tell me before, and I'm really interested in this, the idea of knowing yourself well enough and knowing your personality well enough to know that customer service works for you. What is it about being a cross from the table like you are to me now that really feeds who you are and
what you're excited about. What it is is that I have a very bubbly personality. I am not a dull person at all. I am um, I'm really calm, and I'm very professional and um, you know my coworker she was listening to me on the phone with someone and she was just like, man, you were really mean on that car And I was like, no, I said, I wasn't mean. I said, I was very professional on that call. It's just that sometimes you have to be stern but
be professional. And that's exactly what what it was. Okay, we're gonna take a short break now. Soon we'll find out we're both Terrika and Mitch Landed, and here's a hint, they're both helping people find the best possible home. You're listening to on the job from Hired to Retire, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. Since we're in Grand Rapids, let's hear from Casey could Paris, director of the Professional
Group for Express Pros office in Grand Rapids. One of the things we really strive to do differently here at Expresses really get to know the applicant um not just throw them in the first available job for them to get some money coming in, but really figure out what makes them tick, what their skill sets are, and really find that match with our employers so that it's a
long term fit. Our goal really is for these folks to find a career at the end of the day in and continue to improve their lives through their through their work. So we also spend a lot of time with our clients as well, going on site, getting to know their culture, getting to know what that perfect match is going to be, so at the end of the day it's a it's a win win for everybody involved.
That was Casey Comparis from the Express Employment Professional's office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and welcome back to on the job from hired to retired. In a moment, we'll find out where Mitch McNeil found deep satisfaction with a new direction in his career. But first, Tereka Ellis has found a job that completely meets her goal of being in customer service. She's a leasing agent at Oakview Apartments and
Grand Rapids. Today she'll be handing over the keys to one of the apartments in the complex to two young renters. But first there's her solo inspection. Before we move someone in, we always go and walk the apartment and make sure that everything is is okay before the person moves in. UM, And that's what I'm about to do now. I'm about to go and walk in apartment because we have a move in today, So she's going to be on the second floor. What are you looking for when you walk
through the apartment today? Making sure that all the cabinets are intact, that, UM, there isn't any paint anywhere it shouldn't be. Making sure that everything is how I would want my apartment to look if I was living. As we work our way through the apartment, it's clear that Terraco wants it to be perfect for the young renters, and her careful inspection reflects her philosophy that nothing should
be taken for granted. Now I'm in a position that I love, and with me having a bubbly personality, it's awesome and I love talking to people, so face to face interaction it's the best thing. You can always have conversations on the phone and everything, but face to faces is awesome. Now I can testify to the bubbly personality. Terrika's enthusiasm and passion for her jobs shine through as she goes about her work. Okay, well, I was just calling to let you know that you are able to
move in earlier today. You don't have to wait till thirty. I just walked your apartment and it is awesome. If you were Terrika's boss, Can you imagine how glad you'd be to hear this. I want to grow. I want to learn everything that I could possibly learn. You're always learning new things, especially when it's a new job, or it could be something that you already knew, but then it changes. It's just like the little things make you excited.
And five years down the lie, I am quite sure that the little things are still going to excite me. Terrika new on day one that this job could be a winner. We all connected, everyone that's here in the office today, all of us connected. We are a family here. We talked to each other every day. We have fun every day. It is not a boring work day when we come to work. It is not a boring work day at all. I love the people that I work with. And once I get hired in, I hope I didn't
get moved. What's the timeline? When do you think you might get the good news? I don't know, hopefully soon. I'm just waiting to be shopped. That's the one thing I'm waiting on. Just waiting to be shopped. And when I say shopped, I mean someone coming in and um acting as if they want to rent an apartment, even as going as far as them taking the application or even filling out the application and making sure that I follow all the guidelines when it comes to fair housing
and UM discrimination and all of that. So wow, So they sound like a secret shopper in here. You'll never know who that person is. They really do that, Yes, they do, they really do that. Could you think you might be able to tell who it is. Sometimes you can tell and sometimes you can't. Yeah, you just never know. You just never know. It could just happen any at any given time. I could be secret Shop today. I don't know. It can happen tomorrow. I have no idea.
So yeah, I'm just waiting, all right, ohn't know. We're all set. The apartment is yours? Have fun? Oh yeah, awesome. Now. We also followed Mitch McNeil to work at Baruke Senior Ministries, a faith based nonprofit that runs about two dozen senior living facilities. He found a great match there as VP of Business Development. Um, so we are in eight Bit Facility.
Mitch introduces us to his colleague, Jay Lindeman, the associate administrator of Georgetown and Cambridge Manners in Grandville, Michigan, on the outskirts of Grand Rapids. This is an eighty bed baruque facility with four distinct units serving seniors who need a wide range of care from independent living to assisted living, with early memory care available as well. So we we
pride ourselves on a more homelike feel here. Um, what we're interested in is creating something that feel less institutionalized and more comfortable, more like which you would have at home, but at the same time recognizing that we still have to serve twenty people in a group setting. So our dining room here is set up more like a family dining We eat together, um. So you know a lot of places you come down and you grab your seat, you kind of come and go as you please. We
like to come down together as a group and eat together. Um. And so all the dining rooms are set up similarly. There's a lot going on as we tour the facility. We're him in our fingernails painted clip see do you come specially to do this the nails? Is that something you do or do you do lots of different things? I do lots of different things. I want of the
activities directors here. So yes, doing nails every Wednesday. The strongest impression a visitor takes away from a baroque facility is that every effort has been made to help residents feel at home, and as Mitch explains, that also translates into giving residents and their families a deep sense of security.
One of the biggest fears that that families and seniors have as running out of money, and we have a program that assures them that they will never be asked to leave even if they run out of money when they're in our facility. So as a nonprofit, we can offer those kinds of things and and feel good about it.
And since Baruque Senior Ministries is a faith based nonprofit, they have chaplains to minister to residents in their spiritual care department, and their nondenominational Christian beliefs infused the entire organization. Over the past few years, Mitch McNeil has been key to the organization's growth as the vice president of Business Development.
I wear a lot of hats. When I was originally hired UM, I was going to get involved in fundraising and volunteer development again kind of based on my my previous career that kind of was short lived, and they they found out that I had some other abilities through my legal days and and uh skill set. So UM been involved primarily in the acquisition part of our the growth of the organization, but also do get involved in licensing,
still do a little bit of marketing type things. We put together an annual report that I've kind of been responsible for, and and just a lot of other things, you know, smaller things, but primarily the acquisitions is is kind of where I've been involved. When it comes right down to it, there's one last question you almost have to ask someone like Mitch. Can he imagine his own
mom in a baruque Senior Ministry's facility, you know? And I always look at my mom is is still around at at eight two and fortunately able to take care of herself right now. But if I was ever in a spot where I needed to to show her, you know, options out there, there are certain place as you probably wouldn't take her, but I'd feel very comfortable and ours
just knowing that. Really for these families, it's all about the buildings can be as nice and and all that kind of thing, but it all comes down to the level of care and the uh the workers that are actually taking care of these residents on a day to day basis, and the pride that they take in that and and that kind of thing. So that really is what drives it. Family and faith, as you can tell or what drrive Mitch McNeil, and this is what he tells his three kids about work. Make sure you're doing
something that you love. You don't want to go to work every day feeling like it's a challenge or a chore. That's great advice from the Heartland. And that's all for this edition of On the Job from Hired to Retired, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. Find out more at Express pros dot com. This podcast is produced by Steve Mencher for Men's Media, Red Seat Ventures and I
Heart Radio. Find us on I Heart Radio and iTunes, where we hope you'll leave a nice review that helps other folks find us too, And of course you can listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you next time On the Job.