Heath Dillard: Promoting GVL as CEO of VisitGreenvilleSC | EP 23

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I think Greenville has an
interesting story of reimagining

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itself.
One of the things that I've

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tried to stress to our team is
we're not interested in growth

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for growth's sake.
How do we grow the right way?

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Greenville's transformed in a
great way.

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Just listed what #4 best places
to live.

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I found success by calling fewer
people, but who are really,

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really targeted sort of choose
your adventure here.

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We're the only community in the
state that can say that even if

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it's a good idea, it may not be
a good idea for today.

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And so it may not be no forever.
It may be no for today.

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When I say yes, it means
somebody else gets work added to

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their plate.
Growing a small to mid sized

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business is like pushing a stop
train.

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You're going to need help to get
that initial momentum going.

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Administrative tasks like
payroll, managing health

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insurance, and HR operations
only add unnecessary weight to

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your already busy schedule.
That's why I'd choose Questco.

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They take care of all the behind
the scenes administrative and HR

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work, letting you focus on what
truly matters, growing your

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business.
Questco is your trusted

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outsourcing HR service provider
to help you get that train

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moving.
That's QUESTCO.

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Questco Visit questco.net or
call your local Questco

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representative Thomas Owens at
864-477-0843 to get started

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today.
Thank you guys for tuning in to

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the Carolina Business Leaders
Podcast.

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Today we are joined by Keith
Dillard.

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He currently serves as the
President and CEO of Visit

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Greenville SC, the premier
organization marketing

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Greenville as the place to work,
live, and visit.

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Heath is regarded as one of the
top minds within the tourism

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industry and has helped shape
Greenville into the thriving

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community that it is today.
We all know Greenville is

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growing rapidly and love it or
hate it, it's an incredible

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testament to Heath's work.
So he thank you so much for

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joining us.
I'm excited to dive into all

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that.
Thanks for having.

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Me, but obviously Greenville has
grown a ton.

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It was just listed what #4 on
the US news and world reports,

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Best places to live.
Yeah.

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Why do you think that is?
Like what keeps Greenville

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growing so much?
Yeah, I think, I think a

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generation of leaders, you know,
sort of a generation ago of

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leaders were bold enough to have
a vision of what they wanted to

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be when they grew up.
You know, thank you for that

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introduction.
A lot of the success of

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Greenville was well on its way
before I arrived.

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I've been back about 2 1/2
years.

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So I'm, I'm, I give credit to
everyone else that came before

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me, both at visit Greenville,
but also community leaders.

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I think it's AI think Greenville
has an interesting story of

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reimagining itself.
You know, it was the center of

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the textile world.
And then all of that went away.

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And that's sort of hard to deal
with.

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It took decades to kind of
figure that out, but you had a

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group of community leaders who
who who said there there's

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something more, right?
We don't have to be one of these

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communities that sort of never
rebounds.

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And and they had a vision for
how to remake downtown, how to

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create sort of a thriving center
of recreation, entertainment and

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high quality of life.
And I think what we've seen is,

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is the world has kind of caught
up to that where where typical

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economic development was
transactional in terms of taxes

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and land and those kind of
things.

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And we're in an economy now
where it's about talent.

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And it doesn't matter what
sector the economy you're in,

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whether it's manufacturing or or
life sciences or finance or

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whatever it is, is you want to
find high quality people and

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people want to live in great
places.

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And so the intersection of what
we do at Visit Greenville is

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promoting Greenville as a as a
place to visit, but places that

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are great places to visit are
also great places to live.

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And I think, I think that
intersection is what has helped

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sort of Greenville grow to where
it is today.

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Yeah.
So growing up in the Upstate,

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did you ever come to downtown
Greenville?

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No, no, I, I, I, I joke with
people that when we said we were

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going to Greenville as a, as a,
as a teenager or so in

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Spartanburg, what we were really
doing was going to Haywood Mall.

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Yeah.
I mean, my, my parents would say

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nothing good is happening in, in
downtown Greenville.

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Sort of stay away from it.
I I went to the College of

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Charleston, but I've got a lot
of my family, a lot of my

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friends went to Clemson.
I've been a Clemson fan, you

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know, from, from the moment that
I could walk probably.

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And so I was up in this way a
lot.

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And then I spent a lot of time
in Charlotte in, in, in the last

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10 years I lived in Charlotte in
the tourism business.

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And so I watched both personally
and professionally, Greenville

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grow from the early 2000s when
I, when I was, you know, post

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college through, through moving
here 2 1/2 years ago.

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I got to watch that trajectory
change.

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I was even talking with someone
a week or so ago.

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My wife and I got married in
2011 and we were, you know,

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looking for places in 2010.
And one of the places that we

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looked was was Greenville.
And I remember the Larkins and

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going out on the back and
looking over at the river and,

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and I was thinking about was I
was over, you know, that that

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whole building where Larkins
used to be is now the Peace

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Center's redevelopment.
And it dawned on me.

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I was like, Oh my God, I was
looking at that place for a

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wedding and I was thinking, I
was like, when I was looking,

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the AC Hotel wasn't there,
Camperdown wasn't there.

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The.
Bohemian.

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None of that was none of that.
I mean, and that's, you know,

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that feels like it's barely a
decade ago.

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And I was like, I have no idea
where I would have parked or how

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we would have gotten here.
Like I could just, you know, we,

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we, we didn't get married there,
but I but it was one of the

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places that we looked and it
just dawned on me like even that

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area is completely transformed
and it's just really been an

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interesting sort of evolution.
Camper Downs, one of our

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favorite places.
Yeah, and I agree with that

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there, because being raised,
born and raised here, I've been

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here my whole life, Greenville's
transformed in a great way.

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But even growing up like
downtown Greenville wasn't a

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spot we went to, whereas now we
spend so much time downtown

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Greenville.
But one of the biggest memories

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for me, and the spot you were
just talking about, is when they

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tore down The Greenville News
building, which is where

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Camperdown is.
And that was shocking because I

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was like, what are they going to
do there?

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That building has been there
forever, and now it's beautiful.

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So yeah, it's fun to see the
projects that have come about.

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Yeah, it's interesting.
Yeah, but you started your

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career in sports.
I did for like minor League

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Baseball teams.
I did, yeah.

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I went, I went to the College of
Charleston and I, I grew up

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playing sports.
I, it was a, it was a huge

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sports fan, was a business
major.

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And so I did AI, did a
internship and then stayed on

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post internship in minor league
hockey.

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So I was with the South Carolina
Stingrays for a bit in

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Charleston and then took a job
with the Charlotte Knights, who

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are AAA baseball affiliate of
the Chicago White Sox.

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They have a great team or a
great stadium.

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They do now.
When I was there, I moved to

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Charlotte in 2005 and we were
the Charlotte Knights, but we

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were playing in Fort Mill, SC
and so we had a 10,000 seat

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stadium and Fort Mill has grown,
right?

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It's a bedroom community of
Charlotte.

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Over 20 years.
It's grown like crazy too.

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When I was there, I mean, we
would have to drive 2025 minutes

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to go find somewhere for lunch.
I mean, you know, it's

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basically.
Oh, really?

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There was.
There was nothing, there was

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nothing there, nothing on that
exit.

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And so it it was tough.
It was a tough place to market

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because Tuesday, Wednesday,
Monday night, Tuesday night,

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Wednesday night games, the
center of mass in the region is

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you know, is in is in Uptown
Charlotte and they're leaving at

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5, going home all over the
region.

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And the likelihood that they're
then going to get their families

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and drive to Fort Mill to come
see a ball game was pretty low.

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Our Friday, our Thursday,
Friday, Saturday night

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attendance was pretty strong,
but but nothing like what they

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have now.
And so even as early as 2006, we

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were talking about a downtown
stadium.

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And it took, it took them eight
years to to bring that to

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fruition and to open that
ballpark.

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So I worked five seasons of
minor League Baseball in that

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ballpark while dreaming of a
downtown stadium.

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And so I was already, I had
already gone to two other places

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and was working in tourism by
the time they threw the first

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pitch in that really beautiful
sort of downtown ballpark.

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And so it's one of the top,
it's, it's still to this day,

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one of the top attendance in
minor League Baseball, gorgeous

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sight lines and between the, you
know, and Greenville's done a

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really great job of public
private partnerships.

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But that's an example of 1
where, you know, the city

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invested a little bit in the
infrastructure around.

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They built a community park
right outside of the of the

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outfield.
And then the private developer,

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the owner of the baseball team
built the stadium.

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And what you saw over the next
decade was nearly $2 billion of

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development happen in the
blocks.

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Of other businesses building
around it.

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Yeah, you saw, you know, you saw
a huge investment in multifamily

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from apartments and condos,
office ground floor retail.

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And it really transformed what
what's called the third Ward of

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downtown Charlotte.
And so I, I, I think, I think

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there's some parallels that I've
seen between, you know, I lived

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in Charlotte 18 years and, and
so seeing some of its growth

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while I was there kind of around
me and what Greenville's gone

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through since then.
And the drive's, the drive's

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kind of done that too.
I mean, there's been new

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apartments come up there.
There's been, shoot, what is the

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place with all the restaurants
that's like right across from

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the Drive.
Oh, gather.

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Yeah, it's gathered.
I don't know why I can never

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remember that.
Yeah, when I I speak to a lot of

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college and high school students
who are interested in sports

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management or tourism or
hospitality, and I always talk

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about sports in three, three
sort of veins.

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It's, you know, the one.
There's the direct economic and

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financial impact, right?
The games are played, people

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come visit to see them, they
spend money in bars and

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restaurants, and then they stay
overnight in hotels and do all

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that kind of stuff.
And then, and then 2 is the

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commercial redevelopment that a
stadium like that can have on

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the surrounding area.
And I just mentioned that

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example in Charlotte.
But but you know, you'll have

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people who lived here even, you
know, you talk about not really

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coming downtown, but even people
who did come downtown would say

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no one went across the South
Main Bridge.

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Like you literally didn't, you
know, particularly before Falls

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Park.
And so it's kind of no man's

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land down down there.
And now it's a really natural

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extension of downtown.
And so that's the second thing.

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And then the third is the one
that's maybe most difficult to

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quantify is like this sense of
pride.

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And I think people here what,
you know, advanced manufacturing

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night and, and, and reading
night and, or literacy night and

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all the things that the drive,
they've just done a really

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remarkable job of integrating
baseball into the community.

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And there's a lot of reasons to
go and it might not be baseball.

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And so they've done a they've
done a nice job with that.

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I agree.
With that, and we have Shoeless

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Joe Jackson that people don't
know unless you go to the drive

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game and see all the memorabilia
or whatnot.

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That's right.
But back to Charlotte.

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And I said, what was your role
with them?

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Yeah.
And what did that entail?

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I had a short stint at the
Greenville Drive and very much.

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Oh, good, good, good.
That it is hard work all day all

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00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,480
day.
Yeah, I, I, I'm, I don't have

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00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,320
any military experience, but
what I tell people is second to

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00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,880
the military, if you find anyone
with minor League Baseball on

230
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,240
their resume, just hire them.
Just hire them first and we'll

231
00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:02,720
figure out what to do with them
next.

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00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,440
Because it is, I mean, I started
out simply selling group

233
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,440
tickets, you know, trying to put
packages together on a night by

234
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,360
night basis.
You know, that grew in the

235
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,280
season, season tickets and and
sweet, you know, sweet sales and

236
00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,400
morphed into advertising and
and, you know, kind of that

237
00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:23,800
natural progression.
And that's really what I loved

238
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:28,480
is when I was coming up through
minor League Baseball, it was

239
00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:32,480
the era of here's the phone book
and make 80 phone calls a day.

240
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,800
Most of them will be terrible,
but you know, one or two will

241
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,280
land and volume will make sure
we hit our numbers.

242
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,560
And so that wasn't my
personality.

243
00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:46,200
I thought it was dumb and I
wasn't going to spend my day

244
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,720
like calling plumbers in the
phone book that I didn't think

245
00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:50,320
had any business buying season
tickets.

246
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:55,160
And so it really sort of started
my career, you know, to, to

247
00:12:55,160 --> 00:13:00,480
where I am now is I spent 80% of
my time doing real research.

248
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:05,200
And it was, it was kind of a
coincidence.

249
00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,480
You know, minor League Baseball
is usually run on a shoestring

250
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:10,360
budget, You know, there's not a
lot of resources.

251
00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:13,160
But for some reason, this one
year we invested in the

252
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,360
statistical package that allowed
us to understand our fan

253
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,560
demographics better.
And I, I just fell in love with

254
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,320
it and I used it every single
day.

255
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,200
I had our ticket office manager
run reports for me.

256
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:28,160
And what I did is instead of
making 80 phone calls a day, I

257
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,000
made 10 phone calls a day to
people that I thought could

258
00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,880
genuinely benefit from being
partners with us.

259
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:38,320
And so I tell the story.
I tell this sort of two, two

260
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,280
partners that I landed.
One was Hooters.

261
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,160
And, and so I went to Hooters
and I said, you know, here,

262
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:45,720
here's how I see your
demographics.

263
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,960
This is what our statistics sort
of say about who your, who your

264
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,840
patrons are.
And here is who our Thursday

265
00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:54,840
night patrons are.
And there's a lot of overlap.

266
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,240
And I think that you could
benefit from being the title

267
00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,760
sponsor of Thirsty Thursday.
And, you know, after a few

268
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,200
conversations, they became our
title sponsor of Thirsty

269
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,400
Thursday.
And so then the same statistical

270
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,840
package, I went to your
children's museum, Discovery

271
00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,920
Place, and it's a little bit
like Roper Mountain Science

272
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,680
Center here maybe.
And, and I said to them, here is

273
00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:18,400
how I see your demographics.
And here are Sunday demographics

274
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,800
and here's some really cool ways
that we could integrate this the

275
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:25,400
family vibe of our natural
Sunday attendance into what it

276
00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:27,080
is that you want to do.
You know?

277
00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:31,920
And so they became the title
sponsor of Sundays and kids

278
00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,920
running the bases after the game
and our Homer the Dragon

279
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,920
autograph booth that we did at
the end of the Everett of the

280
00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,800
7th inning.
And so I found success by

281
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,880
calling fewer people, but who
are really, really targeted.

282
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,560
And I know we'll talk about sort
of my my my journey here, but

283
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,000
but that is really what led me
to to the to two stops from the

284
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,400
dry from from the Knights.
I had a friend call me who said,

285
00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,440
Hey, there's a director of
research job open with the

286
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,000
Charlotte Regional Visitors
Authority.

287
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,440
And I'm like, I don't know even
what that means.

288
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,840
Like, what is a like, what, what
do you mean when you say

289
00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,600
research?
He's like, you know, they're

290
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,840
like, you know, gathering data
and helping form strategy.

291
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,760
And I'm like, I don't, I've
never done that in my life.

292
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,440
And he's like, that's how you
approach sales.

293
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,720
And, you know, when I had some
time to think about it, I was

294
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,760
like, yeah, he's right.
I was like, you know, I'm not a

295
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,080
statistician.
I'm not an economist, but I get

296
00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,720
data well enough to apply it to
business and I had a fairly

297
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,880
decent business acumen even
then.

298
00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,720
I was really curious and ask a
lot of questions that group

299
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,920
sales, you know, account execs
don't really ask, but but I was

300
00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:44,960
curious about the broader
business and, and so I

301
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:46,880
ultimately applied for the job
and got it.

302
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:52,040
And that set me up to be at the
center of every decision we made

303
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:56,120
as a company, whether it was
marketing or sales strategy or

304
00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,280
customer experience or employee
engagement or future product

305
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,200
development.
And, you know, really gave me a

306
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:08,040
front row seat to every decision
ACEO has to make and, you know,

307
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,720
allowed me to feel really
prepared when this.

308
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,200
Opportunity came.
That's great experience for a

309
00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,160
young professional.
Before we move away, I do want

310
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,200
to know about, in your mind,
League Baseball.

311
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,040
You talked about you couldn't
get a strong audience on the

312
00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,880
weekdays, Yeah, or weeknights.
How did you draw that at Fort

313
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,160
Mill or some of the things
yelled at?

314
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,600
Yeah, You know, it was
interesting because you you do

315
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,520
have you do have few resources.
And so if we took like a

316
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,320
Tuesday, Wednesday, you know,
the now now Tuesdays and

317
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,000
Wednesdays are fine, right?
People are coming out of

318
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:38,880
Charlotte, right?
Yeah.

319
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,520
Because it's people are pouring
out of those buildings at 5530

320
00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,720
and grabbing happy hour and
going over to the stadium.

321
00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,720
It's a lot like the drive here,
but for the Fort Mill Stadium

322
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,240
was 15 miles away from Center
City Charlotte.

323
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,680
And so, you know, we would have
strategic planning sessions in

324
00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,920
the offseason.
And we would say, OK, if the

325
00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,680
average Tuesday night attendance
is 800 and the average Saturday

326
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:04,000
night attendance is 7800, where
are we best suited to to put our

327
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,640
resources?
Each day of the week has roughly

328
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,079
13 games, right?
And so we played 72 home games.

329
00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,440
And we're like, if we're trying
to, if we're trying to grow our

330
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,560
attendance by X where, you know,
it's easier for us to get 8500

331
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,280
on Saturday from 78 than it is
to go from 800 to 1500 on

332
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,760
Tuesday night.
And so we, you know, at that

333
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:29,800
time we sort of said we will, we
will try to grow midweek through

334
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,560
group.
We'll try to do some corporate

335
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,800
outings.
We'll try to do the Little

336
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,480
Leagues and the Boy Scouts and
those kind of groups.

337
00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,880
And on Saturday we'll go with a
heavy marketing, Fridays and

338
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,040
Saturdays we'll go with a heavy
marketing.

339
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:44,360
That's where we'll do our
giveaways.

340
00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,120
That's we'll do our fireworks
shows and we'll do the things

341
00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:50,720
where where the marketing can
take care of the general leisure

342
00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,120
sort of family of four kind of
things that group sell.

343
00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:59,400
So, so the midweek became a very
heavy group focus for us and the

344
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:03,720
week ends became a very much B
to C kind of message.

345
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,280
So then how did you end up in
Greenville as ACEO of Visit

346
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:16,200
Greenville?
Thank you for spending your

347
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,840
valuable time with us.
We know you're likely incredibly

348
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,360
busy and we truly appreciate you
tuning in.

349
00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,400
We hope you're finding these
insights just as valuable as we

350
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,120
are.
Throughout this journey, we've

351
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:28,520
been fortunate to receive
incredible support with many

352
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,840
people asking how can we help or
how can we support you?

353
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,000
If you haven't already, one of
the best ways you can support us

354
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,560
is by giving us a follower
rating on Spotify, Apple Podcast

355
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,480
or whatever platform it is
you're listening on.

356
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,080
It just takes a second.
You don't even have to pause the

357
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:43,960
episode.
And it makes a huge difference

358
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,760
in helping us bring to you even
more of a top tier, high

359
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,200
achieving leaders in our
community.

360
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,480
Thank you again for being part
of this journey.

361
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:58,920
Now let's get back to our guest.
Yeah, it's a long winding Rd.

362
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,600
But I, I mentioned that I, I
left, I left baseball.

363
00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,240
I, I had a, a short stint for a
couple years.

364
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:11,800
I, I had a desire to go back and
do my master's in business when

365
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,600
I was in baseball.
And so you, you've worked it,

366
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,640
you work the regular office
hours days like everybody else

367
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,280
because you're calling and
selling and doing all that, but

368
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:25,360
you also work the events.
And so during the season back,

369
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,720
back, back then, you know, the
schedule's changed since COVID,

370
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,000
but back then you might be you
might be on a home stand for

371
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,960
eight straight days.
And you know, you work your

372
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:40,560
normal 8:00 to 5:00 and then you
work the game from at the time

373
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,440
it was 715 to about 10:30 or
11:30 at night.

374
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,320
And then you come back and you
do it all over again.

375
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,280
And that didn't really, that
didn't really pair up with

376
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,760
someone trying to get their
masters while working.

377
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:59,240
And so I, I left baseball and,
and was the GM of a, a small ad

378
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,800
agency that focused on print,
print advertising and, and print

379
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,880
distribution strategies.
And that that same focus of, OK,

380
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,640
I'm not going to call a bunch of
people, but how do I help the

381
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,400
right people who really should
be aligned with our business?

382
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,520
And I did that while I while I
went back into my MBA.

383
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,800
And so I spent so from there, I
spent 10 years working for the

384
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,400
Charlotte Regional Visitors
Authority.

385
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,520
And so they're doing your.
MBA while working?

386
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,920
I'm doing that right now.
Yeah, You know, I had classmates

387
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,920
who whose companies were were
helping subsidized that tuition

388
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,480
and they were in the program for
five or six years.

389
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,240
And I was just like, you know
what, I'm used to not being home

390
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,000
till late and working all day.
Like I'm going to through the

391
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,560
minor League Baseball schedule.
And I did three classes in the

392
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,960
spring, two classes in the
summer, three classes in the

393
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,920
spring and did it in two years.
I did in like 22 months.

394
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,000
Yeah.
I just like, you know, I wasn't

395
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,440
married at the time, but my my
wife and I live together.

396
00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,920
She's a teacher.
And so she was like, I'm not

397
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:03,160
used to seeing you anyway.
So it's probably like, you know,

398
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,440
so, so it was the same.
So for two years not working in

399
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,240
baseball, the schedule was the
same.

400
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,200
I would work all day, but
instead of hanging around a

401
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:14,840
baseball game, I would be in a
classroom and I'd be in a

402
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,680
classroom from 5:30 to 8:30 or
9:00.

403
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,120
So I was actually getting home
earlier.

404
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,080
You know it's not nearly.
As fun though, I'd.

405
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:24,440
Rather be at the base.
No, no, it's not nearly as fun.

406
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:25,440
Yeah.
Yeah.

407
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,800
The one mistake I remember
making was, you know, the the

408
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,760
summer schedule is accelerated.
Instead of 16 weeks and one day

409
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,520
a week in that particular class,
you meet two or three times a

410
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,400
week for five weeks.
And I remember the first summer

411
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,360
class I took was economics.
And I was like, never will I do

412
00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:45,400
that again.
You know, that's for like the

413
00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,480
soft sort of, you know, thinking
kind of like abstract

414
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,200
application kind of classes,
not, not heavy math calculus

415
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,280
kind of classes.
And so I remember thinking, OK,

416
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,280
I got to get smarter about where
I plug in certain class, you

417
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,920
know, like in my fall schedule,
it's got to have, you know,

418
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,840
accounting, which I wasn't great
at.

419
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,640
And it's got to have something
that I'm like, comes really

420
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,720
natural to me that I don't have
to study quite as hard.

421
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,720
So I got really good at sort of
planning out, you know, what my

422
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,880
two years would look like.
So, so at the end of that MBA,

423
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,320
I, I got the, I got the research
job with the tourism

424
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,720
organization in Charlotte.
And, and, and the way I describe

425
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,080
it for folks who are here in
Greenville is, is they do what

426
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:32,240
Visit Greenville does, but they
also manage all the city owned

427
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,160
entertainment venues.
And so here it would be like one

428
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,640
organization that manages the
arena, the Convention Center,

429
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,280
the Peace Center, Visit
Greenville and, and the museums

430
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,240
at Heritage Park.
And so all of that was under one

431
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,360
umbrella.
And I was in a role that was

432
00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:50,360
centralized to all of those
operations.

433
00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:55,080
And so we kind of managed 9
brands and, and I and I managed

434
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,400
it from a centralized role and,
and ultimately the work that I

435
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,080
did from strategic planning and
research led me to an

436
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,480
opportunity to report directly
to our CEO.

437
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,680
And I had a really phenomenal
CEO, one who was late in his

438
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,640
career, who was in a, in, in a
space where he was all about

439
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,520
development and giving back.
He had been the Global Chief

440
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,040
Operating Officer at
Intercontinental Hotels.

441
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,440
He'd been the CEO of National
Geographic Cruise Lines.

442
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,200
And so he had had like this
really global leadership

443
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,120
experience and he believed in
pouring into people to help them

444
00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:34,040
sort of see their their
potential.

445
00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:37,160
And so I was the beneficiary.
I was one of the beneficiaries

446
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,800
of that.
And yeah, I don't take that and

447
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,200
I, and I take that as a
responsibility to sort of pass

448
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,880
that on.
And so, so that gave me a front

449
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,520
row seat to everything that you
would have to do to run a

450
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:57,000
business from finance to me
marketing to sales because we

451
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,200
are running the operations, even
though we don't do that at visit

452
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,600
Greenville.
It gives me a perspective with

453
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,320
our partners like the well, like
the Convention Center, like the

454
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,000
Peace Center in those kind of
places.

455
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,200
I understand their perspective
because I was doing it even

456
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,920
though we don't have direct
oversight or authority, it gives

457
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,080
us a better, it gives me a
better chance to put our

458
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,560
organization in alignment with
what those organizations need.

459
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:26,480
And and so, you know, networks
matter and I had done some

460
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,120
strategic planning work with a
consultant and I ran into her at

461
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,640
a convention in Toronto in July
of 2022.

462
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,960
And I knew she was doing some
work for a former boss of mine

463
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,720
in Fort Worth.
And we're just checking in on

464
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,480
how that job was going.
And they were, they were trying

465
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,680
to develop a new headquarter
hotel for their Convention

466
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:46,480
Center.
And we were sort of chatting

467
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,720
about that and I just asked her
like, what other cool projects

468
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,000
are you working on?
And she said, well, I'm working

469
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,560
on this really cool 10 year
tourism master plan for

470
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,760
Greenville, SC, but it's kind of
on Paul's, you know, they're,

471
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,440
they're in between CE OS right
now.

472
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:02,920
And I was like, Oh my God, I
love Greenville.

473
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,120
I was like, I grew up right up
the road.

474
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,480
I got a lot of friends and
family there.

475
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:07,680
I was like, I've watched it
grow.

476
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,000
I was like, it's such a
beautiful, cool community.

477
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,360
I said it would be one of the
only two or three places in the

478
00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:15,280
country I would move my family.
And.

479
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,560
And she looked at me, you know,
she's like, you'd be interested

480
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,440
in the job.
I was like, yeah, yeah, I would

481
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,680
be.
That would be very cool to go

482
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:26,520
home.
I know, you know, the two sets

483
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,480
of grandmothers would be very,
very happy.

484
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,080
And she said as soon as this
conference overs, I'm going to

485
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,440
go call the recruiter.
I think you, I think you're

486
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,480
perfect for that role.
And that was a great compliment

487
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:41,720
coming from her because she
works with destinations all over

488
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,200
the globe.
And so for her to think of that

489
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,280
pairing as as this sort of
mutual benefit was flattering.

490
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:51,160
And that was July of 2022.
And so the process played itself

491
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,080
out.
And then November of 2022, I

492
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,040
started.
And it's been, you know, some

493
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:58,960
days it feels like I've been in
the market 10 years.

494
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,640
And some days it still feels
like, you know, it's been a

495
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,640
week.
What does a typical day look

496
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,840
like in that role?
A lot of meetings I'm not, I, I

497
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,600
hope our team would tell you
that I'm not in the in, in like

498
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:13,960
I'm not looking over their
shoulder.

499
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,880
I'm not in the weeds on the
day-to-day details of marketing

500
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,040
or sales or, or destination
experiences.

501
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:24,440
We, we have sort of, I call them
33 legs of our, of our stool.

502
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,480
We have marketing and
communications team, a sales

503
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,280
team and a destination
experiences team.

504
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,920
And my, my role as I see it is,
is 1 is to build the kind of

505
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,440
culture and work experience that
will allow us to attract and

506
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,920
keep the very, very best talent
and to create sort of the vision

507
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,320
and the, and the, and the
strategy and to communicate that

508
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,920
in a way that every single
person in our organization

509
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,600
realizes how they connect to our
success.

510
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,040
And then I get out of their way
and let them do their job.

511
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,400
I most of my days focused on the
future.

512
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,600
I think that's where CEO's eyes
should be focused is down the

513
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,320
path.
So I'm constantly thinking about

514
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,400
the next three to six months in
terms of our direct operation,

515
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,040
but I'm thinking about years
down the road in terms of all

516
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,640
the other challenges and
strategies that we're focused

517
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,840
on.
My my role is primarily

518
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,600
externally focused.
So it's the connection to our

519
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,960
partners and our funding sources
like the city and the county and

520
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,600
the state and economic
development, you know, our

521
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,640
economic development friends and
art and cultural, you know, it's

522
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,840
my job is really the liaison to
the community and how do I set

523
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,360
our organization up for long
term success.

524
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,040
What an amazing role to be in,
especially with the growth of

525
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,280
Greenville.
You've mentioned several times

526
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,920
partnerships with different
organizations in Greenville.

527
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,720
So what role does visit
Greenville play with some of the

528
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,280
community initiatives like the
Swamp Rabbit Trail extending or

529
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,880
maybe the Main Street Fridays or
Farmers Market?

530
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,280
Many, many of those that you
mentioned are are city or some

531
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,280
maybe some other municipalities
actual project.

532
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,520
So Swamp Rabbit Trail, for
instance, is funded by city and

533
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,480
county and other and other
municipalities.

534
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,600
Our role in that particular one
is to create the demand, the

535
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,560
demand that generates tourism
taxes.

536
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,760
So here in our community, we
have two sources of that.

537
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,760
We have people who stay in
hotels pay an accommodations

538
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,800
tax, which is above and beyond
sales tax, and people who dine

539
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:39,520
out in restaurants and bars pay
a hospitality tax above and

540
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,800
beyond sales tax.
And so those funds are

541
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,800
legislated very specific uses
and they've been used to pay off

542
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,880
the debt service of the arena,
build the Swamp rabbit trail,

543
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,120
invest in Fluor Field and the
infrastructure around it.

544
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,000
And so they help build the
amenities that we all get to

545
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,880
enjoy.
You know, the, the, the Friday

546
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,440
night music and Thursday night
music and some of the other

547
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,920
stuff are also city projects.
You, you know, for Euphoria is a

548
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:11,840
private organization.
Artisphere is a private

549
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,680
organization.
Fall for Greenville is a city

550
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,440
event.
And we work very closely with

551
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,600
them.
Often times are they're the what

552
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,800
I consider the product
development and we're the

553
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,320
promoter.
And so that's really the

554
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,960
relationship is how do we, you
know, we can advise on the front

555
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,920
end when somebody is developed
developing an event or, or you

556
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,320
know, the physical building
because we are very close to the

557
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,520
end customer who's going to use
it or experience it.

558
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,840
So, so we can be advisors or
counselors to that, but our real

559
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:48,640
role is once it's here or or or
on its way is to market it and

560
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,120
sell it to make sure that it's
successful on the back end.

561
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,000
Why do you think Greenville is
such a magnet for things like

562
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,120
the Farmers Market fall for
Greenville Greek Fest?

563
00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,760
Like I feel like every other
weekend there's something really

564
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,520
fun going on downtown.
Yeah, I mean, I think that's

565
00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:04,320
been the vision.
You know, we've got a mayor

566
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,400
who's been in the, in, in that
seat for 27 years.

567
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,800
I, I think he's shown incredible
leadership.

568
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:15,600
I, I think he's been laser
focused on a, on a thriving

569
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,920
downtown.
And I say, you know, we've got

570
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,120
partners all over Greenville
County and in this role, you

571
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,720
know, everyone's got an opinion
about what you should focus on.

572
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,560
And, and from time to time
you'll hear people say you focus

573
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,880
too much on downtown.
But almost no matter where

574
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,600
people live or where they stay
in hotels, they find their way

575
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,760
downtown for some part of that
experience, right?

576
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:43,040
And so you, you know, modern
communities have a thriving

577
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:48,480
center and, and a city center is
almost a, an absolutely

578
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,360
necessary ingredient for a
broader thriving community.

579
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:57,240
And, and so everything from the
redevelopment of the river to,

580
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,600
you know, the private
development that's going on,

581
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:02,280
they've been real.
You know, our, our city has been

582
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,160
really careful about what
they've allowed to be developed

583
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,200
and how that development looks.
So you don't have these

584
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,680
monstrosities that feel crazy
out of place.

585
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:16,080
So even the materials that they
allow developers to use make it

586
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,000
feel like it all fits.
So you tear down, you know, an

587
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,560
institution like The Greenville
News and you build Camperdown,

588
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,720
but it feels like Camperdown
fits, you know, the materials

589
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:25,920
that they use and all those
things.

590
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:30,560
And so it just creates this sort
of warm sort of place.

591
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,720
And our mayor would tell you
that the busiest time of the, of

592
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,920
downtown is three, 3:00 PM on
Sunday afternoon.

593
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,920
And you and I've been down there
and I'm like, you know, he's

594
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:42,720
right.
It's families and strollers and

595
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,120
dogs and all these people just
strolling all over the place.

596
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,280
And you're right, there's always
something going on.

597
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:53,400
But but even when there's not an
event, it's it's it's busy.

598
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:59,600
And sometimes when we have
clients are in town and we might

599
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,920
be at Sobeys, for instance, on a
Tuesday night, they're from

600
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,800
Chicago or LA or some major,
major metro, they're blown away.

601
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,360
Like we, you know, I don't know
what expectations they came in

602
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,520
with, but they'll say what
what's happening, like what's in

603
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,320
town this week?
Why are so many people on your

604
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,920
sidewalks at 9:00 PM?
And you know, it's the greatest

605
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,840
sales opportunity to say nothing
like this is Greenville, this is

606
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,320
a Tuesday.
It's normal.

607
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,400
Like this is normal.
And it's not necessarily an

608
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:32,000
event or, you know, a festival.
It's just, you know, we have

609
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,640
great culinary.
We, you know, it, it's, it's

610
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,840
when you try to market and brand
a destination, a lot of people

611
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:41,840
are looking for like, what's
that one thing that makes you

612
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:44,640
really special?
And so if it's Kentucky, maybe

613
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,160
it's bourbon or horses and, and
at Nashville's music and people

614
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,720
try to figure out what is that
one thing in Greenville?

615
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,600
And I actually think it's to our
benefit that it's not one thing.

616
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,000
It's, it's, it's lots of things,
right?

617
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:03,160
It's this balance of great urban
amenities, art, culture, food,

618
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:09,640
sport, entertainment, balanced
with easy access to nature and

619
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,800
outdoor and.
Right through downtown takes you

620
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,120
right to TR.
Yeah, I mean, within a one hour

621
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,600
drive, you can be in 10
different state parks.

622
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,880
And we're the only community in
the state that can say that.

623
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:26,320
And so our access to state parks
and county parks and city parks

624
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:30,280
and trails and those kind of
networks allow people to

625
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,280
disconnect if they want, right?
They can choose their pace, and

626
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,160
not every community can say
that, right?

627
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,480
You sort of choose your
adventure.

628
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:39,200
Here, yeah.
So I guess you do still work

629
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,080
closely with the drive and the
triumph.

630
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,080
Yeah, when when Ronaldinho came
a few weeks back, that was huge.

631
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:46,360
Yeah, it's nuts.
Yeah.

632
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,800
Was that, I guess, like how
closely do you work with the

633
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,160
Triumph and what was the
preparation that went into that

634
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,600
and their new stadium that's
coming up, Like is, is there a

635
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,800
lot of yeah, collaboration with
that?

636
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,160
Yeah, our, you know, our role
there.

637
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,400
I mean, they have, they have
their own marketing and you

638
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:04,880
know, obviously they do a
phenomenal job.

639
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:09,159
All, all the individual teams do
swamp rabbits and drive and, and

640
00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:12,280
triumph and everybody.
Our, our role with them largely

641
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:16,840
becomes how do we integrate them
into the broader tourism,

642
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,120
visitor messaging and then how
do we work with them on events.

643
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:24,320
And so for the, you know, we've
got the Socon baseball

644
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,920
championship coming up with the
drive here in May last year.

645
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,320
We worked with them to bring the
party animals, part of the

646
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,159
Savannah Bananas brand to the
community.

647
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,800
In the past, we've hosted the
ACC Baseball Championship at.

648
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,520
The men's basketball tournament,
we went to that when Duke played

649
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,239
a couple years ago, yeah.
So the NCAA men will be back

650
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,159
next year.
SEC women are booked through

651
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:51,880
2028 and yeah, 2028.
And and so we work with them on

652
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:53,360
events.
So as the, you know, the

653
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,520
triumph, for instance, as
they're building their stadium,

654
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:59,840
we're not so much working
closely with them on, you know,

655
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,600
every game programming.
But what we're working with them

656
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:07,040
on is what are the features of a
new stadium that collegiate

657
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:12,400
conferences are interested in?
What kind of amenities do we

658
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:16,640
that are required but then
preferred to to win over other

659
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:23,400
communities to host ACC men's or
women's soccer or so con soccer?

660
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,560
Or.
NCAA regionals and things like

661
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:25,960
that.
Yeah.

662
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,080
Do you have an initiative in in
trying to invite these

663
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,800
conferences to play their games?
Yeah.

664
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:36,080
We have a sales team that is
segmented by market segments.

665
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,480
So we have sports is one of
those segments.

666
00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:41,800
So we have a national sales
manager specifically for sports

667
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:46,200
tourism and she has incredibly
deep relationships.

668
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,120
She spent eleven years with
Visit Greensboro and the

669
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,600
Greensboro Sports Commission and
has really, really deep

670
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:57,320
relationships with national
governing bodies from NCAA to

671
00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,680
all the various USA Olympic
teams.

672
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:04,640
You know, sometimes we, we,
we're, we're guilty of always

673
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,040
talking about our successes, but
I'll talk about a failure we

674
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,160
just missed out on.
I was so excited.

675
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:18,240
We were really close to landing
AUSA Women versus Canadian Women

676
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,040
hockey exhibition, which would
have been in December of this

677
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,040
year, just two months shy of the
Winter Olympics.

678
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:30,760
And I was so excited about our
the ability for our community to

679
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,440
host that event.
I just think it would have been

680
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,360
really novel and cool and
especially this year, given the

681
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,880
eve of the Winter Olympics and
and kind of what's going on

682
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:42,880
politically between USA and
Canada, I think it would.

683
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,400
Have the men's teams had a nice
little?

684
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,320
You know, yeah, they did.
And so I think it would have

685
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,120
been cool and and those two
teams will win gold and silver

686
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,040
in the Olympics and I think it
would have been cool to have

687
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,680
them in our community.
And and we will someday, right

688
00:36:55,680 --> 00:37:01,080
Are the relationship between
Kayla on our team and and the

689
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,400
people with USA women's hockey
is really strong.

690
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:05,560
It just didn't work out this
year.

691
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,440
And so, you know, but but that
is for every sport you can

692
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:13,800
imagine at every level, whether
you know, we talk about NCAA

693
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:18,160
men, but there's conferences,
there's division 1-2 and three.

694
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,400
And so, you know, we're we're
having those conversations

695
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:23,800
constantly.
We actually just hosted out here

696
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:28,360
in Verde two or three weeks ago.
We hosted the Sack Conference

697
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,000
Men's and Woman's Golf
Championship.

698
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,040
So so we're doing events like
that every week that don't

699
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:37,400
always make headlines.
And so SEC women and things like

700
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,640
that make headlines, but we do
250 events a year that, you

701
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:46,440
know, help create a $100 million
economic impact.

702
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:51,160
But, but individually, don't you
know you register on the news?

703
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,760
Yeah, which y'all have a lot
going on and it's evident that

704
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,560
you're helping with the
marketing and the brand of

705
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,960
Greenville so much, which people
like us appreciate if this place

706
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,040
is awesome.
I'm always like, I might be

707
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:03,800
biased, but Greenville is the
best place ever.

708
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:06,720
But with that being said,
obviously the growth has been

709
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:09,080
great, but I can only imagine
there's challenges that you'll

710
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,520
face that visit Greenville SC.
So what would you say are some

711
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,560
of the challenges that y'all
have seen recently are facing

712
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,400
now?
I, I think, you know, I'll start

713
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:20,680
with the community and then
maybe work our way towards the

714
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,560
organization.
I, I, I think this community is

715
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,960
facing a lot of growth.
And I think that's part of the

716
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,000
challenge is when you have a
community that's growing as fast

717
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,480
as we are, affordable housing is
going to be a challenge.

718
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,240
There is no silver bullet.
I mean, if there were,

719
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:37,840
communities would have already
done it.

720
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,920
We're not unique in that
challenge that's happening

721
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:45,000
across the Southeast, where
people are moving from the

722
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,960
Midwest and the Northeast and,
you know, Florida's slowing down

723
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,400
a bit.
So the Carolinas, Georgia and

724
00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,520
Tennessee or Texas even are
experiencing a lot of that

725
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:58,480
growth that might have gone
there or you know, earlier.

726
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,160
We're, you know, so affordable
housing, I think transportation

727
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,960
and mobility is another
community issue.

728
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:07,960
So I think for us, how do you
manage growth, right?

729
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:12,560
We've gotten on people's radars.
We know the experience sells

730
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:17,280
itself, but how do we target the
right people?

731
00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:22,120
So one of the things that I've
tried to stress to our team is

732
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:24,640
we're not interested in growth
for growth sake.

733
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,960
How do we grow the right way?
And so, you know, there's only

734
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,880
11,000 hotel rooms to sell on
any given night across

735
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:35,360
Greenville County.
So, you know, there's no reason

736
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,520
to create 12,000 person demand
on a Friday night in October.

737
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,880
So what we're looking for is how
do we yield those hotel rooms?

738
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:48,720
How do we, you know, how do we
create in, in the peak periods

739
00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:50,160
of the year, the spring and the
fall?

740
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,080
How do we find those travellers
that might stay three and four

741
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,320
nights instead of two nights?
And then in the softer periods,

742
00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,680
January and February, how do we
find, you know, maybe that

743
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:05,960
family travel or, or that more
economical travel that might

744
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,120
stay two nights but might not
have stayed at all?

745
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:10,560
And so we're trying to balance
the years, right?

746
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:12,000
How do we?
How do we what?

747
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,440
What's the role our organization
plays in?

748
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,560
Mitigating congestion and
spreading people out.

749
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,320
You know, we have downtown
Greenville's great, but so is

750
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,680
downtown TR and downtown Green
and Fountain Inn and

751
00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,080
Simpsonville.
And, and so how do we, you know,

752
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,960
how do you experience all those
downtowns and, and how do we

753
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,480
spread people out throughout the
county in a way that helps

754
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:33,120
mitigate congestion and, and,
and to do those kind of things.

755
00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:37,640
And so that's we're trying to
take the operation of Visit

756
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,440
Greenville and think about the
challenges of the community in

757
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,240
the lens in which we do our
everyday work.

758
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,360
So this is kind of something you
were just putting in on, but

759
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:49,640
what are like the main, I guess,
objective objects?

760
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,000
What's the word?
I'm looking for objectives or

761
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,320
initiatives for Green Visit
Greenville, SC in 2025.

762
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:59,200
Is it trying to get that extra
boost of tourism?

763
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:04,680
We're going, it's going.
We're going to have some major

764
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,240
culinary announcements coming
out soon.

765
00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:13,120
So I can't share them here.
I'm under strict NDA.

766
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:17,920
But in the next two months we,
we, we will have two, two

767
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:21,440
separate but major culinary
announcements that we've been

768
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,680
working on for a while.
And I'm really excited about

769
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,440
them.
And so when they happen, you

770
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,480
can, you know, you can recycle,
you can recycle some of this

771
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,080
content.
But I think that's been what's

772
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,560
really been interesting about
about Greenville is when you

773
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:35,480
walk up and down the downtown
Main Street, you don't find

774
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,280
chains and you don't find that,
you know, our, our, our city's

775
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,360
been really diligent about
ensuring that the culinary

776
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,600
landscape is local and distinct
to Greenville.

777
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,040
And I think that visitors are,
are looking for that right?

778
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:51,400
Is where Greenville is today is
really at the intersection of

779
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,720
new sort of macro consumer
trends is, you know, we don't

780
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:57,400
want to go to another community,
the same restaurant that we have

781
00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,200
at home.
We want to eat something that's

782
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,480
different and unique and, and
you can only find there.

783
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:07,240
And so I think we've got that
and, and, and so we're going to

784
00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:10,680
lean into culinary in 2025 and
2026.

785
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,480
Nice.
And we've got some big

786
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,640
announcements coming that I
think will help us accelerate

787
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:17,240
that.
I have some friends that used to

788
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:19,240
live in Greenville and have
recently moved away, and they

789
00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:21,520
say one of the biggest things
they miss is the restaurant.

790
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:24,520
Yeah, they say that you can't
beat that anywhere.

791
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,080
That's the amount of diversity
we have with food options here.

792
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:28,240
Yeah.
We're pretty blessed, yeah.

793
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,400
And we take it for granted.
And with these initiatives for

794
00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:34,800
this year and making those
known, do you feel like y'all

795
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,240
are coveraging social media or
e-mail?

796
00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:39,440
Or what's the best way to get
the word out on these events

797
00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:41,240
that y'all are putting?
Together, yeah, we have a, we

798
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:45,160
have a very comprehensive
marketing communication

799
00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:47,680
strategy.
You know, we've leaned on PR

800
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:51,240
from the very beginning when we
were an organization, you know,

801
00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:54,040
that had very limited funding
available to us.

802
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:58,440
We leaned on the accolades and
the PR, the earned media that we

803
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,200
could gain because we simply
didn't have the resources to do

804
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:04,880
heavy advertising.
And, and today we still lean on

805
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:09,480
that, but we can supplement that
with, you know, strong paid

806
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:13,240
media presence.
We can, we can saturate those

807
00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:15,840
markets that are in proximity to
us throughout the Carolinas,

808
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,520
Georgia, Eastern Tennessee.
And then we can be really

809
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:21,400
selective with digital marketing
and social market and social

810
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,520
media efforts in flight markets.
And so that's been something

811
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:29,480
that's also been been important
for me, you know, coming from a

812
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:34,080
market like Charlotte, which is
a major hub for airline, 750

813
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:39,000
daily flights, 150 nonstop
destinations, Greenville sits in

814
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:41,920
the middle of that and Atlanta,
Delta's largest hub and

815
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,880
America's second largest hub.
And so how do we connect to the

816
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,360
rest of the world very easily.
And so one of the things that

817
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,080
we've been doing is working on
new routes.

818
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,720
So we helped lead the effort to
get the Breeze flight here

819
00:43:53,720 --> 00:43:55,800
direct to LA, which actually is
just restarting.

820
00:43:56,200 --> 00:44:00,560
And while it was just last year,
it was seasonal this year, it's

821
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:02,400
going to continue on past
September.

822
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:06,280
And so far the schedules are
only out through January, but,

823
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:08,440
but they're going to continue it
at least through as far as the

824
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,280
schedules are currently out.
So that's incredible, you know,

825
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,680
to have a direct route.
I, I flew it last September and

826
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,360
so wheels up, wheel down GSP to
LAX in four hours and 23 minutes

827
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:22,720
round trip for about 380 bucks.
Like that's a huge asset to our

828
00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:24,520
community.
We might be taking that flight

829
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,800
here soon.
It is, you know, and, and

830
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,400
they're brand new airplane like
we, if you've been on some of

831
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,280
these regional jets where you
got to connect to places and

832
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:34,720
then you get on one of these new
Breeze jets, like you realize,

833
00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:38,040
like how far aviation has come,
like the planes are brand new.

834
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:41,320
They're rolling Airbuses right
out of Huntsville, AL and

835
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,560
they're comfortable.
The Wi-Fi works great.

836
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:45,080
Like they're just really, really
good.

837
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,280
They're they're great products
and fun.

838
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,320
You know, service is good too.
And so they came into the market

839
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,640
last year with five routes and
they've already added three

840
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:54,120
more.
So we have direct to Pittsburgh,

841
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:59,080
which I'm really excited about.
And, and, and so it allows us as

842
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:03,560
we connect to more dots on the
US map through air service, we

843
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,440
can be very prescriptive about
how we market in those

844
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:09,760
destinations.
And for instance, you know, we

845
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:14,160
look at our visitor guide pickup
on the website and Pittsburgh's

846
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:18,120
never been on the map literally.
And now they physical, they're,

847
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,440
they figuratively and literally
are right.

848
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,520
We have that direct connection
and suddenly they're in our top

849
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:25,600
25 of most requested visitor
guides.

850
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:29,480
And you know, so now you have
access to the market and the

851
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:32,840
marketing power behind it, and
we're seeing them show up.

852
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:33,920
It's fantastic.
Nice.

853
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,120
Yeah, we're a big fan of that.
The more flights the better.

854
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:38,720
Yeah, if you don't have to drive
to Atlanta and Charlotte, it's

855
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:41,200
not.
It not only opens Greenville up

856
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:45,280
to more visitors, but it allows
our local residents to go to new

857
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:47,160
places definitely, which I think
is awesome.

858
00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:50,080
Yeah, how often do you have to
collaborate with the Greenville

859
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,000
City and County councils in your
role?

860
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:55,760
We're we work with them very
closely.

861
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:59,160
We have a sitting City Council
member, Dorothy Dow and the city

862
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:02,040
and County Council member Frank
Farmer who are on our board of

863
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:04,720
directors.
The city and county through the

864
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:08,520
accommodations tax, our major
funders of our organization.

865
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:11,680
And there's requirements for how
that money, I mean it's

866
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:14,720
legislated statutes for how that
money has to be spent.

867
00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:19,000
And so regularly we're reporting
back A, how the money is spent

868
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,960
and B, what the results look
like on that spending.

869
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:26,280
And so we're really diligent and
transparent about here.

870
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,720
Here's our here's our business
plan and here's how we expect to

871
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,840
spend these resources and here's
how we're planning to hold

872
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:34,640
ourselves accountable to reach
certain goals.

873
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:40,120
And so the city manager and
county administrator also has

874
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,760
have ex officio seats on our
executive committee of the

875
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:45,000
board.
So we're tied at the hip, you

876
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,760
know, very, very closely.
And they've been great.

877
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:50,760
They've been great partners.
They trust the work that we do

878
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,160
really well.
We've hired really incredible

879
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:58,680
people to sell and market this
destination and and they give us

880
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:00,760
the resources to to do our very
best work.

881
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:02,640
Nice.
That's amazing and that's a

882
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:05,520
great partnership.
We've had the opportunity to

883
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,920
meet with a few people in City
Council and we attend a lot of

884
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:10,360
events with them.
And I feel like there's always

885
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:12,600
something moving.
They're ready for the next big

886
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:14,960
thing.
So that's a great collaboration.

887
00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:17,320
But even in this neighborhood
alone, we're in Hollingsworth

888
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:20,520
Park, there's a ton of new
people that have moved in from

889
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:22,760
out of town.
And it's so funny, if you ask

890
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,440
them how they ended up in
Greenville, SC, they're like, we

891
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,880
picked it on a map or we just
drive around and ended up there.

892
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:32,200
Didn't decide to stay it's.
Crazy to me how people end up

893
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:33,760
here just picking it on a
mountain.

894
00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,120
But with that being said, if
someone is coming to visit

895
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:39,800
Greenville and check it out,
what would you say is the single

896
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:42,520
event that they cannot miss out
on that they need to be here

897
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:46,640
for?
The single event goodness.

898
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,640
Well, you know, artists fear is
around the corner.

899
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:51,440
That one's a hard one to say no
to.

900
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:57,840
Also, because artists rate it
and it's one of the top art

901
00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:01,440
festivals in the entire country
rated by other artists.

902
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:04,720
So I think that is, I think it's
really incredible they they

903
00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:08,040
limit the number of artists and
so there's a huge application

904
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:09,600
process.
So you always know you're going

905
00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:12,000
to get the best and you're
getting this wide variety,

906
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:15,320
variety and diversity of art.
I also happen to really love

907
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,920
Euphoria.
You know, it's not necessarily a

908
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:20,360
public event where you're going
to stumble up on, you know, a

909
00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:23,320
stage or something like that.
You got to plan in advance.

910
00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:27,600
But that organization is
celebrating 20 years this year,

911
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:29,440
so they're going to do it up
even bigger than normal.

912
00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:32,520
They always bring in Michelin *
chefs.

913
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,760
Just, you know, the, the, the
interesting food scene that we

914
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:40,440
already have here and what they
do from a creative standpoint is

915
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:43,280
just really, really cool.
I mean, I've started my day.

916
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:50,720
I've started my day at Euphoria
with an oyster shot and how to

917
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:55,600
Shuck oysters training at like
10:00 AM in the morning and

918
00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:59,480
ended my day at Fleur Field with
with party in the park and.

919
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:01,440
Action-packed.
And it was action-packed, you

920
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:03,840
know, with, with, with several
steps along the way.

921
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,680
And so that's a really it's,
that's a really those would be

922
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:09,360
my, those would be my 2.
I don't know if I've been to you

923
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:10,880
for you.
I don't think so.

924
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:12,800
Yeah, I think I've done like
everything about that, but.

925
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:15,680
Yeah, tickets are just, you
know, I'll pitch for them.

926
00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:18,040
They ticket tickets we're
getting ready to go on sale.

927
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:22,880
They they're celebrating 20
years and I think they have 82

928
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,480
events.
So so every event you know is

929
00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:29,480
has different ticket options.
And so I think they have 82

930
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:31,400
events over the course of the
three day weekend.

931
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:33,880
Wow, it's incredible.
Well, we'll close it out here

932
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,480
soon, but looking back, what do
you think's been the most

933
00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:40,520
challenging part of being CEO of
Visit Greenville SC and what's

934
00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:41,960
been the biggest surprise for
you?

935
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,880
I, I was listening, actually,
it's funny, I was listening to a

936
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:53,200
podcast this week from Adam
Grant, if you know him, and his

937
00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:56,920
episode was How to Say no.
And it's funny, he refers to

938
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:58,880
himself as a recovering people
pleaser.

939
00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:05,320
And I really took that to heart
because I, I typically say yes.

940
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:09,720
I want as many people in under
the tent to help find success

941
00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:12,800
alongside as possible.
I'm a huge believer in

942
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:18,600
collaboration, but, but I, but I
have found the need over the

943
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:23,280
last year or so to, to think
about how do we say no

944
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:26,360
gracefully, right?
How do we, you know, because it

945
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,600
is my role to protect the
resources of our team, whether

946
00:50:29,600 --> 00:50:33,240
that's time, money or energy or
bandwidth or mental space or

947
00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:36,600
whatever it is.
And, and, and so I'm trying to

948
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:40,120
be more cognizant of
understanding those priorities,

949
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:42,680
even if it's a good idea, it may
not be a good idea for today.

950
00:50:42,760 --> 00:50:45,440
And so it may not be no forever,
It may be no for today.

951
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:47,880
And so that's something I'm
working on.

952
00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:50,840
I'm trying, I'm, I'm not even a
recovering people pleaser.

953
00:50:50,840 --> 00:50:53,880
I'm trying, I'm trying to, I'm
trying to get into recovery.

954
00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:56,720
And, and so that's been a
challenge for me because,

955
00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:01,720
because my, my natural instinct
is to say yes and figure it out

956
00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:03,640
later.
And I think that comes from the

957
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:06,880
minor League Baseball space of
like, Hey, rains coming, We got

958
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:08,800
to cover the tarp.
It's like, okay, well, or cover

959
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:10,040
the field.
So we got to go down tarp the

960
00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:13,000
field.
So I think that's just been sort

961
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:15,960
of instilled in me, but I think
the responsibility in this role

962
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:20,080
is when I say yes, it means
somebody else gets work added to

963
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:24,720
their plate and helping our team
understand their priorities and

964
00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:29,160
how those, you know, how to
expend those resources in a way

965
00:51:29,160 --> 00:51:32,520
that's going to maximize our
value to the community.

966
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:34,360
So that's been the biggest
challenge.

967
00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:39,040
And, you know, if I had to give
that advice, you know, to my to

968
00:51:39,040 --> 00:51:43,240
my younger self, it would be to
start practicing no earlier, you

969
00:51:43,240 --> 00:51:47,160
know, how how earlier in my
career would I protect my own

970
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:51,160
schedule?
You know, I have always sort of

971
00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:54,320
said yes.
And, you know, that might mean

972
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:57,840
I'd go home, see the family, and
then after they go to bed, work

973
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:01,280
on somebody else's project.
And so, you know, I think that

974
00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:03,680
that was interesting that that
was what sort of Adam Grant was

975
00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:07,760
talking about is, you know,
people pleasing and protecting

976
00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:10,120
your own time, your own
calendar.

977
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:13,200
Yeah, that's great.
And then on that same note, how

978
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:16,160
do you balance being in the role
that you're in now along with

979
00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:19,600
having a family, being married
and managing a home?

980
00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:24,080
The, the time commitment, the
time commitment is, is is

981
00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:27,680
intense.
I am a morning person by nature,

982
00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:31,600
so I get a lot of my work.
I, I get a lot of my work done

983
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,480
before most people show up in
the office.

984
00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:37,320
And because most of my days are
full of meetings, the emails

985
00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:41,800
kind of will will pile up.
But, but I have always

986
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:45,720
dedicated, you know, my, my time
to my family.

987
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,720
I coach Little League football
and Little League baseball.

988
00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:53,160
I, I do have to travel.
And so those sometimes conflict,

989
00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:57,560
but you know, but, but the
everyday week I, I block out,

990
00:52:57,560 --> 00:53:01,320
it's like, OK, you catch me, you
can catch me from 7:00 to 4:30.

991
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,160
But a couple days a week I got
to leave at 4:30 because I got

992
00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:07,680
to go coach baseball and, and
it, and it might mean that at 9

993
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:11,200
O clock at night, I'm back on
e-mail just just because between

994
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:14,400
4:30 and 8:30, you know, we were
doing family thing.

995
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:18,640
But so, so I naturally
compartmentalize.

996
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:21,520
I can turn it on and off and,
and, and do that.

997
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:26,360
But but, but, but being there,
you know, I've got a 12 year old

998
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:28,240
and it's gone by incredibly
fast.

999
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:30,760
And so I was thinking, you know,
this is our last year.

1000
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:32,440
This is the last year I'll ever
get to coach him.

1001
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:35,760
He's done with football.
If he plays middle school,

1002
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:37,560
that'll be somebody else's
responsibility.

1003
00:53:37,880 --> 00:53:39,960
This is our last season of
Little League baseball.

1004
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:44,120
And so, so I'll get the time
back, you know, and this is so

1005
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:46,440
so this is kind of it.
And we also have 28 year olds.

1006
00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:50,240
And so I'm taking those lessons
from my 12 year old to say, OK,

1007
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:54,080
you know, they'll, they'll be
time for all those traveling

1008
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:57,480
appointments.
How do I enjoy this while we

1009
00:53:57,480 --> 00:53:59,480
have it?
Because one day they'll be in

1010
00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:01,440
7th grade and they'll be
somebody else's problem too.

1011
00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:02,800
So how?
How do I?

1012
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:04,720
How do I enjoy this time while I
have it?

1013
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:06,720
That's awesome.
Well, Heath, thank you so much

1014
00:54:06,720 --> 00:54:08,080
for joining us today.
That was a lot of fun.

1015
00:54:08,280 --> 00:54:09,640
I enjoy the conversation, thank
you.