Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hepner with my co-host Leslie Haskins and Timothy. I'm like three months away from my wedding, and I know we haven't done an update in quite a while. People are asking what is happening. Yeah, so I got my wedding dress.
Okay. So that came in, we about a month ago. Um, yes, we still like it. Okay. And going through all the alterations and all of those things. Uh, we looked at wedding bands and we have the wedding shower coming up and bachelorette. So all of the things. I just know though, the month before the wedding is gonna be all those little details of like, oh, I forgot this.
I forgot that. So yeah, I need to start making myself like a checklist or something. Yeah. But everything's. Knock on wood going smoothly.
Timothy: So you're not a bridezilla.
Christina: Oh no. I am like so [00:01:00] chill. I think that's what every Bridezilla.
Timothy: Oh gosh. No, I
Christina: mean there's been like, we've been very, so the thing I told Johnny when we first got engaged was like, I want your opinion on everything. So it, whether you don't care, then say yes. But if you do care, like say no and tell me why. Um, so that's really helped with the decision. 'cause I was like, I don't wanna, I don't care because I want him to have a say in everything.
So that's,
Timothy: that's
Christina: nice. Yeah. Um, but there hasn't been too much that we haven't like. Not agreed
Leslie: on. So
Christina: it's
Leslie: crazy how much weddings have even just changed. I got married 12 years ago, um, and the difference in hearing all the exciting things that you're doing and all these little unique things, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's so much fun.
We just didn't do so much of it.
Timothy: No, we need to, Leslie. What's that? We need to, during, during the wedding, we do, [00:02:00] uh, a podcast as we can tell about what's going on.
Leslie: Oh my God, Timothy, you and I do a live podcast behind the scene. Live podcast. Be the announcers.
Timothy: Yes. Nobody,
Leslie: that's what we need to do. Nobody, we, we can talk off the air about this, but I love that idea, Timothy, you and I in the corner, just, I'm not
Christina: sure.
I love that idea. Yes, it'll be fantastic. I'd like to keep some things about my life a secret, even though I share most of it. I was gonna say, I don't, I don't
Leslie: agree with that. Oh my goodness. Timothy, what else do you have going on this summer?
Timothy: Yeah, uh, Leslie, I'm going to, uh, Scottsboro Alabama here soon. Uh, they heard me speak a couple months ago at the Conve conference there in the Alabama, and uh, they were inspired by me, so they asked if I come out and talk to the total, to the total Club.
So I'm excited about that. So, uh, we're looking forward to that.
Leslie: Honestly, your calendar, Timothy, I can't keep track of where you are, what you're doing, who you're speaking to, but we certainly appreciate it.
Timothy: Well, I enjoy going out and talking about myself 'cause it's, my story's everybody else's story. And, uh, they need to hear that how much, absolutely.
How much [00:03:00] leader dog impacts people like me. And, uh, it inspires them. Uh, some of them like to donate money and, and some, uh, do other things and they all also go out and help clients do, uh, do their filming of their, their films for the leader dog to get a guide dog or whatever. So it's just, it just.
They're part of us and we're a part of them. So it's nice that we're like family with the lions.
Leslie: Yes. I love that. And you are a huge, huge piece of that, as are so many of our clients and team members and volunteers and everybody who gets involved. And we often talk about the Lions because they are such a huge part of our organization and there's.
Not a presentation or anything that happens that we're not speaking about them, and so proud to be a partner with them. Um, so thank you for that. So it's a busy summer. Everybody's got lots of things going on. I don't, I can't think of anything that I'm doing. Actually, I'm, I'm not traveling this. Wow. I know that's a first.
I don't think I'm traveling again until the fall, but you never know. Things pop up. Uh, I am, or I did get the opportunity to help with the teen summer camp, which, you know, is my, yeah. [00:04:00] Heart and passion and I won't talk about it for long because Christina will start giving me the eyes. But, um, it is by far one of my favorite weeks here on campus, and it was an honor to be a part of that group and work with the o and m team here.
So. Lots of wonderful things happening, but we're gonna go ahead and get started because we have a wonderful guest here who's gonna take us a little bit behind the scenes and explore the day-to-day operations that keep our campus running smoothly. Yes,
Christina: we're excited to welcome Mason Scully, our facility supervisor here at Leader
Timothy: Dog.
Hey, Mason's great to, you're on the podcast today. Uh, looking forward to this. Can you tell us what your role is with the facility supervisor?
Mayson: Yeah. Hi Timothy. Thanks for having me on, guys. Um. My role is a facility supervisor, so, uh, couple different hats I wear. Uh, handle the, all the safety programs here for our team members.
Uh, first aid, uh, cabinet fulfilling, things like that. Also supervise a team of our facilities at attendants [00:05:00] that work in the client rooms. Uh, work with a team of. Skilled trades, guys that handle the hvac, plumbing, lighting, anything that keeps the building up and running, heated, cooled, all that good stuff to make sure everybody's got a good place to work.
Client's got a good place to come. So yeah, just anything grounds related here.
Leslie: I think we're so lucky at Leader Dog. We don't realize all the things that you and your team do because everything runs so smoothly, right? Like it's not mm-hmm. Often somebody has to reach out for something because it's, it's usually happening already and organically.
And you recently joined Melissa Weiss, our CEO on a kind of behind the scenes look into Leader Dog that we, um, have videos. Internally, monthly. And so it was highlighting the facilities team and everybody, team member wise was blown away, like, couldn't believe the complexity of what you guys offer and, and so much knowledge and skill on your team.
Mm-hmm. What has been the reaction to that video?
Mayson: Uh, the [00:06:00] reaction was just everybody coming up saying, wow, I didn't know one, how much? Building was here, how much property we have. Yeah. How many people are on the team? Uh, I think everybody was just generally surprised about what we do because it's done, like you said, behind the scenes, more or less in the dark.
We're mm-hmm. We're not seen, we're not heard, uh, in, in typical support department fashion. Um. You don't notice us until something goes wrong, which is, that's the nature of the beast. It is what it is, but we try to make it so stuff doesn't go wrong very often.
Christina: Yeah. Yeah. I will say, I filmed that video and we went into rooms I didn't even know existed, and then we went on the roof and it was, I swear it was the hottest day, like it was so warm, and I was like, but the roof is huge.
If you ever have a, I mean, I don't know if you'll have a chance to ever go on the roof, but nobody's offered to take me on
Leslie: the roof here.
Christina: It was really cool to see all of those spaces and the [00:07:00] rooms that like you don't know exist. You walk by them every day and you're like, oh, there's a door there.
Mayson: Mm-hmm.
Yeah. We have rooms inside of rooms. Yeah. Even I'm still learning where they're at after. About four years. So
Leslie: yeah, I think everybody needs to do like the main tour and then you need like a behind the scenes tour for team members. Mm-hmm. From facilities specifically, because there are so many nooks and crannies and different things on this campus.
And then it's also, you guys are responsible for the downtown campus as well.
Mayson: Yes. Yep. That's. A little bit easier done. It's a very simple, uh, it's an older building, lot of simple systems down there, but it's just another piece added onto what we already do.
Leslie: So can you tell us a little bit about campus?
Like what, how big is it, how many buildings, that kind of a thing.
Mayson: So here on our main campus, we have the two buildings. Um, it's a approximately 200,000 square foot. Um, it's over 14 acres. We have, um, a lot of [00:08:00] different systems that, uh, talking about mechanical systems that keep both buildings going. Like we have several air handlers over in the canine development Center trying to keep fresh air, um, yeah, just pulls outside air in to keep the dog smell out all the time.
Oh
Leslie: yeah. That's crazy.
Mayson: Yeah, we have. Oh, I know the number's over 20, but I wanna say it's over 30 furnaces. Um, almost like residential style furnaces in the admin and residence building here. So, uh, there's a lot to handle, uh, speaking on the nooks and crannies. I mean, we have, we have pieces of mechanical equipment like in ceilings, in closets that just constantly need preventative maintenance and need to be touched by the team and all, all different stuff.
Timothy: So it sounds like you've got a lot of stuff to take care of. So how many do you have on your team to do all this?
Mayson: So we have, including myself and our director of facilities, Chris, uh, we have 19 total. That includes, like I said, me and Chris. And then we have two people that work overnight, uh, as custodians.
And then we do have a campus safety officer that [00:09:00] works weekends as well.
Leslie: On the team too. Like one of the things I love and find so funny because we constantly are reevaluating the space and needing the space to be used in different years, right. Since 1939. Mm-hmm. Which is, we're on our original property, so many things have developed and changed and one of the things I always find so funny is how many rooms we've built walls and like changed into new rooms or then taken back down the walls and light switches go.
To various parts of the mm-hmm. The place. How does all of that work when we, when you get a request like that?
Mayson: Well, luckily for us we have, um, Arnold, who's fantastic carpenter. Um, we have Cordell now, which before was Al, which he was a staple. Um, he knew this place inside and out. Yeah. Um, but really. To make a plug for Chris, he's really the brains of the operation.
So like when, when people get these requests, he's looking five, six steps ahead to figure out. Okay. Exactly. Uh, he, [00:10:00] he figures out, okay, whoever made the request, is this truly what they want? Or, uh, is it actually, do they want this? But do they not know how to, uh, verbalize it type thing? And, and he goes, and he'll actually.
I've seen him make drawings, walk through it with Arnold, say, Hey, logistically can we make this happen? So there's, there's several steps in the process before you will, will even get a, a response back to your work order that you put in.
Christina: Yeah. I feel like your team is so unique because other places I've worked, like our facilities teams did not do as much as this team at Leader Dog does.
Mm-hmm. You guys do it all from outfitting the rooms and all of that. What does it mean to have so many different talented people on your team that can actually do all of these things like build walls like Leslie said?
Mayson: Well, I tell you, it, it makes. Me and Chris look a lot better. It makes our lives a lot easier because of what they do.
Um, we have, we have a team of, uh, we call 'em facilities at attendants that take care [00:11:00] of the client's needs in the, in their rooms and stuff like that. And they're just so professional. Uh, they have the unique distinction of. Not working with the clients, but affecting them. Mm-hmm. Every day when they're here and taking care of them.
But they're still interfacing with them, but they're not responsible for their training, their food or anything like that. And I mean, they just put their heads down and they go to work. Um, having our skilled guys, like, uh, guys like Dean Arnold, uh, Al Cordell, having those guys, it just. It makes it so we don't have to go and outsource these things.
Yes. Which is, it's, it's huge. It, it really, uh, it, it looks good to the donors, you know, that we're doing all this stuff in-house ourselves, and not only that is like when you have somebody doing the work that's already vested in the organization, they tend to go above and beyond. They take pride. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah. Just to an example, I mean. Right now we have [00:12:00] our lawn contracted out, but last year we did it ourselves. Um, trying to see how that would work is like a cost saving measure type thing. And, uh, it was. A real pain, but the lawn and the sidewalks and all the trimming, it has never looked better since I've been here.
And we all griped about having to do it and you know, 'cause it'd be a hundred degrees out and we're out there for four hours. Weed whipping. But it was a noticeable improvement on campus. It's just, and that permeates throughout. Everything the team does. Yeah.
Christina: Yeah. And there's a whole fleet of vehicles that you guys maintain as well.
I don't think people think about that part, but there's a whole garage in the other building. Multiple garages. Mm-hmm.
Mayson: Yeah. Yeah. There's four garages in the canine center, and then we have the parking garage in admin, so there's 42 vehicles in the fleet. And that's not really counting like our. Golf carts, our lawn mowers, anything with a gas engine that takes [00:13:00] maintenance.
So that's all our fleet area of the, of the facilities department. Uh. Our guys do a fantastic job. We, we have, um, one main guy and then he's got two guys that kind of, uh, work with him with that. And, uh, I mean, from the mechanic aspect to just taking care of the vehicle, making sure it's clean and outfitted for dog pickups, client pickups, all that different type of stuff.
I mean, that. That almost could be a department in and of itself.
Christina: Yeah. With that many vehicles.
Mayson: Mm-hmm.
Leslie: And the logistics of people like, Hey, I need a vehicle like this and I know I am guilty of, um, by the way, it's tomorrow. Can I get a vehicle for this? Because you totally forget that piece, but your team is amazing.
Not that we wanna put them in that position. Yeah, right. They do a fantastic job of knowing exactly what vehicles available, where you can go, all these different things. They're just. Incredible. So the logistics behind all of that is insane because they also help volunteers get vehicles [00:14:00] too.
Mayson: So the volunteers, we just consider them team members.
I'm sure you guys have talked about this on the podcast before, like they are just another member of the team. Mm-hmm. Um, but they'll, they'll call and reserve their own vehicles, but we're just making sure it's ready to go out for them. So, I mean, they, they do all the. Heavy lifting. I mean, those guys are fantastic.
Leslie: Yeah. We've had Eric Walters on before and he's a volunteer driver, so he's shared his experience. Yeah. Both with the dog kind of side of it and then also the human side of things too. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, and we do try to highlight our volunteers all the time because they are obviously such a huge part of our organization and we rely on them so heavily.
So even in the facilities area, we've got volunteers working together. Uh, that's incredible. So. Looking at, you know, we, the next strategic plan, all the things that are happening, anything big or exciting or new that the facilities team is really prepping for in the coming months or year?
Mayson: Well. Anything exciting is really that decision's made above us and then we [00:15:00] kinda react to that.
So, um, the residents potential remodel or replan, whatever you want to call it, that's gonna be a big one. Um, but I don't know where we stand with that at the moment. But as far as just departmentally, um, we have a lot of aging equipment that we're looking to update. Um. We, we have a full complemented team right now, so we're not pushing for any recruiting at the time.
Uh, we have a fantastic team, so it's just all about for us, kind of boring, but just keeping everything status quo where we're at, and then replacing our equipment as it ages. I mean, I think that's, that's probably the biggest challenge of any facilities department is, you know, taking your budget and making the old stuff new and the stuff that's not quite old enough to replace, keep it going for, extend the lifespan a little bit.
Christina: Well, and that just goes to show as a nonprofit, how resourceful that your team is. Whereas, you know, big corporations, they're just gonna [00:16:00] outsource everything, get new cars every year. Mm-hmm. And outfit them every year. But I mean, even our cars, the outfitting happens. On campus, the dog crates are put in and all of that, which is amazing.
Mayson: Yeah. Yeah. We have a stockpile of crates ready to go, ready to move in and outta different vans. And then, um, I don't know if you guys have seen the new training vehicles that we got, but, uh, Arnold just outfitted them. He framed in some spots for, uh, I think each of those vans holds like eight crates a piece.
Um, maybe nine. But he, he made some new duct work, so the dogs. Get a little bit more air conditioning in the back when the vehicle's running, framed it all in. So it's all comfortable. We got an extra seat in the back now for team members on the training team when they can go out. So,
Leslie: yeah. 'cause it's kind of a unique need, right?
Like not many people are selling a training truck to deliver a bunch, not even deliver, but we use them for training and transporting dogs. Mm-hmm. They're not readily available. So the creativity and [00:17:00] skill that. Arnold specifically, but this team, your team has to make it all work and then make adjustments too.
I think that's what's so great is we'll try something and then use it and if it's not working, to go back and kind of reevaluate and see what we can do better.
Mayson: Yeah, and that's, that's part of like what me and Chris do is sort of. Compares to like the gatekeepers of the, the facility staff?
Leslie: Yeah.
Mayson: We'll, we'll get requests if people want to do something one way and we say, okay, you know, we, we try, we did try this before a couple years ago and here's why it didn't work.
So if you really think that's the solution now, we'll go for it. But we're gonna tell you these are our, our hangups about this process. So, um, but we are super flexible, always willing to, you know. Try to do anything. It's, it's, this is one of the few places I've ever worked where it's truly about the mission all the time.
So, and like, it, it's just starts from the top down. So, I mean, our, our guys are just, um, just [00:18:00] willing to put in the work to undo, redo things just so it'll happen.
Timothy: What's your biggest challenges and more rewarding of your job that you have?
Mayson: Well, the biggest challenge would be. Probably setting expectations.
Uh, I did mention earlier about team members putting in like work requests. So we have a program, somebody wants something done, like they want an office change or an office remodel type thing. They can put in a work request. Well, we have to, I. Set the expectation that, hey, we want to get to this right away.
Because in facilities, like there's always 10 projects down the road that you don't even know about yet, right? Like somebody else is dreaming it up. So we have to let people know like, Hey, this, we're gonna get to it, but we have some questions and we have a couple other things coming on. So like managing that expectation and uh, one challenge.
With that is that our people here, there's a lot of niche roles and everybody's so passionate about the mission and what they [00:19:00] do that when they fire off that work order, it's like, oh, this is the most important thing. Like, I need this right now because if this gets done, everything's gonna go smooth. And it's like, okay, well we have, we have a hundred of those on our plate right now.
Um, but to speak on the most rewarding part of the job is. When you get these requests that, um, have to do with, you know, improving something in the building for the, for the animal welfare or, uh, just like ergonomics and logistics for the clients. You do it and you see the immediate payoff like, uh, our, our.
Our staff down in the residence, they get thank you notes all the time from the work that they do, whether it's just like they requested extra towels in the room. For some reason, we, we just had a client that wanted to sleep on the floor with their dog, and so our staff like made him a little makeshift bed on the floor for his dog, and that client was so thankful and it's just.
Being able to get that like face-to-face feedback from the clients is, [00:20:00] is the best thing.
Christina: Yeah. I'll say, I do client interviews and we always ask like, can you talk about the team that you've met other than your instructor? And they always bring up, they're like. They come and they make my bed, they clean things for me.
Mm-hmm.
Leslie: And
Christina: I come back and I didn't even know anyone was in there. They comment on your team all the time and how thankful they are and they're always willing to help them with their laundry and all of those things. Yeah. Um, so your team gets so many compliments when I do these client interviews and they always are like.
I didn't know that someone was gonna just come and make my bed. Yeah. Like just the simple little things make them so happy.
Mayson: Mm-hmm.
Leslie: And they're so thoughtful and consider, like they know the audience, right? They're not moving things around for clients. They're making sure that if they're wiping underneath their toothpaste, that the toothpaste goes back to where they left it.
And those are small things, but make a huge impact.
Mayson: Yeah. And that's something we hit heavy when we bring people on too. Um, we, we depend on the, the staff that's already here to help train them. Like me and Chris aren't doing. Those [00:21:00] jobs every day. Mm-hmm. So we leave it to them. We ask them to train. And that's one thing.
He's like, you don't leave things in the hallways. You put things back where you find 'em, what you think is like what you tell a little kid. A little kid, yeah. Like when they're playing with their toys. But in this case it, it makes a huge difference to the client and, and people that have never worked in this type of environment, um, they don't realize that.
And they're like, oh yeah, that makes sense when they hear that. So it's not, they just. They think of so many things, um, as time goes on and our, I can't say enough good things about our staff.
Timothy: Yeah. Whenever I'm up there, I, I notice things get done, but we don't see the people who do it. I mean, it's done when we're not, like, when we're working with our dogs out training or doing our o and m and we come back, everything's done, and you don't get in the way of the client.
Mm-hmm. You're there, but you're not there. And I just, it is, it is nice. It's really is nice.
Mayson: Yeah. And that's the whole working in the shadows piece that we talked about. They, it's designed that way. We, we tailor the day to make. So it's like that. 'cause we don't want the, [00:22:00] we don't want anybody that's here on campus to think like, oh, I gotta change my routine in the morning so they can come in here.
We want it just to be seamless for them.
Leslie: And your team is a huge part of making the whole overall leader dog experience because it can be very stressful. We've talked about this and Timothy, you've shared a lot when you're here, whether you're here for o and m training camp. Or a guide dog, right? It is stressful.
You're focused on that training, getting to know what you need to be an independent traveler. So we try to make all those other things so easy, right? Mm-hmm. Having the room set up and, and be cleaned regularly, having your meals prepared and all of those things, and your team does such a great job for that.
Not only for clients, but also as team members, right? Like we talk about, I think everybody was blown away by that video because everything runs so smoothly. Typically. Like we can put in a room set up request if I have a presentation and I know that the room is gonna be set up exactly how I requested it and asked.
So thank you from us, I feel like to your team, because what you guys do helps all of us be successful as well.
Mayson: Yeah, we're more than [00:23:00] happy to do it. And that's part of the. Perks of working for a nonprofit like this with the mission that we have is you're not tied into doing one role. So that can be a challenge, but most of the time it's just.
Rewarding because our people do wear 3, 4, 5 different hats. Yeah. Like we have, we have somebody who was out watering the flowers around campus this morning, who's gonna go spray for weeds that also does our setups and cleans rooms. Yeah. So it's like there's no, there's nothing, they're not doing the same thing every single day.
Yeah.
Christina: Which it also doesn't make the job boring.
Mayson: Mm-hmm.
Christina: So something new every day. If someone were to walk on the Leader Dog campus, what's maybe one thing you'd want them to notice or know that, um, your team kind of does that you guys are really proud of?
Mayson: Well. I don't know if I want them to, to notice, but I'll tell you one thing.
So, uh, I do the safety training for all of our new hires, and I take them on a tour, and the constant feedback I get from them without pointing it out is, wow, I didn't [00:24:00] know. The building was this big. And I always get that when we go into the parking garage in the, in the admin, right? Like this is all leader dog.
I'm like, yeah. And we, we still have one more building to go just on campus. And then how big, uh, the actual piece of property is that we're on. 'cause we're in Rochester. It's a very, um. Busy city type area, and we're sitting on 14 acres here. Yeah. And that's stuff that our, our guys all take care of. Our guys and gals, they're just, they're on it.
Um, and then the last thing I always get feedback on is, uh, I. We hear a couple things. We hear, wow, look at how shiny these floors are. And then you guys keep this place cleaner than a hospital, which just speaks to the people that we have working in, in both our buildings doing that. 'cause I mean, we've all been in like a hospital or a doctor's office and the floor's all scuffed and there's like dirt along the walls and our people are just so they, they're so, um.[00:25:00]
Geared to pay attention to those small, fine details. Yeah.
Christina: I will say the Canine Center does not smell like there's dogs there. Like sometimes you walk into, you know, a
Mayson: mm-hmm.
Christina: Place where there's a lot of dogs and you can smell the dog. Smell it, you can in there. Yeah. So they do an amazing job in there.
Leslie: Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us here today and sharing about all the work that you guys do. I think we often talk about, you know, and we try not to be cheesy, like Leader Dog is such a family and we have this culture and community and we talk about it doesn't matter what your role is here, you know the mission and you know your impact on the mission.
And I think you being here and talking about your team and, and spreading that, is it. Is so helpful. So thank you so much to you and all the teamwork.
Mayson: Yeah. And thanks for letting, having me on and letting me talk about this. 'cause I know the people on our team, they're um, they don't want to talk about what they do.
So me and Chris have to do that for them.
Leslie: Yes. Very, very humble. Yes. But team members who have been here for. Years. Right? Like some of the people on your team have been here a very, very long time. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So consistency. They know this building [00:26:00] inside and out and they know Yeah. What they need to do and, and training new team members, they're just, they're good.
Yeah. I will say
Christina: everyone always has a smile on their face whenever you see them. Usually you don't, but Yeah.
Leslie: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much and thank you to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy Kyo and Christina Hepner. We hope you enjoyed learning about the behind the scenes facility work here at Leader Dog.
Please join us next time as we continue to dive into the world of blindness. If you'd like to learn
Christina: more about applying to our free services at Leader Dog, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at (888) 777-5332. Don't forget, you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas.
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