Transcript
Colin Uthe:
Welcome to Connected, a podcast about the operations and the people that make up Chamberlain Group. I am Colin Uthe and this month we're focusing real heavy on the people, as we congratulate the Young Professionals Network on a successful kickoff as our newest business resource group. In this episode, we'll sit down with some of the group's founding members and discuss what their mission is, why representation in the workplace continues to be so important, and what kind of support do you expect from them in the coming months.
Amber Rouleau:
Hi, I'm Amber Rouleau and I'm a channel programs lead at Chamberlain Group.
Michal Obstoj:
Hi, I am Michal Obstoj, currently channel programs manager, soon to be senior channel program manager at the Chamberlain Group.
Colin Uthe:
Awesome, thank you Amber and Michal. As we're talking right now, you are about to step into this new role. Tell me a little bit about that.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, no, it's super exciting. I've been with the company for three years and progressing my career through the channel team, learning the industry, learning the programs we offer. And so this past year, I've been working really diligently to revamp our discount program and as a part of that, taking on a lot more responsibility. And we're going live with the program on Monday and with that a new title change. So I'm super excited.
Colin Uthe:
It is very exciting. It must be a weird feeling to taking a promotion around one very specific program sounds like a beast of a job.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, no, it is a beast of a job, which is actually why I actually pulled Amber in to join the team.
Colin Uthe:
Oh, cool.
Michal Obstoj:
I really wanted, I knew how great Amber is, just why I wanted to do the YPN with her. And actually, Amber and I joined together on the channel team. She went over to the BU and then I was like, we need her back. So she's been actually helping me a lot with the marketing side of the rollout.
Colin Uthe:
Sure. I'm glad you were able to position everybody in that way. I'm glad it worked out that way. Amber, tell me a little bit about your position.
Amber Rouleau:
Yep. So my current position, as Michal mentioned, is back in the channel team and sales ops. And so, I support the new program that's going to be launching as well, but more focusing more on the benefits side. So really making sure that working closely with our partners and that taking a lot of the different things that we do today and leveraging that and tying it back into the new program that's going to be launching here shortly, and making sure it makes sense for our dealers and our distributors and all that fun stuff.
Colin Uthe:
Fantastic. And you said you both have been here for about three years or so. Where did you come from before Chamberlain Group?
Amber Rouleau:
So previously, I was at Milwaukee Tool and there I was also focused in channel, but specifically on marketing and on the retail side of things. So definitely got a chance to learn a lot there really quickly, which is a great opportunity. And then just leverage all that past knowledge and bring it over here to Chamberlain, but shifting from more of that retail focus and now more on the pro side. So it's been really exciting.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah. But you've been involved in hardware for a while it sounds like. Very cool. Very cool. Michal, what about you?
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, I just have a very non-traditional background. I studied chemical engineering in college.
Colin Uthe:
What even is traditional background now?
Michal Obstoj:
Haha, yeah. And so, I did consulting and oil and gas for a large portion of my early career. So doing consulting for BP and Coke. That was my earliest start. Picked up a lot of skills in project management which have segued well into other industries. So that's how I got my start here.
Colin Uthe:
Cool. Normally, I don't tap into this sort of thing, but this is the topic of discussion. You both are pretty close around my age. Do you guys mind disclosing your age? I want to talk about that a little bit.
Michal Obstoj:
Sure.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah. I'm 27.
Colin Uthe:
Okay.
Michal Obstoj:
And I'm 30.
Colin Uthe:
Okay, cool. I'll be 29 in 20 days or something like that, whatever. You guys are still relatively fresh into the corporate world as am I. And so this was a very foreign environment when I first started. And it took me a little while to really learn the ropes. Was that experience similar to both of you starting in those previous positions?
Amber Rouleau:
I mean for me, I definitely jumped into the corporate environment very quickly and so just had to learn to navigate it. My very first role was out in the field as a sales rep, but I only did that for six, eight months and then was just instantly basically more so going straight from college into the corporate environment and having to quickly adjust that it's no longer really like college.
Colin Uthe:
It's weird. There's a lot of unspoken rules.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. I also did really quickly adjust. Consulting, my first client was BP and you're in a room full of people who are very high up and expect certain things. And so tailoring your c ommunication style really quickly to that new corporate style and understanding the corporate environment is really, really critical.
Colin Uthe:
Speaking the language.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, exactly.
Colin Uthe:
I imagine that's important context for why you guys decided to do what you did. To elaborate on that further, you two are spearheading the latest and greatest and newest business resource group for Chamberlain Group known as the Young Professionals Group. As a brief refresher to anybody who may not know, can you explain to me what a business resource group is?
Michal Obstoj:
So a business resource group is meant to be a collection of employees that are trying to help a certain category or group within the company and identify their needs and support their success in the company and outside the company as well, all while also contributing to the overall company's success.
Colin Uthe:
So at Chamberlain Group, we are home to a business resource group for females in the workplace known as the Women's Network and also People of Color and Allies, which is welcome to anybody who may want to support as is the Women's Network, but is mostly centered around those demographics. So tell me a bit about the Young Professionals BRG.
Amber Rouleau:
So really with the Young Professionals Network is, we want to make sure that we created a space and a forum to really help young professionals thrive while here at Chamberlain Group. So really focusing obviously those that are earlier on in their careers and really want to advance upwards and focus on how do I get those additional leadership skill sets and things like that is more so of the what it is.
And speaking to the who is then again, those that are earlier, but that's not the only people that we want participate in. It's really something for everyone because not only, it can't just be us saying, hey, we want to advance upwards. We need mentors and support within the organization to really give back into it and help those that are earlier in their career via really giving them advice and wisdom, and showing them different career paths and things like that along the way.
Colin Uthe:
Leveraging the way senior members of the industry.
Amber Rouleau:
Yes, exactly.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. And a key word there is early in their career path because it's not just an age. You could be a stay-at-home mom and then come into the workforce years, years later and you're a young professional because you're new in your career path, or you could be completely pivoting your career going from engineering to HR, and that's also your fresh in your career in that new path. And so, this BRG really is for people who are in those early stages. And then Amber mentioned, having allies who can help advocate and develop and coach us to thrive.
Colin Uthe:
How did you come to start this business resource group? What sparked that inspiration to get this going?
Michal Obstoj:
I think, so Amber and I mentioned we joined on the same team around the same time and immediately we felt siloed I feel like. Like we didn't know people across the organization.
Colin Uthe:
It's back to what, 2019?
Michal Obstoj:
2021.
Colin Uthe:
2021?
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah.
Colin Uthe:
Three years, not five years. I'm five years.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah.
Colin Uthe:
Got it.
Michal Obstoj:
And so, we both came from prior companies where maybe the demographic was much younger.
Colin Uthe:
This was the ripple of COVID too, so you guys were extremely isolated. Yeah, so were-
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah, we started remote.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. And then it was just like a different change of pace. And so, we talked about it a couple of times about over the years it would be nice to have some kind of group, but we were still learning the ropes, learning the company. And then about a year ago, I had a coffee chat with Jeff and I brought up the topic of how does he think we do in terms of supporting the young professionals here?
And he agreed that was a room for potential improvement. And so that really was the motivation, like you know what? I think this really does warrant looking into and trying to tackle together. And so we set on that mission to define what is a BRG and then start to that process.
Colin Uthe:
Well, it's nice because you guys had each other for support, not to speak for you, but I'm sure that it was probably comforting to have another person with a similar perspective and a similar point in their life to throw back ideas on. Not everybody gets that.
I know that when I started, I was most definitely the youngest person on the team, but it was frustrating at some parts trying to navigate my own way through it and not just with the rest of my team, jus expecting that I knew what they knew because it's really hard to go back to that perspective of not knowing those things.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah no, it definitely isn't, kind of Michal's point, yeah, we definitely both came from, in our prior experiences, a younger culture and then-
Colin Uthe:
What are you trying to say, Amber?
Amber Rouleau:
Haha, well, just other people that were at all those similar experiences and at that point in your life. And so coming here I was like, okay, there's not that many other people that are at the same point in your career in your life. And so just being able to find a space to even connect with those individuals and find that, and just definitely just saw some gaps of what we had previously experienced that we just didn't quite see here yet. And so we wanted to come together and just figure out how we can fill those gaps with this new BRG.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah. Tell me about the experience of putting all these resources together.
Michal Obstoj:
It was March of last year when I had that coffee chat. And luckily for us, we had POCA and Women's Network as guidelines of what good looks like, and we do have a document that explains what's required to launch a new BRG. So we use that as a blueprint and went through multiple rounds of talking to different people. We talked to a couple of different directors, we talked to some people in HR just getting their perspective and continuing to flush out our business case for the BRG.
Colin Uthe:
Surveying the whole... Yeah, okay.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. Surveying what ideas, how we could synergize with the company, what it would be, just making sure it was foolproof to be approved. And I think the biggest culmination of that was figuring out who our executive sponsor was going to be.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah. How did that get determined?
Amber Rouleau:
Essentially we just decided in an approach. Obviously, Brendan Lyons is our executive sponsor. And so at the time, this was when I was in the RBU and he was obviously senior VP of the RBU.
Colin Uthe:
Oh, you were in proximity with him. Okay.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah. And so just basically after working within his department and conversations I had with him, I definitely thought he would be a really good option for us. And I figured that he'd be probably eager to participate and definitely the assumptions were correct. So I know he is really excited about it, which is awesome.
And so yeah, it's just essentially just up to whoever's starting the BRG to decide who do you think would be a really good executive sponsor to support us? And so once we did work through the business case, we brought it to Brendan, get his feedback and initial thoughts, and then just took some next steps from there.
Colin Uthe:
Why is it important to have an executive sponsor?
Michal Obstoj:
So it is a requirement. I think it's an important one because you want to ensure whatever group you're forming adds value back to the organization because the organization is giving a commitment of employee time to this and as well as funding. And so you need to have someone that is able to provide feedback and direction and make sure that the BRG is training direction. We're not just supporting this targeted group of individuals, but also the company at large. And it also shows, I think the people that are in that BRG that the company does have faith and wants to support you, and this is your avenue to the executive leadership team is through this person.
Colin Uthe:
Did you guys have to write a charter?
Michal Obstoj:
Kind of. It's in a PowerPoint format.
Colin Uthe:
You defined the guidelines of the BRG. Yeah.
Michal Obstoj:
We defined the guidelines of what our goals, our objectives were, what our core pillars are.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah, who's involved from a council and leadership position standpoint.
Michal Obstoj:
And then what we would do and how that would have downstream impacts on the employees and the organization at large.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah.
Colin Uthe:
Okay. Did you have to get this reviewed and revised a handful of times before you were actually able to be let loose with this?
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah. So we definitely did a few iterations throughout having those different conversations with different stakeholders along the way. We were talking with HR and even given Brendan's feedback. But then once we got it in a good spot, then you have to officially pitch it to the BRG steering committee. So then again, you're going back in front of Jeff and other executives that are stakeholders for either other BRGs and just across the board. And so getting to that point is what then really kicked it off.
Colin Uthe:
Cool. And that brought you to January at that point?
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, because Amber shared at the town hall in Q4.
Colin Uthe:
You did?
Amber Rouleau:
Yes.
Colin Uthe:
Oh, I thought it was Q1. Okay.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah, so that was after we already went through the BRG steering committee. And so then basically, after we presented off in to that steering committee when Jeff was like, "Hey, I want you guys to present this out at the town hall."
Michal Obstoj:
Then once we have another-
Colin Uthe:
Congratulations, you got to say this in front of a thousand people now.
Amber Rouleau:
Yeah, and that was really nerve wracking all at the same time.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. And the intent behind that is, there has to be enough company interest in a BRG to launch. So the ELT and us could think it's a great idea, but if the company at large doesn't-
Colin Uthe:
Oh, you can't do... Yeah. If you have the "recreational fisherman BRG" and five people sign up, they're not going to take.
Michal Obstoj:
Exactly.
Colin Uthe:
Okay, got it.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. But I think by the time we got in front of the ELT, we had a really strong business case and it really hasn't wavered since then. I think because we did so much work upfront to gain alignment that we were really confident in our business case.
Colin Uthe:
Why is this BRG important to you and other young professionals in the workplace?
Amber Rouleau:
For me it's really important 'cause it gives everyone that is earlier on in their career a space not only to connect with one another, but then also with us, our plan is to make sure we're having different events and workshop events that will help grow really important skill sets to just improve on your day-to-day roles and what you're doing and giving back into the organization. Then just overall from a leadership standpoint as well.
So I just like having that space that's focused for this specific group is really important. And then I think also just the fact that we're getting it established and recognizing that the company also sees that as important and wanting to nurture those that are earlier in the career, not only for ourselves, but then so that way we can then become future leaders within the organization from that standpoint. So really when it comes down to it, one of our goals and our nice little pitch in business case is creating this cycle of engagement within the organization of coming in, yeah, maybe you're early in your career, fresh or transitioning, and so you'd join as a part of the BRG and then you go to some different events, network with different people, and so you're just improving your everyday skill sets.
And so then you can really emerge and that will then come through just your performance from that standpoint, getting promotions like Michal is about to get right now. And then further on down the line, then now you're further into your career and there's going to be new people coming in, and then you get to nurture that new talent.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah, I like it.
Michal Obstoj:
I think development is really important regardless of where you are in your career path, but I think it's especially important in the early stages 'cause it really defines a trajectory for you in your professional career. I'm honestly thinking towards our next event's going to be the personal finance one-on-one event, and one of the things we want to talk about there is compound growth, and it's incredible the difference in your 401k if you start at 25 versus 35.
Colin Uthe:
Oh, yeah.
Michal Obstoj:
It's incredible. And I think the same thing can be said not just about your 401K, but also your development. You're investing in your skills and growing as a professional early in your career. You can accomplish so much more in your professional life than if you just start to do that when you're 35 years old. I think creating that environment where the company is saying, we want to develop you, we want to invest in you and grow you, and I think as individuals we will benefit from that, but the company will also benefit, like Amber said, from developing future leaders that will help move us along this transformation.
Colin Uthe:
Why is this important to non-young professionals? Why is this important to be recognized and supported by people who may not fit the demographic that this BRG is created around but are able to participate in?
Michal Obstoj:
So I think you learn a lot more by teaching, and I think that's really, really key. I think that's why mentor-mentee relationships are so strong sometimes because not only is the mentee getting stuff out of it, but the mentor's getting equally as much back. Maybe they're getting fresh ideas from their mentee, a different perspective, but also they themselves are crystallizing and defining their own views and beliefs and knowledge. And so I think by teaching others, you yourself are also growing.
Colin Uthe:
You mentioned that development is important in any stage of the workplace, and I totally agree with that. And yeah, you're right. People maybe sometimes get to a point in their career where they don't feel like they have to develop or learn as much as they do, but the world keeps on changing. So yeah.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah, this helps create a pipeline of talent in the organization. So people who maybe are more senior and they want to flush out their team and maybe have someone that is up and coming in the organization, they can identify more quickly someone that they might never have met before. An organization is like, hey, this person is up and coming. They want to learn more about the organization and can pull them into their team.
Amber Rouleau:
And I think the other thing too is that, young professionals can't just be successful all on their own. And so just having those other-
Colin Uthe:
They're simply not trying hard enough.
Amber Rouleau:
You need other people in the organization that do have that experience to then go and be the mentors and provide that feedback and things like that. So we just need those that are more experienced within the organization to participate within that form.
Michal Obstoj:
I've heard from countless people that they're so excited about this because they had a similar experience when they were younger by either having a development program or having a mentor that helped get them to where they are and they're excited to now maybe have the opportunity to do that back for someone else that happened for them.
Colin Uthe:
That's about as good as it can get, right? Yeah, somebody just paying it forward.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah.
Colin Uthe:
Fantastic. So I sat in on your presentation that you did last week, introducing this formally to the business and offering signups, all the good stuff, and you provided some killer snacks, so thank you for that. Something that stuck out that you both had mentioned while presenting was that, this is not just for advancing your career as a young professional at Chamberlain Group. This is about a young professional in the corporate environment, wherever your life may take you be this your final stop or your first stop. That really stuck out to me. And so I wanted to re-include Chamberlain Group a little bit and help me understand why this BRG is important for the company as well. How can Chamberlain Group stand to benefit from it?
Amber Rouleau:
Well, yeah, I think first and foremost as like Michal had mentioned a little bit ago is creating that pipeline of talent. So if Chamberlain Group is taking forth to put resources towards really nurturing and developing young professionals early on in their career, at least for me, I'm not necessarily like, oh, I really want to jump around to a billion companies. I would rather stay put and really grow and develop, and if I'm with a company that is doing that, then I as a person recognize that.
And I think that that's one of the biggest takeaways or biggest things that the Chamberlain really gets back is developing people that are going to be more, feel more connected to the business from not only just networking within it, but just all the different events and things like that to where it really just comes a lot more a part of your everyday life even more so than just doing your job I feel like to really grow and develop with, if that makes sense.
Colin Uthe:
Yeah, makes perfect sense to me because I don't know, I've been here a while and we've always toed it around our culture as a very important aspect of the workplace, and I feel like this really adds to it. Just like you had said.
Michal Obstoj:
Yeah. No, I was just going to add that the events we are putting on, they're not just for young professionals they're open to everyone in the organization. So I'm thinking ahead to, we're planning an event this summer focusing on improving communication skills. And imagine if everyone in the company was 5% better at communication. That has a huge impact on the overall company's performance. So I think that's another way is these events we're doing, while they are focused on skills that are important early in your career, they're applicable to everybody.
Amber Rouleau:
One other thing that we just want to call out what our plan is for the BRG is like, we don't want it to just be me and Michal picking and choosing like, oh, this is what we really want to do.
Colin Uthe:
Well, you're bigger than just this team. You have a treasurer, you have a marketing person, you have... Who's all on your team?
Michal Obstoj:
Events.
Colin Uthe:
Events, marketing.
Michal Obstoj:
Remote champion. We have-
Amber Rouleau:
Membership engagement. Yeah, we have a lot of great people that have recently joined the leadership team, which is awesome. But we also want everyone that is a member in participating to always share their feedback. We always want to make sure we're giving surveys out or just coming directly to anyone that is within our leadership team to really make sure that they're sharing what do they want, what are the skills that they want to focus on. We want to make sure that we're adjusting based on what people need and what they want and what they're looking for.
Colin Uthe:
Fantastic. I'm really looking forward to partaking in all of these events that are coming up in the new future. Thank you both for going the extra mile and putting something together like this. I know it is a challenging undertaking. I know it's not something you can just think about and the next week, it's already whipped up and ready to go. This was a year in the making. So congratulations to you both, and I am very excited to be a part of this in the coming weeks and months.
Amber Rouleau:
Super excited for you to be a part of this!
Colin Uthe:
Yeah, definitely. Anything else you would like to say before we sign off here?
Michal Obstoj:
Please join. We need young profess, we also need allies. Everyone is more than welcome. We want everyone to be a part of this BRG to make it as successful as possible. And again, going back to our mission, helping professionals thrive all at Chamberlain Group.
Colin Uthe:
Cool. All right. Thank you both. Thank you for listening. Tune in next month to hear more stories of how all of us at Chamberlain Group or Connected. This episode was written, recorded, and edited by me, Colin Uthe. Our producer is Megan McClendon. Our music was provided by soundstripe.com.
