Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / What Losing Everything Taught Krystle Holguin About Leading With Emotional Intelligence

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What Losing Everything Taught Krystle Holguin About Leading With Emotional Intelligence · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. As you listen today, let one
0:17
idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Kotaspoti and
0:21
today's guest started her career at 15 years old in HR not
0:27
because she had a vision for her future, but because she wanted
0:30
money for nice clothes. She had no idea that entry level
0:35
clerk job in a school district HR office would set the
0:38
foundation for everything that followed.
0:42
She took a detour into teaching, followed someone else's career
0:46
across the state, got laid off during a pandemic, and had to
0:50
make a choice about whose future she was going to prioritize.
0:54
What came after that moment changed the direction of her
0:57
entire career. She is Crystal Olgate, director
1:01
of human resources at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX
1:06
Colonial is one of the most storied private clubs in
1:09
America, founded in 1936, home to the Charles Schwab Challenge
1:14
PGA Tour event, and currently midway through a $120 million
1:19
renovation. And Crystal leads the people
1:22
strategy behind all of it. There's something in her story
1:26
for anyone whoever took the scenic route to figuring out
1:29
where they belong. But before we get into that good
1:32
stuff, today's episode is brought to you by my company,
1:35
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back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:27
today, the HR Director of Colonial Country Club, Crystal
2:31
Olkeene. Thank you for making the time to
2:33
Share your story today. Thank you for having me.
2:36
Hello everyone. So, Crystal, how close did I get
2:39
on the pronunciation of your last name?
2:41
I think you were pretty accurate, pretty spot on.
2:44
Pretty close. OK, great.
2:46
Thank you. I got a little coaching ahead of
2:48
time. That was helpful.
2:49
So take me back to that first job we just referenced in the
2:52
intro. You were 15, working in the HR
2:55
office of a school district with 60 HR employees and about 60
3:00
schools. What kind of work were you doing
3:02
there? So I actually took a business
3:06
class in high school and you know, when you finish your your
3:10
senior credits early, you have the opportunity to take a
3:14
business class where they help you find a job.
3:17
So my business teacher, you know, had a lot of partnerships
3:20
with different local entities and I took a business class and
3:27
had an interview alongside, you know, competed with some other
3:31
classmates. And I ended up getting the job
3:34
as a part time clerk for the school district.
3:37
And if you think of internship or a clerk that you know does a
3:42
little bit of everything, I was setting, helping set up for
3:46
board meetings, I was making copies.
3:49
Anything admin related I was doing, but didn't realize, you
3:53
know, the areas that I worked and you know, how important the
3:56
office was and how large it was and the scale of HR and what it
4:01
did for the entire district. I mean, they have over 60,000
4:06
students and you know, many, many schools.
4:09
So didn't realize the impact of what I was doing, but it was
4:12
more administrative duties. And so that was initially, but
4:18
as I understand that you spent nearly a decade in that school
4:22
district HR office and you're rotating through different
4:25
functions. Was there a moment in that work
4:29
where you felt like, oh, OK, I kind of get this.
4:32
And I feel like I've got a real skill for it too.
4:36
No, not at all. Actually, I was just going to, I
4:40
think I saw it more as an office role admin and trying to get me
4:45
throughout high school and eventually throughout college.
4:49
And I think I was kind of in a rut, like what do I do?
4:52
I'm going to school. It took me longer to finish my
4:55
bachelor's degree. I'm going to school and, and
4:58
figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, but never did it
5:01
cross my mind that HR was that path.
5:05
And initially I told you because I was working for a school
5:08
district, I think a lot of US students that, you know, had
5:11
that partnership with the schools we went into teaching
5:15
just because we were surrounded by educators and we were
5:19
ambitious to, you know, like you said, make more money and you
5:23
know, have have an impact. And naturally we took that route
5:26
to go into teaching. So that's what I did.
5:30
And so how long were you in teaching?
5:34
I did that for about 3 years before I went back into HR.
5:41
So you were a teacher for three years.
5:44
You'd gone for to school for it. You were surrounded by teachers.
5:47
It just sort of seemed like a a natural good place to be.
5:50
But three years in, you decide this isn't for you.
5:53
What was it that told you that and pulled you back into HR?
5:59
Well, if I'm being honest, one of the biggest struggles I had
6:03
was passing the teaching certification.
6:06
So it was more like a probationary period and I really
6:10
struggled with I, I naturally struggle with test taking.
6:15
So I struggled with passing that test and which, which is what
6:21
created so much frustration because I love teaching and I
6:24
felt like I was really good at it and able to connect with
6:28
students. And you know, I, I still hear
6:31
from some of the students to this day, but the impact that I
6:34
made throughout their lives and, and the ability to connect, I, I
6:38
love so much. But it was that factor of I
6:41
couldn't pass the teaching test. That was the biggest obstacle
6:45
that I overcome and really never was able to patent.
6:50
I mean, I think I was off by a couple points every time I took
6:54
it. That had to be really
6:55
frustrating. So frustrating.
6:58
And it was emotionally draining as well because being a first
7:02
year teacher is really, really tough.
7:05
You know, a lot of people, their first year, they have a lot of
7:08
meltdowns. You know, that it's really tough
7:11
adjusting with the parents. And I was also teaching high
7:15
school students so, you know, having to deal with behavioral
7:19
issues. But it took an emotional toll on
7:21
me and truly I felt like a huge failure not being able to pass
7:27
this test because I knew people that were teachers that didn't
7:31
really care about students and yet they passed the test and
7:36
that made them be able to stay. But me that I genuinely cared
7:40
about the students, I just couldn't pass the test and
7:44
eventually it made me have to leave teaching.
7:49
What did you do to get through that hard time?
7:51
Is there somebody you went to for support, the things that you
7:55
were finding solace in? Well, I'm, I'm very spiritual,
8:00
so religious belief and just praying, you know, and one thing
8:06
that I do consistently to this day is I listen to a lot of
8:10
podcasts and sermons, you know, every morning when I'm getting
8:13
ready, that's what I do. So I tried to change my mindset
8:17
and, and I heard this one that I'll never forget.
8:20
And it was rejection is redirection.
8:23
So even though, you know, the the path to teaching was
8:28
something that I felt like I was really good at and I wanted to
8:31
do, I had to understand that things were happening for a
8:36
reason. And like I said, with through
8:39
prayers and, you know, just starting to gain and build my
8:42
confidence back then, I was able to kind of see it as an
8:46
opportunity to go through a different path.
8:50
And, and essentially I thought about, well, what experience do
8:57
I have? What have I done?
8:59
And HR, you know, is kind of the route that I was like, well,
9:02
I've been in HR for all these years.
9:04
So maybe I do that temporarily before I figure out what I want
9:09
to do when I grow up. So you were still in the process
9:14
of figuring out what you wanted to be when you grew up, but HR
9:18
was something that you had a lot of familiarity with.
9:21
You were looking to get back to something to kind of boost your
9:24
confidence, looking for a new job.
9:26
So talk to me about the transition that brought you to
9:30
Dallas and ultimately back into HR, because you've described a
9:33
period where you were prioritizing somebody else's
9:37
career over your own. Right.
9:41
So I'm originally born and raised in El Paso, TX and there
9:47
is when I met my one of my partners that I was dating and
9:53
he essentially got a job in Austin, which is kind of what
9:58
made us move commute to Austin and we live there for a year.
10:03
And you know, eventually he got a job in Dallas.
10:05
So we came to Dallas. That's kind of how we landed
10:08
here. But it was really about, you
10:11
know, this is someone that I thought I was going to spend the
10:13
rest of my life with. So, you know, I knew it was
10:16
going to be an investment for him, but eventually when it
10:20
didn't work out, I kind of had to start over and prioritize
10:24
myself and kind of build myself back up.
10:29
Coming back to Dallas after I got laid off with the Gaylord.
10:37
Sorry, I don't know if I can see after I got laid off from my
10:40
current place, then I moved back to El Paso because I lost my
10:45
job. I, my partner of, I would say
10:51
back then it was like 7 years, we broke up and then I really
10:58
had no, I was staying with him. So no work, no place to stay.
11:01
So kind of went back to El Paso to regroup and figure out, hey,
11:05
what am I going to do? And that's essentially when
11:10
COVID hit and I got a job six weeks after COVID hit and I got
11:18
laid off. So I ended up moving back to
11:20
Dallas, so. Wait, you, you got a job, Six
11:25
weeks later COVID hits so then you get laid off and now you're
11:29
looking what to do next? No, I got laid off, move back to
11:33
El Paso, and then in six weeks from when I move back to El
11:37
Paso, I, I get the job. Yeah.
11:40
Everyone was doing a hiring freeze.
11:42
Yeah. And everyone was laying off
11:45
their employees. I was, you know, testament of
11:48
it. And then I, you know, I prayed
11:51
about it. And I was like, God, if you want
11:53
me to stay in El Paso, find me a job here.
11:55
If you want me to be in Dallas, if that's where I belong, then
11:59
find me one there. And six weeks later I landed a
12:02
job after being laid off and started with another club with
12:06
no employees. No employees.
12:10
They were all at home because of COVID.
12:12
They were not laid off, but they were at home.
12:15
So why were they hiring and what were you coming in as like HR
12:19
director? HR Manager.
12:21
HR manager? Why were they hiring an HR
12:23
manager during COVID? The clubs probably shut down.
12:27
They've got no employees. Well, no employees that are
12:30
coming to work. What was their thinking?
12:33
Well, because if you consider it, there has to be someone
12:36
there when they eventually bring the stuff back to be able to
12:42
operate what was happening. And no one really knew the
12:46
effects of COVID and that it was going to last as long as it
12:51
lasted. I, I don't think that crossed
12:54
the mind, But you HR is really the, the bulk of, you know, I
12:59
can tell you, I felt like I was a, a doctor after that whole
13:05
COVID just because of, you know, so many quick decisions that we
13:09
had to make as, as a leadership team.
13:12
But I think it was the right decision.
13:14
And then when they came back, it gave me time to kind of build my
13:19
relationship, build relationships with the staff.
13:23
So were you basically creating the HR department from scratch?
13:27
Like had one existed prior to this?
13:30
Yes, that two had existed. The my predecessor was there for
13:35
maybe two years and then the one before that had been there 20
13:38
years. OK.
13:42
So HR had existed in this environment before they brought
13:47
somebody new in. And what was it, aside from
13:50
dealing with all the COVID shenanigans, which we can't
13:54
brush aside, that was significant, But what was it
13:57
that you were doing to try to update the HR functions there?
14:03
Well, the whole reason behind why I took that job was it was a
14:08
one person HR team and I had worked every time I work in HR.
14:14
There was a large team, you know, in the school district
14:18
that was probably over 60 people in HR and several different
14:23
departments. And then in my next role, there
14:27
was about 12 of us. So I really wanted to be, to get
14:32
stronger in the areas where I wasn't so confident.
14:35
So it kind of forced me to do that.
14:37
So to be honest with you, I was just trying to stay afloat and
14:41
figure out, hey, I need to become the expert in the areas
14:45
that I'm not confident in if I want to evolve and move up in my
14:50
career. And it really forced me to do
14:52
that because everyone was coming to me with all the questions and
14:56
I, it's not like I had someone to like I had to figure it out.
15:01
You have these employees asking you for answers and you have no
15:05
choice. You have to figure it out.
15:07
So I think the initially it was more of HR is a liaison versus
15:15
HR is a partnership very similar to where I'm at currently.
15:21
And I think what was nice was I was able to develop all of and
15:25
all of these programs and, you know, all of these initiatives
15:29
and I had the support of my leader to do that.
15:33
So the part of your story I want to pause and draw a little bit
15:36
of attention to here, Crystal, is it seems like there's a
15:42
tendency in you, or at least something that came about during
15:45
COVID to put yourself into these very uncomfortable situations,
15:49
to force yourself to grow. Was that something that was
15:53
there before inside of you, or did that come about out of
15:57
necessity given the circumstances that you were kind
16:00
of thrust into? It was kind of survival fight or
16:04
flight mode, you know, and, and I tie these all back to my
16:09
personal relationships, like partners that I was in because a
16:13
lot of my dependency was on them and their relationship.
16:17
And, you know, the hope that there's a future there.
16:21
And I in that, in that path, I neglected myself and my growth
16:28
and my opportunity to get better.
16:31
But a lot of the, a lot of the obstacles I faced was really,
16:35
you know, I really didn't have a choice.
16:37
I, there were times where I was just like, well, I, I got to
16:41
figure it out, you know, and looking back when you're going
16:46
through it, you're like, Oh my gosh, this is awful.
16:48
How will I ever overcome it? But looking back, it's like, oh,
16:52
I was that prepared me to be stronger and to be able to do
16:56
the current role that I'm in. So it's funny how life has a way
17:01
of, you know, where it all works out in the end.
17:05
Say more about this idea of HR as a partnership.
17:09
Where did this philosophy come from?
17:12
So I think old school HR has always been, you know, very
17:18
different from what it is now. It's really evolved and it's
17:22
more of, you know, employee advocacy, It's more employee
17:28
involvement, you know, things like engagement committees,
17:31
things like new initiatives that you have universities that you
17:36
build within your club or, or within your entity.
17:40
But I think before HR to me, you know, growing up being 15, it,
17:47
it felt more transactional where you went there if you needed to
17:53
print a pay statement or if you had a problem with your pay, it
17:57
seemed very transactional and not so much genuine and, and
18:02
people just didn't overall seem very happy.
18:05
And now looking at HR that becoming a leader that, you
18:10
know, with the two individuals that worked under me, that was
18:13
the number one thing. Hey, our role is to support the
18:18
employees. Like we work for them.
18:20
We are here to advocate for them, to assist them with what
18:24
they need, to listen to them, to help them.
18:26
And I think that's evolved over time and and what you see it
18:31
now, how you see it now. OK, so you got to cut your teeth
18:37
in leadership here. You get to bust through a lot of
18:41
the uncomfortable unknowns, right?
18:43
You have to take these things on yourself.
18:44
Really developing this idea of HR as a partnership, the
18:48
philosophy there. And you know, at some point
18:52
you're leading A-Team. You know they're over 300
18:56
employees at the peak, but then you decide that you're ready for
19:00
something else. What was behind the decision to
19:03
go to Colonial, where you are now?
19:07
So at the previous club I was at, I think being a one person
19:16
team, there's only so much you can do with the time that you
19:22
have as one person. And there were a lot.
19:25
I had a vision and I had a lot, a lot of ideas that I wanted to
19:31
see come to fruition and it was just merrily impossible to do it
19:35
alone. So I knew if I wanted to really
19:42
see my vision come to light and have all these initiatives go
19:47
through that I would need some help.
19:50
And I knew that at Colonial they, they, I would have a
19:55
coordinator position. So I would get some admin help
19:59
there. What really, what really the
20:03
real reason I, I wanted to move was to relocate because I plan
20:08
to move to Fort Worth. But as far as a professional
20:13
decision, it was because I was going to have some help and I
20:16
was going to be able to. Initiate all these new
20:19
initiatives and kind of see that come to life and when I first
20:24
started at colonial I immediately saw the need for
20:30
more. The coordinator we had, I shared
20:32
it with the director of office and just the amount of traffic
20:37
that we were coming through all the new initiatives, you know,
20:40
just a lot of changes that were happening.
20:43
I put in a business case to add AHR generalist.
20:49
You know, if you're in HR, you know, the most time consuming is
20:52
recruiting because you're, even if you're hiring for one role,
20:58
it can be very time consuming. So the HR generalist role was
21:02
going to be recruiting and training.
21:05
So I got that. You know, I, I was told no
21:07
several times, but I didn't give up and I was able to share the
21:12
data of how it was going to help us and they approved it.
21:19
So now we have HR generalist and HR coordinator whom I don't
21:23
share with the director of Ox any longer and then myself.
21:27
So having this team, we've been able to kick off all these new
21:31
initiatives that are benefiting the staff and really benefiting
21:37
the membership because if the staff feels like they're
21:39
supported and they're taking care of and they're valued, then
21:43
in hand the membership, they'll take better care of the
21:46
membership. So it kind of all works out the
21:50
way take. Care of your employees and the
21:52
employees take care of the customers, yes.
21:54
So what was behind the vision? What was it that you wanted to
21:59
do where you needed this extra staff so that you had the time
22:02
and resources to pull it off? As far as like what the process
22:09
entailed or? What was it you wanted to do?
22:12
You said you had these ideas for new initiatives.
22:15
There was this vision. What was it that you wanted to
22:18
introduce that wasn't there already?
22:21
I think that one of the biggest issues you see and I have seen
22:26
working in HR is, is a culture not being where it needs to be.
22:34
And I think a lot of employees are misunderstood.
22:37
I would build relationships with staff and they would come share
22:40
with me these ideas of what they wanted to do or their
22:44
frustrations. And they only felt comfortable
22:50
sharing them with me because I I built that relationship with
22:53
them. So there was a lot of a lot of
22:55
their frustrations that they didn't feel comfortable
22:58
vocalizing. And on the other hand, they had
23:01
a lot of talents that, you know, I felt like other people could
23:05
benefit from. So which is in the reason behind
23:10
our university that we created. You know, it the university is,
23:15
you know, it could be the most basic level skill that you learn
23:18
to something just really fun. Our first course was Campbell
23:24
one O 1 and then we did a e-mail building class.
23:30
And you know, the amount of knowledge that we have within
23:34
our staff that I feel like we don't always take the
23:38
opportunity to share that can actually help them, whether it's
23:42
in their day-to-day life or, you know, professionally, if they're
23:47
figuring out what they want to do in their career path.
23:50
I think it's, it's neglected because we don't do these types
23:54
of initiatives. So that was really why I knew I
23:58
wanted to do something, but I wanted to the leadership and
24:02
members to see it through the lens of the employee because
24:06
they had, I knew they had so much to offer.
24:08
And an engagement committee is a good way for them to vocalize
24:11
their frustrations and also share what they really enjoy and
24:17
what we're doing right. And that was kind of the the
24:21
idea behind that. So this in house university that
24:26
you've set up, the idea is basically just to give your
24:29
employees a way to learn new skills and to be able to advance
24:35
themselves, advance their careers.
24:38
But it sounds like maybe you might risk them advancing their
24:42
careers out of Colonial and being ready for a roll somewhere
24:48
else. Is that a risk that is worth
24:50
taking? I I think it is because we know
24:56
that we don't have a career path that we can offer to every
25:01
single person. Not everyone wants to work in
25:03
the club industry, but in hospitality, the skills that you
25:08
that you learn here you can utilize whether you're becoming
25:12
a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, I mean, whatever it
25:16
is that you take, we want them to learn hospitality.
25:20
And if they're going to advance and move up in their career and
25:24
they leave and they take that with them and they share with
25:28
other people the value that they learn at Colonial, then I think
25:34
that's priceless. Then I think it it all works out
25:37
and and we bring more people in because they share the vision
25:42
that we have. I like that.
25:44
So how long has this in house university been in place?
25:47
We actually just get, it's been probably a year in the making,
25:52
but we just kicked it off a couple weeks ago and we, we've
25:56
done two classes, we're doing two a month.
26:00
And we're really allowing all of the leaders to, sorry, one SEC.
26:07
We're allowing all of the leaders who are experts in their
26:10
field to take ownership in volunteering and teaching staff
26:18
about their craft. And so this is brand spanking
26:22
new, just a couple weeks in. Any feedback yet from the staff?
26:28
Oh yeah. Our classes have been smaller
26:32
than than we thought, but we're also getting ready for a huge
26:37
tournament that's coming in the next couple of weeks.
26:42
But you know, the, the, the feedback that we've got is, you
26:46
know, they're very grateful for the opportunity and you're
26:50
already seeing them use what they learned at work.
26:56
Like, for example, we have a fitness, a fitness attendant and
27:04
she creates signs for the membership every month based off
27:09
what the if there's a holiday or anything.
27:13
She took the Canva one O 1 class and probably two days later she
27:18
came into my office and she's like, look at the flyer I made
27:21
with what I learned on Canva. That was such a great class and
27:25
I can't wait to use those skills throughout the year.
27:30
And thank you so much. And it was just that little
27:33
moment of like, wow, you know what, the vision coming to life,
27:37
you know, and then we have, you know, some people that are not
27:42
great at grammar or reading and writing.
27:45
And we, we've given them tools of, hey, use ChatGPT, use this
27:51
platform and they're coming in my office and like, look, I used
27:55
it and you know, I'm, I'm very proud of my work, you know, so
28:01
already you're seeing it pay off.
28:02
But the beauty of the university is it's not just skill set.
28:07
There's also fun in there. We wanted to take consideration
28:12
into consideration the mental aspect and the physical aspect
28:16
of it as well. So we do like, for example, we
28:20
have a class coming up, pickleball one O 1.
28:24
You know, these these employees don't have the opportunity to
28:28
use the facility at the club. And this is a way for them to
28:34
learn how to play pickleball if they had an interest in it and
28:38
use the facilities and be trained, basically get get a
28:43
free lesson from the experts what they would be paying
28:47
probably over $100 for. So it's not all we're doing a
28:52
Breathworks, we're doing yoga. It's not all skills that they
28:59
can learn in professional development.
29:00
It's also fun and health and Wellness related as well.
29:05
So it's it's really exciting. And all these courses they're
29:09
taught by other employees at the club.
29:13
The leaders. The leaders.
29:15
So all of the leaders in their respective field, we give them
29:21
kind of our idea of, you know, we know what their area of
29:25
expertise is. So we, we assign them a class
29:29
and then they'll take that eventually.
29:32
I want to grow it because I do think we have a lot of staff
29:34
that have hidden talents and I would like to eventually allow
29:39
staff to train other stuff on, you know, some of their areas of
29:44
expertise. But for now, it's leaders
29:47
voluntarily investing their time in the staff.
29:51
And it's been awesome to see all the support from leadership.
29:56
That's great. Quite a culture that you guys
29:59
have built there where these busy leadership folks are
30:02
willing to set aside their time and, you know, help to educate
30:07
other employees at the club on, yeah, fun stuff, but also, you
30:10
know, professional development things.
30:13
And I want to talk about the big tournament that's coming up.
30:16
But first, I want to take a step back and talk to me about the
30:20
tech stack that you found when you first stepped into Colonial
30:24
and how you've evolved that over time.
30:28
About I'm sorry, what was it? The tech stack, the technology
30:32
that you found there at Colonial.
30:34
There was no technology. So I would say we did have AHRS
30:40
system that was primarily used for payroll purposes.
30:44
But as far as on the employee side, the employee access and
30:50
ability to really take ownership of.
31:00
They really didn't have that onus.
31:03
So when I came in, we did not have a HRIS system right away.
31:11
We had paper applications, we had some tied to the website
31:17
where an employee can put their information, go to our website,
31:22
put their information and and upload a resume.
31:25
But what we were doing in the HR department was every week we
31:31
were basically sending Excel spreadsheets to the managers and
31:37
basically saying, hey, here are your candidates that applied,
31:40
you need to call them. And that was pretty much the
31:44
process. It was very a lot of manual
31:48
labor. Our payroll clerk was going
31:52
every Friday. She would 'cause we we pay
31:55
weekly. Every Friday she would walk
31:56
around and pass out, pay statements and I'll never forget
32:02
she's like, it takes me like 3 to 4 hours to pass these out and
32:07
she was doing it every Friday. So I wanted to figure out, hey,
32:10
there's a better way for us to utilize our time and, and, and
32:14
her skill especially and, and the rest of us so implemented a
32:18
new HRI system 2024 beginning of 2025.
32:24
Sorry. And it was a beast.
32:27
But it was, it was awesome, and it was worth it.
32:32
Was it, you know, because there's an implementation
32:34
process that that you know, that happens before you kind of flip
32:38
the switch and go live? Once you got to that point and
32:41
flip the switch on that new HRIS system, was it just like
32:45
everything changed, everybody's got all this time back?
32:49
Or is there still a bit of an adjustment period as people got
32:52
used to it? Well, the, I, I would say the
32:56
initial convincing of not just staff, not just leadership, but
33:04
also staff. I mean, I, I, I got a lot of
33:07
pushback, if I'm being honest, lots of pushback.
33:11
You know, we have a certain demographic and they're not
33:14
going to be able to do this. But I felt confident in this
33:17
specific hours system because I already had experience with it
33:21
and I experienced it with a similar demographic.
33:24
So I think that that's kind of what gave me the confidence to
33:29
do that. But, and it all ties into your
33:32
experience. You know, I, I don't know that I
33:34
would push so hard for it if I didn't feel confident and it
33:39
working for my previous club, but it was, it was basically
33:44
convincing them and selling them on, hey, this is going to be
33:47
better for everyone. And when the implementation was,
33:51
was, I would say the hardest part because you're transferring
33:57
paper data to a system and you know, some payroll data from one
34:02
system to an X, but also the inclusivity of everything was in
34:06
one place. You were not before.
34:09
You're going to 10 different websites for one, for background
34:13
check, one for drug screen, one for this, one for that.
34:15
And now everything was centrally located and and I think you got
34:20
some pushback for sure and hesitation.
34:24
But now I think for the most part everyone is sees the value.
34:32
I'm curious about that transition, though.
34:34
How did you get those naysayers on board?
34:38
Like did some of them leave because ultimately they just
34:41
weren't buying into it, or did you just kind of wear them down
34:45
over time? What was your strategy?
34:47
Well, I'm very persistent, which which I don't give up, but I
34:52
think it was not just my word because I'm this person coming
34:56
in new. So my word didn't really have a
34:59
lot of value yet. But I think just backing up with
35:05
data. I'm very data-driven.
35:07
So being able to a lot and we did lose some people along the
35:11
way. I mean, naturally it happens,
35:13
but being able to get into the systems and actually show them,
35:20
hey, this is what we can do this how much time we're saving that
35:24
we could be doing something else productive and this, these are
35:29
the proven results of how it can work.
35:32
So I think my word had had little value because they didn't
35:36
know me that well, but it was more more so being able to
35:40
physically show them. And data of course, proves that
35:45
as well. I want to talk about your motto
35:48
Higher character trained skill. Tell me more about that.
35:53
So we feel that if a person does not have the skill set to do the
36:01
job, but some experience, then we are more than willing to take
36:06
someone that's a little more green than someone that has all
36:11
the experience but is terrible with people.
36:15
That is not empathetic, that is not a team player, that has a
36:19
terrible attitude of cancer. We we would rather take the risk
36:24
and slowly train the person coming in because you can't
36:28
teach someone to be kind. You can't teach someone to not
36:33
be arrogant and, and you know, just have a terrible attitude.
36:37
So we at Colonial feel if you have some experience or
36:44
sometimes even none, but you are willing to learn and you're
36:48
coachable and have the right attitude and values, then we
36:52
want you to work with us versus I.
36:55
I've seen it time and time again.
36:57
You see people that come through an interview and they a sit out
37:01
of the park. They're amazing and you're
37:04
excited and then they're terrible when it, and then I've
37:08
seen people that that are very timid in an interview and
37:12
they're the hardest workers that you that you'll ever meet.
37:16
So I like to give people an opportunity and a chance.
37:20
And when they show that they really want it, then we take a
37:26
chance on them and it usually works out.
37:29
Yeah. It was going to be my follow up
37:30
question for you because, you know, as somebody who's hired
37:33
hundreds of people in my life, I know that that interview process
37:38
can be deceiving. I've had some folks where I'm
37:41
like, they're amazing. This, they're just going to hit
37:44
the ground running and oh boy, doesn't work out that.
37:47
And then the opposite as well. They just, you know, they're
37:49
nervous. They don't present well that
37:51
first time around, but man, do they fit in great.
37:54
Have you found, I mean, it sounds like you're more about,
37:57
Hey, let's give them a chance. Let's see what it, what they're
37:59
like on the job and that'll that'll really be the test.
38:03
But have you come up with any techniques or questions that you
38:07
used during that interview process that you found helpful
38:11
and maybe creating a little bit of a better filter to know if
38:15
this is somebody who's going to kind of fit for you?
38:19
I would say a lot is instinct, trust your instinct, trust your
38:24
gut and not everybody has that. But but I think if you really
38:32
change the type of questions that you're asking and give more
38:36
questions that are tied to their values and their morals and you
38:41
know, get share examples of what you've done to do the right
38:45
thing. You know, those type of
38:47
questions, then you can quickly see kind of their mindset and,
38:52
and if they're in it just for the pay or, or for other
38:56
reasons. But I think I completely changed
39:02
the way that I interview and, and it also ties into resumes.
39:06
Some people have terrible resumes and they're amazing
39:11
candidates. And you know, that's something
39:13
that I tell my generalists. I'm like, call every single
39:16
person that you can call, give everyone an opportunity, get
39:20
them on the phone and see if they could possibly be a great
39:24
fit because we need entry level to, you know, executive level.
39:28
It just depends. But when I see people that
39:32
really show that they want it and they're desperate, those are
39:36
the people that I want to give a chance to.
39:39
So if you come into the club and you give us your resume, you
39:43
automatically get an interview. We're not going to tell you,
39:47
hey, you got to make an appointment.
39:48
We're going to say, hey, thank you for stopping by and we
39:51
connect you with the manager. And if and, and hopefully it
39:55
works out because it shows that you're taking that extra step.
39:59
You really want the job and you really want to work here.
40:02
And that's who we want to work here is people that really want
40:05
to work at Colonial because we know it's a special place.
40:09
Crystal, you said that you've completely changed how you run
40:12
an interview. What did you mean by that?
40:13
What's What have you changed? Just the type of things that I
40:19
look for. So higher character training
40:22
skill was came way later on in my career.
40:25
I was looking for while they have all of this experience and
40:30
this is the having this experience is going to help this
40:34
role tremendously. But then I started to see the
40:36
ones that did have more experience weren't always
40:40
necessarily the best because of their attitude or, you know,
40:44
they felt entirely titled or that you owe them something.
40:48
And you saw the ones that were more humble, they were able to
40:54
produce much better because they were coachable.
40:57
They weren't stuck in their ways, you know.
40:59
And from then I started to completely change the type of
41:03
questions I was asking for. I was asking to candidates that
41:10
came in that makes. Sense.
41:13
And like I it's not everyone has it, but I think a lot of it is
41:17
intuition and God and you. I can know within two minutes if
41:23
I want to move this person forward.
41:25
What is it that you're looking for in that 2 minutes?
41:29
The simplest, most basic things. Smile, energy, confidence, non
41:35
verbal. Are you polite?
41:38
Did you greet the receptionist that came that you that walked
41:43
you to the interview like the the simplest things are what
41:49
make a world of a difference and you'll see that that truly gives
41:54
you the best candidate. Those that have that can I would
41:59
say that can master the basics. So I want to talk about the big
42:05
tournament that's coming up. You talked about, you launched
42:08
the, you know, the in house university you're very excited
42:11
about maybe didn't get quite the turn out you were hoping for,
42:13
but that's because people are busy, they're working, they're a
42:17
little bit distracted by this big tournament.
42:20
Tell us, what is it? So that are you saying what is
42:25
the tournament overall? Yeah.
42:26
Is it? Is this the Charles Schwab
42:28
challenge that we were talking about?
42:30
Challenge We are the lot the This tournament has been around
42:38
for really long time. This tournament is broadcast in
42:43
over 200 countries. We it's pretty much all hands on
42:49
deck. So we don't only hire for the
42:52
tournament, but we also after the tournament we have, we open
42:57
the pool. So pool season.
42:58
So it's a very busy season for us, but we bring in do a lot of
43:04
donating to local community, bring in millions of dollars to
43:08
the Fort Worth community. And one thing that is really
43:13
awesome is we donate a couple homes to widows of veterans.
43:19
So I think people know about the tournament because it's been
43:22
around for so long, but I don't think a lot of people know the
43:27
investment that it gives to the Fort Worth community and also
43:30
how much they donate and give back, which is really great.
43:35
And so these homes that are donated, is that locally in the
43:39
Fort Worth area? Yes, yes.
43:43
That's tremendous. And you know, in the lead up to
43:46
this big tournament, sounds like you guys are having to add a lot
43:50
of staff, temporary staff that you know can help with all the
43:54
extra work that's required. How, how do you handle that sort
43:58
of that big burst of extra staff and then, you know, sort of the
44:02
drop off that happens afterwards?
44:05
But when you hire on staff that are going to work one week,
44:08
essentially, it's hard to instill your values and you know
44:13
that tie that into the mission and and help them understand
44:16
that. But because we're going through
44:18
a renovation, one of our buildings is closed, so we're
44:22
not having to hire as many. Last year, I think we we hired a
44:26
lot more, but we're not having to hire as many.
44:29
But we get ahead of it. I mean we have a tournament team
44:32
that is working all year long to get ready for this one week.
44:37
And that team is probably, I think there's about 8 to 10 on
44:43
their team and they have over 1000 volunteers that help them
44:50
with these tournaments. So it's a lot of preparation.
44:53
And then on the HR side, we try to get ahead of it.
44:57
So we host a on site job fair which we hosted last Monday, had
45:05
almost 100 people attend. So we make sure that we get
45:09
ahead of it so that our staff isn't overwhelmed, but we're not
45:13
having to hire as many this year because of our renovation.
45:16
Did I tell you about our renovation?
45:17
We haven't had a chance to talk about that.
45:20
Yeah, it's a perfect time. What's, what are you guys up to
45:22
$120 million investment here? Yeah, So it's been going on
45:28
since I started and I, I, I believe completion should be
45:33
early 2027 or mid 2027, but it essentially began in phases.
45:41
So phase one was the golf course over 25,000,000 to redo the golf
45:47
course. And you know, I, I could talk
45:49
agronomy, but I'm not the expert in that area.
45:53
But I know it's a very specialized type of course and,
45:57
and how they maintain it. We have a ground screw of, of
46:01
over 40 employees that work probably seven days a week.
46:07
So it, it takes a lot to maintain.
46:09
But that was phase one. And then phase two, we built a
46:14
whole new clubhouse with three high end restaurants and that
46:20
just opened in December. Awesome restaurants at what the,
46:24
the nice thing if you go to clubs, a lot of clubs, it's kind
46:28
of like you're going to your grandma's house.
46:30
The furniture, the, the, the environment, but these
46:36
restaurants, we, we hired someone that specialized in
46:39
restaurants. So they're very high end
46:42
restaurants that tie into the traditional aspect of what could
46:50
colonial truly is. So you'll see photos of Marvin
46:54
Leonard, who's our founder and you know, just players that have
46:57
played the course throughout the years, but really nice
47:01
restaurants that we have been so excited about.
47:05
And then phase three will be our old clubhouse.
47:09
We're renovating it to be an event space and that will open
47:14
hopefully mid 2027. And that will be more for
47:19
banquets and events that we host.
47:23
And we'll build a fitness and spa.
47:26
We'll offer spa services as well.
47:28
Well, that's a lot of very exciting things going on.
47:31
And you know, on the HR side of things, you just launched this
47:34
in house university that you're really excited about and there's
47:38
lots of work to be done there, more courses, you know, get
47:41
people more involved. Are there other HR related
47:44
projects that you either have in the works or have in mind that
47:48
you would like to implement at some point in the future?
47:52
Well, I think our our engagement committee when we first started
47:56
it, we kind of let anybody join and it was, it was great.
48:03
But I think there was a lot of pre planning but not enough
48:07
execution. So we're trying to we've
48:10
completely revamped it and turned it around where it's a
48:13
much smaller group that hopefully is more productive and
48:17
effective. And we also wanted to tie in
48:20
professional development in there.
48:22
So the the opportunity for them to sit in on some of our board
48:26
meetings or our committee meetings to really learn the
48:30
value of what their their voice is going to bring to the overall
48:35
employee experience and then later tie into the member
48:38
experience. That's one that we're really
48:41
excited about. And then the second part is
48:45
we've really tried to build partnerships with local
48:48
universities to a really spread awareness of what hospitality is
48:55
and what a career in hospitality can potentially be.
48:59
So myself, our HR coordinator and our executive director of
49:04
F&B, we actually just visited a local university and shared with
49:09
students, you know, just a little bit of our story and our
49:12
career path and, and what opportunities they can have, you
49:17
know, because you have students that are just like, I don't know
49:21
what I want to do. I don't have any direction.
49:23
So that's the hope with this initiative is just to continue
49:27
to spread awareness and create partnerships for students,
49:31
whether it's at the local high school or university level.
49:36
Crystal, what's 1 of the hardest things that you've ever had to
49:39
overcome personally, and what did that teach you?
49:45
I would say similar to the story I showed earlier, you know, when
49:49
it rains, it pours and you know when when you lose everything
49:53
and you have to start over, you don't realize, you know, the
49:57
blessing in disguise that's happening.
49:59
But, but I think the hardest part was having to leave
50:02
teaching and something that I was so passionate about and I
50:07
felt like I was really, really good at.
50:11
And, and now that I look back, I, I see how much teaching and
50:18
HR really go hand in hand because there's that
50:22
professional development side, there's that learning aspect of
50:26
giving trainings very similar to teaching.
50:29
There's a building those personal relationships, same as
50:32
students, same as staff. So it was really hard for me
50:37
back then, but but I wouldn't change it for anything because I
50:41
think it really helped me. If I didn't go through that, I
50:44
don't know that if I would be strong in my current role, that
50:48
would be my my mind would be a lot more, I would be a lot more
50:52
weak minded because HR is an emotional turmoil.
50:57
I mean, if you're not strong mentally, it can really get to
51:01
you tell. Me.
51:02
Why? Just because I think it's a lot
51:08
of people see HR as the principal's office and that's
51:12
not really what it is. Like I said, I I wanted more
51:17
employees to understand we are here for the employees.
51:20
We're here to advocate for them. I'm sure we have to discipline
51:24
here and there, but we don't make any decisions.
51:28
If a manager comes to me and says, Hey, this employee is, is
51:33
did XY and Z and they're a terrible employee.
51:36
We all we do is counsel and we, we advise them of the risk, but
51:42
we don't make any decisions. Our job is not to make
51:46
decisions. Our our job is to advise is to
51:48
counsel, is to hopefully steer them in the right direction so
51:53
they're doing the right thing. But we don't make decisions.
51:57
And I think if we fire someone, it's always like, oh, HR fired
52:01
me but but it's definitely not the case.
52:06
Got it. Yeah.
52:08
It's interesting here you talk about I, I in my head, I think
52:12
of it, one door closes, another one opens.
52:15
Like the phrase you used earlier is rejection is redirection.
52:19
If you hadn't, you know, spent those three years in teaching,
52:25
you wouldn't have been as ready for what came next and maybe is
52:29
equipped to handle some of those emotional challenges that come
52:32
about in the HR leadership role. And say, I want you to say more
52:38
about what it's like to have kind of worked your way into
52:41
this position of leadership where, you know, in earlier
52:45
positions, maybe you had some, you know, support, you had some
52:49
peers. Now you're, you know, at the top
52:53
of your department. And sometimes I could can get a
52:56
little bit lonely there. Right.
52:59
I think what one thing that comes to mind is emotional
53:03
intelligence. And if you don't have that
53:07
emotional intelligence, like to be honest with you, I was much
53:12
more sensitive before. If somebody hurt my feelings, I
53:16
cried. I cried alone, but I cried
53:20
actual tears and I was very, very hurt.
53:23
And I took it personal. And the more I moved up in my
53:27
career and, you know, had some really bad bosses that were
53:31
really tough on me, which which I didn't understand.
53:35
Now understand, you know, there was value there.
53:38
But the more I move up, I see a lot of leaders that don't have
53:43
that emotional intelligence. And they take everything
53:46
personal. They think it, you know, the
53:48
employees ought to get them. But until they figure out it's
53:53
not personal, it's not about them, then they really struggle.
53:58
I mean, you'd be surprised the amount of leaders at the the
54:01
highest level that struggle with that emotional intelligence.
54:04
And I think that's why I'm, I would say I'm good at my job is
54:08
because I, I know everyone has a story, you know, hurt people
54:13
hurt people. And I realized that it's not
54:19
always about you. It's, it's more about them.
54:22
So I think that helped me kind of move up in my career and it
54:26
really has helped me in my current role because you see,
54:30
you see it all the time. Just the lack of emotional
54:33
intelligence. Crystal, I've just got one more
54:37
question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to
54:40
do 3 quick things for the audience.
54:42
First of all, to learn more about what Crystal and the
54:46
Colonial team are doing, visit their website, colonialf-w.com.
54:50
They're in Fort Worth, TX, so Colonial f-w.com.
54:56
And if you're enjoying the show today, please take a moment to
54:59
subscribe wherever you're listening.
55:01
It also sends a signal that helps others discover our
55:04
podcast. So thank you for taking a quick
55:07
moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, you can get
55:11
your Country Club employees access to therapists, doctors
55:14
and prescription meds that counter intuitively, actually
55:17
increases your company's net profits, real gains that can
55:21
change how a business is valued. Contact us today at AD back
55:24
benefits.com. So last question for you,
55:27
Crystal, a year from now, what is 1 very specific thing that
55:31
you hope to be celebrating? I think the growth within my
55:37
personal team, we have a lot of initiatives that were trying to
55:47
see through fruition and, and we've gotten pushback and
55:51
there's been a cultural shift. But I think if we remain strong
55:55
as a unit that we are going to be able to see our efforts see
56:02
through and and appreciated. So I think the the growth within
56:05
my team and our leadership team is really something that that in
56:09
a year I hope to see grow. That's terrific.
56:14
Crystal Olguin from Colonial in Fort Worth, TX, The Colonial
56:19
Country Club. I want to be the first to thank
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you for sharing both your time and your story with us today.
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I really appreciate you being here.
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Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
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podcast. Thanks for learning with us.
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And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.