Hiring for Humility, Feeding for Connection & Running Offices Coast to Coast

Podcast Transcript

_{Grace Curry}

And I think that's one of the things that I value the most about Roku is that they understand the importance of having those moments of connection. And in those moments are when the teams come together and then build the best chemistry for their actual workday.

_{Adam Landsman}

Hi, everybody. Welcome to our next episode of What's Working. I'm Adam Landsman, senior vice president of growth with Sharebite, the number one meal benefits platform built exclusively for companies. I'm here today with Grace Curry, regional manager of Workplace for our number one streaming platform, Roku. Grace, welcome.

_{Grace Curry}

Thanks. I'm happy to be here.

_{Adam Landsman}

Thanks for being here. So let's jump in. You spent a lot of time earlier in your career working in live events spaces, hospitality. You spent time at very cool places like Barclays Center, New York Philharmonic. Tell us a little bit about how you got started in this career and how you got to where you are today.

_{Grace Curry}

Sure. So I actually went to school, Brooklyn College. I was a theater major.

And so that's where I got my start in the world of entertainment and events. When I graduated, I worked at an off Broadway theater called Vineyard Theater. Shout out to them. And so that's kind of where I fell in love with managing front of house operations and box office.

And from there, I went into Barclays Center. And that's kind of where I continued my career with front of house and box office. And I think one of the most memorable things about being at Barclays Center was actually getting trained by Disney, because that was so monumental for me in the start of my career because they really focus on hospitality, they focus on the humility of it all, and more importantly, being kind to people. And so I've really taken that throughout the extent of my career, is kind of focusing on being kind, first and foremost, and caring about the work that I do.

_{Adam Landsman}

I've heard a lot about that Disney training program, world renowned.

_{Grace Curry}

Yes.

_{Adam Landsman}

How do you take what you've learned there and apply it to some of the more workplace roles that you've had since then?

_{Grace Curry}

I would primarily say, again, caring about the work that I do. There's a very big difference between just taking on a job versus caring about it. And being in those worlds of events where you often have very long days, they're very demanding, I think it's important at the end of the day to focus in on this is actually something that I care about doing and that I'm making memorable experiences for people. And so that is what really helps you get through the day.

_{Adam Landsman}

That's a very powerful statement, right? The ability to care about people and incorporate that into your day to day. Sure. That's great. Talk to me a little bit about the live events space. What do they get right about dealing with people that maybe, folks in an office setting can really learn from?

_{Grace Curry}

Yes, I would absolutely say in the theater world, we have a mantra called yes, experience along, moving the operation along, I think, is really where the world of events kind of gets it. A lot of times in the corporate industry, there's politics that can get in the way, there's hierarchy of things. And so, I think with live events, you kind of have a nonstop kind of way of doing things and going about the workday, and you really fully understand that your work and skill set can either propel the movement forward, or it can be a hindrance.

And that's kind of what I've carried into the corporate world of saying that my skill set and my presence and my ability to be part of the team and be a key team player, it's going to have an effect on the people that I manage and the department.

_{Adam Landsman}

What are some of the drawbacks of working in such a high pressure, live event, long workday situation?

_{Grace Curry}

It is extremely demanding. The hours are quite long. You know, you start your day at nine a. M, and then you often end it at nine or ten o'clock because you're there for your regular administrative day, and then you're often a part of the first half or sometimes the full event, depending on how large of an event that it is.

I know with the box offices that I've managed in particular, sometimes you'll have a certain discount code that needs to be created, and you're the manager that programs that in on the back end. And so you kind of have to be on call even if you're not necessarily there on-site. And so it's really, really demanding.

_{Adam Landsman}

Okay. I'm sure you get this question a lot. What's the bestcoolest event you ever worked at?

_{Grace Curry}

Oh, I would say the Jay-Z concert at Barclays Center, eight shows back to back, all sold out. The most amazing thing about that experience was seeing the demographic of people.

You'll have a seventy year old couple, you'll have a twenty five year old couple, you'll have kids, adults. It's really amazing kind of being present for things like that.

_{Adam Landsman}

I don't remember what year you're talking about, but I may or may not have been at one of those shows.

_{Grace Curry}

Yeah.

_{Adam Landsman}

All right. So let's talk about your role today. So Roku, huge company. Everyone, I'm sure, knows Roku. Happy customer. How did you get to Roku?

_{Grace Curry}

I got to Roku, I started back in September, actually. They had posted a role earlier in the year, needing a regional workplace manager, and it kind of made sense with where I was in my career. And so I took a shot, I applied. And I started back in September, like I said, and it's been a whirlwind ever since.

_{Adam Landsman}

All right. So I love asking people this. So what do you actually do? How would you define your job?

_{Grace Curry}

Yes. So

_{Adam Landsman}

And this could be a very this could be a, you know, ten minute answer, but how would you define your job?

_{Grace Curry}

So I manage the East Coast operations. So I currently I started with managing five offices, and now I manage six, Toronto included. And so I oversee New York, Stanford, Chicago, Boston, Concord, and Toronto.

And so essentially what I do is I oversee the workplace operations, and so there are site leads and workplace staff that report in those offices, and I'm sort of the regional strategic partner for how they balance their budgets and different vendors that they work with and kind of making sure that they stay within the overall organization direction for our OKRs for the year.

_{Adam Landsman}

Got it. And understanding that Roku has been around for a long time, you've joined relatively recently.

_{Grace Curry}

Yes.

_{Adam Landsman}

How do you marry the things that you've learned in your career that you might be eager to implement or try out with the culture that already exists before you got there?

_{Grace Curry}

Oh, that's been quite the challenge for me, because, in companies like the one I was at before, Vestwell, I It was a very small company, startup, and so, as you know, with startups, decisions are often made a lot faster.

There's less red tape to get through. And so it's been a little bit of a task for me to in the beginning, it was anyway, to kind of get used to going through the red tape again, so to speak, and kind of the hierarchy of things. But at the same time, it's been a little more rewarding with having an additional larger team to kind of balance ideas off of and kind of have more of a checks and balances where it's not you that's solely responsible for so many decisions. There are a number of people that take responsibility, and so there's there's a comfort in that as well.

_{Adam Landsman}

Okay. So you mentioned Vestwell, fast growing fintech company. Obviously, I think you alluded to the fact smaller companies are able to move much faster.

_{Grace Curry}

Yeah.

_{Adam Landsman}

What was the number one biggest adjustment you had to make going from a fast moving tech company to a, I'll just say, a bigger tech company?

_{Grace Curry}

Yes. I would probably say having to delegate a lot more at Roku. So, at Vestwell, I initially started out overseeing their HQ location in New York, and then that quickly expanded to me opening their office in King of Prussia and then an Austin, Texas office. And so, also pretty much building their workplace department from the ground up, which was a task within itself, but it was quite fun, to now being at Roku, there are multi layers of management where that didn't exist for Workplace at Vestwell.

And so it has been nice to have other people take on the responsibility of the strategic direction. And so I would say that's probably been the biggest difference, is not having to wear so many different hats from the frontline person to the manager to the director and kind of seeing how all of the decisions and processes that I'm putting in place will affect the subsequent offices, there's already processes in place. And so I don't have to think of all of those things from scratch. So that's been the biggest difference, really delegating responsibility.

_{Adam Landsman}

So you talk a lot about processes. Super important. Obviously, complement to the processes are the people. Yes. What do you look for in the people that you're bringing into your organization and typically working with?

_{Grace Curry}

I would say humility, first and foremost. You can teach anyone how to navigate softwares, but someone that has humility, someone that has integrity and actually cares about the work that they're doing, I think that's really important because a lot of times in workplace, it can feel like a thankless job. You know, we are the backbone of the culture. We are the people that run the operations.

And so even when it comes down to things like events and stuff, we plan those things from the ground up. And so more often than not, even when we have an event, we are still kind of having that work hat on to make sure, is everything where it's supposed to be? Does that need to get cleaned up? And so I think that's probably what I would say, yeah.

_{Adam Landsman}

Workplace, lot of responsibility. Most people divvied up into two buckets. I'm sure there's, you know, twenty other buckets as well. Some is the space. How do you build a space or fit the space to attract talent to get them to come to the office on the days that you may want them to? And then the other is all of the the other, the culture and and other things. What are some of the things in those two buckets that you have found to be really important to drive the culture at Roku, for example?

_{Grace Curry}

I would say having spaces for people to decompress. So having, like, a wellness room, having, a terrace, which is nice, we have a terrace, in one of our offices, And having dedicated areas that cater to when someone needs to take a step away from their desk, they can do that. Part of that culture is also feeding into or paying attention to the specifics of each office. You know, the culture in New York is different from the culture in Boston or Stanford. And I think one of the things people appreciate most is the differences between our offices, and kind of the restaurants that are there and the snacks that are there. Everything is not one hundred percent the same in every office. And so I think it is nice for people that are visiting from the UK to see our cold brew that they don't have in their offices or, you know, the different restaurant options that we have or how our Roku connections differ from the ones that they have there.

_{Adam Landsman}

So you you brought up Roku Connections, and you started talking about food, obviously, near and dear to to to my heart.

Yes. Talk first of all, can you explain Roku Connections? What does that mean, and how does it maybe differ per office?

_{Grace Curry}

Sure. So Roku Connections are events that take place every month. It can be one to two times a month, depending on the office location, but it's basically an opportunity for the team to connect outside of Roku meetings or the the rigmarole or the mundane tasks of the day. It's just a chance for us to connect and chat about what's going on in our day, our personal lives, whatever comes across our minds.

_{Adam Landsman}

And how much does food play a role in either Roku Connections or just in office life at Roku?

_{Grace Curry}

Oh, it's it's a huge part. It's really the heart and soul, I would say. I think most events are most highly attended when there is some sort of food involved. And this is something that I've noticed industry wide.

It's not necessarily specific to Roku. I think what is a really important thing to people is having food options that are not only good, but relatable. And it really kind of gives people an easy way to have that introductory conversation with someone that maybe they want to introduce themselves to in the office that they haven't met. A simple, How's that sandwich?

What do you think about the food today? You know, that kind of gets the conversation going. I know it's been a resource for me. I'm a little bit on the shy side, and so having things like food or snacks to reference are a really great way for me to kind of measure what's important to employees, and that's often been a great talking point for me.

_{Adam Landsman}

Got it. Well, it sounds like you've partially answered this next question, but I always ask, you know, out of all the perks, out of all the benefits, of all the things that help drive culture, retain top talent, etcetera, what are one or two of the non negotiables, must have?

_{Grace Curry}

Oh, coffee, first and foremost. It's it's crazy to say, but most a lot of people can't really function without coffee, and, it's it's very serious if the cold brew ever goes out of stock.

So I'll just put that out there. The second thing I'll say is, for a non negotiable, I would probably say is having those opportunities for connection. And I think that's one of the things that I value the most about Roku is that they understand the importance of having those moments of connection.

And in those moments are when the teams come together and then build the best chemistry for their actual workday.

And so that that plays a major role, I think, into building those relationships and kind of having that trust with coworkers.

_{Adam Landsman}

Sure. And is there something that you've tried either at Roku or other places that just flat out failed, didn't work?

_{Grace Curry}

I'm gonna say no, because I think I've done a pretty good job at understanding the nuances of the places that I've worked at. And so I've only ever suggested things that I felt would either be received well or that I could present a really strong case for. What I will say, though, is there was a company that I suggested Summer Fridays for that, they were dead set against it. And so I wasn't able to roll that out, but I tried.

_{Adam Landsman}

Why were they dead set against it?

_{Grace Curry}

Well, I think it's just a company culture thing. Some companies just want people to kind of lean into their, unlimited vacation policy if they want to take half the day. And so that was kind of where we met in the middle is they did have unlimited PTO, and so they kind of felt like people could leverage that during the summers if they wanted to. So that was something that I just reinforced to my team, that you do have this available to you, and that was kind of how I compromised with that.

_{Adam Landsman}

Yeah. So I know you've only been at Roku for a relatively short time. So in that time thus far, what's your fondest memory of Roku?

_{Grace Curry}

I would honestly say the holiday party.

_{Adam Landsman}

Okay.

_{Grace Curry}

That holiday party that we had back in December in New York, we hosted it at a mini golf place, and it was really wonderful because I got to see, first of all, how Rokuers party. So that was quite fun. But also, I kind of got to see how people partner up for their teams of six, and kind of where they decide to play within the space, how dedicated they are to their play. You know, when you play a game with someone, you can see a lot of their personal characteristics that they may not show in their, you know, nine to five day. And so it was nice to connect with the employees in that way.

_{Adam Landsman}

Well, I look forward to, joining you next time we can compete against each other and see what we All right, let's shift gears a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about technology, tools, things that you and your team use to get your job done. What are some of the best practices in terms of processes or technologies, software solutions that you may have purchased or subscribed to that really help you get your job done?

_{Grace Curry}

Well, I would say a couple of things. I strongly encourage folks to leverage softwares like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, which is great because you can actually get certificates for the work that you're doing. So I encourage my team to use that.

Also, most recently, AI is explosive in the industry. And so Roku has taken special care to ensuring that we all fully understand the nuances of how we can leverage AI for our jobs, and also things like Claude, creating efficiencies, really also organizing documentation. That's been a task that I've been very passionate about to ensure seamless transition from staff members to, what we're doing in New York, how that may cross over into another office location. And so I think that's been one of the best ways that we've kind of created process efficiencies.

_{Adam Landsman}

Okay, I normally don't bring up AI, it tends to come up naturally. I won't ask you which is your favorite, you know.

_{Grace Curry}

Claude, for sure. I'm fine with sharing fine.

_{Adam Landsman}

Right, well, is great. I would love to shift to our lightning round. Couple quick answers, first thing that comes to your mind. What's one thing every office should have?

_{Grace Curry}

A full team.

And I say that as coming from previous startups where it was just me and I had to be IT, I had to be workplace, I had to be facilities. I think those things can sometimes go overlooked, where they think that they can just have, like, an office manager or a coordinator, and they wear all of those hats. But I do think that there is a world where it matters to have a full team for every office location.

_{Adam Landsman}

All right. What's the workplace perk that sounds great but never delivers?

_{Grace Curry}

This is gonna be really controversial.

_{Adam Landsman}

We like that.

_{Grace Curry}

I wanna say unlimited PTO, because as I do love unlimited PTO, and I am absolutely for it. However, I do think that some people either don't leverage it or some people get carried away. And so that's where it can be a little bit tricky depending on who's using it.

_{Adam Landsman}

I do think there are studies that have come out to say that the average employee takes less vacation when they have unlimited PTO versus when they have a set amount. So I guess there's a lot of psychology that goes into Is there a book, a person, or an experience that you've had that has helped shape who you are and why you are where you are today?

_{Grace Curry}

I would say most recently, Ion Le Van Zent.

She is a spiritual life coach, so to speak. She's a person that really preaches pouring into yourself before you give to others. And that's something that I've actually adopted this year.

And it's really helped me in my role as a regional manager, is kind of starting my day with a slow morning to pour into myself before I'm then tasked with managing six different offices and being pulled in so many different directions, it's really made a world of difference in how I deliver on my work day to day, is just knowing if in the middle of the day I had I'm having a stressful time, I know that I pour it into myself at the start of the day, and that really sets the tone for me being grounded, so

_{Adam Landsman}

All right, you anticipate the next question.

What is the number one tool or habit to keep yourself organized?

_{Grace Curry}

Reminders.

_{Adam Landsman}

What is your go to office lunch?

_{Grace Curry}

Oh, a sweet green salad. Barbecue chicken salad to be exact.

_{Adam Landsman}

Okay. Two more. What is your go to move for some quick vibe boost?

_{Grace Curry}

Music. I love music. As my mom would say, music really it lives in your spirit, and it changes the environment.

_{Adam Landsman}

All right, finish this sentence. People do their best work when?

_{Grace Curry}

They are compensated well and when they care about the work that they're doing. Because when you are not passionate about the bottom line, the job is just the job. But when you're having a really long day, at least you can say, you know what? This is something that I actually care about doing at the end of the day and I'm passionate about, and so that kinda makes it a little bit better.

_{Adam Landsman}

Alright. There we go. Thanks so much, Grace. We really appreciate you joining us on on what's working.

_{Grace Curry}

Thanks.

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