It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast

Sasha Day, President & CEO, Aramark Destinations interviewed by Dorothy Dowling

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In this episode of 'It's Personal Stories,' Dorothy Dowling interviews Sasha Day, President and CEO of Aramark Destinations. Sasha shares her  journey in her current role, discussing Aramark's diverse operations in national parks, conference centers, and attractions. She opens up about her non-linear career path that evolved through intentional and unplanned opportunities. Sasha emphasizes the importance of diverse experiences, risk-taking, and the critical role of mentorship. She also delves into her approach to problem-solving, which includes stakeholder identification, streamlined decision-making, and effective communication. Sasha highlights her change-oriented leadership style and the importance of empathy, adaptability, and fostering strong team dynamics. She concludes by sharing insights on achieving work-life harmony, stressing the importance of enjoying one's work and surrounding oneself with great people.

Dorothy Dowling:

Greetings. I am Dorothy Dowling and welcome to It's Personal Stories, a hospitality podcast that highlights the inspiring journeys of leaders in the hospitality industry. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to personal empowerment. Today, I am delighted to welcome Sasha Day, President and CEO of Aramark Destinations. Sasha, it is such an honor to have you with us today.

Sasha Day:

Thank you, Dorothy. I'm so excited to be here share some of my leadership journey and share a little bit more about what I'm doing today.

Dorothy Dowling:

Wonderful. Well, let's get to it. I'm hoping that you might start us out, Sash, and tell us a little bit about what your current role is and the mission of your organization.

Sasha Day:

Dorothy, I have the absolute privilege and honor of leading Aramark Destinations, which is one of the business lines of Aramark Corporation. I've been president and CEO for about 15 months now. And I'm so excited to share with your audience a little bit more about our business. Airmark Destinations is the operating division that operates either under a management agreement or, frankly, ownership, several types of hospitality businesses. We provide comprehensive hospitality service at many of our nation's national parks and public lands. So that could be an amazing national park, a U. S. Forest Service property, or other federal and state properties. We also have another segment of our business where we manage and operate conference centers, training centers, and leadership development centers. And these are really operated on behalf of corporate clients, university clients, and other government clients. The third segment of our business, we operate what we call attractions. These are operations where we might provide food and beverage, retail, ticketing, or other recreation officer offerings, excuse me, for guests and visitors at that particular location. Across the board with our business it's really full, comprehensive hospitality, recreation offerings in some of this country's most beautiful locations. So, for me, it's an absolute privilege to have this role. Many of the guests of this podcast may not realize that Airmark is in this business. But a quick fun fact, we actually acquired our first National Park contract in 1972. So we've been in this business for a long, long time, and I'm very thrilled to be here today and to share that with you. It's, it's a business that is truly unique in the hospitality space.

Dorothy Dowling:

And thank you for explaining all of that, Sasha, because I do think it's, it's interesting about how Aramark is often behind the scenes at so many of these beautiful locations that Canadians and Americans consider as part of, you know, their vacation experiences. So I'm really delighted that you could explain how Aramark actually works. I'd like to talk a little bit about your career trajectory now, because I know that I personally have been very inspired with you and just your amazing leadership. And I'm wondering if you can tell us a little bit about how intentional your career path has been, how you've embraced some of the opportunities and the kinds of things that guided some of the decisions you made about the opportunities that were presented to you.

Sasha Day:

So, Jordi, I have to say my career path was not intentional. I know many people have very intentional career paths. I would say the beginning of it was very intentional and some of the ways in which I've progressed have been intentional. But what I've imagined at 22 when I graduated from college, the role that I'd be in and the business that I'd be in today, absolutely not. I graduated from the University of Virginia's McIntyre School of Commerce with a degree in finance. And, and really, I couldn't really imagine what my career or the opportunities that presented themselves along the way, what they could have been at that point. Early in my career, I definitely focused on opportunities that I, I deemed from my lens as being resume building, right? I knew I had ambitions. I didn't quite know what those were yet, but I wanted to build the resume. So my, my early career moves were definitely focused on resume building as well as making sure I was making career moves that would present opportunities and open doors. That was probably, if I look back, how I really thought about that first stage. As I progressed my lens and my decision making clearly shifted I, I honestly stumbled into my first role at Aramark in 2003 which I found through old school networking this is pre LinkedIn days and truly I did, I did stumble into that role, meaning I, I didn't really know a lot about Aramark at the time. But once there, what I really found was both a company that I love and a business that I love, and I'm not trying to tout my company here too much, but, but truly that is where I found sort of combination of both company and business where I really embraced kind of the 1st role and then what could be at that point I. I would say at that point, I really set out to broaden my experiences. So up until then, I mainly had finance and consulting experiences. Then I really set out to broaden my experiences. And I had a lot of kind of guides and mentors along the way, kind of nudging me in different directions. I'll be honest but really seeking new challenges and frankly, leadership opportunities that will prepare me for the role that I have today. At that point, I did have my sights on A more senior leadership role, you know, probably a little glimmer in my mind was to have the title. I have today, although I don't know that I necessarily thought that was going to happen. But I continued to step into roles that really broadened. My experiences I ventured off the path of finance. I went into the business development and sales, which was a complete. 180 I went into operational focused roles, consumer strategy, and even HR role along the way. So. Really kind of a very diverse background. I was seeking out that, that diversity in my experience in those experiences. And I think I am hardwired in that way. I've always looked for sort of that diversity and what I'm doing. And I would say I would call that 1 of my values really that is guided by my decision making along the way, which is that that kind of diversity of experiences I would say the other lens that really guided me was really. My personal life lens, right? And what that meant at the time, it meant different things along the time, along the trajectory. There were several pivotal points where I made major decisions, career decisions to shift either to index further into sort of personal life needs, and then sometimes index a little bit out of them, frankly. I made a decision at 1 point to leave a great role in organization and prioritize both the geographic move, but also a desire to travel less and connect more fully. In the local, the local professional environment where I live I also took a breather at one point. I took a year off before I jumped back in. It was an amazing year. I'm so happy I did that. And then at another junction, I kind of leaned back into travel and shifted yet again into kind of how that personal and career aspiration. Those 2 lenses, how they balance and. And I think, you know, that those 2 elements have really guided me. But they played, played out differently along the journey, if that makes sense.

Dorothy Dowling:

Yeah, for sure it does. And I, you know, you've offered a lot of guidance in terms of. Your career path. And I, I'd like to unpack a few of those things. Cause one of the things that I admire about you, Sasha, is that you have often taken on roles that were undefined where you had to actually create the role and the scope of work and really establish yourself within a team. I'm wondering if there's anything you could offer our audience in terms of how you were able to really build those roles and own them in the way that you have.

Sasha Day:

Yes Dorothy, I have, I think if I count back, probably three or four roles that I've taken along the journey were really newly created roles, which some might think come with some risk. I will tell you, I look back, I don't regret any of them better yet, as I look at them, I think they've provided amazing experiences and really afforded me kind of giant leaps forward in my development and my leadership journey. So, you know, I'm very thankful for those opportunities. And I know when. When people come and ask me about them a lot of times people have this lens of, again, risk, being this, this kind of risk aversion lens to it. And I try to think about it as the opportunity they provide. So, it really is an opportunity to craft a role. There's no precedence, right? It's a newly created role. There's no precedence. And so you get to define the white space, and that's something that I've, I've loved in, in those experiences. There are really some important things when I think about it to consider when, when stepping into these types of roles, though. One, is it's so critical the partnership, the partnership you have with a leader for that particular role. So whoever it is that you're reporting up to the partnership you have with that person, but also the partnership you have with other stakeholders in the organization to the role. Understanding what led to the creation of the role is super important and, and kind of Funny for me, I guess, or maybe not. Interestingly several of the newly created roles that I stepped into, I was one of the stakeholders that helped define the need to create the role and then was asked to step into it. So, sometimes I was the stakeholder and then, and then the individual and the incumbent that went into the role, but I think understanding why a role was created is super important to that partnership I talked about with respect to the leader, when you step into one of these roles, it's going to be so important to help support the organizational adoption. It's not a one person show to figure out how to establish the role and get the adoption of the organization of the role. It really, I felt that I feel like you really need to lean on others to help in that, in paving that journey. They will help with endorsing and messaging to others about the role. I think that's super critical. The other piece of advice I would share is that I really think of any newly created role is to have a lens of change management. It is a change management role. By definition. Presumably, most newly created leadership roles are created because something does need to change. We either need to focus on something, innovate in a new direction, create a new process or way of doing business, look at a growth opportunity. I mean, there's a whole host of reasons why a role would be created, but inherently, it is to change something. Right. Ideally change something for the better. So I do think success in the role is very dependent both on the person's expertise and leadership capabilities, but also is largely predicated on their ability to lead with a change management lens. And I think that is super critical when thinking about a new recruited role.

Dorothy Dowling:

Well, there's a few things that I would like to just emphasize a bit that I think are particularly important for the audience session. One is just that partnership with the leader of the business so that you get that endorsement in terms of paving the way and building some of that organizational alignment. But the other, the other piece that you've really talked about is, is really leaning into others in terms of that change management role and really building it as. It's sort of an organizational effort so that everyone is on board with, with some of the change that you're trying to affect. So I think those are important areas. The other thing I'd like to unpack a little bit about some of your earlier commentary was just how you've embraced so many different organizational functions on your career journey, which I think. Have really put you in an amazing position as a CEO because you've got so much understanding of a lot of the functional components within your, your organization. So I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit about, from your point of view, how that has really empowered you as a CEO.

Sasha Day:

Yeah, yes, I'd love to. And again, I think about this, I don't know that I started with intention to move across all these functions, but then. As I was asked to, then I leaned into it and wanted to and wanted to do more of it. I think from my perspective, it's really given me the ability to see in business from so many different angles up close, right? At a broad leadership level, you're kind of looking at everything. You're scanning the environment. But when you're in these functional leadership roles, you're going to see it from a very specific lens and angle. And I think that's led to And help me have an appreciation for the nuances of different perspectives. So, for example, in my role now, I have a variety of functional leaders reporting to me. Many of them, I have been in their seats, perhaps in a different business, but I've been in their seats. And so I feel like I have an appreciation for some of the nuance that they're bringing to a discussion or a decision making process or a challenge that they're facing. I also think it has helped greatly in my leadership. So when I moved into a lot of functional roles, I didn't necessarily have the subject matter expertise. Early in my career, I did. I had a finance career, I had a finance role. Okay, that makes sense. But I took on a lot of roles that I did not have the subject matter expertise. I had to learn from my teams. And I think that, that helped me think about the role of the team and the role of the leader really differently. I had to lean on them really heavy for the expertise side of the equation. So I think I've, out of that, I've had a deep, deep appreciation for the people and for the expertise they bring to the table, because I've been in so many positions where I've really had to lean on that. I think it's also really helped me in my development of my personal leadership model. I've had such diversity in the talent that I've led in these roles. And in the diversity of that talent, I've also had a lot of diversity in my own leadership. So. I feel like I've been exposed to a lot of different styles both my own leader style, my own manager style of myself, and then the different individuals that I've led. I think that's really led me towards a model, you know, I'm not a control and command type of leadership model. I think I, I employ a model that really focuses on empowering people, is inclusive, is collaborative, and is also challenging. To ourselves on how we make decisions. I'm also a, you know, I, I definitely am a challenger in the team dynamic because I know you know, we have to be critical of how we get to a decision, or we can start to, you know, veer into a kind of a group think model, but, but I really feel like these roles have afforded me such a unique path. Opportunity in terms of how I've developed my own leadership model, my own leadership style and model, I would say,

Dorothy Dowling:

yeah, well, having had a front row seat to seeing how you lead a team, Sasha, I do think, you know, just the respect that you afford your leadership team, but also the way you coach and ask really me. Intelligent, but sometimes very challenging questions, I think, allows everyone to bring their best self to their role. So, I, I just think the breadth and, and the way you took some of the risks in embracing new roles, where you didn't necessarily have that subject matter expertise, is Something that our audience can learn from, because I think it really has set you up for being this amazing CEO, because you, you just have so much understanding of some of these functional areas. What on your team? So I'm wondering if I

Sasha Day:

am known for asking a lot of questions. Yes.

Dorothy Dowling:

And they are, they are always good questions and they, they make people think very deeply, Sasha. So it's something I respect about you. I'm also wondering if I can also ask about some of the bold career moves you have made. You said you took a year off. And you've made some very unconventional decisions, and I think, you know, we often are judged by others. And I think sometimes people might've even thought those were career setbacks with some of the decisions that you made, but I I would like to hear what your perspective was. And, you know, the sense that I'm getting is, is that they were pivotal in terms of your growth trajectory. So I would love to hear more about that.

Sasha Day:

Yeah. They, I do view them as pivotal. I think so many of these. Perhaps unconventional career moves have really put me in new and challenging environments definitely outside of my comfort zone at times. And honestly, they've put me in positions that have afforded me exposure in my own organization, depending on where I was at the time, that perhaps other positions wouldn't have put me in. And that is one of the things, when I look back, that has been absolutely Pivotal in this notion of, like, propelling my success in that some, some of the roles really set me on a track to, you know, sitting at the board table of our company, or and presenting to the CEO of the entire organization when I was much more junior in my career excuse me, at another company you know, really putting me in a position where I was working directly with our private equity ownership group so while out of my comfort zone, they've, they've allowed me or afforded me this ability to, this opportunity, this open door, so to speak, to step a little further than kind of the one step up notion, right? And I think that is largely a significant kind of, not benefit, but accelerator, right, to my career. I left. I'm a Boomerang at Aramark we call it, a lot of us are, where we left and we came back. And when I left the first time, there were a lot of people questioning that decision. And I referenced it earlier, but that was one of the decisions where I, that, that spectrum of decision making I leaned more towards something I needed for my personal life, and frankly for kind of grounding myself in the community in which I moved to. And I think a lot of people were really surprised when I resigned. But I did it for all of my own personal reasons. And I am very thankful that I did that, and the experiences I then had, I think, have helped me after I came back to Aramark, if this makes sense, to get to the position where I am. Even though I didn't know it at the time, and I'm not sure anybody else would have predicted it. But I went to a much smaller company, which meant I immediately was in the C suite there. That was the role I took, not immediately, I shouldn't say it that way, but I took a role in the C suite, right? From a, a more junior role at at Aramark. So, I was able to have a C suite experience much sooner than I would have gotten there at my company. And again, I didn't make the decision because of that, but ultimately that was a huge benefit that I had. I worked directly with our ownership. I was one of the people around the table making the decisions about the entire company. Then you fast forward, I come back to Aramark. That experience, I think, has really helped me when I came back and, and really positioned me well for this particular role, which again, I didn't realize it at the time, but it really did. So I've made, I've taken great thought in the decisions I've made. There's always pros and cons to different decisions. But I feel like I've made them for the right reasons for me, and they've really helped accelerate where I am. And again, I think a lot of it is getting out of that comfort zone. It's taking those roles that some people kind of know, you know, I'm a XYZ functional type of person. I can't go do that. I mean, when someone said lead people, well, I had never done that. But I just jumped into it, right? Jumped into the opportunity. And. And that lens, right, has helped me now in this role. So I think the way in which I've taken those risks and jumped out of my comfort zone has really helped me, positioned me for this role, and frankly, hopefully positioned me to do a great job in this role. Ideally, right?

Dorothy Dowling:

Yeah, well, I think the threat that I'm hearing a session one is obviously you've taken some risk and in some of the choices you've made on opportunities that have presented themselves, you've also balanced your own personal needs, which I think often many of us need affirmation to make some of those decisions because we, we often think our career is much more important than some of our personal needs in, in our lives. But the other aspect, I think you've really, Threaded together for us. It's just how you embrace. Learning throughout all these opportunities, and you've always looked for the growth that each of these opportunities has afforded you and then how you could apply them into other situations. So I think those are really important lessons for all of us to hear from you, because I do think we're all on that learning journey all the time. It's about how we embrace those opportunities to learn the good, the bad, the ugly and think about how do we take take that and apply it in other situations. So, one of the things that I really admire about you, Sasha, is just your focus on driving change, tackling challenges head on, and you have this ability to take on very complex problems and work within your team and stakeholders to really build alignment. I'm wondering if you can share some of that approach to problem solving that you have really developed.

Sasha Day:

Dorothy I knew this theme was coming in this discussion, and I actually took a moment to think about that, right? Like, how do I think about problem solving? Because I, I don't know that I have a discrete model, but when I think about my approach a model has emerged as I've given it more thought, which is first you know, we talk about problem solving, we talk about stakeholders, and I start with stakeholders, right? Figure out who the stakeholders are. Sometimes I think we get blinders to who the stakeholders are. What and who will, you know, whatever change might be happening or whatever decision is made, what and who will feel an impact, good or bad. That can lead us to who are the stakeholders. And for me, walking around this question a bunch of times, a couple different times. Different moments, whether in a meeting or sitting on an airplane or sitting in front of the TV thinking about that, I think, is so important because understanding the stakeholder group, I think, is the first kind of building block of, of solving problems. The second, I think, is really figuring out what the, I use the word structure, what structure is needed to analyze the issues, to think about the alternatives and consider them, to ideate on them. And then ultimately, how the decision making is going to be made, who or whom, and how, right? So I think thinking about that as leading into that, I think is super important. And for me, a key to all of that is not to overcomplicate. I think I, I probably have been guilty of it. I've certainly been part of this where it just gets overcomplicated. Let's, let's boil it down. Let's figure out our stakeholders. Let's figure out who needs to be around the table. What information do we need? In fact, how much information is enough? I think another key theme when I think about solving complex problems is really. This notion of don't let perfection get in the way of progress. We don't need all the information. Rarely do we need all the information. We're never going to get all the information, let's be honest. But we don't need all of it to make a decision and to make a good quality decision. I think for me it's really thinking about where do we land on that spectrum? Thinking about considering the risks of making the wrong decision. So, wrong decisions are going to be made at times. But what is the risk of making the wrong decision? Get comfortable with what that risk is. That'll lead us down the path of deciding, you know, how much information and due diligence and all of that we need to do. It's a risk equation. What is the downside if we make the wrong decision? That's important. The third building block is communication. That's gonna look different for different problems, different challenges, different decisions. But thinking about communication, thinking about communication up, communication, communication over. Communication down, how often, how much, how detailed, right? It's. It's got to be a really thoughtful. Component to thinking about complex problems and change management is it's the communication piece and very intentional. In my current role, I anchor back our organization to something I continually call our pillars of success. And for us, it's our people, our clients and customers, and our financial outcomes. And really, when I think about those pillars of success, they represent the key stakeholders we have as business. It's our employees, it's our people, it's our clients, it's our customers. And financial outcomes, you could argue, is our organization, right? We have We have our own organization as a stakeholder. And when I talk about these with my own team, what I talk about when we're making a decision is that those stakeholder groups or those pillars always need to be considered, every single one of them. It doesn't mean they're weighed equally though. Not 25%, 25%, 25, 25, equal weighting in a decision. It's that they all are considered. Sometimes 1 may skew higher than the other. Depending on what the decision or the issue is, but at all times, they have to be considered in the decision making process. So, we talked a lot about it amongst our team and our decision making, and it's something I've been anchoring to pretty strongly in my current role. Throughout the whole organization that as we're trying to solve problems, or as we're trying to make decisions that we always are thinking about those constituencies and stakeholders.

Dorothy Dowling:

Well, that's a brilliant model for us to really all learn from you in terms of how you, you deploy sort of that framework. Sasha, because you have a very complex stakeholder community. When I think about how you are actually serving national parks and forest service communities and all of their Goals that they have within their organizations. But I do think that for step approach and the pillars that you use to drive are, are really important things that we can all take and apply. I'm wondering if I could speak a little bit more about how you go about leading change, because again, something I admire is just that human element, that empathy that you bring, how you bring that focus. And I liked the way you said about. Don't overthink. And let's think about how much information we really need to make a decision. But I'd love to hear about how you really lead your teams through all these transformational moments. I know you talked about communication, but you also bring a lot of leadership in helping them. Take the risk, embrace the change and really deliver the business success. So can you talk about some of that transformational moments that that you drive? I

Sasha Day:

can. I think the first thing I would start with is that I personally have a change orientation as a leader and as a person. And I say this because I think that is that was important from day one. To make to not make sure, but that people know that about me. Right? It's it's I want to make sure as I walked in the door. What do people know about me and what should they know about me? I think starts to lay the groundwork a little bit, right? For, for leading with change is this change orientation. And I don't talk about change for changes sake, but really because. In my mind, and I, I, I believe this to be true of everything in our environment is constantly changing, different speeds, different things, some anticipated, some not. But I hold that assumption to be true and therefore the change orientation, I think, is the best orientation I can have as I lead an organization. It is something my team definitely understands about me. And then, likewise I want to understand them, right? So a lot of leading with change. Empathy and empathy is really about how we understand each other. I actually just went through this with my. Leadership team in January, beginning of January, we're still in January. About really understanding each other and what makes us tick, what our style is. Some of this I bring forward from my sales world, right? But really understanding people's motivations, their style, their win. I've realized how important that is in terms of leading a team and leading a team through change. How do I connect with an individual or a team in a way that they can connect, right? It's not about me, it's about how can they receive that information, that communication. I think having that context for individuals allows me to be more effective in, in meeting with them. And again, I talk about, I talked about this with the last question is. You know, really anchoring our team to those pillars of success and our stakeholders has really helped in this change journey that we've had. When people have kind of bought into this, and as the team has bought into it. I think it's made it a more, a smoother ride, frankly because the foundation is set for what we're trying to accomplish and how we're going to think about things. And when the going gets a little tough. And we anchor back to that, we kind of all get there together. And so, for me, that interpersonal element is so important. And frankly, I, I, I think my sales experience for that. I think that's where I really honed in on this notion of connecting with people where they are and how do you communicate with them? How do they want to receive information? How do they want to have that tough conversation? That is a skill that gets honed in sales. And I think bringing that forward as a leader has been very impactful for me in terms of how I can lead.

Dorothy Dowling:

Well, there's a lot of very impactful information that you just shared. I think first and foremost, the fact that you are very up front with individuals on your team, that you are a change agent, because I do think people have to opt in to organizations and fit is a really important consideration for everyone. So I think that's a mindset that is something we can all take away. The other piece that I think you've offered, Sasha, is just that connecting with people and really understanding how they want to receive information and how you can build that bridge as a leader and supporting them on the journey. And I think that element of being a team leader, particularly when you come into a CEO role and realize that you're not the doer anymore, that you've got to do it through others. That again is a very important lesson that we can all take away from you. I'm wondering if I can talk a little bit more about some of your personal life and how you blend that because you're a parent, you have three children you have a very demanding role and you've had many demanding roles in your career. I'm wondering if you can share anything with our audience about how you've really focused in on your work life harmony and how that might've evolved over your career.

Sasha Day:

I'd love to, and I love that you use the word harmony and not balance because harmony is what what I've strived for. I think for me defining what that is at different stages has been super important and it has changed, and you've reflected on that. The, the, the stages of kind of career speed desire and aspiration, right, that ambition the The balancing, I just said the word that doesn't really work, right? The harmonization that has with different phases of life for me, as I think about it, it's really been an ebb and a flow. It's not always perfect, and I've never expected perfection. I think that's number one. I have not expected perfection. It changes over time. It can change within a year. It can change based on on stages. And for me, it's really been centered around getting creative on how to make it all work. You reflected that I have three kids they are now 16, 19, 20. The impact of different stages of their lives Has been different along my career trajectory, right? I, I, frankly, right now, I feel like I'm on easy street compared to what it was, you know, 15 years ago. That's for sure. Along the way, you know it's it's getting creative on how to make it. Work to whatever work needs. Right. And I think that's so different for different people. And I think. And I hope people. Can appreciate that right that definition is different for different people, but along the way for me. It required a lot of help. I, I helped in every which way to Sunday, honestly. Paid help community, help, friendship, help, family, help. You know, all kinds of help. Partner help that's important. I thought about it and I wanted to say no guilt that that doesn't exist, but really. Thinking about, like, if I was intentional about a decision and really thoughtful about why I made it, it makes it, the guilt area goes down because there was intentionality behind it and thought behind it and consideration. I think the other piece is like, even with all of that, just a realization, you can always make a new decision. You can go to a certain path and you can hit it and make a new decision. You can pull back, you can lean in. I think has been very important for me. And I referenced a little earlier in our conversation, a decision I made at one point to take a year off. And really I was pursuing a shift in what I was doing. And my inclination was to hurry up and job search. And I had great friends of mine who were like, just give it the summer, go have fun with your kids. Like, just don't worry about it. It'll all work out. But they needed to keep me in check. It was hard for me to not feel like I had to hurry up and go find the next girl. So, you know, I had people who helped me stay, stay true to kind of that, whatever at the time was my decision. You know, right now Harmony is interesting, like I said. Two of the kids are in college, one's in high school. I travel a ton. So this notion of routine, I think a lot of people use this term when you hear it and you think, oh gosh, I'm supposed to have this exact Monday through Friday routine. I absolutely do not. But I think this notion that you could have several different routines, right? What's the routine when you are at home? What's the routine when you're on the road? That to me is the way I have defined it because if I felt like I had to have one, one routine. I probably feel like three days out of the week I failed, right? So really thinking about what does, you know, that successful harmony look like on these kinds of days versus that those kinds of days that it looks different for me depending on what's going on in the course of the week. I had a period of time, I mean, as an example when my kids were a little bit younger and I was on the road, I wanted to say hello to them in the morning. So what that meant when I flew to the West Coast was setting my alarm clock for 3 30 a. m. Waking up, calling them, saying hello, have a great day at school, putting the phone back down and going back to sleep. It was a little crazy, but I was really committed that that was what was really important at that time. Now they probably wouldn't even answer the phone if I called them. But, but it was a little crazy. People thought I was a little nuts, but for me, that was really important. It was something I did. It took two minutes at 3 30 in the morning, and then I'd fall back asleep. And I say that because there's just lots of different tools and tricks and different things, you know, along the way up my sleeve that I think have helped me feel comfortable with whatever Harmony meant at the time.

Dorothy Dowling:

Well, one of the things that I have such great respect about you, Sasha, is that you bring that human element to your leadership and you're an amazing role model in terms of How you have given yourself permission to do things in ways that work for you and your family. And I think today that's really important for leaders to model that kind of flexibility, a choice and, and how they, they look for how to do the best things for themselves and their families. So I thank you for that. We're coming up near the end of our interview now, Sasha, and I'm just wondering if there's any final words of wisdom that you would like to offer. To our audience in terms of powering their personal success,

Sasha Day:

I have a couple little words of wisdom or what I would say to myself when I was starting my career maybe do things slightly differently. But you know, I think the, the notion that there's no one journey, I don't feel like you have to have it mapped out. There's not one journey. There can be multiple journeys and shifts along the way to be willing to shift. Right. You might have had your sights set on something, but be willing to shift. Be willing to think about something a little different. And you know, find something you really enjoy doing. We spend a lot of time of our life working. You're not going to enjoy every minute of it, but find something you enjoy doing and surround yourself with great people. And not people that all think like you, but just great people. I have just found, along the way, when I surround myself with great people both at work and outside of work, interesting people, different perspectives, it's just been so enriching. So I would say surround yourself with great people.

Dorothy Dowling:

Well, thank you for that, Sasha, and thank you for taking the time to share so much of your journey and your wisdom with our audience today. I just think that you are an amazing role model that we can all learn from, and I'm very grateful for the time that you've spent with us. Our podcast tagline is Empowering Personal Success, and I just think you've shared. So much for everyone in terms of how you have built your own career, but how they can learn from you. So I would also like to thank our audience. And if you have enjoyed this interview, I hope you'll visit us on our website. It's personal stories. com where you will see webcasts and podcasts from other industry leaders that will empower your knowledge and fuel your spirit. Hope to see you there. Thank you.