Transcript- Episode 136: Stay Ahead of the Game: Aligning Education with Industry Demands with Monique Reaves, Chief Revenue Officer of the Rose Bowl Stadium Episode 136

00:00:00 - Monique Reaves

If there's something that schools can arm students a little bit better, I think just if we're going to speak to all populations, to all demographics, then we need to be able to teach students how to do that because they're the next ones up to take the torch and do these events. That I think would be really helpful.

 

00:00:19 - Christina Barsi

The workforce landscape is rapidly changing, and educators and their institutions need to keep up. Preparing students before they enter the workforce to make our communities and businesses strong is at the core of getting an education. But we need to understand how to change and adjust so that we can begin to project where things are headed before we even get there. So how do we begin to predict the future?

 

00:00:44 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Hi, I'm Salvatrice Cummo, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at Pasadena City College and host of this podcast.

 

00:00:53 - Christina Barsi

And I'm Christina Barsi, producer and co host of this podcast.

 

00:00:57 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

And we are starting the conversation about the future of work. We'll explore topics like how education can partner with industry, how to be more equitable, and how to attain one of our highest goals, more internships and PCC students in the workforce. We at Pasadena City College want to lead the charge in closing the gap between what our students are learning and what the demands of the workforce will be once they enter. This is a conversation that impacts all of us. You, the employers, the policymakers, the educational institutions, and the community as a whole.

 

00:01:31 - Christina Barsi

We believe change happens when we work together. And it all starts with having a conversation. I'm Christina Barsi.

 

00:01:38 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

And I'm Salvatrice Cummo. And this is the Future of Work. Hi. Welcome back to the Future of Work podcast. I am your host, Dr. Salvatrice Cummo. Today, we have a very special guest, Monique Reeves, the Chief Revenue Officer of the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium. Monique is the first Latina to hold an executive position at the Rose Bowl Operating Company, which is significant in itself. Over the past decade, she's overseen some groundbreaking events, from Carol G's sold-out concert to record-breaking viewership numbers for the Rose Bowl game. But what truly sets Monique apart is her drive to make diversity and inclusion a key part of her leadership, creating opportunities not just for the venue but for the entire community. Today, we'll talk about how Monique and her team are preparing the Rose Bowl for world-class events like the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. And we'll explore how those events will impact the future of sports, entertainment, and workforce development with that. Welcome. Monique, how are you?

 

00:02:47 - Monique Reaves

Thank you. I'm very good, thank you. Nice to see you.

 

00:02:50 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Again, nice to see you again too. We had the pleasure of being on the panel over at the Future of Work Conference. And so I'm really happy to have like a one on one time with you.

 

00:02:58 - Monique Reaves

Yes, it was a great conference. There was so much more to be said. So I'm glad we're doing a recap here. Good.

 

00:03:05 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Well, I'll tell you what, why don't we just get right into it. I know a little bit about your background, but for the listener, what led you to your current role as a Chief Revenue Officer and just a little bit about your journey and kind of what led you here to this point?

 

00:03:20 - Monique Reaves

For starters, I don't that I can recall. I don't believe I've ever said no to an opportunity. When the door opens, the window opens, whatever that's sane may be. I've always went through it and tried it out for size. It just happened to be the right place, the right time in my college cycle for my internship to have it be with the Rose Bowl stadium. And just every door I opened was just so exciting and new, and I just kept pushing through. I never took no for an answer. I just kept asking more questions and kept pushing my way through. So, it led me to where I'm at today. I didn't have CRO in my sight line at the time when I was out my future dream board or vision board as I love to do once a year. But the right opening came across my desk, and my boss is now our CEO of the stadium. He was promoted to that role, and his opening came across, and I felt like I was the best candidate for the position. I had been through so many different roles, so many different departments, so many different journeys and operations and in sales. And so I just have always kept the be ready mentality at the forefront of my mind, and here I am.

 

00:04:32 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

I love that. I love that as a community. We've been talking so much about the Olympics, the World cup and what does that mean for us and we touched upon it a little bit at the conference. But I wanted to spend a little bit of time kind of thinking about through your perspective, through your lens with these two major events coming and the Rose bowl being a historic venue. What does that mean to you personally to be at the helm of these events and what is your approach and then how are you preparing to leverage the opportunities both for the Rose bowl as well as the community?

 

00:05:11 - Monique Reaves

Yes. So, just to clear up one item I forgot to mention, for the World Cup. So we are hosting the Club World cup with FIFA next year in 2025. That will come to us in June, towards the end of June. And that one is a first time tournament overseen by FIFA. They tried it a year prior, but they're making this one bigger and better. Bringing in six of the most prominent soccer club teams, football club teams, and including 32 teams in this round robin style tournament. But that aside, so the focus currently is on LA28. I will say to briefly address the World cup though in 2026. Even though we are not a selected venue, that doesn't mean that we have plenty of interests coming our way in the soccer world that may play out. I definitely foresee us having a role in the games that are to come. And also building a great relationship with FIFA for 2025 is a great lineup as well. So a little bit of addressing the World Cup. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities along the way in 2026, especially knowing that we will be the host venue for soccer in the 2028 Olympics. There's a lot of inquiries out there for teams to come and try out the field just in a friendly, just to get ready for that Olympic round. But that aside, you asked about the opportunities that probably will face in the coming years for these events. Before I did the Future of Work conference, we were actually in the thick of meetings with LA28. We actually have them on site with us today. A week before I went into the Future of Work conference, one of the guests that was visiting with us was mentioning I shared with him my journey of going to be at the Future of Work conference and he was excited and wanted to pass along information. And the jobs aren't there yet, but we're going to need a lot of help and we'd love to tap into to the local colleges or local community and how do we get out there? Please help us navigate. If you have a way, send them to me. So definitely see a lot of opportunities playing out for us. It's not an uncommon conversation that's being had. And as I mentioned in the conference as well, there's just so many entities that staff are building that they will need to ramp up when there's one big event in town. The workforce is so stretched thin. So, ramping up all these entities with jobs is going to be quite a task, and we're all up for it.

 

00:07:30 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Absolutely. I think that, and you mentioned it, these events do bring on not just financial impacts but also boost the local economy in the way of creating jobs and local businesses. At the conference we talked A little bit about and not enough, and that's why I'm bringing it up here, is that we talked a little bit about how influential and vital your role is in pushing for more diversity in the workforce. Right. And so I want to spend some time talking about that because you shared some really great golden nuggets at the conference. And so I'd like to extract them and kind of build upon them here. But how do you see this increased representation, both in leadership and across the board, affecting the success of the stadium? And why is it important for others to really understand the value of diversity and leadership?

 

00:08:27 - Monique Reaves

It's funny when I took my position, I didn't really see the part I brought to the table in diversity and inclusion. And really how that came about was I had a nice little influx of people in my LinkedIn reaching out to do conferences or speaking engagements. And there's been so many little moments along the way. Up until now, I'm two years into this role where it definitely made me look at my role a lot differently and want to find ways to open up more opportunities. You know, when PCC reached out to another one where it was, you know, said yes to help bridge that gap and be in this chair and let others see me for me being here. And I think that's step one of, as I mentioned, the conference. If they can see it, they can be it. So. But I also just find so much joy in seeing there's a lot of different business associations I want to speak to more on, like Latino Business Association over at. I'll give the University of Irvine a shout-out. They were the first one to ask me to be their keynote speaker, and I was just so honored.

 

00:09:29 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Oh, congratulations.

 

00:09:31 - Monique Reaves

Thank you. So that was a while ago, but just moments like that of seeing just how much interest there is, it's just you don't see a target audience just showing so much continued interest into my field, because when I was going through school, I didn't really know about it. I didn't really see it. There really wasn't much to look up and say that I could do, that there's someone like me in that role, I could be there. I think it's just a natural gravitation to as many times as I can get out there and do these types of podcasts. That's kind of a big step for me on inclusion, diversity. I didn't really get to touch on it at the conference, but, yes, there are thousands of people that work here. However, we are city entities, so we range between 38 to 42 full time employees at one given time. So as far as me holding the door open to let someone else come through, it's not as easy as I say it. When there are thousands of job opportunities that link back to the Rose bowl, there's one or two hires a year, if that, and we'd like to not do as much turnover. So hopefully it's less than that in opportunity. But as much as I can hold the door open and help create new opportunities for the next generation, and if that not be with the Rose bowl and I can inspire them to go through the realm of security or any of logistics, parking, traffic, food and beverage, I will do that and continue to be that bridging gap. But I know you had a second part to this question as well, and I already forgot what that second piece was, but hopefully that answered a little bit on the diversity and inclusion piece.

 

00:10:57 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Yeah, my second piece of it is why you feel that it's important for others to understand the value of diversity and leadership.

 

00:11:05 - Monique Reaves

I think we're in a unique spot in California specifically. We have a large, very diverse population. So I don't think you see that as strongly throughout the country and specifically in our region. We need people in this field, in any field. Right. That are relatable to the population at hand. And the more we can integrate that, the better we all get at our jobs. I couldn't do my job. I think it's, we're going to talk about it later, but I couldn't do my job without interpreters or someone to help communicate certain things to me to different audiences. And as we saw with Carol G. That was our first Latina concert, sold out two nights. And that's a whole demographic that we've never spoken to. So how can we not have a work population that reflects the population that's coming to our events? So that is the definite what we need to what we love focusing on and diversifying. And it's not just, that's just one demographic. Every. I think every. There's pockets of communities that we still haven't addressed but, you know, 102 years old. We're going to keep working at it and keep knocking them off one by one and making sure that we're addressing every culture and race that we possibly can because we're a proud, diverse community and we want to reflect that in our business.

 

00:12:16 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Excellent. And just kind of along the same line of conversations around diversity in the workplace. Equally as important is the alignment of programming as educational institutions as we prepare the incoming workforce and channels and Platforms like this, the Future of Work conference and the Pulse newsletter. Those all offer our students and our community to see what is possible, to hear what is possible. And so I really appreciate you talking about your experiences even coming into the roles bowl in this position and what it did for others and for yourself and opening up doors and holding the door for others. And I'll end what you just shared because what I'm hearing is you didn't know that that was going to come. It naturally came because you're seated at that seat and you're able to share and show what is possible and that we need to pay closer attention to the diversity in leadership. Specifically, in previous conversations you talked about the importance of bilingual and community centered hiring practices. I want to spend a little bit of time thinking about how can educational institutions better align their programs to prepare students for these roles in both leadership and event management. So tell me a little bit about how we could better align our programming.

 

00:13:52 - Monique Reaves

Yes. Gosh, I feel like when I speak about anything college related, I feel like the dark ages because it was so long ago and I'm sure curriculum has changed and there probably are classes on exactly what I'm speaking on. But.

 

00:14:04 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

But you know what Monique is like, we need to hear from you. So okay, we have to hear it. We have to hear it. We have to constantly be in this momentum of growth and constant improvement. If we don't keep going back to what is it that industry you yourself are facing in the workplace, we have to hear it. It doesn't suit us not to. So don't feel, you know, just go for it. It doesn't even matter when you went to college.

 

00:14:28 - Monique Reaves

Okay, it might be repetitive but examples for me when I was in school, I didn't realize in the event management world I touched on a few of the areas when I. Sustainability wasn't really a thing back then, but that is a whole nother area. But the areas I wasn't aware of, I wish there were classes or focus on when it related to accessibility or ada. ADA compliance even like sign language has become such a huge thing. It slowly trickled in a little bit. In my beginning years here at the stadium we always had to have a sign language interpreter for our concerts. That's the first time I ever saw an interpreter. But it's definitely gained a lot more momentum. I think you see on social media there's been some really engaging sign interpreters that interpret a concert and that's looks like a lot of fun. But these are requirements in an event. I think when we think of an event, we just think of the basics of how you set it up, how it happens, and how you put it all away. And there's just so many other pieces in there that are so huge, and you have to do it by law. So if it's something by law and we're not even teaching that piece of it, then that goes a long way into inclusion for our events. I wish the workforce put a few classes into place that are definitely an ordinance or a law, because you step into that and that's. I think I'm more paranoid because I'm in a city spotlight. So you really have to be on your P's and Q's for public safety and for inclusion and ADA and all that stuff is at the forefront to make sure that you're checking all those boxes. But that's something that those are classes that aren't really taught in schools, and I don't think anyone's ever thought to teach them. But it plays such a huge role. It's so much bigger than those three components of an event. There's just so much more detail that goes into it. And I wish that we had a little bit more of those types of programs available to understand and. And to speak to different demographics, because you're just maybe classes for language, I think that's like a known thing. Like you have classes for that you can sign up and grow your skill set and speaking multiple languages to help with your future career event, whatever that may be. But that's kind of really it of how you can become stronger. Maybe there's certification for logistics or event planning, but I don't think we have any of those types of classes that address all of our ADA needs or any different types of compliances that we need in these events. And we're missing the mark on that one. It's definitely siloed, but it definitely speaks very. One of the things on these Olympic site visits or in conferences that I keep hearing is accessibility is a really huge thing for the Olympics. And we just haven't put eyes on it yet. And it's a law, which is strange that we haven't. So if there's something that schools can arm students a little bit better, I think just if we're going to speak to all populations, to all demographics, then we need to be able to teach students how to do that because they're the next ones up to take the torch and do these events. That I think would be really helpful.

 

00:17:15 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Monique, I was thinking that perhaps maybe we could spend just a Moment if you could share a time when you had to be creative in hosting an event at the stadium.

 

00:17:27 - Monique Reaves

I do have a few examples. I'll probably lean on a fun one with a Coldplay. They are a very huge sustainability focused artist and group and they imposed a lot of different requirements for us to become more sustainable than we currently already are. We had to engage with a company called Turn cup and we had to pretty much flip all of our drinks into a recyclable cup and come in with recyclable trash cans and make sure that in the night all cups are picked up and placed into big recyclable containers. It was quite a feat for a sold out show, but we had to pivot with that one for them as well as another fun project we had to work with them on was they flipped all of our CD and pageantry that you see when you come into shows into tote bags. They recycled all the banners and fundraised with the tote bags from the banners. So that was a fun, unique, creative opportunity that we got to embark on together.

 

00:18:24 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Excellent. And what do you think those two creative opportunities or creative thinking that you had to do in hosting those events, what do you think the implications are for the industry as a whole? You know, where should we be focusing on as an industry as it relates to stadium and event management?

 

00:18:41 - Monique Reaves

It's definitely not going away. Definitely see quite a few local stadiums and arenas that are flipping to these recyclable cups. It is pretty costly to keep up with the program and we haven't figured out a way to make that affordable for venue and consumer. But that is definitely coming. If not here, it's definitely at our doorstep. It's not uncommon. It's becoming a more common artist request to start having venues be more sustainable. We have a show coming up in August of next year that they were pretty focused on our green efforts so not going away anytime soon and definitely are being pushed to get better at it.

 

00:19:18 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

That's fair. It's fair. It's not just a Rose bowl stadium problem, it's a whole industry problem.

 

00:19:22 - Monique Reaves

Yes.

 

00:19:23 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

And it's nice that that we're kind of in this intersection of solving it together. And you know, just based on the conversations we had at the conference but here and then also the push and the emphasis and focus on clean. It's not going to be a problem solved overnight, but it is a problem to be solved by the collective. So I really appreciate you sharing that story. Which leads me to think about, you know, when you have these moments of Creativity with the Rose bowl in adjusting and adapting to the event, how do you maintain balance, how do you maintain balance between the Rose Bowls? Rich Legacy. Right. With the need to shift, adjust and adapt to the creativity part of hosting such events in such. In a very high pressure, high profile environment that we are in today and the pressures around it.

 

00:20:13 - Monique Reaves

Yes, I think we did a great job. I have a good example of pivoting quite a few years ago when we had word of different venues coming up online, different stadiums and arenas being built and we needed to secure our future. And there's a little mix, a fine line to walk between legacy and creativity. And we were approached by one of our partners, AEG Golden Voice, a giant in the music festival world that puts on shows like Coachella and Stagecoach and came to us and wanted to create a music festival at the time. And we have the perfect grounds to do it. And minus all the dust, we have over a 300 acre property here with the Brookside golf course combined. So we were able to do an environmental study on the surrounding areas to make sure that it would be environmentally friendly and okay for our neighbors and surrounding community. And we pivoted to a 10 year plus contract with them to do festivals on our golf course grounds. So that was a huge win for us because you can build a stadium all you want, but no one can build beat this five star park that we have and then some. We joke that it's a five star park, it's definitely a 218 hole golf course and that is what it is first and foremost. But it is beautiful grounds for outdoor events and it's definitely a space we never thought to tap into other than for golf. So slowly but surely. Well, that and parking. Everyone knows we park the golf course, but it was an area we didn't envision to be that type of real estate. But it's actually worked out beautifully and it's brought together the community at large and just been great for economic impact to Pasadena. So definitely a creative moment where we connected legacy and creativity together.

 

00:21:54 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

I love that. I love that. Now, Monique, I know we're at time, but I wanted to just quickly gather from you if you had one takeaway from our conversation today for our listener and you wanted to make sure that our listener honed in on this one key takeaway.

 

00:22:09 - Monique Reaves

What would it be when things get complicated? Don't give up.

 

00:22:13 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

So true.

 

00:22:14 - Monique Reaves

Yes. I find that we often go for the easier. We'll take the easier route or do the easier project first, which that's okay, but don't leave the hard one to the side and to go back at it. And I think that really sets you apart from others is those that are willing to tackle the hard and not the easy. So don't run away from the complicated or the challenging. Embrace it and you'll have a great career from it.

 

00:22:37 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

And it sounds like that's where creativity innovations is birthed, right?

 

00:22:41 - Monique Reaves

Yes.

 

00:22:42 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Thank you. Thank you so much. And if lastly Monique, if our listener wants to follow your work or get connected with you, where's the best place for them to connect with you?

 

00:22:53 - Monique Reaves

LinkedIn is my favorite home for that. Okay so but my information is also on stadium website where you can connect with me directly on my work email, but I catch up on a lot of my day to day in my workforce on LinkedIn, so that's I love that little social media site.

 

00:23:09 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

So we'll be sure to enter that into the Show Notes. Thank you Monique so much for spending yet some more time with me, some more time with our Pasadena City College community and the community at large. We thank you so much for being just a beautiful thought leader in this space. Our home and our doors are always welcome to you. So anytime you need anything, we're here.

 

00:23:33 - Monique Reaves

Thank you.

 

00:23:34 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

All right, have a good one.

 

00:23:35 - Monique Reaves

You too.

 

00:23:38 - Dr. Salvatrice Cummo

Thank you for listening to the Future of Work podcast. Make sure you're subscribed on your favorite listening platform so you can easily get new episodes every Tuesday. You can reach out to us by clicking on the website link below in the Show Notes to collaborate, partner or just chat about all things Future of Work. We'd love to connect with you. All of us here at the Future of Work and Pasadena City College wish you safety and wellness.