The General Manager is a crucial role for any business, requiring a person who understands how every department is interconnected, and who can use that knowledge to positively affect the company as a whole. Today we meet with our very own General Manager, Rachel Bullock. In her six months since starting at ShowClix, Rachel has made great strides in further increasing our overall productivity, creating more efficient channels for communication, and helping us grow our business.
Rachel graduated from Wake Forest University as a Presidential Scholar for Creative Writing, with a Bachelor of Arts in English and American Literature and a minor in Medieval Studies. She then went on to complete her Master’s in English and American Literature at Brandeis University. Before joining our team, Rachel first got a taste for the event technology industry as part of the E-Commerce and CRM team at SBE, a top hospitality company, where she helped relaunch their website and develop their reservation and ticketing systems. She then went on to become the COO of Render Media, a digital media company based in Los Angeles, where she oversaw Operations, HR, Marketing and PR, Product, Design, and the Video Production Studio.
Live events have been a huge part of Rachel’s life (she even organized a concert on her college campus), so the decision to join our team was easy! Since joining ShowClix, Rachel has quickly proven to be an excellent leader with a knack for team communication and efficiency. When she’s not in the office, Rachel can be found enjoying the wide array of concerts, restaurants, museums, and baseball and hockey games that Pittsburgh has to offer.
Tell us about a typical work week in your role as General Manager.
Every week is totally different and new! I love the ever-growing responsibilities I have as GM and the ever-changing nature of our industry. In any given week, I could be meeting with partners to understand their needs, working with Customer Care on our new Partner Community, strategizing with Sales about how Client Services informs their work, helping Product prioritize custom development for our partners, sharing and learning from my fellow Patron Technology GMs, or working on-site at an event with the Event Ops team. Then I sit back and ask: how can we make all of this run more efficiently?
With so many moving parts, the General Manager is responsible for making sure the day-to-day operations of the office run smoothly. How have you been working to ensure that the team is always operating as effectively as possible?
There is a lot of history here and a pretty well-defined rhythm to each week. I wanted to be sure that I understood what was working and what people love. I’m excited to see us ask tough questions about where we’re spending our time: why are we having this meeting? Should I even be in this meeting? I’m also encouraging people to analyze processes– just because we do things this way now doesn’t mean we have to continue down this path. If anyone thinks a process can be improved, they’re encouraged to speak up. I’m seeing folks in every department doing so. It’s awesome.
How do you think your English degree has helped you in the business world?
So many ways. Aside from the writing, reasoning, and communication skills, being an English major and participating in the Media Board on campus allowed me to take on super formative leadership positions. I was the Editor-in-Chief of our literary magazine, and that prepared me for the business world more than anything else, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. I had to make and work within a budget, recruit and lead people to help publish the magazine, make creative decisions, work with designers, hire outside vendors like the printer, learn from our faculty sponsors, stick to a schedule, and plan and host our readings. You don’t have to study business as an undergrad to learn how to work with people and help them excel in their role.
Since starting at ShowClix, you’ve been passionate about increasing overall engagement in the company from all of our team members. Tell us what you love about the ShowClix company culture and some of the changes you’ve put in place to drive connectedness!
Our bi-weekly All Hands meeting is a chance for us to hear from people across different teams, and for us to share our successes and dive deep into new partnerships. I’m seeing that meeting become more organic– and more valuable. I think one of the major benefits of touting the good work folks are doing is that managers are learning about employees from across the whole organization.
With our incredible growth comes lots of opportunity for career advancement within Patron Technology and ShowClix itself. In just the first quarter of the year we’ve been able to demonstrate the power of those opportunities; you’re seeing promotions from Client Support to Success, for example. But folks are also making shifts from PatronManager to Patron Technology, from Customer Care to Finance, from interns to full-time employees.
You grew up in Boston and Columbia, but lived in Los Angeles for 14 years. Who did you root for in the World Series?
I am a diehard baseball fan and grew up watching the Red Sox with my Dad. When I got to LA, I felt like it was okay to be a Dodgers fan since they’re in a different league. Who knew they’d go head to head like they did in 2018? I watched every game! All I knew was: my team would win either way.