IAM647- Founder Helps Facilities Utilise Technology Effectively

Rachel is the founder and CEO of Upace. Rachel started Upace after her personal frustration at her university recreation center. It is her second venture; she launched her first, “Teen Advisory Council,” while in college which was acquired by Ronald McDonald House-SNJ. Rachel has a Bachelor's in Business Administration specializing in Entrepreneurship & Business Development for Social Impact from American University.

• CEO Hack: (1) Book- Exactly What to Say (2) Finding the connection of other CEOs at different stages of their business
• CEO Nugget: Listen to your guts
• CEO Defined: Being a leader – listener, guide, mentor

Website: http://www.upaceapp.com/
www.dcstartupweek.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkoretsky/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Rachel Koretsky of Upace. Rachel, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Rachel Koretsky 0:39

Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

No problem. Super excited to have you on and before we jumped in, I wanted to read a little bit more about Rachel so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Rachel is the founder and CEO of Upace. Rachel started Upace after her personal frustration at her university Recreation Center. It is our second venture, she launched her first teen advisory council while in college, which was acquired by Ronald McDonald House, S, and J. Rachel has a bachelor's in Business Administration specializing in entrepreneurship and business development for social impact from American University. Rachel, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Rachel Koretsky 1:16

Yes, of course.

Gresham Harkless 1:18

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I want to hear how everything started. I wanted to hear your CEO story, well let you get started with our business.

Rachel Koretsky 1:25

So I started the company right after I graduated college. And it really was from my personal frustrations at my university rec center with things like getting to the gym, and it was too crowded to work out or whiteboard, sign up if you wanted to get on a treadmill or elliptical, and I kind of thought there has to be a better way. At the same time, a couple of my professors were starting an incubator program for entrepreneurs on campus, and they gave me the encouragement to kind of say, why don't you start thinking about this as an actual business? And I kind of was like, let me just graduate my senior year and like do the normal path.

And then I really took a step back. And I was like, well, maybe this is something that could be viable. And I started talking to recreation directors students in other colleges and noticed that this was a problem happening beyond my rec center. And I decided after I graduated to actually go for it and start Upace. We are a platform that's built for recreation centers, we expand it from universities, YMCA, Jewish community centers, government, Parks and Rec all around. How do you better manage your members and understand what's going on at your facilities through accessing data, but really through utilizing technology?

Gresham Harkless 2:37

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I think that I love you know, stories that start out with scratching your own itch, so to speak, and you see a frustration, but of course, you in true entrepreneurial form, you don't just say, Hey, you get frustrated and just get angry, you decided to kind of go to the lab, I like to call in and actually create something to help solve that problem.

Rachel Koretsky 2:55

Exactly. And that's the best way to it's like you're solving a problem that you see in the market. You're seeing and learning about a paperboy. And the more that you like, talk to people who are also experiencing it, the better you develop your idea. And definitely from day one to day 10 to day 100. The ideas evolved and changed so much just because of hearing the frustrations of other people and what they were experiencing.

Gresham Harkless 3:18

Yeah, absolutely. So I know you touched on it a little bit. I want you I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper here a little bit more about Upace and how exactly it works. And the benefits, of course, it provides for the people that are using it, but also for the facilities and the organizations and recreation centers you mentioned.

Rachel Koretsky 3:34

Yes, so our platform is a mobile-based platform where we have a mobile app for members of recreation centers where they're able to access tools around seeing how crowded the gym is meaning 10 people on the basketball courts, five people in the weight room, then we dive into reservation type tools. So make a reservation for a group fitness class, personal training, spa, nutrition, fitness assessments, tennis courts, racquetball courts, and the program that you have to offer on things like facility hours of operations, alerts, anything that a member might want to have easy access to at their facility to stay in touch while on the go.

One thing that were we involved in is the importance for these operators, the facility to have access to this data and understanding of what's actually happening at the facility. So we built an administration portal that gives access to data analytics, understanding who's coming to the group fitness classes, when how often we're using these tools to predict if a member is about to leave if they're happy, utilizing feedback tools within so it's really about how do we make the member experience better while continuing the members to stay more engaged and the more engaged the members are, the longer that they're going to stay? So increasing retention at these wellness and recreation facilities.

Gresham Harkless 4:55

Yeah, that makes so much sense and definitely correct me if I'm wrong. I feel like as you said like not only do you know that somebody is coming to the recreation center, but you know where exactly they're spending time and how they're spending the time. And then as you said, it gives you that opportunity to really, once you understand exactly that, though that information, you have that data, you're able to create that better experience. And it's a maybe even sometimes predict where a person's going so that you can again, be there before they even get there, which is great. It's great customer service.

Rachel Koretsky 5:23

Exactly what we always say like the more data you have, the better and even smarter decisions that you can make from from a business perspective. And I think that's relative to any business is better understanding whatever is happening in the business or at the facility and art case, the better you can take that step back and really understand where should we make smarter budget decisions or tough decisions, hiring decisions? And that's what we've seen with our facilities and what they're able to do.

Gresham Harkless 5:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I definitely love you know, data is definitely everything, especially if you have accessibility or way to kind of have access to it. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and it could be for you personally or your business. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart, it makes you unique.

Rachel Koretsky 6:06

A couple of things definitely, like our technology, from the business perspective, sets us apart from other technologies that might be out there. But I really think it is, it's our approach that we take of who we are, as a business who we are as a team that we take the approach of, we want to listen to what our clients have to say we want to continue to evolve based upon pain points, a client might experiences ideas that they might have, and really format where it's not a client, typical relationship where we really become their partner, where we're the partners in their growth, if they're having an experience that they need help with that we want them to share it with us.

And we want to be creative in their ideas on how to overcome that, or how to achieve more success. And that's something that I've really seen set us apart is just that ability to listen and to take a step back and kind of say, tell me about what's going on at your facility. And let's brainstorm together, how we can help you with technology, achieve your goals or transition a particular piece. And that's really allowed us to build really great relationships with our clients who really have become our partners.

Gresham Harkless 7:19

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I don't know if you've definitely had this experience where I feel like obviously because you guys have worked with so many recreation centers and organizations, you also have the ability to kind of mat come up with a solution that isn't maybe sometimes tested with other organizations. So you start to as you saw when you did it, you know when you came up with you pace, and just seeing that you're not the only one sometimes those issues that one organization or community center might be having might also be able to solve another person's actually come up with those solutions.

Rachel Koretsky 7:51

100%. And sometimes we hear constantly from different people. And we're also able to say, you know, let me introduce you to this director of this recreation center, who recently gone through it to share how they did overcome it, or I know they put out a PDF, let me send that to you. So sometimes it's not necessarily about our unnecessary technology. But it's also like putting the puzzle pieces together on how we can support and a lot of the times fish allergy speaking, we'll see those consistencies. And that tells us as a business, this needs to be on our roadmap, and that seems to be sooner on our roadmap because of the need that we're seeing. And that's really how we kind of build out our roadmap based on what we're hearing from the community and what we feel feel to be, most urgent on our needs.

Gresham Harkless 8:38

Yeah, absolutely. That makes sense. You know, just as those senators are using the data, you guys are also used to using the data to serve your customers as well, too. So taking the medicine that you're that you have as well, too. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO. Heck, so that could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Rachel Koretsky 9:02

A couple of different things. One book I really love, I actually have it next to me, is exactly what to say. This is written by Philip M. Jones, this is a book that's been really helpful, especially in the sales process. The second piece that has been extremely helpful in finding the connection of other CEOs, and other founders at different stages of the business to, meet and have coffee dates with to really pick their brains and what they found to be successful and find those resources. Find those people who will be the mentors and the support system. That's been something extremely beneficial to me. It's just having that and people who understand the ups and the downs that you go through as an entrepreneur, to have that support system. It's really crucial, no matter what stage of an entrepreneur you might be.

Gresham Harkless 9:53

Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget that could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice or if you can happen to a time machine, what might you tell your younger business self?

Rachel Koretsky 10:05

So if I were to hop into a time machine, I would tell my younger self to really listen to your gut, that initial reaction that you might have to things. Because you might hear a lot of advice and opinions from other people. But if your gut is telling you to stay away, or not make that decision, give yourself enough credit, no matter if you're young or don't think that you have the education or the tools or resources, make that best decision yourself. But sometimes, if your gut is telling you something, take a moment, listen to it, and reflect on it, before you jump into a decision. And that's really something that looking back I wish I'd done more of that, and giving myself the credibility, or maybe it's the confidence to trust in myself that I'm making the right decision.

Gresham Harkless 10:57

Awesome. So I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So Rachel, what does being a CEO mean to you? I think a CEO means so much to me to be able to be a leader. I think being a leader means a couple of different things, being a visionary, a connector, collaborating and bringing a team together with a common idea, being a listener, being a guide, and being able to be a CEO allows for so much creativity that allows you to expand beyond what you might normally be able to do.

And I think that it really has allowed me to grow so much as, a person, as a leader, and as a mentor. And as a CEO in the business. Also, being a CEO, I love being able to have the ability to control my schedule. And being having that flexibility is also something really amazing to be able to have that. But also being able to watch my team grow and evolve in their position, and offering the tools and resources and being able to see that is something really empowering and really special.

Rachel Koretsky 12:21

Yeah, absolutely. And I think definitely, it's a great opportunity to be able to do that. And, you know, be able to push past your comfort zone, as you say, to but also to grow, you know, individually and also see, you know, the people around us grow. And the impact that we can truly make is definitely you know, one of the more gratifying things about, you know, being that artist, as I like to say, and painting that picture of what you're trying to do, of course, and I think that's the most power, powerful thing about a CEO, it allows you to be that artist, put all these puzzle pieces together and make something really beautiful, and that you're always constantly evolving. And then you're never necessarily stuck in a roll-up position as a CEO, you have to keep continuing to improve. Continuing your vision continuing your team building, that it always is a new challenge every day.

Gresham Harkless 13:11

Absolutely. Yeah, I like to say it's always if it's not exactly how I wanted to be as the 1.0 version. So be Stay tuned for the next version that continues to get better and the girl.

Rachel Koretsky 13:22

And that's the best thing you know, you're ahead of the evolving and that you're constantly wanting to evolve, I always tell anyone that I talked to you about entrepreneurship is that once you're stuck and you stop evolving, that's when things start to go downhill. Like the notice, if you notice a bug or feedback, take all those things as a positive, because allows you to continue being involved as a business as a team, whatever it might be, but that involvement is the most crucial thing to being successful.

Gresham Harkless 13:53

Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times, the worst action you can take is no action that next day we've taken an action but not taken an action at all. And that, you know, growing that continuing to get out of the comfort zone and to push the boundaries is really sometimes where it is the worst place to be.

Rachel Koretsky 14:09

Of course, completely agree.

Gresham Harkless 14:11

Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Rachel, for that perspective and that definition. truly appreciate that and appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a hold of you download the app, and hear about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

Rachel Koretsky 14:30

Yes, of course, to get in touch with me go to our website www.upace.com. That's U P A C E app.com. And you could also follow us on any of the social media channels at Upaceapp. something additional that I think it's important to know I'm one of the lead organizers of DC Startup Week a community of 10,000 entrepreneurs in the DMV region. So if you live in DC, Maryland or Virginia check DC startup week.org We have monthly resources that our masterclasses and cowork days we're starting virtual online programs to help connect entrepreneurs to to learn to support one another with the right partners to help you take your business to the next level. So if that's something that you're interested in, please check out the site at weak that org.

Gresham Harkless 15:19

Awesome, awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Rachel. We will have the link and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. But definitely, you know, appreciate that reminder and all the work that you're doing to give back and I hope you have a phenomenal rest today.

Outro 16:07

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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