Host Wayne Whitzell speaks with Tracy Hawkins, VP of Real Estate and Workplace at OpenAI. Tracy shares her career journey across global tech and lifestyle brands like Yahoo, Calvin Klein and Twitter, outlining her core philosophy of human-centered leadership. She highlights how focusing on team psychological safety, authenticity and practical AI tools that allow facility and workplace teams to eliminate friction and focus on what truly matters: supporting people.
Great facility management isn't just about managing square footage; it's about building spaces where people can do their best work. In this conversation, Tracy Hawkins, VP of Real Estate and Workplace at OpenAI, shares key leadership and operational insights gained over a career spanning Yahoo, Twitter and OpenAI.
Together, Wayne and Tracy explore:
Whether you are managing local facilities or scaling a global corporate real estate portfolio, discover how leading with empathy and leveraging technology thoughtfully drives operational excellence.
Resources mentioned:
Tracy Hawkins: [00:00:00] if you see a chance, put yourself out there. What's the worst that can happen? You don't get it, and you go for the next thing. Say yes to the opportunities that come your way, even if you feel like, oh, I don't, maybe don't have all the experience.
And I bring in expertise from my team. You know, I'm definitely not an expert in everything that we do, but I have amazing leaders within my team who I can lean on.
Host: Welcome to Connected FM, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources to help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by IFMA, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you are ready to grow your network and advance in your career, go to IFMA.org to get started.
In today's episode, host Wayne Whitzell speaks with Tracy Hawkins, the Vice President of Real Estate and Workplace at OpenAI. Tracy shares her career journey across global tech and brands like Yahoo, Calvin Klein, [00:01:00] and Twitter, outlining her core philosophy of human-centered leadership. She highlights how focusing on team psychological safety, authenticity, and practical AI tools allows facility and workplace teams to eliminate friction and focus on what truly matters: supporting people.
Now, let's get into it
Wayne Whitzell: Welcome to the Connected FM podcast series. Once again, I'm your host, Wayne Whitzell, and I am very, very pleased to announce our guest, Tracy Hawkins, who is our VP of real estate and workplace with OpenAI. Tracy, say hello to the folks.
Tracy Hawkins: Hi, everybody. I am very happy to be here. Thank you for having me today.
Wayne Whitzell: Tracy, there's a, a lot of people I talk to in this industry, and a lot of people I mean, I've been in the industry 35 years, really 26 years in, in IFMA's and the associations, you know, you and I frequent. And y- you start to [00:02:00] hear things about different types of leaders. You start to... People have reputations.
And I- I have to tell you, you have probably one of the most meticulous reputations I've ever encountered in this industry. People who have worked with you, for you, alongside of you it's, it's, it's rare to have so many people commenting on your leadership, your track record, and, and honestly, the way you treat people.
And I've heard so much of that about you, and, and I'm fascinated by that kind of leader because you don't get that all the time. And that's something I just wanted to bring out at the outset here, Tracy, that, that y- you know, I don't know sometimes if you, if you get that kind of feedback yourself or if you even know that, but that's the, that's the word on the street about you.
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah, it's, it is really nice to hear that. But I believe that, you know, successful teams, it's about the people together, and that's why I'm so focused on the people. That's how the work gets done. It's not about any one [00:03:00] person. And so whenever I'm making a decision, whenever I'm looking at the work that we have to do, it always goes back to my team and how we elevate that team, how we come together to solve problems.
That's really, really important. You can have the best tools in the world and the best support from your management, but at the end of the day, it's the team coming together to make things happen. And so, I'm very focused on my people. I never, ever want anyone on my team to have those Sunday night scaries where they think- Oh
"Oh, I just don't wanna go to work." You know, everybody has that odd meeting that they're like- Mm-hmm ... "Oh, I've got to deal with this situation or that particular person." But I want my team to feel like they're doing work that's really important, that matters, that is seen. And so as much as we can celebrate the achievements of the team and educate the rest of the company and the folks within the company around what we do and why it matters, I think that's really important.
Wayne Whitzell: Boy, we got right into this like a slingshot, didn't we? I mean, I mean, that... What a KPI that might be to have [00:04:00] a, a, a, a Sunday night check-in on 0 to 10 how do you feel about, about tomorrow? What a KPI that would be, right? I... L- listen, I, I, you, you focus right on the team, and I think that's what we see a lot in, in, in facilities, especially people at your level in facilities.
We're gonna get into that here. There's a lot to get into, but you have a, a real binary choice in some ways. You can become an ogre and a dictator, which we see a lot, quite frankly, in some senior levels of organizations even in facilities, even among our own. Because that's one pathway, and s- in some ways that's an easier pathway in some ways.
The longer, more difficult pathway is the pathway that you just described, which is a, a, a true leadership pathway of getting involved with other human beings a- and meeting them where they are, and creating other leaders. I, I saw something on LinkedIn a couple of days ago where it said, "You're not a leader until you've created another leader who created another leader."
Tracy Hawkins: Mm-hmm.
Wayne Whitzell: And, and I, I suspect that, that if someone were to look at the, the, the wake of people behind you in your [00:05:00] career I would undoubtedly find that. And let's just talk about that for a second, your career journey and your experiences as a, as a leader. You've been at some pivotal companies at pivotal times.
Mm. And I think the only person I know maybe that might rival that is Chris Waffler with some of the history she's had and places she's been. But c- can you just give us a brief flyover of some of these marquee names? I th- I think their... people will be very interested, if they don't know already, the places you've been and, and some of your experiences there.
Tracy Hawkins: Sure. I'm happy to do that, but I did wanna dig into one of the things you said- Sure ... which is about leaders that have gone elsewhere and, you know, I, I am really proud of that. You know, I look at Samia, who's back on my team at OpenAI, but was leading real estate at Udemy. Helen Moyes on my team went off to be a head of real estate as well at another company.
So, that to me is really important. Like, you know, you're looking at the next group that are gonna go off and be leaders and, and model that leadership behavior, and I think that that's really, you know, pivotal and you should always be looking at your bench and how you [00:06:00] grow folks. And on your point around the different types of leaders, it's just not f- I just don't see it as fun to be the ogre type, you know?
It's, it, that's... You know, we do this every day, we spend a lot of time here, we're away from our families. Why can't it be fun, you know?
So on my career journey I've been really lucky at some of the organizations I've been at to be there at such a pivotal times as well. I was at Yahoo in 2005 when Yahoo was the big thing and the growing big internet company based out of London. So I got to, you know, really get that perspective outside of a headquarters, which I think is really important when later on you come to the US and you're leading that team from the US to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the folks in the regions is really important to understand those cultures, to understand the experiences and, and how different it is to do our sort of jobs outside of a headquarters.
So Yahoo was really that kind of training ground for me, fast moving [00:07:00] projects, and I was looking after everything through the facilities gambit, through the project side of things, and kind of managing that end-to-end experience of employees in our spaces in, in Europe. And that's where I just really fell in love with the facilities and real estate side and getting to understand different pieces of that world, but also working in tech.
You know, just it's really shaped me in the way that it's really hard for me to work anywhere that's slower now- ... because I'm just used to the pace. Mm. So yes, I was at Yahoo for a little while. I went to Calvin Klein, and fashion is not my thing. I'm not a Devil Wears Prada- ... type of a girl. But it was really interesting to learn not just about office spaces and how to look after them, but also warehouse environments, showrooms retail, and just how different that is.
So it was, it was... Even though I sort of look at it as maybe a little bit of a misstep and a, a different experience, I did learn a lot. And it also taught me that w- I wanted to get back [00:08:00] into tech. And so I thought about which company do I actually like and do I use? And, you know, it has to be... I- when I work somewhere, it has to be somewhere where I really believe in what they're doing as well.
I can't just go somewhere that builds widgets. I've gotta believe in the mission. And I actually did use Twitter at the time. I was on Twitter. I loved it. It's where I got my news and kept up to date on what was going on. And so I went on Twitter that day when I was like, I, you know, I want a new role, and uh, they tweeted out a job right there and then.
It was like EMEA facilities lead. I was a director of facilities at the time, but I was like, even if it's a little bit of a step sideways or even down a little bit in my career it-- I care more about the role and the, what I'll get to do, and this looks like a company that's growing, and so, and I also use the prod- the product.
So, yeah, I ended up moving to Dublin for that role and, and worked at Twitter for nine and a half years. So went through the growth cycle, [00:09:00] went through the cycle when things were looking a little bit more challenging, learnt a lot in both, and then obviously was there when the company got- , and behest 収...
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Wayne Whitzell: Well, what an exciting career path to- to look back on. It's I mean, rarely do- do- do we get so much opportunity to be in a high-growth model and- and at the points in time with some of those things and some of the inflection points that you've been through.
So I- I suspect also some of those challenges that you've been through because it- it... Listen, everybody dreams of having you know, a- an easy flywheel kind of existence where I [00:10:00] just tap the facilities department flywheel, and it keeps going and runs like a machine in the top. But in reality, that- that doesn't happen.
You might get a few days of that once in a while, but, Mm-hmm ... but you learn from those other moments o- of- of realignment and turnarounds and things like that. And- and rather than just kind of beating one's head against the wall or- or chafing at all of that, is really embracing that and saying, "Okay, this is, this is what leadership is."
It's not #CEO leadership and flying around on jets and, you know, having the right handbag. It- it's... No, it's- it's- it's- it's hard. It's difficult. And- and the fact that you've r- you know, remained this kind of open and calculated leader that a- has her eye on the bench in the middle of the tumult, and I suspect you are the type of leader that takes all the bullets and passes the credit as well because you wouldn't be where you are w- without that.
I- I- I just think it's remarkable, Tracy. I- I really do. And- and you know, i- in terms of- of how- how your involvement with these organizations has [00:11:00] shaped you and- and made you a better leader, can you talk a little bit about- about that, and especially the, you know, the challenges that you faced?
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah. I mean, a big part of my leadership experience came from Twitter.
I was there for, you know, a good chunk of time, especially towards the end of my time there. You know, there was a lot of ambiguity, priorities were changing quickly the external narrative was loud. You know, y- when you have the president talking about what's happening on the platform, there's a lot of focus on the company.
And then internally with all the changes, people were looking for clarity at a time when, you know, there wasn't always a neat answer to give. And I think in those sorts of situations, and I think most of the time my approach was to be honest about what I knew and what I didn't know. And I don't think leaders help people by pretending there's certainty when there isn't or they have all the answers.
I think what you can do is create enough structure for the team to keep moving. And so I focused on the things that, you know, [00:12:00] I felt that we, that I knew about, and which is we had to keep operating no matter what was happening around us. We created a lot of stability for the rest of the company, so if they could see the offices were working well and that there was kind of the...
Their environment felt consistent, that's what we were there to do. I talked to them about, you know, decisions that potentially had to be made now versus ones that were made later. And just protected the team from, from the noise where- wherever I could and said to them, "You know, our, our mission as a team continues.
We create the foundation of the employee experience. If we can be consistent with that, then, you know, we're doing our job, and we just focus on that as our role, eyes on the prize. If there are updates, then I'll, I'll provide them, and I'll always try and be as honest as I can and create a clear communication, and even when the answer is we just don't know yet."
But I feel like that experience really shaped me. It taught me that leadership is [00:13:00] not just being calm when things are tidy. It's also about stepping up and, and being useful to your team when things are messy. And so, you know, that's, I j- that's... I- I'm no different at home than I am at work. I try and be the same person the whole time.
I know some people have a work persona and a home persona, and I get that as well. I get why you kind of would compartmentalize those things. But for me, I think that auth- authenticity is really important, transparency. I respect my team for the professionals that they are and hope that that works both ways, and I want them to feel empowered with their work, to own their work, but also if they feel like something is going wrong or that, you know, they need support, that they can come to me and that I'm approachable and that I will always be, you know, a coach or somebody to give them a different point of view or help them when they need it.
But I never wanna be that micromanager, you know? We [00:14:00] have so much happening at OpenAI. There are new things every day that we have to deal with, so I really have to be focused on translating what I'm hearing from our leaders to my team so they can just go off and do it. And we have the smartest most passionate, caring, good humans on our real estate team, on our real estate and workplace team.
And so why wouldn't I let them go off and do what they're gonna do and, and shine and get that work done in the best way that they can? So I think sometimes as leaders we just have to kind of step back, let the people do what they need to do and be available to them when they need help, and then help them translate what's going on.
You know, I've seen so many leaders who when they go and talk to the business, it's all about square footage and, you know, real estate-y things that really aren't that exciting or- really that accessible to our, to the folks we're, that are outside of our department. And so what I just try and do is listen, understand what they [00:15:00] really care about.
Sometimes it can just be like, "I want music in the office," or, "I want somewhere for clients to go," or, "We need somewhere for team bonding because something is happening at the moment where we really need to focus on that." And, and I think that's really important. And one last thing that I learnt from Twitter and that I try and carry with me is, you know, it really is about the people, not just in our team, but the people that you're working with and supporting.
We had a situation where when I first started back in 2013, 2014 the London office, we were about to move them to a brand-new office from a serviced office with crazy uneven floors and the odd mouse running around to a full-time office on Air Street, which is just off Piccadilly Circus. And so I was going in to talk to a, you know, a select group of, of the team to understand, you know, handpicked from different departments by the site leader that- to talk to them about what they need in [00:16:00] their new office.
And I, as soon as I walked into the office, I just felt like, oh my goodness, that feels like something's happened. It feels kind of sad. There's an atmosphere, like, what's going on here? And so I got into this meeting, and they shared with me that they'd just found out-- and it's a small office of maybe just under 100 folks.
They'd just found out that one of the team members there had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. And so everybody was really, really upset. She was an early-stage employee with the company. And sadly, a few months later, she actually passed away. And so they really didn't care about their office.
They just said, "We want to do something to commemorate Lucy Lucy Mosley." And so I was thinking, oh my God, I've never met this person. How are we gonna do this? And so I went in her Twitter feed and was scrolling through to try and get to know her a little bit. And at one point, the whole office, it's an amazing office, had come together and learned to knit, and they'd knit her squares and made a [00:17:00] blanket.
And so I'm going through and I'm reading about this, and she'd just put in there, "My amazing colleagues, thank you so much. #LoveWhereYouWork." And I was like, that's, that's it. That's the thing. And so what we did in the space was we made a, a kind of beautiful sign that said #LoveWhereYouWork. And then throughout the space, we had this structure that ran through the space that at one point was bar height.
You could use it to wait to go into a meeting. Somewhere else, you could sit on it. Somewhere else, it was a table. And we burned into the structure a poem that they'd read about her, and we put little Easter eggs around the office a-about her. And I think to me, that is one of those things that you just-- it's all about the humans.
The space is about the humans. How do you embed that human piece into the space? And, and that incident, while sad, really brought it home to me about w- this, we do this for people at the end of the day. We do this for the employee experience, and, and that's something that I'll, will always stick with me
Wayne Whitzell: wow.[00:18:00]
I mean, there's a lot in what you just said there. I wanna, I want to unpack a few of those things. Two of the things that really stand out to me are two words you said, honesty and authenticity. And on the honesty piece is there's a lot of leaders that don't, don't connect with the, the, the human experience of their employees.
And, and the employees are looking at them and listening, and they know what's going on in most cases. And when a leader comes in and does the rah-rah or the Jedi mind trick or however you wanna phrase it, and, and not honestly contend with the issues, the employees know that. And, and that creates a barrier, and it, it also creates a less psychological safety, another big theme in our recent podcast.
And they're not going to go to you because they think, "What, what kind of honest answer am I going to get from this person?" So honesty, I- I love the way you talked about that phrase, especially during the, you know, your Tw- your Twitter years. But the authenticity is kind of interesting to me as well because, well, it's
We're in an age what I call an age of manufactured authenticity. And Those different personas that you talk about, work and home, is I [00:19:00] think that's what, quote, "growing up" should be or is, is when those two things are reconciled. Mm-hmm. You know, in junior high, you- they're very divergent, right? Because you wanna fit in- Yeah
when you're a kid. Yeah. And then, you know, who you are at, at home might be different. But when those two things converge or get closer and closer together, that's I see when you see comfortable human beings, human beings that are comfortable with themselves and others, human beings that are not as buffeted about by situation and, and causation outside their own control.
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Wayne Whitzell: But really I wanna talk about this human first approach. I mean, we haven't talked about data. We haven't talked about KPIs. We haven't talked... You, your entire discussion here so far has been human focused. And I, I think a really, a, a way maybe to translate this into facilities is I h- I've had the very good fortune of being in all of your facilities and seeing the inside of these things.
And the shocking thing when you... And I've been in a lot of other tech company facilities, but when you, it, it hits you like a brick wall when you go into an O- OpenAI facility. This does not feel digital. This feels as comfortable as grandma's house.
Tracy Hawkins: Right.
Wayne Whitzell: I mean, it's, it's, it, the, the, the, the choice of finishes, the, the fabrics, the, the, the...
A- and some of them are a little bit more, you know, they're, they're not your basic nylon fiber or things like that. And they're, they're, they're softer and, and it's a very welcoming human environment. And I think what you've done in terms of with the [00:21:00] facilities the people in facilities, is when you focus on them as people first, th- these s- you have people that will crawl over broken glass to help you and the organization when that relationship is there.
It, it creates a it's a, it's a force multiplier with the team. People don't wanna let their team down because they recognize them as more than just a cog in a big machine. Mm-hmm. And I see what you just described here i- i- in your last portion here is really fostering that as a leader. It does take time, and it, it takes taking a backseat sometimes yourself to, to these things, and a lot of times.
And a- a- and creating that kind of force multiplier with your team of knowing there's, there's a, a reciprocation with one another and, and, and, and not a, a, a necessarily a competitiveness, but a true team environment. And I do see it, y- y- one cannot help but walk through your facilities and see a plan The plan is we're going to...
These are tools that are used by humans. Our facility should, [00:22:00] should exemplify that, and it shouldn't feel like tech, it should feel human. So everything you're saying in the FM department seems to dovetail with design and everything else that's going on at, at, at, at OpenAI. Am, am I spot on with that assessment?
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah. I mean, I think what we're trying to do as well is, is create environments where people can do their best work, right? Mm-hmm. And so, you know, I think we, we have our own tagline for the team, which is, you know, creating the spaces where the future gets made. So we're all very aware of what the team are doing and how important that work is.
But creating that foundation for teams to do their best work is what we're super, super focused on. You know, making it comfortable, not over the top, but giving folks what they need so they can really focus on their core work. And as far as, you know, elevating the team and recognizing the team, I think that helps them do their best work as well.
I mean, I have to, you know, remind myself and think about where when I started my [00:23:00] career, I started on a reception desk. You know, I started as a receptionist then became an office manager, then was manage- managing multi-sites, then was doing, you know, regional responsibilities. And so at one point, I was helping with the mail in the mail room.
I was going around tidying the meeting rooms. And, you know, I still straighten the chairs and do all those things in the meeting rooms. No one is too senior or too good to do those sorts of jobs. Like, it's all our whole responsibility, and we are eyes and ears for each other. And it's a one-team approach.
And so, you know, if I see a spill, if one of my direct reports see a spill, we're gonna tidy it up. You know, we're gonna report a ticket to the janitorial team or to the engineering team. It's a, it's a shared responsibility. And so I like to, I like to hope and think that the experiences I've had and the different roles that I've done helps me understand and put myself in the shoes of my team and can relate to them.
But we also do provide opportunities to be able to elevate the [00:24:00] team. Some of the work that I might not see. You know, I'm trying to stay connected to my team as, as we grow, but it becomes, you know, harder and harder. And so I try and do things like office hours where anybody can come and we can have a chat, whether it's about work or not work, you know, personal stuff.
We also have an award within the team where twice a year the team can nominate a peer and they can't nominate a manager and, and we don't nominate. W- they can nominate a peer for great work that they've seen someone do. And so it's not always about the noisiest work that gets recognized and the reward for that, so that goes to the leadership team, people vote and the, the winner gets to choose whichever office in the portfolio that they wanna go to, spend a week there work with the office manager, the person leading there to understand, you know, maybe a different type of culture, go and do some social things together.
But it's still the, the prize is kind [00:25:00] of connected to what we do as a mission and learning from each other all the time. But I think the recognition piece is important. You know, facilities the operations side especially, is hard. There's a lot of behind the scenes, not glamorous kind of just expected that everything should work.
But it's really difficult, and a lot goes into that, and as things get more complex, it gets harder and harder, and there's all these people in the background working really, really hard to provide a great experience to people, and I want that to be recognized, and I want it to be elevated. You know, we build out these great facilities Our project management get team get to go, "Oh, you know, I took a blank space, and here's an awesome end product."
And so they get a lot of kudos for it looks so wonderful. Our food team get to provide, you know, great food to people and s- and that's close to folks' hearts, so they get the recognition in the moment. But our facilities management folks, and that's where I really started, are, are in the background doing this work that is, [00:26:00] like, foundational to everything else, and really don't get as much kudos.
So I think it's really, really important to elevate that work 'cause it's hard, and it's so crucial, and it's that first impression that people get when they walk into a building. And so it's the, the bedrock to everything that I am always so, keen to celebrate, and we have some amazing people on our team, supported by folks like yourself.
Wayne Whitzell: Well, I'll tell you, you, you, you again, the f- the focus on the, on the people, especially the people that are doing this, this yeoman's work behind the scenes, that is facilities, right? If, if everything's going well that's great for facilities, but it's... They're not championed. They're not out in front.
And there's the connection between maintaining the original design, maintaining the original commissioning everything throughout the, the, the life cycle of a building is... It's not glamorous. You're right. But but I, I, I wanna talk about the... tie that into what, what I guess is the elephant in the room.
And I'll just preface it by saying that, Oh, gosh.
Tracy Hawkins: What
Wayne Whitzell: the... I I s- in 20 minutes with you o- one time when we [00:27:00] had a discussion, I learned more about AI enablement of FM departments than I've learned in years everywhere else. And obviously you say, well, of course, you're in the belly of the, of the, of the beast here, the people that can do this really well.
But you know, when you talk about things like when we went to open office you had some facilities teams which went there first. And they said, "Okay, we're going to do this." I remember at Cisco Systems, a friend of mine there, Joy Nasith with Jones Lang Lasalle. She said, "Nope, our team is gonna do this.
If we're gonna make everybody do it, we're gonna do it." And, But you're doing this with the tools that OpenAI has created, and I mean, it- it's- there's so much theory going on out there, Tracy, where you go to meetings at that, you know, the various organizations we're in, and people are talking about AI, and in a lot of cases it's vendors sharing their particular solution as opposed to- Mm-hmm
empowering and teaching people how to use these tools for themselves. And when you describe some of the things your team is doing and at the level they're doing it's very, very impressive. It's not laboratory stuff. It's, I mean, it's you're field [00:28:00] deployed on so much, and one of- Yeah ... the things that stood out to me is, is if you can, can, you know, talk about this, is the hackathon concept that you do with your, with your team.
I think that can kind of be a nice o- overarching way to describe how y- you and your team approach an AI enablement with FM.
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah. I mean, I think the, you know, the conversation is moving from, like, this is interesting, kind of the novelty side of things, to where does this actually change the way work gets done?
And obviously we're really, really lucky because we are right there with the latest tools and able to try things out. From a workplace point of view, I don't I think the interesting question for me is whether AI replaces workplace or facilities team, because we're always gonna be needed. We're interacting with humans, we're creating spaces that humans are gonna need and there's a lot of judgment and relationship pieces in there that's- that's really, really important.
I think, and how we approach it, is where can AI take friction out the system so folks on our teams [00:29:00] can spend more time on judgment, relationships, decisions, problem identification and solving? And that's how we really approach the hackathons. So we'll do hackathons probably once a quarter, but every Friday we have an REW data and tech team that comes together and highlights kind of how our team is using AI and sharing that across our team.
So we do these hackathons. We talk-- We go into smaller groups, we talk about the things that are challenges right now, and then we think about solutions around that. And in fact, we just had an offsite actually with our team. So like twice a year we'll do an offsite, bring the whole team together, and we had the team do a similar hackathon approach.
We gave a specific problem where it was like, you know, to do with a new location, and then an hour into them problem-solving, we threw out another problem and a curveball for them to work into the solution. But then we had them come and present to us as a leadership team kind of a Shark Tank or Dragons' Den if you're in the UK style.
And [00:30:00] then we picked a couple, actually, one that was kind of more external-facing to our internal customers and one that would kind of solve some REW-related challenges, and we're actually building and working on those at the moment. But it's really around, you know, the friction and things that we run into every day and how we can move faster.
I think, you know, Brendan on our team, who leads, you know, all of our facilities kind of operations from like the engineering and building problem-solving side of things, he actually... And, and none of our folks are technical, by the way, outside the data and tech team, which is a small group within our team that we're really lucky to have.
Everyone else i- are layman, and so, so is Brendan. And Brendan came up with this idea that we're now rolling out globally called Herbert. And Herbert is basically an agent In one of our Slack channels that our internal team and all our engineers and, and you know, building support folks can access, and what he has done is uploaded all the [00:31:00] information about our buildings in the Bay Area, and you can go in there and say at, when you're on the go with your phone "Who's the lift manufacturer, and when does it next need servicing?"
Or "When is the critical date for, you know, this piece of furniture or this piece of machinery?" It has every single piece of information about the building. When did we last have a fire drill? That type of thing. And it will answer there and then. So instead of having to go back and look through manuals or look up a spreadsheet, everything is loaded in there.
But what I love most about this this Slack channel is the functionality is great, and we're using AI, and that's super important, and we're trying to embed that across everything we do. It's not just like, you know, we're doing a pilot here or there. We're looking at every team. We're using it across every team.
But what I love the most is that it's called Herbert because that is Brendan's grandfather's name. And he's a super handy guy who's an amazing problem-solver. And I'm just like, [00:32:00] it always comes back to the human and, and that's one really great example that I love that came from Brendan on our team.
Wayne Whitzell: Boy, look at that too, and I mean, there's, there's... You can name probably a dozen vendor companies that can do that kind of thing or set it up and so forth. But this is something that came from within with intimate knowledge, not only about devices and equipment and, as- floor plans and everything else, but, but someone that really understands culture and maybe understands how the uptake will be with the- Yes
people that are there specifically. And, and, and some- as someone that knows Brendan you know, I, I, now that I know that about him, it just, it fits perfectly that he would do something like that and, and put something like that together. And I, I see, I see a lot of of what you've been talking about in Brendan with hi- with, with the team there- Yeah
and the way he interacts with, with the team and, and his vendor partners.
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah, the- And you know Brendan and I, Brendan and I started on the same day. Oh, you did? So we were we were new-hire orientation buddies together, yes.
Wayne Whitzell: Oh, that's, that's, yeah, that creates a kind of bond when you're in the, quote, "freshman class together" and you go through- Right
things together. That, that's a, that's a, that's a strong [00:33:00] bond. Well, I, I wanna talk about you know, here toward the end here, a couple of things. There are w- there's a lot of talk obviously, and has been for a while, about the silver tsunami, about so many people exiting facilities as a career f- and not coming in as a career field.
And we're struggling to get people and to bring people into the, into the c- career field across the globe really, as, as we're hearing this. But I, I'm, I don't know, I'm starting to see a little bit of a blip and a change in that. Okay. I'm starting to see some, especially with emerging professionals, young professionals and so forth.
And you know, we, IFMA's very responsible for creating a lot of degree programs around the world for FM. But still, so often it's the people that fall into facilities. I mean, Tracy, if I had a nickel for everybody that told me they started in reception. Yeah. I know a very talented FM, probably one of the most talented FMs I've met, who started in childcare.
Well, and- And maybe you can say, "Well, of course, Wayne, there's a direct connection between childcare and managing-" Yes. "... a building full of people." Yeah ... but, but we see that so often. But I'd like to, you know, what would be your [00:34:00] advice to to young professionals pursuing this career? Yeah. And if you could also and there's general advice, but I'd also I'd like to get your opinion on, on specifically on women in the career field as well because- Mm-hmm
some of the studies we've done at IFMA and some of the things we're seeing is that there's a, a top off point for, for women in the career field where they don't seem to make that next bump to the, to the level where you are and, and, and some of your peers. We see kind of a cliff right there. Mm-hmm. And, and, and that's an area we've identified that needs some support and some backstop there is how we can get people over that hump.
So, so in general, c- young professional, emerging professional advice, but then a focus on, on women.
Tracy Hawkins: Okay. Well, actually my first job out of college was a flight attendant. Yeah. So I was cabin crew for a year or so- Mm-hmm ... which was actually r- a really g- great grounding in the customer services side of things.
You know, there's nowhere to hide on a plane Yeah ... and so you're out there in front of everyone. It was also a great confidence builder as well. You just, you never knew what you [00:35:00] were gonna get any given day. So, I think my advice, general advice would just be get, get really close to the work. You know, understand the buildings, be able to understand the numbers.
Understanding the employee experience is key. That is the basis to everything. Building relationships early is important, too. Like, when I start a new job, and I've always done this I've al- I always try and find out who are my key stakeholders, who are the decision-makers, and then I just go and talk to them before I need something from them.
I just understand who they are, what they care about, talk to them a little bit about me, you know, where I've come from, like, what my goals are. But, like, really with curiosity and genuine interest about what they care about. Getting to know vendors I think is really important. When I came into OpenAI, there was a lot of existing vendors in place, and I think people get really worried that, you know, people just love to come in and make a change and make an impact, and so they see, like, get rid of your brokers and change it for someone you know.
Get rid of, like, other vendors, change it for somebody that you trust. And I don't [00:36:00] necessarily do that because people work really hard for companies like ours. And I really wanna be able to see people do their best work and you know, be supportive. And so I, I pride myself on giving folks a, a really solid opportunity to, to do their best work.
So really getting to know your... the folks you work with, the stakeholders, and also, you know, the, the folks that are there to support you and elevate your team, and like they're recognizing them and getting to know them. And I would say one of the things that's helped me in really good stead from early career is don't...
If you want to eventually be a head of real estate and be a generalist and lead teams, then don't become just a project person or just a strategy person or just a facilities management person. Definitely get experience in those areas, but try and move around when there's an opportunity or try and go and listen to that project call if you're in office management.
If you're a project person, try and understand what it is the workplace teams are [00:37:00] achieving. I never understand why people keep those teams so separately because once a project team has built a space, the workplace team have to take it over and keep it looking awesome and make sure it's operational.
If you build some crazy light or some chandelier that's really hard to change the bulbs or is 20 feet up and no one can get to it without calling in a specialist contractor, your workplace team is not gonna thank you for that. Also, your workplace team knows the people in the building, so they know what they care about.
And so they can help inform the build and help you build something that actually helps move the business forward and creates a lot of pride with the employees. They're proud of it because they see it's not just a cookie-cutter space, it's something designed for them. So that, again, is like making sure you're close to the different pieces of, of, you know, the facilities and real estate world getting close to your stakeholders and building that trust and understanding of what it is they need because I think so much of workplace is about leadership, trust, [00:38:00] credibility, and then follow through.
Always follow through on what you say you're gonna do. That's how you build the trust because at its best, you know, the work is not just about space, it's about enabling the business, protecting the team and creating the conditions for people to do their best work, whether that's your team or whether that's the, you know, the, the teams who sit in your buildings.
And then on the women side of things I've been really lucky in the sense that I work at a company now where we have an awesome CFO, Sarah Friar, you know, one of the best women CFOs and CEOs. She was CEO at Nextdoor, that's out there, you know, she's stellar. And she's awesome at elevating women too, you know?
So, I'm always attracted to companies where I can see that. It's definitely something that I ask questions about when I'm interviewing as well. I think that if you're a confident professional as well, you can make that stamp too. I think I s- I saw some really good advice once, which is Don't send an email where you're saying, "Oh, I'm [00:39:00] just letting you know.
Oh, I just wanted to tell you this," because it, it kind of diminishes what you're saying. And I notice that women do that a lot. And I think going out there with confidence and how you put yourself out there and how you state things is, is key, right, to building that profile within a business. And I will say that is where AI and ChatGPT can really help you because some people don't, aren't as natural at doing that, and the communication t- side can be more difficult.
And I think this is where AI you know, at the basic form, can really, really help you with confidence, with elevating yourself. And I saw this crazy stat once around, you know, when men go for a job, they, you know, they sometimes have, like, 30% of the skills, but they'll just go for it. And with women, it's just they feel like they have to have 70, 80%.
And I think it's like if you see a chance, put yourself out there. What's the worst that can happen? You don't get it, and you go for the next thing. Say yes to the opportunities that come your way, even if you feel [00:40:00] like, oh, I don't, maybe don't have all the experience. I have, this is quite a British saying, but blagged my way through in so many situations.
And I bring in expertise from my team. You know, that's... I'm, I'm definitely not an expert in everything that we do, but I have amazing leaders within my team who I can lean on. So, the women side of things, I try and get involved in with as much as I can to elevate, you know, women within OpenAI. I'm definitely on the lookout for them in my team.
But I think there's a lot that we can do ourselves as well to push ourselves forward. And I'm always open to folks linking with me on LinkedIn and, you know, having career conversations too. Yeah. You know, having not only someone like you as an example that's out there s- you know, slash inspiration, but somebody that's willing to engage with people and, and answer some of these questions I think is important.
Wayne Whitzell: And, and there's... It seems like there's a natural progression that tends to happen in, in careers where we get to that senior level, and there's almost, like, a pathway that's already there, but sometimes we don't know how to get on that pathway. And I [00:41:00] think that's where the gap might, might be that, that we see.
And, and I'll tell you, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of a little biased here 'cause living here in Northern California and my f- this whole facilities career the vast overwhelming majority of my FM contacts are female. Mm-hmm. And I hear, you know, from other places in the country it's not quite that balanced how things are.
Here I've just... That, that's all, pretty much all I know. And so I, I, I sometimes just say, "Well, it's not really a concern or a problem, is it?" But I'm not recognizing that there's a, a whole other world out there that might be a little bit different than what we're, is going on here. But I- I, I wanna close with, with talking a little bit about about CoreNet.
You know, there's a natural kind of a puzzle piece connection between IFMA and CoreNet, you know, and us on the f- facility side and, and, and, you know, we move into the workplace strategy, and then we go over to your side. And then there's, there's also kind of a, a championing that people in CoreNet can do for the people on the FM side.
Like you're saying. Yes, yes. "No, I want those people at the project meetings. I want those people-" Yes ... "at programming so they can tell us why a, taking a grid off the wall with 64 screws 30 feet up to replace two [00:42:00] LED bulbs is not really a good thing." Right. So it's the-
Tracy Hawkins: Super annoying.
Wayne Whitzell: Right. So talk to me a little bit about, you know, your experience at CoreNet and, and, and maybe how IFMA and, and CoreNet can work together to really create that closed loop system we've kinda been hinting around today.
Tracy Hawkins: Yeah. And they're, and they're super complementary to each other as well, CoreNet and IFMA. And, and I would also say, you know, to your last question around women and folks you know, b- trying to elevate themselves in that career path, CoreNet and I- IFMA are great for that.
Number one, from an education point of view what you can learn from coming to chapter meetings and different events with both organizations. But also number two, the network. I've made really amazing friends through CoreNet people I will know for the rest of my life, and I'm sure it's the same in IFMA.
And I would recommend CoreNet and IFMA to anybody who's a professional within the industry.
It just will elevate you, educate you, and will build you an amazing community. I can't say enough about it.
Wayne Whitzell: Well, Tracy, this has [00:43:00] flown by. I, I you're the type of person I could sit and talk to, I think, for a long, long time and just e- e- extract a, a lot of knowledge from you. And I, it's, I- I just wanna say I'm, I'm, I'm glad there's people like you in our industry people that are the kind of leaders that we want to emulate, not avoid.
There's a lot of us learn our leadership lessons by what not to do from the experiences we've had. I think that's probably more common than, than, than the, the alternative. For sure ... so knowing that there's people like you out there kind of driving this and creating that kind of next generation of people, you know, the, the Brandons of the world, the Rachels of the world and, and- Mm-hmm
and so forth, you know, tho- that, th- they're watching. They watch us as leaders in our organizations, and they're going to adopt some of the things that we've done for good or bad in some cases but hopefully for good. And it's just been a pleasure talking with you, Tracy, and, and, and, and getting to know you through this process, and I hope that we can do this again at some point down the road here.
Tracy Hawkins: Absolutely.
Wayne Whitzell: Yeah.
Tracy Hawkins: Absolutely. I've had a ball. It's really nice talking to you and been getting to know you as well. I would love to get more involved in [00:44:00] IFMA. And also, just to cheek you on, I just wanna give a shout-out to my team. I, I know I'm biased but I think I have the best real estate and workplace team in the business.
They work so hard. They move at the speed of light. People don't realize until they join our team, and they're like, "Wow, this is just so crazy, but so enjoyable." And the most important thing is that they really respect each other as humans, and they look out for each other, and they're just so passionate about what they do.
So I wanna just say, team, you rock. You're amazing. I appreciate you so much. And yeah, just my little shout-out for them, and everyone in the industry. It's hard, and it's not always recognized, so, like, kudos for the work that you do
Wayne Whitzell: Wonderful. Well, Tracy, it's been a pleasure, and thanks to the Connected FM team for making this happen.
And I look forward to a future topic and discussion with you. Thanks, Tracy. Thanks, Wayne
Host: Thanks for tuning into the Connected FM podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show because it really helps [00:45:00] us reach more listeners just like you. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. See you next time.