I, I look at it and say, you need to make it head on. And if you’ve got the science behind you that can prove what we do is beneficial. If you’ve got the welfare program, stop being afraid of outside influences. And those influences have also influenced fish and… Read More
And some of the people had been there 35, 40 years, but they had been there skating. And, and I had to make decisions to say, that’s enough of that, and you take that home with you because, you know, it impacted them, it impacted their family, you know, it… Read More
How we exhibit animals, you know, the whole, well look at SeaWorld with orcas and the whole pressure from there, you know, the, the public has gained such, well, I think the public’s been misled by a number of organizations that are just anti zoo for whatever reason. And, and,… Read More
It’s the best thing for the institution, and it’s the best thing for the collection. And I’m sorry, but that sits with you because you, you know, a Brookfield had a low turnover rate ’cause of the union. Read More
I mean, very few zoos see staff that are there 40 and 50 years anymore, right?… Read More
Well, you know, the hardest part, two areas. One was firing someone that’s never fun. You don’t like doing it. But I didn’t let my emotions get involved with it. I had to look strictly at the facts. And at Brookfield, for example, it was extremely tough. It was a… Read More
And if someone’s not doing their job, here’s what I’m going to do. It’s, it’s not personal, but we are here to support this institution, make it the best we can, and to support our animal collection and make sure they’re safe. And to make sure your patriots are safe. Read More
Would this go along with the, the question of what was the hardest part of your job that people rarely would see?… Read More
That people rarely they saw, saw Or understood?… Read More
And I was like, no, I, I’ll be your best friend, but I’m not gonna go out and have a drink with you and I’m not gonna date you, or I’m not, you know, I’m not gonna do that because I’m, the guys may come up to you and say,… Read More
Well, you know, if you organize it and it’s like once a month, which I used to do with my curatorial staff, we’d once a month go to a restaurant someplace. I said, that’s okay. But other than that, you gotta remember when it comes to the business, you’re not… Read More
Should you be out socializing with the keeper staff having a beer or something?… Read More
What are the issues of managing a population?… Read More
And then the other aspect of that was you’re a people manager. And I tried to promote how to manage people. You know, everybody wanted to be, well, he’s a friend of mine and, and he’s, he’s not going to, he’s not gonna nix me for making this mistake. And… Read More
I’m not going down there. You’re the one that allowed it to happen. Let’s make you a working curator. Let’s give you the skills you need to do it. And let, let’s hope, hopefully you understand some of these challenges that we talked about. Read More
So if you let someone else make the decision for you, and there’s an issue, guess where I’m going?… Read More
And, and so I, my goal was to mentor them the way I felt they should be mentored and, and say, you first of all, be proud of what you are, you know, but be knowledgeable of what you are so that they’re, I don’t want the tail wagging the… Read More
Trying to, well, two different directions. One, trying to mentor and create the managers that I thought should be, how they should be. Like I said, when I got there, a lot of the curators weren’t working curators, they were, you’d said computer curators. And I said, no, a curator… Read More
It’s like, no, we proved it wasn’t, you know, so I, I don’t Well, in your leadership position, what would you say was one of the most rewarding parts of your job in your leadership position?… Read More
And we, we finally got funding for it. And I left before it was built and Mike said he was gonna follow through with it. So I don’t know if they did, but the ambassador program was, to me, was critically important. But that was another thing that people were… Read More