Joseph Gentry started with SSC in December of 2018 as a Manager in Training (MIT) with our Startup, Training & Transition Team. This team supports a variety of SSC operations, with a special focus on new businesses. In his MIT role, Joseph had the opportunity to experience and assist with the transition process for new partnerships. He started from the ground up, learning day-to-day operations and the practical tasks, such as floor stripping and waxing, from experienced managers on the SSC team.

Learning the Facilities Industry

Working with the STAT team allowed Joseph to travel to several accounts and see the differences that exist based on each school’s unique needs. He also learned that being a great manager requires being willing to do anything that you ask your team to do:

“Being a manager-in-training looks different every day. You may start by unloading pallets, organizing storerooms, and preparing custodial carts – and the next day you will be managing client relationships and meeting school leadership. The day after that, you’re onboarding associates and doing I-9s, and then you’ll jump into teaching someone else how to strip and wax the floor. The amount of skills that I learned from being an MIT really prepared me for my career progression at SSC.”

Joseph did startups for about two and a half years, supporting business operations through COVID-19, where no two days looked alike. He learned how to be flexible – and creative – with training associates, in times where large groups couldn’t gather together. In April of 2021, Joseph took everything he learned as a part of the STAT team to manage a project at Georgetown University.

The Georgetown project was unlike anything Joseph had ever worked on before and involved building several systems and processes as well as building a team from the ground up.

“We didn’t inherit any employees at Georgetown. It was truly a brand new team, and after we agreed upon a scope for SSC’s work, I had to go find everyone we needed to execute the plan. I worked closely with our recruiters to interview and find qualified candidates, and we leaned our maintenance subject matter experts to build specialized HVAC and maintenance teams.”

Today, the team that Joseph and his team built at Georgetown University is highly skilled and incredibly diverse, representing the community of students and school staff they serve well. Operations have expanded over the life of the contract, and Joseph credits that to SSC’s approach to business:

“Building trust with our customers and the people we are working alongside is everything. At the end of the day, every decision our teams make is in the best interest of the universities we serve. Even though my shirt said SSC every day, we act as advocates and our decision making is always around what is best for our partner schools and our team members. Everything we do – from maintenance, to grounds, to custodial – is for the good of our partners.”

Stepping into Leadership

In May of 2024, after several years of work at Georgetown, Joseph was promoted to Regional Director of Operations, where he oversaw SSC’s higher education partnerships in the northeast. Shortly after, he was promoted once again to Vice President of Operations at one of SSC’s newest higher education partnerships at the University of South Florida. Joseph’s success in these roles is closely correlated with his people-focused approach to management, and his willingness to jump in and learn every step of the way.

“I’m a people person, so meeting the folks that make it happen at every one of our accounts and talking with them makes the difference for me. I see what resources they need, where they may be struggling, and I am able to meet them where they are before I ever ask anything of them. Operationally, I want to make sure our teams have everything that they need to be successful.”

Keeping a Growth Mindset

Joseph’s career ascension has happened quickly – but not without its challenges. As a young leader new to the facilities industry, he had to face a significant knowledge gap, and even today, he recognizes that there are still new things to learn. His approach? Say yes to every opportunity.

“When you get asked to do something out of your comfort zone, do it. Get thrown into it. When you don’t know something, don’t let pride get in the way – raise your hand, and ask the questions you have. The more you learn as a manager, the more clearly you can communicate with both your team and the client, and this is key in building a partnership based on trust.”

One of the major benefits to his starting point as a MIT with SSC is the connections he has made and kept along the way. Through his travels and visits to different accounts, Joseph was able to meet many of SSC’s subject matter experts.

“Keep in touch with the experts you connect with. I became notorious for calling folks while traveling. Any time I was on a long drive, I called someone – experts in grounds and maintenance, our HR and training team members. I used those times to check in, stay connected and learn from the experiences that those people had, that I haven’t yet.”