Meet Liz Rachal | Director of Sales & Partnerships

We had the good fortune of connecting with Liz Rachal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Liz, how do you think about risk?
I tend to be risk-averse, and make decisions after I’ve given them a lot of thought. When I left my corporate job to work for Turning the Corner HR over a year ago, I absolutely thought it was a risk worth taking, and now I know it was.

I believe that the way we think of risk can be very skewed. For example, before working for a small business, I perceived that it was more “risky” than working for a corporation. The endless rounds of layoffs that we’re seeing happen has taught most of us to think differently about the level of risk that comes with working for corporations now.

On the other side of risk is reward, or opportunity. So it’s no surprise that with the high risk of working for corporations these days, most people are balancing that risk with opportunity. If they don’t see that they have opportunity to move up, or that they’re getting what they need from a career growth standpoint, then it’s not worth the risk. So instead of working hard in hopes of opportunity, now we’re seeing engagement drop even more. Because people think, “If the business doesn’t value me, why should I work hard?”

Those were exactly my thoughts when I was searching for a company to work for that would be a win-win for me. And that’s a relatable sentiment we bring to the table when we work with clients on their workplace culture and bringing in the right employees. People want to work hard when they know the risks and opportunities balance out in their favor.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my career as a CPhT with a degree in Health Science. I’d always loved math and science, and healthcare seemed like an easy way to create a career path that helps others. However, about 4 years into my career, I was staring at the “rest of my life” thinking, “Is this really what I want to do, day in and day out?” Although I knew my work was important, it was really repetitive. I also saw the ugly side of Big Pharma and greed from health insurance providers, and how that affected everyday people, especially retired people living on a fixed income. Ethically and practically, I didn’t think I could continue down that path.

I ended up switching gears, and referred by a friend, I worked for T-Mobile for 6 years, starting in tech support at one of their call centers. I had the most amazing time working there, while also taking advantage of the full corporate tuition grant benefit, which paid for me to go back to school and get a Bachelor’s in Communication and a Master’s in Organizational Management and Leadership. Working in that environment taught me so much about communication and psychology. Leadership felt like the natural next step, and I had a fiery passion for continuing to make my site a great place to work.

However, what I learned through the 2 years I spent in leadership there was that even in a cool, forward-thinking corporate environment, you’re still bound to a bunch of rules. You’re still put in a box with how you’re able to lead. My ideas were much bigger than what the box could contain, so I ended up getting frustrated. I was very well-trained, but not enabled. Without any real decision-making power or autonomy as a leader, I ended up going into sales. My friends there were making a lot more money than I was! And they didn’t even have a team of 48 to look after.

Next comes my blue period: I got headhunted by an AT&T recruiter, and had the worst year of my life. I took the position, excited about the high compensation they were offering (almost double my salary) and I didn’t ask the right questions about why they were so aggressive in hunting from T-Mobile. In my first week, both of the managers of the Colorado office left, and during that year I saw my team turnover almost two-fold. It was an incredibly toxic environment with incompetent leadership, and as much as I wanted to “make lemons out of lemonade,” there was no opportunity to do that there.

Even though that was a terrible experience for me, it made me more picky. I was looking for other jobs while I was working there, and I was going to ask the right questions this time! Because I’m not the type of person who wants to deal with leaders who throw temper tantrums, or work with a team that feels no connection to one another, I was going to make sure the workplace culture was exactly what I needed to thrive.

I ended up getting to a round 3 interview with Turning the Corner HR, because they seemed so different. They had a mission to “end suffering in the workplace,” and I wanted to know if that was for real. I was interviewing with the CEO Kendra, and she asked me a question I’d never heard in an interview before: “What do you need from a job to be happy?” I really didn’t know what to say at first. In my experience, companies didn’t care if you were happy, just if you could do the job.

I dropped my guard and answered honestly. Here I am, over a year later, and so happy that I found this job, and get to work with a team every day that’s helping workplaces with quality leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, and building policies and processes that serve the business and the individual.

Basically, now I help workplaces fix the reasons why work sucks!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
That’s hard for me! Usually my sister is the one who knows all the cool spots. I moved to Longmont last September, and I’ve found that we have a lot of great Mexican food here! I would take my friend to some of the taco spots, and walk up and down Main street.

We’d probably fill a day or so doing that, and then head on over to Boulder, where there’s a ton to do on Pearl Street!

If we really wanted to get out and about, we might then take the RTD to Downtown and explore 16th Street Mall and RiNo.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shout out my CEO Kendra Prospero. She took a chance on me, and saw my potential before I could even see it myself. I trusted in her instincts when times were tough, and used her belief in me to grow my own. I’ll always be thankful that she brought me on her team!

Website: https://turningthecornerhr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turning_the_corner/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-rachal/

Twitter: https://x.com/turncornerhr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TurningTheCornerHR/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TurningTheCornerLLC