By Caroline Serpico
With a wide-ranging background in facility management, from hospitality to the education sector, Jennifer Friz, Regional Vice President of SSC Services for Education, has remained committed to ensuring her own growth and that of those around her. Across industries, she looks to uplift her team members and allow them to develop their own leadership skills to expand their careers and optimize facility performance. Facility Executive spoke with Friz to learn more about her time as a facilities manager and how she prioritizes these values for herself and those around her.
FE: Tell us about your background. How did you first get involved with facilities management?
Friz: My career actually started in hospitality and customer service. I worked as the Director of Rooms for Gaylord Hotels for about five or six years, and I knew that I wanted to do something different. I couldn’t grow anymore in that role, and I had a desire to continue growing professionally. I ended up leaving to start a director role within another sector of Compass Group. I rapidly grew for about four or five years, and then at one of Compass Group’s events, I made a connection with someone who encouraged me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and look at other sectors within the organization for continued growth.
Through that search, I came across a Regional Director of Operations (RDO) role within SSC Services for Education. I loved what I heard about the company and the family feel of the entire organization, and I was hooked from the start. I started with SSC in January of 2018. My territory covered Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina and continued to grow over time. After another five years, I was promoted to my current position—Regional Vice President (RVP).
FE: What are your day-to-day responsibilities in your current role as Regional Vice President?
Friz: In my past role as RDO, I was very focused on day-to-day operations and making sure directors at each account were equipped to do their jobs and execute our services well. Today as RVP, I still spend most of my time on the road visiting accounts, but my primary focus is developing leaders and helping them to support the directors at the accounts they oversee. I lean into strategy more—looking at what works best for accounts based on their unique setup and circumstances and providing feedback based on what I see across the board.
The bulk of my job, though, is making sure that the RDOs in my region have the support that they need and are continuing the vision of growth and the culture that SSC is known for. I support them and build them as leaders, and they turn around and do the same for directors underneath them.
FE: What are some of your biggest challenges?
Friz: My biggest challenge is really practical—it is being everywhere I need to be. My region is fairly large, and I maintain relationships with some of our largest accounts. It’s a constant balancing act of travel, relationship building, and ensuring that I spend enough time at each location to equip regional directors and support their needs. What really helps is that at many of our accounts, our managers have been with us for a long time. I also have relationships that have carried over from my time as an RDO over the same states, so those managers were my managers. They continued to grow as I grew, so we have an existing relationship and work well together. They know what I am looking for, and I know what they are capable of.
FE: How has the industry changed since you first became an FM?
Friz: Technology has come a long way in making different parts of facilities management operations more productive. We have autonomous floor scrubbers, aqueous ozone technology, and more at our fingertips. It lined up well with the demands we had coming off the COVID-19 pandemic, which really reiterated the importance of deep, thorough cleaning practices. Expectations are certainly higher, and the technology available has improved and made it easy for our teams to adapt and provide more enhanced and specialized services.
FE: Are there any changes you’re anticipating in learning environments in the coming years?
Friz: I’m expecting the demand for technology to continue increasing. Within the education sector, we know it is important to make the most of the resources we have—and adding technology often frees up our associates to do more with the time they have in the day. Technology isn’t replacing people; it’s enhancing what our people can do and giving them the capacity to focus on more intensive tasks.
FE: What are some improvements you’ve made to your facility or building(s) over time?
Friz: Many of my biggest accomplishments in facilities management involve our people. I love helping people who want to grow. I’ve seen many team members grow in their careers—starting as frontline associates or unit directors and moving into operations managers or regional manager roles. With facilities management, your success and ability to grow and improve operations really hinges on your people. By building up people within SSC, we are able to see operations improve at our partner schools over time.
FE: Do you have any goals for future improvements to custodial services in your facilities?
Friz: My goal continues to be developing future leaders. Our goal at SSC is to continue to grow—and we have to continue to expand our foundation of strong leaders in order to do that. As I continue to build my team of regional directors, operations managers, and more, our day-to-day operations will continue to improve, and we’ll continue to see growth in our partnerships. If we can provide our partner schools with strong onsite leadership, that’s the first step in ensuring we are giving them the best services possible.
FE: Do you have any advice for future facility managers in similar fields?
Friz: My biggest piece of advice is to avoid being complacent with just the people you know. Use the resources that are available to you, because while it’s easy to work in a silo, you’ll get a lot farther and do a lot more if you make connections and build relationships in the industry. The other piece of advice I would give is to remember that if you want to do something different and grow, just ask. At SSC we say, “Raise your hand”—but it’s the same across all the industry. There is growth potential, there are opportunities, and anyone can build a career here. Starting as a custodian, you can move into a manager or unit director role, and then into a regional manager role. It’s possible—so if you want it, ask for it.
