Description
In this special DayMakers Podcast episode, host Daved Dolce sits down with Nate Swanson, Larry Foster, and Joy McClure — members of Tricoci University’s executive team — for a candid conversation about leadership, growth, and the heart of Tricoci’s mission.
From sharing personal insights to discussing how Tricoci supports its students and staff, this episode offers an authentic look at what drives the university’s vision: empowering creativity, confidence, and success through education.
Tune in to hear how collaboration, care, and community come together behind the scenes to make Tricoci University thrive.
Show Notes
– Leadership insights from Tricoci’s executive team
– Building a culture of creativity and empowerment
– Supporting student success and team growth
– The future of beauty education at Tricoci University
Links:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/L2ubIk_C_Bs
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1PxegiEC6mgbyX1RIBLwUq?si=Bax7DS8SSyKaqiFNZhLDxg
Transcript:
We are here to make people feel good about themselves.
We really have to feel like we are a day maker for the guest.
“You’ve made my day.”
How great is that when you hear those words from your guest?
Hello, I’m Daved Dolce, and this is the Daymakers podcast.
I’m also interviewing my co-host, Larry Foster, who’s with us in the house, and our whole EC team.
Welcome everybody.
How are you?
Thank you.
We’re excited.
Awesome.
This is a great topic that we’re gonna cover.
It means a lot to me, I’m sure as well as you guys too, but let’s start off, um, introduce yourselves and let us know what you do for the company.
Start with Joy.
Okay.
Well, my name is Joy McClure, and I’m the chief admissions officer.
I’ve been with Tricoci University for
I’m going on my 7th year, and I’m over admissions and marketing.
All right.
Yeah.
How about you, Nate?
I’m Nate Swanson.
I’m the CEO of Tricoci, and I’ve been here for five and a years.
Excellent.
Man, time flies.
Right?
I’m Larry Foster, and I’m the chief operating officer.
Well, great.
Thank you guys for being here.
All of you mean something special to me, and have played an important role in my career, that’s for sure, especially Joy, right Joy?
Mm-hmm.
So when you found out, got the call, got the email, wha- whatever it was that Tricoci University was voted Tribune’s
one of Tribune’s top employers in Illinois, how’d that make you feel?
Y- you know, it was, um
I will
I’m not trying to speak for Nate- Mm-hmm.
but this was a goal that Nate had since he joined the organization, so one of the first conversations I ever had with him, and he shared his vision, what he saw for Tricoci University as the new CEO, this was one of his goals.
And so to really s- see it happen was outstanding because it’s a huge compliment to anybody in the leadership seat or a member of the organization because this is a reflection of us.
We are the culture of the university.
Yeah.
And so to get the award was outstanding, but I was really excited ’cause this was all Nate’s vision to begin with.
So can I be honest?
Yes.
Okay.
I got emotional.
Yesss.
I did- I bet.
um, because as Joy said, it was, it was probably our first day.
Mm-hmm.
We talked about how important this was, um, for us to be one of the best companies to work for, um, and it was important on 2 things.
One is it’s fundamental to our big goal, which is to be the number one beauty school in the country and have the best student outcomes.
The second part is it’s fun.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Yeah.
It’s fun to work for a great employer.
Really is.
Great people who are passionate and who are all aligned- Mm-hmm.
towards a shared mission and vision of where we’re going, and so we all work a lot.
We work really hard.
Yes.
And as Larry said when he came in, “Beauty school should be fun.”
I love it.
Yep.
And I think- Larry says that.
Yeah, and I think we lost some of that during COVID, right?
You came in in ’22, and you were like, “Where’s the fun?”
And so yeah, we have
we have fun.
And- And this was the vision you shared from the get-go, and then COVID hit, so it really did make us pause, and we had to reinvent a lot of processes and, “How are we gonna do this?”
And we really wanted to take great care of our students but certainly our employees as well, um, so that was just a
one more speed bump, but it’s never not been the goal from the get-go.
That’s cool.
Yeah.
What a wrench- Yeah.
to throw at you.
I know, but it didn’t deter us.
Like, we
i- this has been a determination by tonight.
Like, I was in admissions, we were on campus, then we went home, and then we were doing this and this and this and, like, what?
But- Yeah.
we learned it.
We were so quick with our responses.
Everybody kept their jobs.
Like, it was
it was fantastic.
I’ll never forget those moments.
It was a
this is a detour for a few years.
Yeah.
It’s crazy.
It changed us in ways that we’re still changed today.
Yeah.
It- How’d you feel, Larry?
I
I agree with Nate.
I think it was emotional.
I think some of the pieces with that is because one of the things that I wasn’t aware of is how much that you constantly worry whether it’s getting down to all the employees what our mission is- Yeah.
and how important they are to us, and this kind of solidifies that because this was
they actually poll every single one of your employees.
So they give them a survey.
They have to answer.
It’s- Mm-hmm.
This truly came from the employees.
Yeah.
So that
that’s where it got emotional for me because you do wonder, like, as we’re going off on these crazy tangents and wild ideas and Nate being so patient with me and Joy with- Mm-hmm.
the things we propose to him and stuff like that.
You know, you wonder if it’s getting down to every employee at every school- Mm-hmm.
and this proves it is.
So for me, th- I think that was one of the highlights about this, is that it truly is coming from e- from the people who matter.
And that is very true.
Why do you think our employees feel so strongly about working for us?
You know, it’s interesting.
W- you get a lot of data because the survey is pretty extensive, and so the data, the number one word, there’s a word cloud that comes, and it’s the number one word that was used and resonated to describe our culture- Yeah.
is fun- Mm-hmm.
which has been the goal, right?
Really?
Yeah.
That was the number one word, is fun.
That’s awesome.
Yeah.
So
And that’s important.
I mean, we
we should.
We have creative students, and they are very much the type of people, and our employees for that matter, we don’t wanna be put in boxes.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
So being able to be creative and have fun and, you know, enjoy what we do because really at the end of the day, that’s what we’re gonna bring to our clientele too.
So we want the students to bring that same kind of energy there as well.
Mm-hmm.
I just think we’re fortunate to have such great, passionate people- Mm-hmm.
and teams at our campuses.
who serve our students and serve each other- Yeah.
in just amazing ways.
It’s really crazy.
Like, work, I feel like a family environment when I go to work and be part of work and, yeah, it’s j- I mean, as an employee, right?
Li- that’s how I can speak of it.
In your perspective, what key values and practices do we have that really help maintain our culture?
I think 2 come to mind for me.
Mm-hmm.
Um, one is unity and probably the other is accountability.
And so unity, um, obviously speaks to, you know, we have 15 campuses.
Mm-hmm.
And so we work towards one goal, um, and that goal is to be number one.
Um, but I also think accountability is one that I probably wouldn’t have said a year ago, but it’s come up several times just in the last few months of, I’m talking to s- one of our team and they say, “I just don’t wanna let my manager down.”
Or, “I don’t wanna let this student down.”
Yeah.
Or, “I don’t wanna let my colleague down,” right?
As we’re trying to solve a problem.
And that to me is a sign of a really healthy culture, right?
When you’re that bought in to what we are doing, that you want somebody else to be proud of what you’re doing.
I mean, that just, that’s super healthy.
Very true.
And that’s so meaningful for me.
I’m like, yes.
Like, that’s exactly, we need more of that.
That’s true.
I think we all feel that way.
Yeah.
In this room in particular, for sure.
Right.
And it’s like, I’m big on having a flat organization ’cause I tell Joy, “I report to you as much as you report to me.”
Right?
I’m accountable to you.
I’m accountable to you.
I’m accountable to our admissions advisors, our financial aid acco- advisors.
Mm-hmm.
Our educators, our students.
We’re all accountable to each other and that’s part of what makes us special.
That is beautiful.
That kind of leads into my next question.
Like, what is leadership doing to not only make sure our students are heard, which a lot of schools do, but you’re also going out of your way to make sure that your employees are heard as well.
So what are we, what are we doing, do things different than, uh, some other places do?
Well, I think we’re out there.
Mm-hmm.
And we listen.
I personally, I’m not on campus as much as I would like to be.
Mm-hmm.
But Larry is on campus almost every day of every week.
His team is at a different campus every day of every week.
And they’re not meeting with students, right?
They’re working with our campus directors, with our student success advisors, with our educators and taking feedback, right?
And so hopefully we’re listening to what they’re saying and trying to make it better and solve problems.
Yep.
And you’re doing it.
What role does communication and recognition, how does that all play into, um, the culture of our company?
I would just, I wanna start by, I should have shared this earlier, but the other thing that’s amazing about this and it ties into it, is we’re the first school, the first beauty school to ever win this award.
That’s insane.
I know.
It’s really historic.
And I also, it’s the first time we have won the award.
So as an organization, it’s really a special moment in our history.
But the communication is probably the most important component.
I do think that transparency, so people understand that we are tied together and we win and fail together.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and also we don’t have the best ideas.
We, only have the ideas of our collective group will make it the best idea.
They know things that we’re not gonna know.
So being willing to hear what somebody’s perspective is and what their experience is, is key.
But we also really want to pour into our leaders as well-
and develop leaders from within.
Mm-hmm.
I know you’re a graduate from the Future Leaders, but- Yes, I am.
first one.
And that’s really important to us because we don’t wanna go outside of the organization to bring in leaders.
We really want to develop the leaders from within.
And when we model that and we really prove it, I think it sends a message that there’s a path to move forward within the organization as well and there’s been very little turnover here.
And that satisfaction in knowing that I have a path to go towards and that they’re really willing to develop me sends a strong message and that ties back to the communication.
We don’t wanna bring people from the outside when we can develop our leaders from within.
and I think that’s been- Yeah.
a huge hallmark to our success.
It has been.
Like, the Future Leadership program did so much for me.
Gave me the recognitions, exposure.
I learned so much more than I even thought that program was going to be.
Like, it really just dives deep into your brain, right?
And you’re like, “Wow.”
Yeah.
“I can do this.”
‘Cause leadership means, um, you have to be confident, right?
And, uh, also a thing that I love about that too is there might b- not be that position that you want available to you right now, but that we have something in place to get you to where you wanna be, so you still have your eye on that prize.
Yeah.
I think that’s really cool too.
Yeah.
I remember my first day, I was talking about being the best company to work for, and Joy was talking about the Futures Leader program.
Yeah, that’s- She was.
what you both had been talking about.
I was gonna say, she literally was, and when I had lunch with Larry, he’s like, “Well, what is your career ladder for your educators?”
Right?
And so, they both appreciate, um, and really buy into the development of their teams.
Yes.
And we have so many great programs.
The ambassador program, CEUs, um, just all the training that we do.
That’s it.
Right.
And then with Nate, you know, the whole thing, everything starts at the top.
So he is very transparent.
He wants to know when things are broken, you know, so the, the fact that if we’re talking about the feedback we get from employees, I’m always saying at campuses, “We can’t fix it if we don’t know it’s broken.”
Mm-hmm.
No.
Right, right.
Come to us.
Come to someone.
Mm-hmm.
You know, so we’re always looking for that continuous improvement piece to be, to be that employer of choice.
‘Cause we really wanna be the educator of choice too, and there is a way to do both, and this award kind of proves- Mm-hmm.
that we’re able to both.
So, you know, the fact that we have leadership that leads with our heart- Mm-hmm.
and really wants to provide the best for our employees and our staff.
I mean, I think that’s what makes a difference.
But being able to be transparent, because I don’t know of very many companies where you can pick up the phone and call the CEO, the COO, the CAO.
Right, right.
And, a- or text us and say, “Hey, I need your help.”
You know?
Yep.
Eh, it, it’s unusual, but it works.
You know?
It’s very important that we hear those things.
You know, I’m a direct person too, and there are times that, even with my approach, where I’m being direct with someone and they’re like, “Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Maybe I misunderstood that.”
And- And I have to backpedal and say, you know, “I could’ve said that better.”
But we know you care.
Right.
But it’s coming from a place of love.
Yeah.
So, and I think that’s what’s amazing.
Mm-hmm.
Is that we can own those things when we do make mistakes, you know, and we, we’re okay when employees make mistakes because that’s what makes us better and that’s what makes us all grow.
Right.
And so, the fact that I can be happier with everything because I was totally in retirement, not wanting to do anything, and Nate came along and said, “No, but I had this plan.”
And- Go, Nate.
Right.
Go, Nate.
And so, thanks to that, and, and everything’s going the right way because we’re transparent.
We work together and Nate, you know, comes from the financial background, which is a totally different world- Mm-hmm.
than this.
Which we’re also grateful for.
Which we are grateful for because that is not my wheelhouse.
But, but he’s, the, you know, Joy will come with a crazy idea and we’re like, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
And Nate’s like, “Sure.”
And I come with a crazy idea, he’s like, “Absolutely, let’s start.”
You’re like, “Let me market it.”
Right.
So, we, so we’re able to function as a team and see things through fruition.
Right.
But for me, it, the biggest thing is that, the employees feel like they get a chance to be heard.
Yeah.
And that’s what I want.
That’s awesome.
And when you said heart, um, led leadership, that kinda, like, hits something with me, and I’m like, “That’s the aha moment.”
That’s the difference between the old company I worked for and this new company that I work for- Mm-hmm.
is that it wasn’t necessarily heart led.
It was, like, policies, and this and that’s it, very black and white.
I had people tell me that I wasn’t gonna be successful because I led with my heart, and I was too nice, and I need to say, “No, no, no.”
And I don’t ever say, really, no to anybody, or if I do, my heart makes me explain the why to them.
Like, “This is why that can’t work.”
“Oh, okay.”
And there’s just so much more respect and love in the company.
Um, but speaking of kinda the same thing, we have so many that I can think of, but what kind of policies or programs do we have that are maybe your favorites that help maintain our culture here at Tricoci?
Well, I have a big one.
Yes.
So, tomorrow, we have our annual student competition.
Yeah.
Beauty Blitz, and it’s- Like, your timing is so appropriate for that.
Right.
But it’s in its 4th year, and I mean, it’s grown so much, and we have such passionate people putting it together.
I mean, this takes 6 months to, you know, from start to finish, um, to coordinate.
But the passion from our employees to come together to put this- Yeah.
on this show, it’s become the biggest student competition in the country in 4 years.
Wow.
I mean, we’ll have 1,000 students here tomorrow.
Mm-hmm.
And to see the talent that our students possess and the way that our educators have mentored and motivated them- Mm-hmm.
I mean, it’s just, it’s amazing.
I’m just like, just so honored, um, to be a part of it.
That’s a huge one.
That’s not even one that I thought of.
Yeah.
That’s probably the biggest, so.
I, I agree.
And the caliber of education the students get.
I mean, we have the rock stars of the industry coming.
We have Michelle O’Connor.
We have Ryan Ward, we have Todd Edwards, we have- Mm-hmm.
All, you know, Chris Baron.
Mm-hmm.
We just have all these incredible rock stars of the industry that are there.
to, to educate our students.
You know, these are classes that would cost $500, $600 at a beauty show- Yep.
and the students get it for free.
You know, and they get to hang out with them and talk to them.
And it’s just, for me, that’s a huge win.
And everywhere we go is people are talking about the beauty place.
We have people who don’t even work with us, mentors and things that are trying to get in the door to come see our students like that, because they’ve heard so many great things about it.
So I agree.
Mm-hmm.
We definitely get that.
And then for me, the career ladder for the educators is one I’m very passionate about.
Yep.
To be able to- Uh-huh.
develop them, you know, and that ties right into Joy’s future leaders program too.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
We also have a really amazing high school program that we just rolled out this summer.
So this is a great partnership with education.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so the Next Gen Camp, I think this really did showcase the talent that’s coming out of the high schools- Did today.
that people didn’t expect.
Like, wow, this is
Students today in high school are wildly creative, and they are really passionate and excited about going into the university and into the beauty industry at a younger age.
Um, but I thought it was a great way to showcase the mentors.
So current students that are at that university, at that Tricoci University, mentoring those high school students, really were next level.
You could see future educators written over them.
Um, and then also we do a lot as an organization to give back to our communities.
That’s probably one of the things I’m the most proud of, whether it’s St.
Baldrick’s or if it’s back to school haircuts for free.
I know in admissions, we do one big project every single year.
This year we did Berny’s Book Bank, and all of us together went and worked for an entire day.
And when you have that collective effort, your effectiveness is really felt and heard in a louder way.
So when we work together like that, we can achieve really amazing things.
And I think both of those are great examples.
Yeah.
That’s one of the things I didn’t appreciate- Yeah.
was, I didn’t come up through the beauty industry.
Uh-huh.
And so I didn’t realize, number one, how hard it is.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, it is like passion.
Uh, so but also, um, just the impact that our school and our educators have on our communities.
Yeah.
Yep.
Right?
And so you think about our educators, every one of their graduates goes out and serves their community in a really- Meaningful way.
Um, and each of those students becomes part of their legacy.
Mm-hmm.
‘Cause, right?
I get my hair cut.
I feel amazing.
Yep.
It’s one of the things we’ve realized during COVID.
I went 3 months without a haircut, and I was miserable.
We were gonna say something, but
Oh, no.
I’m just kidding.
You can’t imagine.
Right.
No, he has a fade either, right?
Right.
No, but our graduates go out and they have, you know, hundreds of clients and each of those clients walks out feeling great.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And that all comes back to the educator who made that possible for that student to go out and pursue that career.
Yeah.
And so we have just amazing educators who have thousands of graduates who are out in- Yes.
their communities.
I mean, that is- For sure.
super special.
That is super special.
I didn’t appreciate that when I got here, but that’s been like- The aha moment?
the aha moment for me.
Yeah.
Yeah, it’s cool ’cause coming from finance and then getting into beauty industry, that had to have been a crazy shift you didn’t even expect.
We’re all crazy.
We’re all wild.
We all got ideas- Mm-hmm.
and something to say, you know what I mean?
Right.
And it’s each in span that are this tall.
I know.
Yeah.
‘Cause honestly, we have to thank you for being patient with us and bringing us to where we are and building this momentum.
So I can even speak personally, once you build this momentum, if you keep going and keep going, and sometimes you feel like you hit a plateau.
What does Tricoci University plan for the future to make sure that we are continuing this momentum in our company?
Well, we just can’t stop.
Yeah.
Right?
This award can’t be a one and done, right, because culture takes months and years to build.
It does.
This has to be something that we continue to build upon.
Like I had a coach who said, “You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.
You’re not staying the same.”
And so we just have to continue to raise the bar and get better and better every day.
the infinite game.
Yes.
It is.
Yeah, yep.
And, you know, we continued to win awards, but it’s not really about the awards.
It’s really about celebrating the success with our s- with our educators, with our- Mm-hmm.
students, with the admissions staff- Mm-hmm.
because, you know, we, interviewed the admissions team before in the past.
And we’ve been, interviewed some of our educators, we’ve interviewed some of our campus directors.
Mm-hmm.
And I think it’s important to know that they’re the ones who connect that passion for the students into a purpose for their life.
And so, for me, that’s the biggest winning goal.
Mm-hmm.
I love that one.
Um, so, we like to conclude all our podcasts with one question.
What does being a daymaker make to you?
Let’s start with Joy.
So, I feel like being a daymaker is the perfect title, because this is really important, um, in terms of what we do.
I know for us in admissions, we’re really taking somebody who hasn’t joined a university or hasn’t joined our university yet, and we’re getting them through that process, and really guiding them through the process.
So, we take that leadership role real seriously.
And we are honored that parents trust us with their children and that they trust us with this big decision that they’re about to make in their life.
And we never, just, there’s thousands of students that we’ve helped and impacted them in the most positive ways.
So, we get to be daymakers every single day in admissions.
It means everything to us.
It’s very beautiful.
Yeah.
It is.
Larry, what does being a daymaker mean to you?
So for me, it’s so weird to be, have that script flipped-
and asked the question- Yeah.
after asking it- It’s great.
so many times.
Yeah.
Like, look at my, look at your shirt, right, Nate?
Yeah.
So, the whole thing with, for me, for being, really have an appreciation for daymakers, what fills my cup is actually working for, with, alongside a team that’s as amazing as people right here next to me-
but also, the team that we work with every day.
You know, whether it’s the campus director, the SSAs, all those people that support and really help drive the education for the students.
I mean, to me, that fills my cup.
When I walk in and see them having fun, or, you know, the banter on TikTok amongst the schools or through- Mm-hmm.
emails or whatever- It’s been nice-
you know, the fact that they share all that, and just you can see that they’re having fun, to me, that’s, that’s being a daymaker.
Mm-hmm.
They do it every single day, and I-
I don’t know if I get a chance to tell them, as much as I should, how much I appreciate them.
Mm-hmm.
So
That’s very fair.
That’s true.
And then, Nate, I purposely wanted to end with you, the CEO of our company.
What does being a daymaker mean to Nate Swanson?
Well, 2 things.
So, one is just trying to, you know, the world’s a hard place- Yeah.
right now.
It’s- Mm-hmm.
the last 5 years have been really hard.
Um, it’s harsh.
And so, just trying to slow things down and be kind- Mm-hmm.
um, and thoughtful, um, when I’m interacting with somebody.
But also, just to be there to support, right?
Whether it’s, um, a student who’s struggling, um, with, you know, life gets in the way- Mm-hmm.
um, whether it’s an educator who’s, you know, trying to find their way with us, um, or whether it’s, you know, one of our teammates- Mm-hmm.
um, just trying to be there to help them be successful.
And that’s, that’s my role, right, is to help them be successful.
Yep.
And so, um, I like that.
I like that role.
You do it well.
Um, it’s really meaningful to me.
Oh, good.
You do it well.
Like, I’m honored and grateful to have this opportunity.
Like I said, you’ve all played such an important role in my career.
Mm-hmm.
Um, it can make me get teary-eyed.
Yeah.
So, thank you very much.
Get chills in here.
Yeah.
So, just thank you again for being here and doing this for, um, the podcast, for our company, for- Yeah.
the Beauty Blitz, for all the students, all our employees.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
All right.
Can I just say thank you, Daved?
Thank you.
Thank you.
You’re just an amazing person.
Thank you.
Yeah, we’re so fortunate to have you.
Thank you so much.
Oh, that means a lot.