Ryan Ashlock
Episode 33

Japhet De Oliveira:

Welcome, friends, to another wonderful episode of The Story & Experience Podcast, and I'm really excited to be able to introduce you to our new guest today. Before I do that, if you are a brand new listener, what you need to know is how this actually works. So, we have a 100 questions. Obviously, I'm not going to ask all 100 questions. He's looking at me right now, nodding his head in affirmation, that this is a good thing. And instead, I'm going to go for the first 10.

And then, the guest is going to choose between 11 and 100, which questions he would like to go for. And they progressively become more vulnerable, more difficult, more complex. And so, he gets to choose where he wants to go with this stuff. Right, without further ado, let's dive in. Shall we? We'll start off with, Ryan. Oh, I said your name. What is your name? You're the first one. I goofed that up, brilliant. And of course, there's no editing. So, it just rolls as it is. What is your name, sir?

Ryan Ashlock:

My name is Ryan Ashlock.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And Ryan, does anybody ever get that wrong? Do they mispronounce it?

Ryan Ashlock:

In fact, they do, quite often. At any restaurants I go to, it's always Brian, it's not Ryan. Maybe, I just mispronounce my own first name, and people think that it's Brian versus Ryan. And growing up as a kid, people loved to make fun of my last name. You can imagine, A-S-H-L-O-C-K, people would like to change those things to some other letters. So, we'll let the listeners use their imagination, what that might mean.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, and here I was hoping you were going to tell us. But all right, we'll let our imagination...

Ryan Ashlock:

It probably wouldn't be PG for this podcast.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great, no worries. Hey Ryan, what do you do for work?

Ryan Ashlock:

I am blessed to serve as the president at Adventist South Castle, over here in Kailua, Hawaii. So, I get to wake up every morning in the beautiful island of Oahu and live here in Hawaii.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's fantastic. And how long have you been in this role?

Ryan Ashlock:

I've been in this role for about six months now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, OK. But, you've been working for Adventist Health a lot longer than that?

Ryan Ashlock:

I have, yeah. Two and a half years over here at Castle, in a couple of roles. And then I'll hit my 10-year anniversary with Adventist Health here, this coming January.

Japhet De Oliveira:

A decade, well done. That's brilliant. So this morning, what was your drink of choice? I mean, when you begin your day, do you have coffee? Do you have tea? Do you have one of those green licorice smoothies or water? Or actually in Hawaii they have that really weird drink. I'm trying to remember what it was, somebody gave it to me and it's an acquired taste. It's from a root.

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah, I'm not sure what that one is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'm going to have to remember the name of that. It was just...

Ryan Ashlock:

But, I'm pretty boring Japhet, and I'm a water drinker. That's all I really drink, I don't drink coffee, I don't drink tea, no soda. So, it's just water, plain old water.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You live on an island and you drink water.

Ryan Ashlock:

I know.

Japhet De Oliveira:

What a novel idea. That's great, well done for doing that. It is actually the best without a doubt. And so, Ryan, where were you born?

Ryan Ashlock:

I was born in Glendale, California, at our Adventist Health Glendale location.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Born and bred, that's fantastic. And when you were a little kid, what did you imagine that you would be when you grew up?

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, it's an interesting question. I think if I had my dream job, I'd be playing some type of sport right now. I'd either be playing in the NBA or be playing on the PGA tour. Both of which, I've realized at a young age that I did not have the talent to do either of those. And I grew up working for my dad in his accounting practice and it was expected that I would, at some point after college, I would go and work for him in his accounting practice. And then, take that over. Well, things changed a little bit towards the end of my time in college, my dad decided that he was going to sell his practice and actually go to work for Adventist Health.

And so, I had to decide, "Well, now what am I going to do next with my life?" Because it was all pre-planned, at least in my head, and it was a logical second choice. I'll call it, not even a second choice, probably a 1B, was to get into healthcare. Because, I've had a rich history throughout my family of working in healthcare and specifically, in Adventist Health. And so, I then knew that I was going to pivot and find a role in healthcare.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, it's good for Adventist Health and it's good for you, as well. Let's talk a little bit about your personality and if people were to describe you as an introvert or an extrovert. Which one would they pick and would you agree?

Ryan Ashlock:

It's interesting. I would describe myself as an introvert, and I'm definitely an introvert. Although, many people that I've met over the last several years would actually not describe me that way. I'm not quite sure how they get that impression. So, good for me for maybe being able to show that I'm an extrovert, but really I'm an introvert. I enjoy my quiet time and my time alone.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I respect that, I understand that entirely. It's beautiful. All right, let's talk about habits now. Are you an early riser or a late night owl?

Ryan Ashlock:

I am definitely an early riser. If I don't fall asleep on the couch before 9:00 it would be a surprise. So, I look forward to every night when the clock strikes 9:00 p.m. and I can then justify to myself, I can go up and go to bed.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So, when you say early riser, what are you thinking of? Is that 9:00 in the morning? Is that 5:00 in the morning? What's an early riser for you?

Ryan Ashlock:

I wish I could sleep 9 to 9. But no, it's about 5:30, I think. Is usually when my body just naturally gets up these days, I don't even have to use an alarm anymore.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's the same here, I'm with you. I love it, it's just beautiful. I'm an early morning person. I love it, as well. What's the very first thought that went through your mind this morning, 5:30 this morning?

Ryan Ashlock:

I think there was two thoughts. One, I knew I was going to do this podcast with you today. So, I knew I had to make sure I come and be prepared for that, for your hard questions that they're about to be.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, actually they're your hard questions.

Ryan Ashlock:

And then, the other thought that's popping into my head most mornings these days is, I just got a Peloton bike. And so, I have to wrestle with my own self to say, "Am I going to get my butt out of bed and go downstairs and get on my Peloton bike or am I going to make an excuse for why I don't need to get on this morning?” So, I'm finding the motivation these days to somehow get myself out bed, and go get on that bike.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, I love that. I've tried the Apple fitness app instead, with the person screaming at me on the bicycle and that's actually very soothing and comforting. So, you're on the Peloton. Well done for that, good for you. Here's a leadership question, are you a backseat driver?

Ryan Ashlock:

I don't think so. One of the things that I really focus on as a leader is empowering my team to make the decisions that they need to for their respective areas. And I'm here to be able to support them. So, you can interpret your questions in different ways. I would say I'm a backseat driver from that perspective, I'm sitting behind them to be able to support them with whatever they need. But, I'm not back there to be able to bark out commands to them when they're trying to drive their departments or their businesses.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's good. I like the extra twist on the metaphor to support them. Are you supporting them by just rubbing their shoulders while they're driving?

Ryan Ashlock:

Sure.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure? I stretched it out a little bit there. So, here we go. We're done with the intro. We're going into the fun stuff now. You get to pick a number between 11 and 100 and it progressively becomes more vulnerable and more open. The closer you are to 100. Where would you like to begin, sir?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's start with my favorite number 13, and see where that takes us.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirteen, your favorite number? You learn something new every day. Walk us through the ideal end of your day.

Ryan Ashlock:

That's actually a really easy question for me. Now this never happens. But if, in the ideal world I would leave work and I would go get on the golf course. And play a couple of holes. And there's nothing better for me than a late warm evening on a golf course, as the sun is going down with just myself and my thoughts and to decompress from the day. And that would be ideal for me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're going to have to make one of those ideal days work one day.

Ryan Ashlock:

I know.

Japhet De Oliveira:

After your lucky number 13, where do you want to go next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go with 16.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sixteen? All right. Tell us about one of the places you've traveled and why you want to go back.

Ryan Ashlock:

I've been blessed to travel all lot of different places throughout my life, and the one trip that really stands out to me was an opportunity to go down to Kenya. And go on ... What was it? Actually, it was with Maranatha and we did a combined mission trip and then, also a safari at the end of it. And what an incredible experience it was for me. We were able to travel into places that people with my skin color have never been in before. And so, driving into some of these villages and communities, it was a very unique experience to see people living a very natural life.

And these were individuals that, they had nothing, but yet they were the happiest people that you would ever meet. And boy, that was such a humbling experience for me, to be able to interact with these individuals and to be able to teach them. We were there to be able to teach health, and fitness, and wellness. And they ate it up. It was amazing.

And they were so welcoming. And we have so much here in the United States. And I think we sometimes forget about what others don't have in other places. And I think less is more, I came away with that. Is that you can be really happy with just your friends, your family, and the community that you have to be able to spend time with. And maybe not your phone and all the other devices and TVs and all of the other things that take up a lot of our time these days.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So, if I were to ask you question 16A, which is not on the list. Happiness, how would you define happiness, is that less is more?

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah, I think so. Happiness is something that's different for everyone. But for me, I think it's less is more. I think happiness is defined, at least for me, as being with my family and being able to do the things that I love with those individuals.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good, I love that. Where'd you want to go off to 16A?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go with 21B.

Japhet De Oliveira:

21B, all right. OK, I can make this up. But, we'll see. Twenty-one. Share the best compliment you've ever received.

Ryan Ashlock:

Huh. Good question. The best compliment that I have ever received, this one's fresh off the top of my mind. It's probably not the best one that I've ever had. But, just recently I was featured in a magazine, here in Hawaii. And the lady that was the editor of this magazine, came back and said, "Ryan, you could be a model." I'm not quite sure what she was looking at. She must have been looking at a different picture, because I went home and I told my wife that, that's what they said. And she humbled me and made me realize that no, you have no future as a model.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, that's nice. Well, it's a good compliment. Where do you want to go next, after 21?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's do 28.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Twenty-eight. If you had to give an impromptu 30-minute presentation, what topic would it be on? And then, let's hear it.

Ryan Ashlock:

Twenty-eight. It feels like it must be 98. These are hard questions. I think it would be on the importance of treating people with love and respect. And I have been blessed to have individuals in my life that have really instilled in me the importance of treating people well and treating them individually and treating them with love and respect. And I think at times, especially in a business setting, we can forget about that. We're trying to drive accountability, we're trying to drive results, and you can still do that in a very gracious way. And so, to me, that's really how you engage your people and if you're able to engage your people, you're going to be able to drive your organization to tremendous results.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's really good. I love that actually, and I think that's pretty fundamental to actually being a great leader, as well, right?

Ryan Ashlock:

Absolutely, Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'm glad you believe that, I'm glad you practice that and lead that, as well, at Castle. The Adventist hospital Castle, beautiful culture there and really fantastic, great work there. Where'd you want to go after 28?

Ryan Ashlock:

All right, Let's go to 35.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty-five. Share a special interest or unique talent that you have other than golf.

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, I'm not a very talented individual. I would probably say I'm a decent golfer. That's probably it. I don't know if that's unique necessarily, but I've been blessed to actually figure out how to play the game of golf relatively well. And I'll go with that as being my unique talent.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I think they made the ball too small.

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, I think they made the hole too small, not the ball too small.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Brilliant. After 35, where do you want to go next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go to 40.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Forty. Think about this and tell us about a time that you've failed.

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, we could probably spend our whole hour talking about the times that I've failed.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But we all have.

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah. I think this may not be a specific example necessarily, but a situation that just popped up here over the last couple of days. I was filling out a survey and I did not read the instructions clearly. And as a result, the results that went to an individual, as a result to the survey, portrayed them in a light that was not intended. And so, that was a failure on my part to not read clearly on what was going on. And as a result, it created some unhappiness on the part of this other individual. And that's something that certainly has burdened me, not having looked at something clearly. And so, it's the everyday reminder of don't rush your way through things. Because every action you take has a responsibility, and it's important to keep that front of mind.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And that also speaks of your character, as well, Ryan. And that you care and you want to go back and you want to fix that. And so, good for you for that. It is complex sometimes, with the failings, but it's beautiful. We can learn from them. It's great. So after 40, where next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go to 45.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, here we go. When people come to you for help, what are they usually asking for?

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, it's changed over my career. When I was in a CFO role, they were always coming and asking for money of some sort. And really now, as I've been in this president role, most of the time people are coming with a request for support. They have an idea that they would like to implement. And they are coming to me to ensure that there's appropriate support to be able to move that forward. And so, as we've talked about in some of the earlier questions, really as a backseat driver, right? To be able to support them, I've seen a lot of requests that say, "Hey, Ryan, I'd like to do X, Y, or Z." And then we go through the process of really analyzing what they're looking for and to see if we can actually support that and implement that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good. So after 45, where next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Well, let's go back to some easy ones. So maybe, let's go back to 18.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, here we go. Eighteen it is. If you had eat just one meal for a month, what would you choose?

Ryan Ashlock:

It would be any type of Mexican food dish.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah and living in Hawaii, there is not good Mexican food here. And so, every day I crave being able to have some good Mexican food. I was just recently in Southern California and for the three or four days that I was there, every meal was some type of Mexican food. So I could get my fill.

Japhet De Oliveira:

When you say every meal, are you talking about breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Ryan Ashlock:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. After 18, where next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go to 31.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty-one? All right. Tell us about someone you'd love to eat dinner with. I mean, and the sky is the limit. Just someone you'd love to eat dinner with, have a great conversation. Who would that be?

Ryan Ashlock:

I'll answer it generally. I would love to be able to have a conversation with any president. For whatever reason, I'm so interested in what their day-to-day work looks like and to understand the burden that they must carry of leading a country. It would just be really fascinating to me to be able to pick their brain, and understand what that's like. And maybe even have them give me an inside-the-ropes tour of the White House. I'm always just so fascinated by what must be in there and the various technology and rooms and everything else. The things that we'll never get to see, but that'd be interesting to be able to figure out what's actually in there.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, it's got to be amazing.

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah, I hope so for all the taxes we pay.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It probably is amazing. It probably can tele-transport or something. We'll see. All right, where next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go, now I got to keep track of the numbers that I've already said.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'll tell you, if you come back to a number.

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's do 33.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty-three. Tell us about the best gift you've ever given someone else.

Ryan Ashlock:

This one, I think, would be when I gave my engagement ring to my wife. I don't know if that's officially a gift.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So, it wasn't you, it was the ring.

Ryan Ashlock:

Right, exactly. And it was something that was unexpected for her. And it was a really memorable time in my life to be able to make that commitment to her and our commitment to each other. We were on a golf course, I had it sitting in the hole. So, when she finished playing out the hole, the box of the ring was sitting there. So it was a fun time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

For some reason, I imagined just the ring was in the hole, not in the box. I don't know why, but...

Ryan Ashlock:

That would be dangerous, if it was just the ring. Because it may fall through a crack and I'll never see it again. That'd be an expensive investment.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's what I was thinking. I was like, "Was that a great idea? With the box, great." Lovely. Good, where next?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's get a little bit harder. Let's go up to 55.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Fifty-five, it is. Share about something that frightens you.

Ryan Ashlock:

I think it's failure. I think failing is something that scares me and this may be a little vulnerable. But sitting in a leadership role, I want to ensure the success of my team and my organization. And the thought of something not working out the way in which we envisioned it, that could have an impact on either an associate or a patient or the broader community, that scares me. There's a lot of responsibility that sits in a role of an executive, to run a hospital. And every day that I come to work, I want to make sure that we are creating a quality and a safe environment for our patients, for our community, for our associates, for our physicians. And the thought of somehow failing to do that frightens me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It is a lot of responsibility, right? Even with the amazing team that you have and you've selected and pulled together, and it still is a lot of responsibility.

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah, it is. And I'm blessed to have that responsibility. But, that comes with some sleepless nights at times.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Do you think ... And this is definitely not on the list here, these questions. Do you think, Ryan, that those who are not frightened of a responsibility like that maybe don't understand the gravity of it?

Ryan Ashlock:

Probably. I think, in my opinion, if you are not scared of failing, to me, you might be too what I'll say, willy nilly about your approach. Because, "Oh, well, it didn't work out. I'll just try the next thing." And to me, you have to have some intentionality around what you're trying to implement, and to be thoughtful about the things that you are doing. That you are going to be successful and you go into it with the best intentions. Now you're going to fail and it's okay to fail. And that's something we support here at Castle, is fail and fail fast. Let's learn from it. But, when I talk about failure, I talk about something that's greater than just a project that didn't work out. But, something that maybe actually has an impact on those that you serve.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, I appreciate that. That's good. And I'm sure that so many of the experiences in your life have helped shape you to that moment.

Ryan Ashlock:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, we have time for two more. The last two. You're like, "Oh, this is great or not." So, where do you want to go for the last two?

Ryan Ashlock:

We'll, let's be adventurous. Let's go up to 75.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Seventy-five. Do you remember the first item that you purchased with your own money, and if so, what was it and why did you buy it?

Ryan Ashlock:

I have no idea what the first thing was that I purchased with my own money. But, what I can remember is the very first time that I lived on my own and sitting in my small studio apartment in Costa Mesa, California. My parents had left, dropped off all the furniture. And I sat there and I thought to myself, "What the heck am I going to be able to do by myself?" I now have to support myself, I have to go to work and make a career for myself. And then, the bills started to roll in and I said, "Goodness, it's a little more expensive to do this stuff than I ever realized. No wonder my parents were worried about finances." So, that doesn't directly answer your question. But, that's definitely a memorable moment in my life when money now became a factor that, that's my responsibility.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's true. And actually, that's what's underneath that question, as well. So, I think you did exceptionally well with that. All right. You have time, I think maybe, yes, your final question. Where do you want to go?

Ryan Ashlock:

Let's go to 99. I don't have the guts to go to a 100, so I'll go to 99.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, it's not an easy question either. So, here's question number 99. What is the most difficult truth you've ever had to tell?

Ryan Ashlock:

Japhet, I think what comes to mind for me, was my experience back at Adventist Health Feather River, after the community was devastated by the Camp Fire. And a couple of days after the fire happened, we brought together the entire Adventist Health Feather River family, community.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Can you just frame that for our international audience, as well? Just help them understand what had taken place. And then, go into that, because I think they need to understand the gravity of that situation.

Ryan Ashlock:

Yeah, I'm happy to. So in November 2018, the Camp Fire came through Paradise, California, and destroyed, in a matter of probably three or four hours, the entire community. I shouldn't say the entire community, probably about 90% of the community. It burned down half of the hospital that we had there. And I could spend several hours telling you the story of evacuating patients out of that facility. And the amazing resilience and guts our associates had there to evacuate patients in personal cars. Because ambulances weren't able to get to our hospital, because of the traffic leaving the Paradise community.

And so, a few days after that, we knew we needed to communicate to our team around what the future of the organization was going to be. And we had to be truthful with them to say that we're not opening up this hospital for a long, long time. And if ever, when you have a community that is destroyed, the people that support it are no longer there. So, how can you support the ability to keep a hospital open? And that was a difficult thing, to be able to communicate to about 800 people that were jam-packed into this room, many of whom had all lost their homes, lost everything but the clothes on their back. And here we are to tell them that they're not likely to be able to have a job going forward, because the hospital is not going to be able to be open.

And thankfully, our Adventist Health executive leadership supported our associates financially for a period of time, to help as they looked for new jobs and opportunities. But that was a difficult truth to be able to tell them. But, I also really respect the fact that we were that transparent with them, because you very easily could have told them what they wanted to hear. "Hey, hang with us. We're going to assess the situation and we hope to be open again in a short period of time." But we recognized that being truthful, being transparent, with that team was the best way to do it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, Ryan, it has been an honor and privilege to be able to hear just a few of the stories and experiences that have shaped your life into the great leader that you are today. Both serving in your own personal life, but also at Adventist Health Castle. We thank you for that, taking the time.

Ryan Ashlock:

Absolutely, It's been great to be with you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's been good. For all of our listeners, I just want to encourage you to keep on sharing your stories, keep on asking great questions, keep on sharing your experiences. Listen to other stories and other experiences, as well, and you can absolutely change the world and make it a better place. Be brilliant, look after yourselves and God bless you.