Rachel Aden | Senior Account Manager
I first learned about Arrowhead 16 years ago while I was a sales manager for the Hyatt Crowne Center in Kansas City. Our president, (vice-president at the time), Scott Falk came in for a site visit and I was fascinated to learn that such an organization existed – both a business of professionals utilizing their skills and a ministry designed with the purpose of serving other ministries. Having decided to pursue the hospitality industry as a career while I was attending a Lutheran youth gathering in high school, I had a strong passion for both ministry and hospitality. To find an organization that was both, felt like a calling so I shared my heart and desire to be a part of the Arrowhead team and jumped when an opportunity arose to do just that.
If you spend much time with our team you’ll hear similar stories. The details vary but the message is similar – coincidences in timing, connections, and repeatedly a sense of calling. That is the heart of our organization; a group of individuals who desire to be a part of a ministry, utilizing our knowledge and skills in an environment where we are cared for and the important things in life are valued. It’s our foundation, our structure, and our heart, and it all combines to create our culture.
Merriam Webster defines culture as “The set of shared attributes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an organization.” When looking at this definition, it is easy to understand us. We share similar characteristics. Our team members are extremely skilled and have been successful in other areas, many in corporate environments, prior to joining Arrowhead. We have an immense amount of respect for each other and don’t want to let each other down. As we add in our values and passions for serving others and bringing events and individuals together, we get a deep fulfillment from serving ministries and feel privileged to utilize the gifts and skills we’ve learned in this way.
Our culture is intentional – on purpose. From an organizational standpoint, our structure fosters teamwork and lifting each other up. We are not compensated by individual commissions which makes us very unique in the hospitality industry. This model creates an environment where we are unified as a team, supporting each other instead of competing against one another. We place a high value on growing as a whole person – spiritually and professionally. We share our challenges and pray for each other and for our friends both in ministry and the industry. We feel safe to be real and honest with each other. We intentionally focus on identifying each of our special and unique God-given gifts and strive to maximize and encourage the utilization and growth in those areas. We put a high value on family and flexibility. We believe more is accomplished through a healthy work-life balance and we are committed to putting family first. We are not perfect or without challenges, but our foundation of faith is solid and our trust in God is strong. We believe deep in our souls that by continually keeping our eyes on Jesus he will lead us and we can achieve more than we could ever ask for or imagine.
At Arrowhead, our culture is part of our everyday life. It’s the reason we have the team we have, and why our team members desire to stay for years and often decades. It’s also the reason we feel so blessed to be a part of such an organization that also feels like a family. To us it’s simple, but we also know it’s special.
We’re passionate about this mission and want every ministry to join us in it. We believe from the bottom of our hearts that by uniting ministries together we can achieve so much more for the Kingdom than we can individually. It’s our desire to serve ministries and we see ourselves simply as conduits, combining our collective knowledge and buying power so that we can all apply greater resources to taking the Gospel to the end of the world.