Q&A: Hall Takes Helm At Eastside YMCA

Zack Hall took over as the executive director at the Eastside Family YMCA in December, replacing Keith Doster at the Taylors location. Patch.com invites you to get to know Hall by reading our Q&A with the new director, who also supervises the Travelers Rest branch. 

Q: When did you start as executive director at the Eastside YMCA, and what are the circumstances of your taking over here? 

A: "I took over as District Executive Director, supervising the Eastside YMCA
and George I. Theisen YMCA (in Travelers Rest) in mid-December.  Keith
Doster was the former executive director at Eastside.  His family is leaving
to be missionaries internationally on the island of Eleuthera, in the
Bahamas.  You can read more about Keith's family at
http://dostermission.org/."

Q: How long had you been serving as the director at the Travelers Rest location?  

A: "I have been the executive director in Travelers Rest since May. In February
2012, my wife was offered an associate professor position with Clemson. Our
family decided to move to from Frankfort, Kentucky (we had lived there since
2005) to Greenville. I wanted to still work for the Y and was extremely
blessed and fortunate to get a job with the YMCA of Greenville."

Q: How did you first become involved in the YMCA?

A: "My first YMCA involvement was when I was 10 years old.  I went to a YMCA
resident camp in Alabama.  I don't think I knew it was a Y camp until I
started working for the Y in 2001.  My YMCA career started at the West
Chester, PA YMCA as the Associate Physical Director.  I worked Sunday
through Thursday so no other full-time staff had to work on Sunday.  I
managed the wellness center and the staff and had a great boss that really
got me to buy into the YMCA mission.

After about a year, I moved to the Upper Main Line YMCA and was the Physical
Director over tennis, golf, sports and camps.  It was a great Y to work for
and had about 12,000 members (Eastside YMCA has about 8,000) and over 500
kids in summer camp each day.  I spent 3.5 years there and was taught the
importance of running a quality program and working with volunteers.

In 2005, I moved to Frankfort, Kentucky to be the Associate Executive
Director at the Frankfort YMCA.  My second week there, the CEO who hired me
resigned.  It was a much smaller association so I was immediately pushed
into helping lead board meetings and guiding 100 staff.  Without a doubt,
the hardest year of my career, but I really was forced to learn and excel
and being a YMCA leader.  Looking back, that year really stretched me and
helped me get to where I am today.

After seven years in Frankfort, my family was ready for a change and moved to
Greenville. With our kids in school now and my wife working again, we hope
to call Greenville our home for a long time."

Q: What is your education background?

A: "I went to Auburn University for my undergrad and master's degree. B.S. in
Biomedical Sciences (Pre-Med basically), 1997, M.Ed. in Exercise Physiology,
1999."

Q: Tell me about some of the challenges that come with managing two branches?

A: "For now the biggest challenge is trying to learn the names of so many
members, volunteers and supporters of the Y. In the future it will just be
about balancing my time in both communities to help both locations thrive.
I have a lot of great staff working with me, so that will help."

Q: Give our readers a glimpse into your personal life. 

A: "My wife and I met at Auburn and have been married since 1999.  We have three daughters (ages 8,5, and 3) that consume most of our free time.  I
like to play golf, guitar and exercise.  I recently started participating in
triathlons and have registered for a half-ironman in September."

Q: Are there any specific challenges, obstacles and goals that are inherent in
running the Eastside branch? How do you deal with them? 

A: "I think the biggest challenge at Eastside is that we are reaching our
capacity at certain times of the day. It is a good problem to have, but the
staff will have to be strategic and work together about when we are offering
programs for our members and program participants.  The Eastside Y has a
great reputation in the community and I just want to help build on that."