Vantage Voices

The first member of Vantage takes the mic. Jesse Rhodes Jr. is a keynote speaker, a University of Washington professor, and a self-described cultural architect whose whole purpose is to work with humans to create possibilities, not excuses. In episode two of Vantage Voices, Rachael Barclay turns the questions back on the man who interviewed her first.

We get into humanity as a discipline, the "door" (the invisible barriers that stop people before they start), the five-minute embrace that made his whole day, the 25 fellows from 20 African countries he promised to visit for a cup of tea, and his message straight to the Columbia Tower Club community he chaired when it closed.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Turning the mic back on Jesse
00:38 One word: humanity
01:16 What a cultural architect actually builds
03:01 Keynotes, UW, and 20 countries
04:30 Humanness vs. the hustle
04:53 The door: the barriers we do not see
07:29 Who Jesse invites into the room
09:44 The one introduction he is looking for
13:28 A message to the Columbia Tower Club
15:42 Relationship capital

LISTEN EVERYWHERE
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/vantage-voices/id6791746604
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033QGptiCILHJLC4NmPWqH
All platforms + full show notes: https://www.joinvantage.co/podcast/jesse-rhodes-jr

ABOUT VANTAGE VOICES
The room behind the room, on the record. Short, honest conversations with the people building the next version of Seattle. Hosted by Rachael Barclay. Two new voices a week.

Vantage is a members-first network, and the public business directory is free forever. Learn more or apply at https://www.joinvantage.co

#VantageVoices #SeattleBusiness #Leadership #Community #Podcast

Episode one, and Jesse Rhodes Jr. opens with a curveball. He came with his own questions and turns the mic around on Rachael, because before anyone hears from the members, the audience should hear from the person who built the room.

Rachael was general manager of Columbia Tower Club for almost two years, left in 2025, and came back as a member. She watched the club fight through COVID, and she never could shake the question: it is not the space, so what is the thing? When the news landed in April, the answer stopped being theoretical. Time to accelerate.

What Vantage actually is, in three parts. First, the public directory: free to list your business, your nonprofit, or your client's nonprofit, free forever, with every page built to be found by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI. That is the give-first economy, out loud. Second, the network: access to the other members, on your terms, protected on purpose. Third, proactive introductions: three people you did not know, inside your first 90 days, starting with the Vantage Type assessment.

Also in this one: who the room is for (people who do things, who create, build, and operate) and who it is not for. Why the filter is not your resume but "evidence that you show up for people when there is nothing in it for you." What the clubs taught her, from hostess at seventeen to Invited Clubs, and why hospitality is a discipline and not a vibe. And the real why: an entrepreneurial streak she calls highly unemployable, plus the family time she says she would not trade back for a million years.

Jesse's framing is worth the listen on its own: Vantage from the vantage point. The value is not only the new introductions, it is finally seeing the opportunity already sitting inside your own network.

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List your business free: https://www.joinvantage.co/get-listed
Browse the directory: https://www.joinvantage.co/directory
Take the Vantage Type assessment: https://www.joinvantage.co/vantage-type
Apply to join: https://www.joinvantage.co/join

Vantage Voices is the podcast of Vantage. Every member gets a seat in this chair. CONNECT WITH VANTAGE Website: https://www.joinvantage.co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevantagenetwork/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560489763262 Vantage Voices is the podcast of Vantage. Every member gets a seat in this chair.