Six Flags veteran: ‘Never lose sight of your goals’

Follow your passion.

That's what Melinda Ashcraft did for 45 years until April 1. That's when she retired as president of Six Flags Over Georgia after working for the amusement park company for her entire career.

Ashcraft, 61, rose through the ranks at a time when women were discouraged from having ambitious corporate dreams. Starting as a part-time ride operator at the Austell park in her teens, Ashcraft was promoted to a variety of management jobs at Six Flags amusement parks around the country.

Staying at one company for more than four decades may be virtually impossible today. Nevertheless, what Ashcraft learned about setting goals — and sticking with them — can provide lessons for anybody.

Q: Why Six Flags?

A: You have to love what you're doing and I do at Six Flags.

My mom worked for Six Flags for 30 years as an executive assistant. My dad was with the General Services Administration for 35 years. The work ethic was very important. They were great mentors for me as I started my career.

I started as a 16-year-old, part-time ride operator. I worked every weekend and during the summer, all through high school. I also worked while in college, where I was a pre-med student.

But when I graduated, Six Flags gave me an opportunity to work full-time. My initial thought was to work a few years, because you're a little tired (of school).

I truly never looked back.

Q: It may be hard for younger readers to conceive of working for just one company throughout an entire career. Why did you stay at Six Flags for so long?

A: I can't imagine working anywhere else.

I had lots of opportunities over the years to go to other amusement park companies — Disney, Universal. Moving around to different jobs is not necessarily negative. Every situation is not the same for everybody.

I’ve gone through 12 owners here. I never lost sight of what we do every day — give our guests as much fun as we can. It’s the love of what I do.

My aspiration was always to move up as a park president. Back in the 1970s, there was a big obstacle. There was not a lot of opportunity for women in management. An HR person told me that was an area I really shouldn’t pursue.

I was flabbergasted that he would talk to me that way. But I looked at it as — I’ll show you what I can do. I’ll work hard. Fortunately, times changed and I was given opportunities, which I merited.

I had the opportunity to work with this big company and bounce around to other parks, because we were moving at a fast pace at that time, buying up properties. It was a refreshing and exciting thing to go to a new city and a new park, and have the opportunity to learn.

It took from 1967 to 1999 to reach my goal of being a park president. Never lose sight of your goals.

Q: How did you rise up the corporate ladder? What did you learn?

A: I first moved in the late 1970s from operations and the rides to food service, which is a huge operation here and in all of our parks. It's the money-making part of our business. That's where I excelled.

At a park operation, when you run a multimillion-dollar food operation with 30 or 40 food items, and do the volume we do, to be a regional manager for a McDonald’s is like a cake walk. There are 25,000 to 30,000 people in the peak of the summer — that’s a lot of people to feed.

I was chosen for jobs with more responsibility at other parks and eventually became director of food services at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California. I moved back to Atlanta to become vice president of retail operations — all the money-making operations — before reaching my goal and becoming a park president in Louisville.

I think young people are sometimes a little scared to speak up (about their goals). They need to sit down and talk to somebody like their manager or someone in HR.

Sometimes, they don’t have the confidence in themselves. So we as managers have to identify the people who have the right capabilities, the right stuff.

Q: You apparently had the right stuff. In 2004, you got your dream job, returning to Austell to become the new president of the park. But it needed a turnaround. What did you do?

A: When I came back here, I thought we had a long way to go in terms of cleanliness and guest services.

We also had to get our focus back on (providing) a very wide array of things to do for the entire family — not just thrill rides for teenagers. You don’t want too much either way. In my first year, we put in five new family rides. I wanted a good balance of shows, entertainment and rides.

We went back to the basics. I don’t care if it’s the Food Mart down the street. You identify the problems and you engage a team to help you solve what they are. You put a plan together and then you’ve got to execute it.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made? What’s your best advice?

A: A lot of times when I was coming up I was very aggressive. Sometimes, I wanted to move so fast that I didn't slow down long enough to really understand the situation, or be able to help people as much as I wanted to.

You learn (over time) to be a little calmer. I think through things a lot more. I don’t make decisions quite as fast. I get more input. The more, the better. I wish I would have learned that earlier.

The best advice is you’ve got to have the highest integrity in dealing with every kind of situation. Go with your gut. If it feels right, it’s usually the right thing to do.

Also, get over obstacles. Get over disappointments. Don’t dwell on them. Learn from them and move on. You gotta always be looking forward.