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UAlbany Weekend MBA Stories – Frank Deno, MBAExecutive Pastor of Operations, Grace Fellowship

A self-proclaimed endorphin junky, Frank Deno grew up in Clifton Park, the oldest of four. At the age of 14, he began working in construction and soon ventured into entrepreneurialism, managing nearly 20 jobs on his own. “When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t in love with my business but thought, what else is out there?,” shares Frank. “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life so I joined the Army.”

After advanced training as a tanker in the Army National Guard, Frank returned to the world he knew, construction. “My favorite part was the freedom to travel,” he explains. “An example is, I took a framing job in Colorado so I could

After two or three years living adventurously on the road, Frank found himself considering college. “Everyone else seemed to be doing it,” he says. “I thought there might be something to it. Plus, I figured I needed

to do more than just wander the rest of my life.”

The first in his family lineage to attend college and the only one of his siblings to complete college, Frank went to Hudson Valley Community College and decided he really liked it. “I liked everything about it,” he asserts. “The college environment, hanging out with my friends plus, I found I really enjoyed learning.”

When Frank Deno was in high school, he didn’t place much emphasis on studying, even failing math. “In college, my math professor explained all math problems are like puzzles and if you play them like a game, it becomes fun. He was right!” Frank went on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University at Albany in 1994.

Longing to work in computer automation, Frank began working as a consultant with General Electric (GE) Power Systems immediately after graduation and then GE Fanuc. “My job was to get computers to talk with machinery,” he describes. “I had a ball. It was like a playground for me.”

In the summer of 1996, he shifted gears and started consulting with Fleet Bank as an Enterprise Architect. Later, Fleet Bank became Bank of Boston and then Bank of America. Frank consulted with the bank for about four years before accepting an attractive offer to join the team full time. This is where he gained his first management experience with a large company.

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“So many great things happened in my career during my time there,” tells Frank. “I had an unbelievably great manager, one of the few mentors I’ve had in business, Scott McDermott. He chose to invest in me and sent me to MIT’s Sloan School of Management to begin my graduate studies. I did not finish my MBA there but earned a Product Management certificate.”

In fall 2003, Frank began a new consulting position with New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). “They run the power grid and energy markets for New York State and my job was to come up with business solutions for the overall organization,” he points out. “I put together a plan and they ended up hiring me as Quality Leader.” In 2005, Frank launched NYISO’s Lean Six Sigma Deployment Leadership Program to reduce complexity and cycle time (Lean) and reduce process defects and variation (Six Sigma) by developing quality leaders in the organization.

“I found myself doing something I’d never done before,” Frank reveals. “I was changing the quality of an entire organization. It made sense to me things should work a certain way but it occurred to me I had no formal education to back my thought process.” It was then Frank decided to pursue his MBA at UAlbany’s Weekend MBA Program.

“The cohort structure was just fabulous,” he recalls. “I can’t even fathom going through the MBA program without it. We still stay in touch even after 10 years because we built lasting friendships. In fact, I just went cycling with Dan Shyne a couple weeks ago.”

Frank’s love of cycling goes hand in hand with his endorphin junky persona. “I’m a fan of anything wild and crazy and cycling is one of the things I love,” he admits. “Cycling provides the most amazing sense of freedom. It’s a rush unlike anything else, other than skydiving.” Frank has put more than 10,000 miles on his bikes and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. “My wife tells me many people are blessed with ambition, adding, ‘you’re plagued with it’.”

Twenty years ago, Frank Deno told his friends he was happy being single and if God wanted him to marry someone, he’d have to drop her on his doorstep. This is their story.

“I met my wife at the little church I grew up in, Clifton Park Center Baptist Church,” he remembers with a smile. “Christa grew up near Buffalo and had come to the Capital District to do her doctoral work. It had been a number of years since I’d visited my church and the morning I went back, I saw the most beautiful girl on stage leading worship and thought, it’s ridiculous to even think about asking her out. She is way out of my league!”

A few weeks passed and as serendipity would have it, a group from the church ended up at Frank’s house for a snowball fight one evening. “By the time 10 o’clock came, it was just me and Christa,” reports Frank. “Cold from the wet snow, she sat on my doorstep shivering. It was then the light bulb went off. Here was the beautiful girl, dropped on my doorstep!”

A couple days later, the two met for coffee and shared everything about life to that point. “She was all in,” Frank beams. “We were engaged six months later and married a year after that.” On June 1, 2016, Frank and Christa Deno will celebrate 20 years of marriage.

When Frank began the UAlbany Weekend MBA Program, the couple had been married eight years. They had their daughter, Jasmine (almost 3) and their son Jared had just been born. “I was working 60-70 hours a week at NYISO, serving as a white water rafting guide on weekends and was also a youth leader at our church.”

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Earning his MBA took a great deal of planning and patience. “I loved doing the presentations because I’m good at pretending I know what I’m talking about,” he jokes. “My MBA gave me the academic backing and credibility that much of my thought process was actually accurate.”

The two biggest things Frank gained from the Weekend MBA Program were the relationships he built and having his love of learning affirmed. “To this day, some of my longest standing friendships in my life are members from my cohort. I am grateful.”

This is where the story changes. Frank graduated with his MBA class in 2006 and found himself working constantly. “I was hardly ever home,” he confesses. “One morning, I was sleeping on the couch after working late into the night. My daughter Jasmine looked at Christa and asked, ‘Mom, who’s the guy on the couch?’ All I could think was, what am I doing? Somewhere along the way I got lost.”

Soon thereafter, serendipity intervened again. Frank attended a leadership meeting at his church, Grace Fellowship. “There was an open position at our church for Director of Guest Services and I thought perhaps it was a gentle nudge from God to get me going in the right direction,” shares Frank. “I thought, why not throw my name into the hat for consideration.”

After meeting with the lead pastor and executive pastor, Frank had zero expectation of hearing anything further. When he met again with Executive Pastor Bill Minchin and heard, “You’re the guy we want,” he couldn’t help but respond, “Are you sure?”

Frank and Christa were excited about the transition but knew it would come with some drastic change, including financially. “My biggest concern was I get bored easily,” he concedes. “I love Grace and didn’t want to join the staff only to depart because I was bored. Bill assured me he didn’t think it would be a problem. To this day, 10 years later, he still pops his head in my office with a smirk to inquire, ‘Are you bored yet, Frank?’”

During his tenure at Grace, Frank kept picking up pieces that needed time, attention and improvement, including information technology. He joined the senior leadership team and when a friend asked him to perform a marriage, he got ordained.

As the church expanded to include satellite locations, Frank accepted the position of Executive Pastor. With four locations in the Capital Region, Grace recognized the need for structure change and created Central Support, the organization Frank currently leads.

“I’m still engaged in business consulting on the side,” he says. “It scratches the itch of wanting to help businesses grow through strategic management, process improvement, leadership development, and information technology.” He’s also on pace to complete his Doctor of Business Administration, Organizational Leadership at Liberty University during summer 2017. “I didn’t want my wife to have a degree I didn’t have,” he laughs. “In reality, I love learning and want to continually expand my knowledge base.”

To professionals considering the UAlbany Weekend MBA Program, Frank advises, “Be intentional about putting your family first. If your family can survive this, you should do it. It is a lot of work and about half way through, you’ll wake up and wonder why you’re doing it. Remain steadfast. As you look to the future, you will see yourself with an MBA and a whole world of opportunity will open to you.”

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All of Frank Deno’s personal values have the word good in them: God is good, life is good, family is good, work is good. “Work hard, play hard and enjoy life as much as you can,” he imparts. “That’s why we’re here.” Connect with Frank Deno here:

LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/fdeno

Click here to learn more about UAlbany’s executive Weekend MBA Program.

› COHORT STRUCTURE › 48 CREDITS IN 22 MONTHS › INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESIDENCY › VALUE LEADER › ALL-INCLUSIVE › INCREDIBLE STUDENT DIVERSITY