Happy Friday!

If you looked outside yesterday, you probably thought Toledo had relocated somewhere between Seattle and Mars. Wildfire smoke has once again found its way to Northwest Ohio, putting a damper on what already feels like our limited supply of sunny summer days. No offense to our neighbors to the north, but Canada can keep this one.

Also… is it just us, or does anyone else struggle to remember wildfire smoke becoming an annual summer tradition before the last three years?

The good news is that we could still see the keyboard, and we have another week of Toledo Money ready for you.

This week, we are taking you inside the Corner Office with Shayla Bell Moriarty, Chief Operating Officer of the Toledo Zoo. We had the opportunity to sit down with Shayla and learn more about the experiences, principles, and mentors that have shaped how she approaches strategy, leadership, and execution. Her story offers a closer look at the work behind one of Northwest Ohio’s most visible and important institutions; and the leadership required to keep moving it forward.

One quick favor before you dive in: if something from one of our Presented By sponsors catches your eye, give it a click. Those sponsors are the reason Toledo Money lands in your inbox every Friday without a subscription fee, and your support helps us continue bringing Northwest Ohio’s business community the stories that matter.

Think of it as paying for your newsletter with one click rather than your credit card.

Now, let’s get into what’s moving across Northwest Ohio.

This week’s shoutout goes to Darren Munn, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Munn Wealth Management and its sister company, Camelot Portfolios. Darren founded what would become Munn Wealth Management in 1998 before launching Camelot Portfolios in 2008, as fellow advisors sought out his investment management expertise.

Thank you, Darren, for being part of the Toledo Money community. We appreciate your support and everything you’re doing to help individuals and families build long-term wealth across Northwest Ohio.

Owens Corning | $OC ( ▲ 0.71% )

Dana Incorporated | $DAN ( ▼ 3.28% )

The Andersons | $ANDE ( ▲ 1.33% )

Owens Illinois | $OI ( ▲ 2.24% )

Welltower Inc. | $WELL ( ▲ 3.52% )

Marathon Petroleum Corporation | $MPC ( ▲ 2.23% )

First Solar | $FSLR ( ▼ 5.31% )

Some leaders manage operations. Shayla Bell-Moriarty builds reasons for people to show up. 

That distinction matters. 

At the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, experience is not treated as decoration around the mission. It is one of the ways the mission gets funded, expanded, and protected. Every membership, every wedding, every sold-out fundraiser, every family tradition, every guest who drives in from Michigan, every child who feeds a giraffe and asks to come back, those moments are strategy in motion. 

And Shayla Bell Moriarty has become one of the region’s clearest examples of what happens when competitive drive, operational discipline, marketing instinct, and human-centered leadership all point in the same direction. 

Before she was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, Shayla was a competitor. 

Her story starts at Notre Dame Academy, where basketball became more than an extracurricular. It became the early arena where her work ethic, confidence, preparation, and will to win started gaining attention. 

There is a reason athletics shows up so often in leadership conversations. Sports teach feedback in real time. They teach preparation when nobody is watching. They teach how to win, how to lose, how to respond, and how to be held accountable by people depending on you. 

The connection between sports and executive leadership is not just anecdotal. A 2015 EY and espnW report found that 94% of women in the C-suite played sports, with 52% having played at the university level. 

For Shayla, those lessons traveled.

From Notre Dame Academy, she went to John Carroll University and left as one of the best to ever wear the uniform. Shayla became the all-time leading scorer in John Carroll women’s basketball history, finishing her career with records, regional recognition, conference accolades, and a series of firsts for the program. 

Not just good. The best. 

That matters because the best competitors rarely leave that wiring behind. They carry it into meetings, teams, projects, budgets, partnerships, and culture. 

Winning becomes less about the scoreboard and more about the standard.

That standard followed Shayla into a role she did not yet know would become one of the most important chapters of her professional development. 

Hollywood Casino Toledo. 

When the casino opened, Shayla was one of the first people hired into what would become a major new entertainment operation for the region. She tailored best practices from the parent company to create memorable experiences. Leading to a much harder question: 

Why would someone choose to come here? 

That is the heart of experience strategy. It is one thing to build a facility. It is another thing to create demand. 

At Hollywood Casino, Shayla helped think through the moments that made the property more than gaming. The concerts. The food. The events. The guest experience. The reason someone might bring a spouse, meet friends, celebrate, stay longer, spend more, and come back again. 

Yes, there were slot machines and table games. 

But the broader business question was always more interesting: how do you make a place feel like a destination? 

That question would become central to her career. 

It was also at Hollywood Casino where Shayla worked under Richard St. Jean, then the casino’s general manager. St. Jean brought a national hospitality and gaming perspective to Toledo. He understood the unseen work behind great experiences; staffing, sequencing, atmosphere, trust, training, operations, and the countless details guests never consciously notice unless something goes wrong. 

For Shayla, he became a mentor not because he gave her a title, but because he gave her room to execute. That is often the difference in a career. 

Talent needs opportunity. Opportunity needs trust. Trust needs proof. 

Shayla kept proving it. 

And in Toledo, great work does not stay hidden for long. 

This is still a midsize city with small-town radar. People notice who can get things done. They notice who can bring people together. They notice who understands both the boardroom and the guest experience. Eventually, that reputation reached the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium. 

Thankfully for Northwest Ohio, the Zoo was not simply looking for someone to maintain what already existed. It was looking for someone who could help reimagine what the institution could become. 

That is where the business lesson begins. 

The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium already holds a rare place in Northwest Ohio. For many families, it sits inside the rhythm of life. 

Lights Before Christmas. Summer walks. Class trips. First dates. Family memberships. Weddings. Donor events. Corporate outings. The Aquarium. The Museum. The new Reptile House. The aerial adventure course. Giraffe feedings. Burgers and beer from a shipping container. 

The list keeps going, which says a lot about the strategy. The Zoo gives people reasons to return at every stage of life. That is the power of an experience platform. 

Under the leadership of President and CEO Jeff Sailer, with Shayla helping drive the operating engine behind the guest experience, the Zoo has continued expanding how people engage with the institution. The work reaches well beyond a single attraction, event, or membership campaign. It is a broader system designed to deepen connection, increase frequency, and create new pathways into the mission. 

Shayla joined the Zoo in 2016. By 2018, her scope had expanded to include park operations, food and beverage, and membership teams. That placed her directly over many of the moments that shape how guests experience the Zoo.

The entry point. The food and beverage experience. The membership relationship. The event execution. The return visit. 

Those touchpoints matter because they determine whether a guest has a nice afternoon or builds a lasting relationship with the institution. 

From 2018 to 2024, Zoo membership grew from 50,000 households to 75,000 households, a 50% increase. The Zoo also reached the highest per-capita membership in the country. 

That kind of growth points to habit formation. Families are building the Zoo into their routines. Membership becomes less transactional and more relational. It turns the Zoo from a place people occasionally visit into a place they feel connected to. 

The strategy also extends access. Through the Zoo’s Community Partner Membership Program, 5,000 memberships are provided to underrepresented communities through partnerships with more than 80 agencies. That matters because a true community institution has to create multiple doors into the experience. 

At the same time, the Zoo has increased its pull beyond the immediate market. Partnerships, including with the Detroit Pistons, helped drive out-of-state attendance to 40%. 

A Toledo institution is creating regional gravity. 

Families are crossing county and state lines. Visitors from Southeast Michigan are choosing Toledo. The Zoo is giving people another reason to spend time, money, and attention in Northwest Ohio. 

Then layer in the event business. Zoo Lights attendance has grown by more than 60%. The Zoo can host multiple major experiences at the same time. This year, there are 52 weddings scheduled. 

Furthermore, ZOOtoDO has become one of the region’s signature events. This year’s VIP experience sold out in 37 minutes. At the time of our conversation, only 17 general admission tickets remained.

Each data point tells part of the same story. Membership growth shows loyalty. Access for all programs shows reach. Out-of-state attendance shows regional draw. Lights Before Christmas tradition. Weddings show venue strength. ZOOtoDO shows brand power. 

Together, they reveal an institution that understands how experience creates value.

This is why Shayla’s philosophy matters. 

“Non-profit does not mean non-business.” 

That line should be printed and taped to the wall of every mission-driven organization in America. 

Because the uncomfortable truth is that good intentions do not fund payroll. Passion does not maintain historic buildings. Mission statements do not pay for animal care, guest safety, technology, food service, conservation work, or capital projects. 

Margin matters. 

Or, as Shayla puts it: 

“There is no mission without margin.” 

That does not make the mission less noble. It makes it more durable. 

The Zoo’s recent levy conversation is a perfect example. While many organizations ask the community for more, the Toledo Zoo has been working to reduce its dependence on taxpayers by growing its own revenue channels. More earned revenue means more flexibility. More flexibility means more investment. More investment means a better experience. A better experience brings more people back. 

That is the flywheel. And Shayla understands the flywheel. 

At the center of it is a deceptively simple idea: if you create experiences people value, they will support the institution in more ways than one. 

They buy memberships. They attend events. They bring friends. They sponsor programs. They rent the venue. They donate. They vote yes.

They build traditions around it. 

Shayla and team are building lifetime customer value with a conservation mission attached. 

Shayla talks like a marketer because she thinks like one. She understands personas. She understands the customer lifecycle. She understands that a guest is not just a ticket buyer. A guest might become a member. A member might become a donor. A donor might become a corporate partner. A child who visits today might become a lifelong supporter tomorrow. 

The best organizations design the lifelong customer journey. 

That is why the Zoo’s approach feels increasingly intentional. It is not just asking, “What animals do people want to see?” It is asking, “What experience does this person need at this stage of life?” 

A young family needs convenience, affordability, safety, wonder, and an easy reason to come back. A couple attending ZOOtoDO wants energy, exclusivity, hospitality, and a night that feels important. A corporate sponsor wants alignment, visibility, community credibility, and measurable impact. A school group needs access, education, logistics, and inspiration. A grandparent needs a place where three generations can enjoy the same day. 

Different personas. Different needs. One institution. 

That is hard to do well. 

It gets even harder when you decide to control more of the experience yourself. 

Many attractions outsource critical guest touchpoints. Food and beverage. Membership operations. Security. Technology. Event execution. The logic is understandable: outsource the complexity, reduce the headache, let someone else manage the details. 

Shayla sees the tradeoff. When you outsource too many guest-facing moments, you also outsource control. 

The Zoo has taken more of a Walt Disney-style approach. Protect the details. Own the touchpoints. Build the culture internally. Make sure the people interacting with guests understand the mission, not just the transaction. 

It requires stronger managers, better training, tighter communication, more accountability, and a culture that can handle complexity. But it also creates a competitive advantage. Because when the experience is controlled by people who care deeply about the institution, the guest feels it.

They may not be able to name it. They may not notice the staffing model or the membership workflow or the operational planning behind an event. They just know the day felt smooth. The place felt clean. The staff felt helpful. The food was better than expected. The event was organized. The kids had fun. The grandparents were comfortable. The parking worked. The line moved. The memory stuck. 

That is operations at its best. Invisible when it works. Obvious when it does not. 

Shayla’s strength is that she respects both sides of the equation. She understands the big brand moments, but she also respects the operational details that make those moments possible. 

That likely traces back to her athletic background. The crowd sees the game. The athlete knows the game was won in practice. 

The same is true in business. Guests see Zoo Lights. 

Shayla sees staffing plans, crowd flow, food service, safety, weather risk, revenue projections, guest expectations, vendor coordination, brand standards, team morale, and the thousand tiny decisions required to make the magic look effortless. 

That is the work. 

And that work has made the Toledo Zoo a regional destination. This matters for Northwest Ohio. 

The Zoo brings people here. It pulls families from Southeast Michigan. It creates reasons for people to cross county and state lines. It supports tourism, restaurants, hotels, vendors, event partners, and the broader perception of Toledo as a place with real cultural assets. 

A strong Zoo is not just good for animal lovers. It is good for the regional economy. It is good for talent attraction. It is good for civic pride. It is good for the story Northwest Ohio tells about itself. 

That is why Shayla’s leadership belongs in the Corner Office. Because this is a case study in how experience can become a business model. Her career has a clear through-line.

At Notre Dame and John Carroll, she learned how to compete. At Hollywood Casino, she learned how to create reasons for people to show up. At the Toledo Zoo, she has helped turn experience into revenue, revenue into resilience, and resilience into greater mission capacity. 

And somewhere along the way, the scope changed. This is no longer just functional leadership. This is enterprise leadership. 

The kind that sits at the intersection of people, brand, operations, finance, community trust, customer experience, and long-term strategy. The kind that understands a great institution cannot simply be loved. It has to be operated well enough to keep earning that love. 

That is the part that makes Shayla’s trajectory especially interesting. She does not talk like someone chasing the next title. She talks like someone already thinking about the whole organization. 

That is a different kind of readiness. 

Along the way, she has remained unusually humble about learning from others. 

Richard St. Jean taught her about hospitality and how important every experience is. Sharon Speyer and Doni Miller became examples of strong, respected, high-impact female leadership in the region. Their leadership reminds Shayla that impact is measured not only in performance, but in service. 

That collection of mentors says a lot about Shayla. She studies leaders. She builds relationships. She listens. 

Then she executes.

When asked what advice she would offer to rising professionals, her answer was refreshingly direct. 

Build genuine relationships. Observe Others. Ask for advice and feedback. Execute. That is the Shayla Bell Moriarty playbook. Simple enough to remember. 

Hard enough that very few people actually do it. And maybe that is why her career makes so much sense in hindsight. 

The athlete became the operator. The operator became the experience builder. 

The experience builder became the executive helping one of Northwest Ohio’s most important institutions become more sustainable, more dynamic, and more valuable to the region. 

Shayla Bell Moriarty is still competing. Only now, the win is bigger than the scoreboard. It is a stronger Zoo. A stronger guest experience. A stronger mission. 

And a stronger Northwest Ohio.

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