Meet the cheerful boss of those neon-clad workers on the streets of downtown St. Paul

If you've ever encountered a neon-clad Street Team member in downtown St. Paul and wondered: "Why are they so cheerful?" — well, meet Ashley Borud, their operations manager.

With a ready smile and an easy laugh, Borud manages the workers charged with putting downtown's best foot forward. Paid for by fees charged to downtown businesses, the Downtown Improvement District seeks to clean up and cheer up downtown St. Paul, from Lowertown to W. 7th.

Eye On St. Paul recently visited with Borud to find out just what that neon color is called, as well as other vital details. This interview was edited for length.

Q: Where are you from?

A: Brainerd/Baxter.

Q: What's your impression of St. Paul?

A: I love it.

A: Well, first, the buildings. They're beautiful. I love just watching, walking around downtown, looking at all the beautiful buildings. And the people are so friendly. My first time here, I remember I walked past the Subway, and the Subway people were like, "Hey, how are you today?" And it just made my day. It was amazing.

Q: Do you live here?

A: No. I live in Richfield.

Q: Ahhh...

A: I know, I know. I'm trying to convince my husband to buy in St. Paul, because that's where I want to be.

A: In St. Cloud, I went to school for criminal justice. Graduated in 2011. And then when I applied for a position, a dispatch position, I thought it was a police dispatch position ... I became a dispatcher for the Minneapolis [Downtown Improvement District] for 4½ years, and then they created a supervisor position for the dispatchers in Minneapolis and I did that for four years. And then the position as operations manager opened over here, so then I transferred.

Q: Tell me what is it you do.

A: I oversee a team of street and dispatch ambassadors. Our primary focus is on hospitality and cleaning, just kind of goes right in line with downtown St. Paul being clean and beautiful, you know, just a great place to be. Our Street Team ambassadors focus on cleaning up trash, getting rid of graffiti, doing weed abatements — getting weeds out of the ground — doing some pole-painting. Just really focusing on making downtown even more vibrant.

Q: How many ambassadors are there?

A: We have currently a team of 23. We have three dispatchers and about 20 Street Team ambassadors.

A: We like to say we hire for personality and train for success. So as long as somebody is teachable, we can teach them how to do this job. Personality is the biggest thing. We want them to be the ones to make other people's day. Like the Subway people did when I came for my first visit.

Q: What makes you successful at your job?

A: I think, first off, being teachable goes a long way. But also having an internal drive. I like when our team takes initiative. I like making sure that they know their thoughts and opinions are heard and they matter. And if we can't necessarily implement them right then and there, I do want the feedback from the team. And so just taking initiative, even without being asked to do things, you can guess and fill them.

Q: What gaps do you fill?

A: Making sure that the team has everything that they need to be successful, to have the shift briefings that are going to be really inspiring to the team and just make sure that they are going out there with a clear head, a clear heart, a clear mind.

A: We have two briefings per day. We have several shifts throughout our hours of operation. We have a shift from 7 to 3:30. And then we have another one at 2:30. That way our 2:30 to 11 crew can participate in their stretches and gain knowledge of what's going for that day.

Q: Are there different parts of the job, depending on if you're morning or afternoon/evening?

A: Yes and no. Overall, the responsibilities are very similar. But where I notice the biggest difference is based on needs. In the evening times, we might have more events. During the daytime, we get a lot of people who are working and maybe they're just looking for somewhere new to take their lunch. And maybe more hospitality — let me show you how to get to your event — in the evening.

Q: And they wear the cool green, right?

A: Yeah … safety yellow! [laughs] You can see them from a mile away.

A: Yes. So, in the summertime, we wear short sleeve polos in the safety yellow and gray and pants in navy blue. We wear the same pants for the wintertime, but you'll see more of a safety yellow jacket.

Q: Do they have safety yellow long underwear?