Alumni Feature
Bailey was soon promoted from college intern to professional intern , and began to oversee the design of other Disney parks stores . One in particular brought him in contact with Star Wars creator George Lucas .
“ We were working on all sorts of presentation work for Star Wars ,” Bailey said . “( Lucas ) was coming in and was talking to us a lot and telling us what his vision was and what he wanted to see . I just kept telling him … ‘ ideally what we want to do is get these families to interact with these displays . Your movies are amazing , but understand that when these folks watched your movies , they had an experience .’ … George said , ‘ Show me what that actually means .’ ”
So Bailey came up with a “ build your own light saber ” concept , which immediately sold Lucas .
“( He said ) ‘ this is one of the coolest things I ’ ve ever seen ,’ ” Bailey said of Lucas ’ reaction . “ That helped me get a lot of kudos from him . … I still stay in contact with him .”
Not long after working with Lucas , he received an email from someone claiming to be J . K . Rowling of Harry Potter fame .
“ I thought it was a joke , so I deleted ( the email ),” Bailey said . “ I got it probably like six more times . Finally , there was a number , and to give her a call at this number . So I call , and to be honest , I was actually being pretty mean . I said , ‘ What do you want ?’"
The person on the other line wanted him to come to Universal Studios , where the new Harry Potter theme park was being completed .
Still skeptical , he drove over to Universal and went to the main gate .
“ Sure enough , I go to the back of Universal , and I ended up meeting Rowling ,” Bailey said . “ She said she heard about my work through Disney , and asked if I could help them on the merchandise side . So I helped them with the designs , and she wrote me a pretty paycheck , and that helped me pay some tuition at Siena .”
When the internship finished , Bailey returned to Siena Heights to complete his business degree . But when he graduated , Disney immediately brought him back as a management intern . He resumed his merchandising display work , and then was asked to run the show “ Fantasmic ,” which was underperforming at the time . Within months , he said the show became the top revenue grossing one at Disney .
A few months later , he was given a full-time position at Hollywood Studios , where he oversees the guest experience for the entire park .
“ I still work closely with merchandise , but the sole purpose of my job now is to drive 100 percent guest excellence ,” Bailey said .
In May 2016 , Bailey had the special honor of working directly with Great Britain ’ s Prince Harry on the Invictus Games that were conducted at Walt Disney World in Orlando .
“ Even Disney wasn ’ t sure what I would be doing ,” said Bailey of the Invictus Games , which are an international Paralympic-style multi-sport event for wounded or ailing armed services personnel from around the world .
“ It was one of those moments that you were going to go in and make this position up as you go .”
As a nation liaison , Bailey took a leadership role in welcoming the athletes , their families and the many international dignitaries to Disney . Then , as liaison for Australia , Bailey made sure his guests had the “ magical ” experience Disney promises . He helped organize a parade for the athletes and families in Walt Disney World , as well as set up a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center . And he got a chance to work directly with First Lady Michelle Obama , former President George W . Bush and actor Morgan Freeman . But he said his experience with Prince Harry stood out .
“ The guy is phenomenal ,” Bailey said of the prince , who organized the games in 2014 . “ He ’ s a very humble guy . He puts faith in people and he ’ s not a micromanager by any stretch of the imagination . He really does care about people . He would always ask me , ‘ Zach , who ’ s this athlete ?’
“ Definitely a guy who really understands servant leadership and who could completely care less about titles . He ’ s all about helping people .”
Bailey made a name for himself during the games when he helped an Australian athlete who was possibly suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder attack during the opening ceremonies ’ fireworks display .
“ When the fireworks went off , she ’ s shaking like a leaf . She ’ s crying and a big , big mess ,” Bailey said of the athlete . “ I realized something was happening .”
He helped take her out of that situation until help arrived .
“ By the time the military doctors came in , we had calmed her down and everything was good ,” Bailey said .
The U . S . Ambassador to Australia , Joe Hockey , found out what Bailey had done and invited him to a VIP dinner the next night . During the dinner , Bailey was brought on stage and honored for his effort with some special ceremonial coins .
“ It was hard to put it all into words ,” Bailey said of the Invictus experience . “ These folks have really been through hell and back , and for us to be able to do anything for them is just phenomenal .”
Back to his “ normal ” duties at Hollywood Studios , Bailey said Siena Heights helped him realize his ultimate dream .
“ Through Siena , I owe a lot of my success ,” he said . “ It ’ s the reason that got me here .”
And what ’ s his favorite Disney park ?
“ Magic Kingdom ,” he said . “ That ’ s where my journey began . … The fact that they pay me to do this is hilarious . I could do it for the rest of my life .
“ To infinity and beyond ! That ’ s the plan .” u
Reflections Fall ’ 16 | 15