Noah Aden, general manager of Yelm Cinemas, earned a spot on the South Sound Business annual 40 Under 40 list, which highlights the top young business people in the region. He is the lone honoree on the list who calls Yelm home.
Aden’s first job after graduating from Yelm High School in 2011 was his dream job: working at the theater in which he proudly remembers spending nights after school watching “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings” films. He began working at Yelm Cinemas as a general employee before moving up to a manager position a couple of years later. In 2017, he earned the title of general manager.
“It was a complete honor. I wasn’t really expecting that type of award or recognition. It’s just been crazy. I’m sometimes still like it’s not real yet,” he said of the honor. “But it’s awesome. I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Aden, 31, was nominated by an anonymous member of the community, and he was contacted by South Sound Business to provide his biography for the magazine and online article. Upon doing so, he thought it was just part of the nomination process, adding he “found out just like everybody else” through the website and magazine.
“They sent me a physical magazine for free, and it just feels official. You see it online, and it’s great and it doesn’t take anything away from it, but when you get that physical one in your hands, you know it’s real,” Aden said.
Aden believes that he was nominated for the honor because of his leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic and helping lift the theater rally when other theaters never came back.
“We had to shut down, open up, shut down, open up. It involved the unfortunate thing of telling your staff multiple times that you have to shut down and open up,” he said. “It took a lot of leadership skills to handle that really well and to be able to be open and on the other side of COVID. A lot of theaters never came back from that or they’re still struggling to this day. We’re in a really good spot right now.”
Aden describes his leadership style as one that is involved as he performs the same duties as his staff of about 30 employees performs, including scrubbing toilets, making popcorn, sweeping floors, etc. He said the job, especially the leadership positions, brought him out of his shell, as well.
“One of the skills that I’ve learned since being the general manager is just how to be less socially awkward. As a manager, you’re the point man, so if a customer wants to talk to someone, you’re that person,” he said. “If you’re antisocial like I was in high school, that is really gonna push you out of your comfort zone, which is a good thing. It was a good thing for me. I’m a completely different person than I think I would ever be if I wasn’t a manager.”
Aden also recently earned his bachelor’s degree in general management from Centralia College and plans to use his knowledge to enhance his leadership skills in the theater.
“It was a very interesting program because it ran parallel to a lot of the things that I learned here as a manager. I found myself referencing both at the same time,” he said. “You learned how to be a manager from the ground up, so it was nice connecting the dots of what I learned in practice before I went to that program.”
While he admits he doesn’t have much experience working for other businesses, Aden’s lone company on his resumé is “the best company in the world,” and he said he cannot imagine working anywhere else.
“They just really love their employees. I love the theater and I love movies, and there’s something about the theater experience that I just can’t let go of,” Aden said.
He thanked all of his team members for their support and help getting him to the general manager role of his favorite childhood spot.
“I’m just super grateful for being nominated for that. It’s not something I take for granted,” Aden said of the 40 Under 40 honor. “A manager is only as good as his team, so it’s really not me that was nominated. It was Yelm Cinemas itself and all the employees, the other managers and the head office. I would not be who I am with my skill set if it wasn’t for them and the mentorship of the owner and the head office.”
To view the complete 40 Under 40 list, visit https://www.southsoundbiz.com/profiles/40-under-40-2024-south-sound-business/article_e1b9bfae-194b-11ef-ab1a-470ee1da7ce0.html.
