If you’ve lived in San Diego for any amount of time, you’ve been to Petco Park, home of the Padres. For twenty years we’ve had one of the coolest ballparks in baseball, but the team on the field rarely lived up to it.
That changed when one owner decided the Padres were done settling. His plan was simple. Spend what it takes and give San Diego a winner. That commitment slowly turned the Padres from afterthought to perennial contender. And when he was gone, his vision didn’t go with him.
And it’s not just a baseball story. The founder of one of San Diego’s most successful companies made the same kind of bet, only on his people instead of a roster. As with the Padres, his vision kept thriving long after he was no longer leading the way. Both stories hold a lesson for anyone who wants their company vision to last.
Going All In
The visionary behind the Padres’ turnaround was Peter Seidler. Part of the ownership group since 2012 and later the man in charge, he believed San Diego deserved a winner. He also understood something a lot of leaders don’t: a vision costs money.
In February 2019, the Padres did something nobody expected. They signed Manny Machado to a $300 million contract, at the time the biggest free agent deal in baseball history. For a team that had spent decades shopping in the bargain aisle, it was a statement. The Padres weren’t hoping to win anymore. They were going for it.
Two years later, Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a long-term extension to make San Diego his home. The roster kept getting better, and slowly, the city started to believe. In 2022, it all came together. The Padres knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs and made their first NLCS since 1998. Finally, the team on the field was as good as the ballpark around it.
And San Diego never looked back. In 2023, fans broke the Padres’ all-time attendance record, in a year the team didn’t even make the playoffs. That’s not a fan base chasing a winner. That’s a city that bought into the vision.
The Commitment That Held
Sadly, that season would be Seidler’s last. He passed away shortly after it ended, and fans showed up at Petco Park with flowers, handwritten notes and Padres caps, turning the front gates into a memorial. The city didn’t just respect the vision. They felt part of it.
What followed would test any organization. Ownership changed hands more than once. Managers came and went. Most visions don’t survive that kind of shake-up.
Instead, San Diego kept showing up, filling Petco Park in record numbers year after year. This year, the Padres made the playoffs for the third year in a row. Seidler wasn’t there to see it, but his vision was. It still lives in the front office, in the clubhouse, and in every packed seat at Petco Park.
Investing Where It Counts
Peter Seidler spent to build a winning team. Another San Diego visionary invested in building a winning workplace.
Aya Healthcare was founded in San Diego in 2001 by a 27-year-old entrepreneur who built the company around one idea: happy employees come to work motivated and ready to do their best.
So that’s where he put his money. Aya Healthcare invested in strong pay, great benefits and real room to grow. It invested in connection too. Company-sponsored events, happy hours and team building are listed right alongside its employee benefits. That’s how seriously he took connection.
It worked. As Aya Healthcare grew into the largest healthcare staffing company in the country, its employees made it clear they agreed. Through anonymous surveys, they helped name it San Diego’s No. 1 Workplace three different times, an award that goes to companies where people feel connected, engaged, empowered and valued.
In 2025, Aya Healthcare’s founder handed the CEO role to a longtime member of his leadership team, shortly before he passed away. One of her first promises was to keep the culture he built going strong. Today, she’s known across the industry for leading a company where people feel supported and inspired to do their best work. His vision still lives in the people he invested in.
Bring Your Team to the Ballpark
A packed ballpark in San Diego. A company that still puts its people first. Both are proof that a vision can outlast the person who started it, as long as it’s connected to everybody. When it only lives in the person at the top, it leaves when they do.
The lesson from both stories is simple. Back your vision with real investment, not just words. Make sure your people feel part of it, not just informed of it. And give them chances to connect with each other, because that’s what keeps them carrying it when things change.
Helping teams build that connection is what we do at Grin Events, bringing people together so the whole team is behind where you’re headed.
Contact us today and let’s start planning.
