Before the first bet was placed Thursday at Hard Rock Casino Rockford, there needed to be belief.
Belief even before Hard Rock was selected by the city to apply for a casino license with the Illinois Gaming Board. Belief that needed to be earned in a city that had been for decades yearning for a status upgrade that can potentially come with having a casino.
The story of Hard Rock being in Rockford starts with Aleksandra Micevic and her self-belief.
"There was only one position. It was a temporary office that was open in downtown Rockford," Micevic recounted in an interview with Action Network in the final hours before Hard Rock swung open its doors. "It was an informational center. They just needed one person, just to be the face, the brand ambassador, to be able to talk to the community about the brand and what it is.
"So I left a 10-year career, actually, in banking and joined the band in 2019. It was just me in a tiny little office. And my job was really to just share the news to the community that Hard Rock Casino wanted to come to Rockford."
Hard Rock Casino Rockford President Geno Iafrate, who arrived in the city after Micevic, offered praise for her role in bringing the project to life.
"She was here at the office, that little office that we opened up downtown to start drumming up some support and some recognition of Hard Rock," he said. "She was a one-woman show, and my understanding is when we first opened that office, there was kind of legendary stories that we had a line all the way out the door, all the way around the building.
"She went from that assignment to then when we opened the opening act, she became part of the HR team. She was promoted to manager of human resources relatively quickly. She's just a multi-talented, multi-faceted, incredible young woman."
From Being a Story Teller to Finding Them
Never been to a grand opening like this, but it’s a pleasure to smash a few guitars as we officially open the doors to the Hard Rock Casino Rockford. pic.twitter.com/2lP7IdxcV2
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) August 30, 2024
Micevic and her parents arrived in the United States as war refugees, and she did not speak any English. Born in Bosnia, Micevic's family moved to Serbia when she was five before arriving in the U.S. when she was a teenager. She called leaving banking for Hard Rock an "impulse decision," a bold one considering it had yet to win the city's bid to apply for the license.
As Micevic grew more comfortable in her role as a public-facing member of Hard Rock's team, she quickly realized her values aligned with that of the company. Then her career orbit took a pivotal turn and started towards her current position of Human Resources Manager.
"I don't think it really clicked until we got the license and I got to meet the entire corporate team that came here in (20)21 to help us open," she said. "And then you truly got to meet individuals that are living our mission, our models and our values. When I got to meet some of those individuals that have been in their roles forever, I mean they treated me like I was part of the band already. They were incredible.
"One of the corporate recruiters invited me to one of the hiring events and she was like, 'Hey, come on over. Let me show you what recruitment looks like. You might enjoy it.' And I fell in love with it."
Micevic went from being the person who told others the story of Hard Rock to finding the people who could best tell that story working at the casino. There was a learning curve entering a profession she had barely any background, but her knack for finding people and bonding with those trying to forge a path and career for themselves similar to what she did has been vital in ramping up Hard Rock's staff in line with its guiding principle of "Love All – Serve All."
"When we moved here, my parents and I always joke I helped raise them because I was the first one that learned (English) and they didn't speak any," Micevic said. "So now when we're at hiring events or I interview an individual that English is not their first language and it might be tough for them. I feel like I just want to take care of them. I want to help them as much as I can because I see myself, I see my family, and absolutely, we take extra time.
"From just meeting somebody at a hiring event and they're nervous and they're like, 'We want to work here, we've done this before, but we've never done it here.' And then going from there and then seeing them on the floor laughing, having a good time saying, 'I've never felt like I belong somewhere more.' We don't just say we love all and serve all, right? You really have to live your lives."
Getting to Full Speed and Full Staff
OPENING DAY RECAP: Crowds lined up outside the brand-new Hard Rock Casino Rockford before doors opened, bringing entertainment and economic opportunity to the city. https://t.co/xXPs3sqoJI
— 13 WREX (@13WREX) August 30, 2024
Micevic described the process of more than doubling Hard Rock's staff from the Opening Act to the permanent casino as "wild" while noting it is far from complete. After all, there will be employee turnover and a need to continue filling positions with the casino operating 24-7. There is another hiring event next week, but Micevic felt the Opening Act gave Hard Rock 400 "ambassadors" with as much as two years' experience to help sustain the momentum from Thursday's opening.
That also means an on-going process for Micevic in keeping her workers in tune. Even in the final hours of calm, Micevic was doing those last little things behind the scenes: Making sure everyone is in uniform; confirming workers are getting paid and have arrived for their shifts; a simple confidence boost checking in with employees who may be facing an overwhelming amount of people for the first time. Even after the doors opened, Micevic popped up in multiple places throughout the casino, usually conversing with a different person.
Micevic allowed herself a small celebratory moment Monday night during the VIP opening, seeing some of the same people she pitched the idea of Hard Rock to in 2019. That's when it finally sank in just where the last five years took her — from that tiny little downtown office to a valued member of a $9 billion world-renowned gaming company whom Iafrate called the "model of a Hard Rock team member with a servant's core at their heart."
"For a second I didn't understand why they were congratulating me because it just wasn't hitting me," Micevic said. "Then I was like, 'This is also my accomplishment.' I get to be here. From that, hey you might not have a job in three months to, holy crap, I have a career and I helped. I had a part in this."
