From Launching Her Own Firm To Inc 5000 Recruiter with Sharon Bondurant

Benjamin Mena [00:00:00]:
Coming up on this episode of the Elite Recruiter Podcast.

Sharon [00:00:03]:
Yeah, so the moment I saw my son, just my whole world changed. And I thought, okay, I want to have, you know, I want to be successful and I want to own my own career, but I also, I don't want to leave this baby that, you know, I'm in love with. Enjoy the positive moment, but also enjoy the moment where you're struggling, because I find the biggest growth has happened after I've struggled. Just embrace it all, the good and the bad.

Benjamin Mena [00:00:30]:
Welcome to the Elite Recruiter Pod podcast with your host, Benjamin Mena, where we focus on what it takes to win in the recruiting game. We cover it all from sales, marketing, mindset, money, leadership, and placements. I'm excited about this episode of the Elite Recruiter Podcast. The reason is there are so many recruiters out there that have started their own business. I've seen, unfortunately, some of them fail. We're going to talk about why recruiters fail and what they could do to prevent that. And here's the thing. My guest Sharon today, who actually built her business as a single mom, figured out what she wanted to do, how she wanted to build it, and took it to a Inc 5000 company.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:14]:
So we're going to talk about some of the things that she struggled with. We're going to talk about the story of how she built her business. And from that story, we're going to talk about how recruiters can prevent themselves from failing. So, Sharon, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. Welcome.

Sharon [00:01:29]:
Thanks, Benjamin. It's so fun to be here. Thank you.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:33]:
So before we start doing a deep dive in your background, can you explain to the listeners what you are up to at this very moment?

Sharon [00:01:39]:
Yeah. So just a very brief summary of what's going on right now. I've owned my company for 26 years, and it's always been a traditional recruiting firm. We had account managers, we had recruiters, and we'll get into all the nitty gritty details as we go. But really, over the last six months, for a number of reasons, I really looked at my business and said, what needs to change? I think our recruiting industry has changed. The way that recruiters want to work has changed. What our clients and candidates need and want from us has changed. And it's an idea and a concept that I've had for literally, like five years.

Sharon [00:02:21]:
I have a business plan that I wrote out years and years ago and just never did anything with it because I never felt the time was right. And because of the Market and just really what's happening in the industry and in the world, really, this past year, I really looked at it and said, all right, I'm 26 years in. Is this it? Is this all I want to do? Just run my company the way I've been running it for years? And there were pieces of it that were broken that we had done. You know, we were doing things because we had always done them before, and that was just kind of the way of the recruiting industry. And it was probably, I would say, the beginning of this year where I really took a really hard look and said, I need to kind of scrap everything that I've been doing and restart and relaunch and really provide more opportunity for recruiters. That's my passion. I love mentoring. I love coaching.

Sharon [00:03:15]:
I love building businesses. I love, you know, helping candidates and clients. So this new concept, it's like a brokerage model. There are, you know, a few other firms doing it, but I'm so passionate about what we're doing, and we're really opening up our doors to find elite recruiters that want to come work with the Finders, which is the name of my company, and build their own business within the walls of the Finders. So we're giving them support and motivation and all the tools and branding and all of that good stuff and really helping them become entrepreneurs and grow their own firm. So phenomenal. Super excited about it. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:03:56]:
That's awesome. Talk about, like, yeah, taking everything you've had and just throwing in the garbage and, like, starting new.

Sharon [00:04:01]:
Yeah. I was, like, taking a piece of paper and just, like, crumpling it up and being like, okay, like, we're starting over after a really long time. And I think it was Starbucks. They said that Starbucks had never had a franchise model until they were, like, 25 years into business. They just had, like, one freestanding business. And so I think back, you know, and I'm like, you know what? I want to do that with the Finders. There's, like, more that I want to do as a recruiter, as an entrepreneur, as a, you know, mentor and a leader. And I think it's, like, the right, perfect time to do that.

Sharon [00:04:31]:
So that's what I'm up to in a nutshell.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:34]:
Now we know where you're at now, but let's take this back to the very beginning of the story.

Sharon [00:04:38]:
Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:39]:
How did you even end up in this wonderful world of recruiting?

Sharon [00:04:42]:
Yeah. So you'll probably hear it's a very similar story of I stumbled on it. You know, that's like, the commonality of all of us recruiters. But I had a friend who had started working at a recruiting firm. We were right out of college, about two years out of college, I was. And he told me about what he was doing, that he was, you know, interviewing candidates and helping them find jobs. And it just intrigued me. I had started and stopped a number of.

Sharon [00:05:09]:
I would call it jobs, you know, out of college. And there was nothing that really inspired me or spoke to me or excited me. I would just kind of start. They were just jobs. And he told me about his day, and I thought, wow, that sounds really interesting. My background was in psychology, my degree. And so I just entered. It was like a newspaper ad back then.

Sharon [00:05:30]:
It was, you know, in 1995. Like, we're going. We're going way back, Benjamin. It was 1995, and it was a newspaper clipping. And I just answered the ad. It was like, we'll train. And the moment I walked in there, I just knew. I think you just get a calling for something.

Sharon [00:05:49]:
And that was the day. Like, I remember it like it was yesterday. That was so long ago. So that's how I started. And then about three years in, I just excelled. At the time, it was commission only. So I was making, like, I don't know, 375 an hour. It was, like a draw against commission.

Sharon [00:06:07]:
So it was really like, you know, nothing. And I'm really thankful for that because I had to learn how to make my own money and, you know, excel if I wanted to make a good income and grew that. And then the pivotal point was really about three years in, I had excelled, and they had asked me to open up a new office. It was in Tempe, Arizona. And I became pregnant. And at that time, I thought, okay, I love what I do, and I'll just, you know, have this baby, and I'll just go back to work. Like, my mind, you know, obviously, like, you know, with kids, you don't know before you had kids how it would be afterwards, right? You're laughing. Yeah.

Sharon [00:06:50]:
So the moment I saw my son, just, my whole world changed. And I thought, okay, I want to have. You know, I want to be successful, and I want to own my own career. But I also. I don't want to leave this baby that, you know, I'm in love with and definitely didn't want to leave him for, like, 13 hours a day. So back then, like, we're talking, like, there was no Internet, no Google, no LinkedIn, no job boards. I had a hard phone. I think we Had I got a cell phone while I was pregnant.

Sharon [00:07:20]:
But I just decided at that moment, like, I'm going to make this work on my own terms. And that's how back then it was called tech Finders. So I only did tech and engineering when we first started. I just knew I was going to do that. And so I would have a nanny come in. She'd come in from like 9am to noon, and she was my neighbor, so she'd come over in the morning. Then she'd go home for an hour and I'd have lunch with my son, feed him, and then she'd come back from one to four. So I knew that I had six hours a day and he would nap.

Sharon [00:07:53]:
So I didn't have that mommy guilt, you know, he was right in the house with me. And I just started it, you know, from scratch, just cold calling. Like, the only tools really back then was, you know, a fax machine, a phone book and a phone. Really.

Benjamin Mena [00:08:09]:
So you had your baby, quit your job, started your own company and said, this is the time to go, and you literally just started cold calling during the day?

Sharon [00:08:20]:
Yeah, yeah, because that's really, that's all I knew. And at the time, you know, way back then, I had been, not to toot my own horn, but I had been successful. I was making six figures, which back then, I mean, probably now it's like, I don't know, 400,000 probably. So I knew. And we were a dual income family, so I knew that I had to contribute. You know, my goal was like, I want to make what I was making with another company, but I want to do it, you know, at home with my own business. So I gave myself leeway and we can talk about that, you know, later. Like some of the things that you need to really think about before starting your own firm.

Sharon [00:08:59]:
But I knew I had a set amount of months and a set amount of time and money until that was going to run out. So that really helped me. I knew, like, okay, there's no plan B. This is what I need to do. And here's my Runway to do it, and here's the amount of time that I need to put into it every single day, which was six hours. So I think those things, they were set up because I had to do them, but they also are things, I think when recruiters, you know, if you're trying to apply it to yourself and you're listening to this, you know, if you can set up those parameters and treat them like, these are my boundaries, that's super. Helpful. Like, I'm very thankful that I had, you know, to do it in that amount of time and that I only had that certain amount of time and money to do it.

Benjamin Mena [00:09:43]:
How long did it take you to get your first client?

Sharon [00:09:46]:
You know, I'm trying to remember, Benjamin, because it's so long ago, but. No, I do remember the first major client that I got that was really like, allowed me to, to this day to be successful in what I was doing. Because it turned out to be like a 20 year client. It was like two solid years, maybe more. I mean, I would get placements here and there, but my first client, which is actually still a client to this day, so it's probably more than 20 years. It was probably about two or three years where it was a cold call. So cold calling is not dead, everyone. Right? It was a cold call and it was like a tech support role.

Sharon [00:10:28]:
It was just, you know, a very small position that I left a message. I star marketed someone. But it was like two or three years in that my big break came.

Benjamin Mena [00:10:38]:
So two to three years of work on a very like, you know, scheduled time. Because I know having a tiny human takes up a lot of awesome time, like kind of going back. Like, how long did it take for you to get your first placement?

Sharon [00:10:51]:
Yeah, I remember it was an Oracle dba. And I remember I was sitting on my floor in my spare bedroom with my fax machine faxing resumes. I would say it was probably like four months. I mean, it wasn't instantaneous by any means. So I was trained, you know, by a great company. And because we didn't have any tools, it was really like, here's what you need to do every single day, which is make at least 50 calls to anybody. Like pick a number, pick a name out of the phone book and literally just call them. So I always say sometimes, nowadays, sometimes we over complicate things because we have so many tools and technology, but you can keep it really simple.

Sharon [00:11:38]:
And yeah, I would say it was like three or four months.

Benjamin Mena [00:11:41]:
Three or four months. Okay.

Sharon [00:11:43]:
Just. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:11:44]:
And then. Okay, so you took the firm. When did you decide to start scaling it and growing it rather than just being at that time like a solopreneur?

Sharon [00:11:54]:
Yeah. It's funny because looking back, you know how you get asked, like, what would you do differently? I think one thing that I would do differently, which would have helped a lot, is to really have that vision and business plan, because I didn't have that. I did everything that I did to be successful because I needed to not because I was creating this picture or this plan. So it was more reactive. So to answer your question, it was that account that I was just telling you about. It was like two or three years in, and it was a cold call for, you know, a tech support person. Well, it turned out it was a contract and they needed like five or six people. So, you know, when you get that, it's exciting.

Sharon [00:12:41]:
You know, you get that first position where you're like, oh, my gosh, like, they're going to be on my payroll. And I just dug in there and fortunately they were growing their team. So they had like 16 people at the time. Well, they turned out to get to be like 400 people. And I was their main vendor. So I started to hire because I had to, because it got to the point, especially with my son, I had to. I needed more people because they kept needing more contractors. So very quickly it came to be like a hundred.

Sharon [00:13:13]:
I had a hundred contractors on my payroll. And so I started out with two recruiters and I got space. I got like a little executive suite. And instead of doing it in my bedroom, I would go, you know, drive to that office. And it scaled from there.

Benjamin Mena [00:13:28]:
That's awesome. That's crazy. Like, that one conversation, taking care of that client, taking care of the relationships.

Sharon [00:13:35]:
Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:13:35]:
And it just blossomed and bloomed. Well, okay, so we talked about your story. We talked about how you started growing and scaling. One more question on that before I start digging into, like, about recruiters and setting them up for success. But, like, getting to that inc5000, was it like a breakthrough moment or did you just, like, turn around and like, oh, crap, I'm here.

Sharon [00:13:57]:
Yeah, that's a good question. It was a little bit of both. So we had gone through a couple, like, we went through really. It was like two recessions. So it was, you know, Y2K. There was that. Then there was 2008, where it was really. It was a difficult time.

Sharon [00:14:17]:
And it was right after that. It was like 2011, where the economy and the market, which I foresee happening hopefully in 2025, like, there's going to be this shift back. And we just started getting really busy. And one of the things that I love doing is I love the marketing aspect. I think that building your own brand is so important no matter if you are a one person solopreneur or you are a larger company. So I started doing marketing and I really started to say, I want. And there was like a ton of books that I would read. I want everyone to know Who? The finders.

Sharon [00:14:55]:
And back then it was tech finders. Still. I want them to know who we are, and I want them to know my team and I had probably maybe six or seven people at the time. And so one of the big marketing things, I highly recommend this for any of, you know, your listeners, our listeners, is to make sure that you promote yourself by looking for things that you can get awards for. So one of them is that inc5000 you can go and apply. And there are certain stipulations, different markers that you have to meet, but you have to be looking for those. Like, they're not going to come look for you, you know, and no one's gonna, like, remind you. So you have to really, you know, be on the lookout.

Sharon [00:15:36]:
There's a number of them, a number of publications that set out those contests or awards. So the Inc 5000 is one of them. And yeah, we just. I looked at the numbers. I'm like, this is something we definitely need to take advantage of. And we were growing, so. And that was, you know, there was a plan to that at that point.

Benjamin Mena [00:15:54]:
Did you guys like getting the award and getting different awards, did it actually help your business completely?

Sharon [00:16:01]:
Yeah, because it's a credibility factor. Right. And even to this day, we use it. We have it on our website that we were a twice named Inc. 5000 firm. Just being able to say that is a huge deal. And there's, like I said, there's so many things that you can do locally and regionally. Like, my firm was always really focused on Arizona, so that was my goal.

Sharon [00:16:25]:
Like, I want our brand and our name to be known in Arizona. Now we're expanding nationwide. But if you, yeah, wherever you are, you just really want to put some thought into marketing and say, okay, what can I take advantage of regionally or, you know, in the niche that I'm in to sign up for these awards and, you know, recommend yourself. If no one else is doing it, then, you know, you do it.

Benjamin Mena [00:16:50]:
That's awesome. So jumping into this side of the house where we're going to talk about why recruiters are failing and how to help prevent that. I know one of the things when we were talking offline before we started looking at, like, the reasons, is you talked about the importance of a book called E Myth. Can you explain how E Myth even intertwines into our wonderful world of recruiting?

Sharon [00:17:12]:
Yeah. So E Myth is one of the first business books when I started my company that I read. So I would highly recommend it. The author is Michael Gerber. And what he talks about is that a lot of us in whatever craft we're doing. So for us, it's recruiting for. Let's say someone owns a. Let's say someone's a hairstylist or a web developer.

Sharon [00:17:36]:
The E Myth is all about, at some point, you people that have that entrepreneur spirit, they usually get to the point where they're like, oh, my gosh, I'm really good at what I'm doing. I want to go start a company doing this. Right. A lot of us on here are like that. So that's much different. This book talks about there's the technician, which is the person that's doing that craft, and then there's the manager, where you're managing the people that are doing that craft, and then they're just the entrepreneur. So we usually get these seizures at some point where we're like, I want to go start my own company doing this because I'm so good at it. And what we don't realize is that being a really great recruiter doesn't always necessarily easily translate into being a great entrepreneur or business owner of a recruiting firm.

Sharon [00:18:26]:
Right. There are so many other things that a lot of us know. When you run your own company, it's not only like, oh, I'm a great recruiter, but it's like, okay, I'm great at, you know, financial forecasting and managing a budget and hiring and, you know, all the things that we have to do as a business owner. Some people love that, and some people are like, I just like recruiting. Like, I don't want to do all this other administrative stuff or even manage other people. So the book really talks about, how do you go from being that recruiter to being the entrepreneur and wearing a lot of different hats.

Benjamin Mena [00:19:02]:
I know. I do love that book myself. This podcast was an mvp. I was like, okay, let me just run an MVP on board. A smart mvp.

Sharon [00:19:11]:
Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:19:12]:
All right. So, you know, talking through that book and talking about, like, the type of, like, person you are, like, you know, tons of recruiters out there, like, hey, they see the numbers or they get laid off or something of the nature, like, you know what? I can go do this on my own. And, like, running a business is hard. Like, I get it. Like, you know, it is tough. There are ups and downs. But looking at recruiters with many that you've seen across the board, what are some of the biggest reasons why you've seen new recruiters launching their own businesses fail?

Sharon [00:19:39]:
Yeah, that's a good one. I think that, you know, over the last Couple years, we can look at it too. So I think it depends on timing a little bit. You know, I never like to put emphasis on external things because I think no matter what, there's always opportunity. I think there's easier times to do things and more difficult times. So I would say, you know, like the last year and a half or so, at least in the industries that we serve, it's definitely been a little bit more difficult, but also there's more opportunity and more reason to start your own company. So to answer your question, you know, as far as, like, what makes them. What was your question? I'm sorry, Benjamin? Was it why?

Benjamin Mena [00:20:18]:
What are some of the big reasons why recruiters, when they start their own company, why do they fail?

Sharon [00:20:22]:
Yeah, so I think a lot of it is that they tend to underestimate the time that it's going to take to be successful, and I think that they underestimate the work that it's going to take to be a sustained business. Also, mindset is huge, and I think if you are starting it on your own and you feel like you're on an island, there's not that accountability. So for me, you know, with my team, I actually, I set things in place. I set meetings, I set different things where I know I have to show up and I have to be accountable. And you know, one of the things, after Covid, we used to have a really large office. After Covid, we all went remote and we set up these daily Sprint calls. They were like 15 minutes. Did we have to meet every single day for 15 minutes? No, but it held everyone accountable and it helped me accountable.

Sharon [00:21:24]:
I think sometimes I had those meetings for me, because it really held me accountable. Like, I had to be up. I had to be like, my energy had to be the right way. I had to be, you know, leading my team. And every single day when we would get off that call, I'm like, I am so glad we have these. So I think, you know, for new recruiters or recruiters that are starting their own company, really think about, like, what parameters, what can you put together where you are, not only you are holding yourself accountable, but can you get an accountability partner or can you set meetings that really, you know, make you show up and continue to show up? I think those would be the main things. Why, you know, that I'm seeing why recruiters sometimes have a difficult time starting their own company.

Benjamin Mena [00:22:06]:
I think accountability is a huge one that I think is underestimated and under talked about, you know, because when you are sitting in an Office working for somebody else. Somebody's telling you could go make the 50 calls when you're by yourself. It's like, yeah, maybe I could do the 50 calls tomorrow. Well, maybe tomorrow. And then the next day, like, maybe I'll do 20. Then I have the next day, it's 10. And then you get done with the end of the month, and you've only done 50 for the month. I've seen it time and time again.

Benjamin Mena [00:22:29]:
So you really just did a good job, like, laying out those different cases. But here's also a question I have. Like, the recruiting world is absolutely changing. The market's changing, the world's changing. So many, like the models that I think used to be the normal structure are eroding into many different ways of doing the business. What are some of the types of models that a recruiter can look at getting started for themselves?

Sharon [00:22:53]:
Yeah, so I am a big advocate of doing your own business development in the beginning and then also recruiting on those roles. So especially right now, in the time that we are in, I think that if people are really strong recruiters, they also need to remember to do business development every single day. And there's different ways that you can incorporate that. For example, I think that. And this is kind of maybe for another discussion, maybe in January when we do the summit. But I think that, you know, there's definitely different ways to structure it. So you want to put some thought into it and you want to make sure that you're setting your desk up to block out time to do that business development as well as what you're focusing on. So my number one tip is if you are going to be doing recruiting and you get to pick what you want to focus on, to focus on a role that's high enough up that you can talk to people that could either be a candidate or a client so that you're doing business development and you're doing recruiting at the very exact same time.

Sharon [00:24:01]:
And it's almost one in the same. So you're having conversations and they can go either way. That's, to me, always been like the quickest way to be very productive as a solo recruiter. That would be the number one model that would be, I would say to anyone starting out, if they want to be a solopreneur and they just want to get started and they want to be successful to make sure that you up your game on your business development, relationship building. Usually people, you know, our recruiters, they're great recruiters, are really strong. But what I'm finding is that they're weaker on the sales side, where they see and they view and they think of sales as, oh, I'm not a salesperson. I don't want to do that. But they actually are doing that all day long.

Sharon [00:24:43]:
So it's a mental shift. I would say that would be the best way to get started and the.

Benjamin Mena [00:24:47]:
Best model and for the listeners. She's actually going to be doing a talk on how to launch your recruiting business at the sales and business development Recruiting Summit. That's going to happen in January. So by the time this goes live, you should be able to register for that. As we're recording, we're actually putting everything together and getting everything set up. So excited for that, but heading back into. One of the things I want to talk about is I kind of like life structure and, like, you know, there's different chapters of your life. And I think you did a great job talking about your chapter like, you know, hey, I had a.

Benjamin Mena [00:25:16]:
I had a baby. I didn't want to sit in somebody else's office for 13 hours a day, 14 hours a day, and they're banging out phone calls. I'd rather banging phone calls in my own house. But, you know, everybody's life is different. How does a recruiter listening to this sit down like, okay, like, here's my chapter. How do I set myself up the best for the chapter that I'm in right now?

Sharon [00:25:38]:
I love that. I think it's a matter of really looking at it. So I. I do it quarterly. I sit down at the end of every quarter, and I do a SWOT analysis looking at, okay, what worked, what are my strengths, what are the weaknesses, where are the opportunities, what are the threats? But really, take a look at that quarterly of where your chapter has been. And really, over the course of, you know, I can tell you I've been through many, many, many, many, many different chapters. And that's what's so great about having your own business, is that you get to write it, you get to create. Like, what does this next chapter look like? Or do I need to shift my business so that my business matches my new chapter in my life? So, you know, for example, you know, my kids are grown now.

Sharon [00:26:26]:
My baby, when I first started out, was an infant, and he's now 26 and lives in a different state. So my chapter, my personal chapter looks very, very different. And, you know, that's why at the beginning of this year, I said, it's time for a new chapter within my business so that my business is matching my. My personal life, because it all, it kind of blends together anyway. So I think it's, you know, like I said, you need to take periodic views and looks at, okay, what have I been doing and what is in store for the next chapter or do I need to pivot and create my own, you know, next phase? And I think it's really important to give yourself some grace because there's times where you feel like you need to make a decision and pivot and change, where maybe it's not voluntary, maybe something happened in your life, maybe you're, you know, going through a divorce like I went through, or maybe, you know, you have a child who's sick or whatever the case might be, maybe you're an empty nester, you know, like I went through recently and give yourself some grace and say, that's okay. It's all right to look at my business and go, I don't want to focus on this niche anymore or I want to grow, I want to scale. I never have. It's been, you know, X amount of years or I want to get smaller.

Sharon [00:27:42]:
You know, I think Benjamin, you and I talked about like, my business has been an accordion by choice. So there's times where I had a lot of recruiters on my team and then there's times like with COVID you know, we had restricted kind of that accordion style right before COVID It wasn't because of COVID but it actually happened at a really great time, you know, right before COVID And we were small and we were nimble and now we're entering a new phase. And I think that's one of the greatest things about owning your own recruiting firm, is that you get to decide and that you can go through it and be successful over a really long period of time and it's okay to change how it looks.

Benjamin Mena [00:28:21]:
I think that's an important thing. Like, you only really realize that once you've sat down and run a self analysis that I think a lot of people like, don't sit down long enough to do. But like, I think one of the keys once you've run the self analysis is to like, figure out your vision and figure out your goals and figure out your why. How many times have you had to redo that across this 26 year journey?

Sharon [00:28:44]:
Yeah, I definitely do it at the end of each year. And I think that, you know, just talking about this pivotal year that I've had, that was like, probably the biggest time that I really sat down and I've written out like a really complete business plan. Like, that's the first time I've done an actual business plan. Was like 2024, after all these years, because my chapter was changing. And so I do think that's such a good thing for anyone to do, regardless of where you're at, is to take time at the end of this year and really create, like, start. It doesn't have to be lengthy, but put out your business plan. Like, what is your mission now? What is your vision? What values do you have? Have they changed? And write out, like, what's my strategy for the next. You know, mine is like, the next two years.

Sharon [00:29:33]:
I have the end goal in mind. And I never did that, like I just said, but I have a really clear crystal vision of what I want it to look like in two years.

Benjamin Mena [00:29:42]:
How did you crystallize this vision? Like, how did you write it out? Did you put it in detail? Is it like story?

Sharon [00:29:48]:
I mean, I have it like, I have it right here. So I keep this little, like, it's nothing too fancy. It's like a big black binder. And I have everything right now. I saw it. My mission, I mean, it's just like a basic business plan. Mission, vision, values the people that I want to have on board, like, what it's going to look like when it's done. And I would say, you know, do it where you're kind of in that creative mind space.

Sharon [00:30:11]:
So don't. Maybe if you're always sitting at your desk, like, go to a coffee shop and do it or just get outside, like, go somewhere different and just write it out. Like, have fun with it. Like, in two years, what could I accomplish or what extra excites me? I think that's the main thing. So I wrote this out. I'm like, I am so excited about this. I'm like, re energized. And I think that, you know, as recruiters, like, I heard this somewhere, like, we sell energy.

Sharon [00:30:38]:
We sell energy. And if we're excited and we're passionate about what we're doing, that's going to sell our candidates, that's going to sell our clients. It's going to make them like and trust us, which is really the end game. I mean, how can we help them and how can they feel like we're in it for them? So I think creating that at the end of each year, I think that's huge. And I think it's okay for me. It always took a really hard to. It was difficult for me to have a really clear vision longer than a year. I could always plan Out a year, but I couldn't see five years from now.

Sharon [00:31:13]:
It just was really hard for me. But I think that for me, creating this big enough. Why and just like, this big enough goal, like, something clicked this year. And what's crazy is that you can have that end, like, you know what you want it to look like, but the middle can be blurry. Like, it's supposed to be blurry because things are going to change and you might not know how you're going to get there. But at least, you know, like, okay, ideally, this is what I want it to look like. And we'll, you know, it'll be fun to look back in two years and see.

Benjamin Mena [00:31:44]:
That's exciting.

Sharon [00:31:45]:
Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:31:46]:
Before we jump over to the quick fire questions, is there anything else that you want to cover with your story? Why recruiters fail and how they prevent that and, you know, what's working for you? Business development or back to, like, goal setting?

Sharon [00:31:59]:
Yeah. I would say, like, one of the things I can share is I think that we can overcomplicate things and we can overthink things and we can talk about them too much and. And not execute. And so I would say just, you know, my advice for anyone new and starting out, like, you don't need to know everything. You don't need to have every, you know, new tool. In fact, you really don't need any tools. Like, you just need to, you know, be put in action and just do it and have a support system. I think that's super important, too, whether it's like you're, you know, someone else in the industry.

Sharon [00:32:35]:
There's a couple different recruiter groups that I get together with people, we just bounce ideas off of each other. One's a group and one's a person that I met, this great woman who owns her own recruiting company. So I would say, like, reach out and just find someone that, you know, can help you stay accountable to yourself. I would think those are kind of like the things that come to mind that would be helpful for someone, I think, starting out.

Benjamin Mena [00:32:58]:
Oh, phenomenal. Well, jumping over the quick fire questions, and I know we're going to go into a lot more detail on this question at the sales summit. But real quick, what's your advice for a recruiter that's just getting started in our industry on how to succeed?

Sharon [00:33:13]:
Yeah. I think some of the things that we just talked about, don't overthink it. Don't think that you can't do it. It's a mindset game that you need to have with Yourself, you don't have to be the greatest salesperson in the world to be successful. You just have to execute and have confidence in yourself and really know that it's going to probably take a little bit longer than you might anticipate or want, but just you got to keep showing up and just not give up.

Benjamin Mena [00:33:42]:
Same question. But, you know, looking from the lens like, you've been in this game for 26 years, it seems now that your why and your vision is stronger probably now than it's been in a while. What advice would you give to other recruiters that have been in the game maybe two decades to recapture that energy and that vision?

Sharon [00:34:01]:
Yeah, I think sometimes you have to go through the hard, crappy stuff, and I think that when you do go through that to just realize that everything is happening for you, that when you come out of it, it's going to look a lot different. So for me, you know, my whole re energizing thing that's happened, it's because I've also had a really difficult time across the board with a lot of different things, like in my personal life, in my business, I mean, it's probably one of the most difficult times, I would say. And something sparked and maybe it's God or the universe. Like, something happened where I just really saw things through a different light and where I started to think about it just, it made me start to think about, like, what do I really want? Like, I'm 26 years in. Is this. Is this it? You know, is there nothing else that I want to do? Like, how much impact do I want to provide to everyone else? So I think that if you can really just do a deep dive and try to find that spark, and I think that's going to be really helpful to just reenergize, like, get really close to what your why is now and relook at it. Because it's probably different than it was two decades ago.

Benjamin Mena [00:35:24]:
Awesome. Well, I got a question for you. Since you've been in the game for a while, you know, I'm sure you've had clients that you haven't made a placement for in years. You know, clients that you've worked with great in the past. And how do you actually rekindle those relationships again if you have not spoken to them for like, a good, like, years.

Sharon [00:35:42]:
Yeah, yeah. And sometimes it is years. Sometimes I think the longer you're in this, sometimes, you know, a year can seem like nothing. And you turn around, you check your notes and you're like, oh, my gosh, it's been two years. So I like just being authentic like that. My style is just, you know, being authentic and reaching out. And I don't even think it's so much what you say. It's just that you make a genuine reach out.

Sharon [00:36:08]:
And I always tell people and tell other recruiters, whatever works for you. Like, there's some people that love talking on the phone and they just pick up the phone and they'll just call someone out of the blue. There's other people that want to do an email and just, you know, craft a really, like personal, authentic email. So I would say, I mean, just don't overthink it. But the most important thing is reaching out and not assuming that if you don't hear back that it's something that you did or they don't want to talk to you. So don't assume, Just reach out.

Benjamin Mena [00:36:40]:
Awesome. Has there been a book that's had a huge impact on your personal career?

Sharon [00:36:45]:
Yeah, so definitely the E Myth. And then the other one that I can think about is it's called the Big Leap by Gay Hendrix. Have you ever read that?

Benjamin Mena [00:36:54]:
It's been a while since I've read.

Sharon [00:36:55]:
That, but it's a good one, I think. I've read it a couple times, but it's just. Yeah, that would be the one that I would recommend. It's all about your mindset and the ceiling that you put on yourself on what you can or can't do.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:04]:
Is that the book that starts talking about the limiting beliefs?

Sharon [00:37:07]:
Yes.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:08]:
Yeah, yeah.

Sharon [00:37:09]:
Yep.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:11]:
I was like, I read that book. I listened to that book on Audible during runs. I was like, I stopped a few times. I'm like, this hurts, right?

Sharon [00:37:19]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:20]:
And do you have a favorite tech tool or rec tech tool that you love? At the moment?

Sharon [00:37:25]:
We use Loxo. And so I would have to say they always are coming out. Right now there's a lot of AI stuff that they're doing. We do all of our campaigns through that. So I would say just our database.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:36]:
So you've mentioned recently that you've gone through a few, like, hard things, hard weeks, hard, you know, months, hard challenges. Personally, how do you get through that to keep on going?

Sharon [00:37:52]:
Yeah, good, Good question. I would say I do a lot of self reflection and just think about, okay, why is this happening? You know, why is this happening to me? What part am I taking in it? So I'm very introspective and I think that to get out of it, sometimes you have to fake it till you make it. So I Usually give myself time to be like, all right, I can be in a, you know, a sad mood or a bad mood or whatever for so long, and then, you know, put a parameter on it and then just say, you know what? Okay, I'm going to get out. I'm going to put a smile on my face. I'm going to keep going. So I immediately get back into activity, and that really is what helps me get out of any kind of funky, because it does happen, whether it's personal or professional. But I think if you just keep moving. So I'm totally big believer, like, okay, you know, get moving.

Sharon [00:38:47]:
Shrug it off and get moving.

Benjamin Mena [00:38:50]:
Activity solves so many things.

Sharon [00:38:51]:
It does, it does.

Benjamin Mena [00:38:53]:
Okay, so you were a great builder when you first started recruiting. It took you about four months to really get your first placement when you started your firm. But you started your firm while having a baby at the house, a baby that was, like, probably sleeping like crazy and then, like, started running around being active. I have one of those right now. And you've just been going for 26 years without quitting. What do you think has been a huge contributor to your own personal success?

Sharon [00:39:17]:
I think that's it. I mean, seriously, I think that, you know, you think about, like, what's your superpower? And I usually come back to, like, when I think about my superpower, it's really nothing fancy. It's just literally that I don't give up. And sometimes there's times where I probably should give up, and I don't. Like, that could also be a fault, but I think that I just don't give up. I am, like, persistent and very, very consistent outside of work. When I was 40, I started competing in bodybuilding. And so I learned through fitness and wellness to be consistent and keep showing up when I didn't feel like it.

Sharon [00:39:56]:
And during that time, actually, my business grew, like, 500% because I learned that discipline. And that was again, like, 15 years ago. It was a long time ago, but, yeah, that's my superpower. Just being consistent and persistent.

Benjamin Mena [00:40:11]:
If you could go back, I'm going to ask you this in, like, two points at time, like, everything that you know now, if you can have a conversation with yourself, when you were sitting on that bedroom floor next to the fax machine, well, the nanny's taking care of your kids. If you can give yourself some advice, what would you tell yourself then?

Sharon [00:40:29]:
I would tell myself that there's always going to be a beginning of something and an end. So whatever, I'm happy. Like, if I'm having a bad period of time. There's going to be a beginning of it, but there's also going to be an end to it and there's something beyond that and same, same with the good stuff. So I think that you have to always be in the moment, like enjoy, enjoy the positive moment, but also enjoy the moment where you're struggling. Because I find the biggest growth has happened after I've struggled. And so that's what I would say. Just embrace it all, the good and the bad.

Benjamin Mena [00:41:04]:
And let's take this a little more recent, you know, Fast forward maybe 25 years and you know you've been going through a huge amount of change. You've pretty much threw your business in the garbage and you're redoing it. You've decided to like pretty much just like, I don't want to say start over, but you refound a why Everything that you've like learned and grown with now maybe take yourself back a year ago before the spark happened. What advice would you tell yourself?

Sharon [00:41:32]:
Well, the advice that I would tell myself and I actually did have to tell myself is like, okay, everything. And it's kind of relates to the last question. I mean, everything is happening for a reason. And so some of the big changes that I did ultimately make were things that I wanted to do a long time ago but just didn't. Either I was scared to do them because they were big changes or the timing wasn't right. And so then it was. So I would just say, yeah, anything that's happening, just realize like there is a bigger reason why things happen and that the good is right beyond the bad.

Benjamin Mena [00:42:09]:
You mentioned scared to make a change. And I think that's a lot. You know, I think recruiters can really get good at what they're great at, whether on the phone, emailing, recruiting, maybe in the sales. But there's always a step that they could take. And you mentioned afraid. Was there like a key, pivotal moment that pushed you past the fear?

Sharon [00:42:28]:
Yeah, there was this great video. I'll have to, I'll have to find it if I can put it in the link. But I think that fear really can hold us all back and it probably does more than we think if we again like take that self reflection and really think about what's making me not do something. And there's so much like if you even just look at it in a typical day, it could be like why you're not picking up the telephone and calling, you know, the prospective client or you know, there's a lot of fear. Like fear all day long even no matter how long we've been recruiting. And so I think that if we can self reflect and really think why, like, why am I scared? Like, what am I fearing? That helps overcome it. And the moment you actually overcome it, sometimes we fear. We spend so much time in that fear place that we don't realize once we have that difficult conversation, once we call and leave that voicemail, it dissipates.

Sharon [00:43:24]:
So it's like sometimes we hold onto that fear way longer than we have to. Like, I wish that would be like one thing. Like just feel the fear and do it anyway. But do it really fast because you're going to find that you're going to be on the other side of it a lot quicker and all of a sudden it's, you know, it's going to look different.

Benjamin Mena [00:43:41]:
If you want a copy of that video, make sure to reach out to her. And she sent it to you?

Sharon [00:43:45]:
Yeah, I mean I watched. I can't remember the person that. Yeah. Just can't remember his name. But it's so good. Like I cried. I watched. There was like a 10 minute video and I'm like, after it, I'm like, that's me.

Benjamin Mena [00:43:57]:
So did somebody send it to you or did you just run across it accidentally?

Sharon [00:44:00]:
It was in a coaching program that I was part of and they put it on like the beginning. When I started the coaching program, they used the video as just like a kind of an orientation of what we were going to talk about for the day. And I was like, oh my gosh, I was crying. Really good. It was really good.

Benjamin Mena [00:44:19]:
How does somebody find you to get that video or how does somebody follow you?

Sharon [00:44:23]:
Yeah, so I mean you can go to the finders, which is, I know you'll put it in the show notes, but it's the hyphen finders.com but probably the easiest place is just on LinkedIn. Just message me. That's probably the easiest.

Benjamin Mena [00:44:37]:
We covered a lot. And I know you're going to be talking again in January, but is there anything else that you want to share with the listeners and leave with them?

Sharon [00:44:44]:
Yeah, I would just say, I mean, whatever you're dreaming about, like, go do it. I think there's so many ways to be successful in this industry. We talked a lot about, you know, being a solopreneur. We talked about growing your company. And I would just say if there's anyone out there that needs help, like determining whether they should go and start another company or start their own recruiting company or how to do it, or they need help with, like, should I do this? You know, if there's some fear like we talked about, or if they've gotten to that point where they have owned their own small boutique recruiting firm and they're like, I just love recruiting. Then, you know, there's that brokerage model that I mentioned in the beginning, and this is in the sales plug. But it's something like, there's different options. So I'm happy to talk to anyone and just give them my view and be a sounding board.

Benjamin Mena [00:45:34]:
I think one of the things that when I first started recruiting, I was like, success is having your own company. And then I've actually talked to a lot of, like, huge billers, and they're like, I don't want to deal with the headache. I just. I'm good at recruiting. I've talked to some of them and they're like, I make more money working for somebody else than I did for myself.

Sharon [00:45:51]:
Absolutely. A lot of times that's the case. So you don't want all the, you know, all the red tape and all the paperwork and all that stuff. And sometimes you do. And so, yeah, if there's anything I can help with, I'd be happy to do that.

Benjamin Mena [00:46:04]:
Awesome. Well, for the listeners, I just want to say thank you. This has been an awesome conversation. We talked about, like, how to get around a failure, why people are failing, but how to figure out how to not fail for yourself. The things that you could do and really just getting back and finding that why. And, you know, one of the things that I know we're coming into the tail end of 2024, so keep. Keep your head down, keep working, but spend time with your family and be focused. Time with her family.

Benjamin Mena [00:46:26]:
But I believe 2025 is going to be the year of personal abundance for yourself. And let me do one last thing. I'm going to put in the show notes. Feel free to send me what your goals are, and I will hold those until the end of the year, next year, and I will send them to you personally so you can sit there and like, one, spend the time focusing and writing out your vision. But two, you're not going to be accountable, and I'm going to send you what that vision is at the end of next year so you can see how much you got done and how closer you are to your dreams. So, guys, let's go out there and crush it and make sure to listen to how to get your recruiting business started right at the sales summit Osharon. So thank you so much.

Sharon [00:47:04]:
Love it. Thanks, Benjamin.