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Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of North Atlanta
Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
EP #78: Patrice & Associates with Kimberly Briggs
Ever wonder what it's like to match dream careers with top talent? Kim Briggs from Patrice & Associates joins us to unravel the art of recruiting in the bustling hospitality industry. With an expansive network and a footprint in over 180 offices across North America, Kim offers us a peek behind the curtain of an industry that's bouncing back post-pandemic.
Our conversation with Kim isn't just about filling positions; it's a personal story of career reinvention and the profound satisfaction of changing lives. As she recounts her own journey into recruitment and business ownership, Kim's passion for service, respect, excellence, and teamwork becomes abundantly clear. We explore how these core values fuel the resurgence of hospitality jobs and how Patrice and Associates is playing a pivotal role in this renaissance. Tune in for an episode that's as much about personal growth as it is about the growth of an industry.
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Grizzly.
Speaker 2:Hello friends and neighbors, welcome to North Atlanta's Good Neighbor podcast. Today we're here with Kim Briggs, with Patrice and Associates. Hi Kim, how are you today? I am doing well. Stacey, how are you? I'm doing great. It is so nice to see you again. I first met Kim at a perimeter chamber meeting not too long ago, so it's good to see you again. Let's go ahead and get started and we'll have you tell our listeners about Patrice and Associates.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I'd love to so. Patrice and Associates is a premier recruiting and staffing firm for management level placements and we've actually been around for a little over 30 years and we were created by our founder and visionary, patrice Rice. And Patrice actually, early on in the business, decided to focus her recruiting efforts within the hospitality space, and she did incredibly well, I mean developing a system that would consistently find A-level candidates for clients, and it worked actually again and again and again. I mean this really opened the door to exponential growth within the company. So then she franchised the system and by franchising the system, patrice and Associates now has over 180 offices across the United States and Canada.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That is quite an expansion. Yeah, talk about growth.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and we actually. We serve some of the nation's most prominent brands. I know a lot of them you'd recognize if I were to mention some of them. But our growth is not only in the number of offices that we have. We've expanded our offerings, so now we include executive search, and we're diversifying our markets in which we service. So every day we're supporting more and more clients outside of hospitality.
Speaker 3:But my specific office primarily serves Dunwoody, shambly, sandy Springs, dorville, tucker and some of those surrounding cities. However, I am able to still leverage the breadth of our nationwide network in order to support my clients specific needs around recruiting and staffing, and this really positions me to be more than just a recruit. It's more like a strategic staffing partner for my clients. But one of the reasons, stacey, that I believe that Patrice and Associates is thriving even after the major disruption of COVID to the hospitality industry is because we are firmly rooted in the core values that we have, which are respect, excellence, service and teamwork. And I've seen the employment numbers here in Georgia and nationwide and hospitality jobs are coming back, which means that recruiting services are very much needed in this tight labor market.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would agree with that. And just here locally in Dunwoody and the surrounding areas, the boom of new restaurants and different hospitality industry this is in the hospitality industry are just a huge rebirth, if you will.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is, it truly is.
Speaker 2:Well, Kim, if you don't mind, go ahead and tell our listeners a little bit about your journey. What led you into the recruiting space?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, like many others, I kind of found myself at a crossroads in my career. I was yearning for something that was a little more meaningful to pursue. I wasn't really sure, though, where I would begin looking or even which direction to go, but through some self-evaluation, I did recognize there was value in some of the transferable skills that I had gained, either in leadership, business development, training or account management. But throughout my I've acquired those skills throughout my professional journey, so I started to really explore different options, and I kept being led to business ownership. Now, it could have been the algorithms in the website that are built into the system that fed me information, or could have been divine intervention.
Speaker 2:We'll go with that.
Speaker 3:But the notion of becoming a business owner and the idea of really steering my own career really started to intrigue me. And then I came across Patrice and Associates, and what interested me was that I had an opportunity to make a positive impact on businesses and also assist individuals in realizing their dream career. So the decisive factor for me was the ability to really bless others through my service. So I was connecting top talent with companies, but also facilitating great job matches for exceptional individuals.
Speaker 2:And becoming your own business owner in the process. That's a win-win combination. I love it. Are there any myths or misconceptions about your industry that you may want to clear up with our listeners today?
Speaker 3:There are actually Stacey, I can probably think of three off the top of my head. I hear a lot of people talk about recruiters only care about filling positions quickly, which is, you know, we do have pressure to fill positions promptly, in a timely manner, but a reputable recruiter is going to prioritize finding the right candidate, not just somebody quick. We need to really understand the company culture to match candidates who align with both job requirements and organizational values. But so another thing that I hear a lot of is recruiters only look at resumes. Now, of course we know, you know resumes are a key component. You got to have a resume and that's going to get the attention of the recruiter first.
Speaker 3:But there are several other variables and factors that are determinants for a good candidate, like soft skills, your cultural fit, potential for growth. And at Patrice and Associates we actually take it a step further than that. We exchange our recruiting hats to become more of a career coach by helping candidates develop their resume in a way that really highlights their strengths and achievements. We want that to be at the forefront, so we coach the candidates through the whole process, but that way we can make sure that they show up in the best way possible to the clients.
Speaker 2:That is a unique offering. I would think with recruiting that you're actually. You know you find someone who you feel is a good fit, but their resume may need some sprucing up.
Speaker 2:We're tweaking. Yeah, there you go. I think either one of those worked, but you know, I don't think that most recruiters do that. I do. I would have the assumption and maybe you know falsely, as when it comes to your company that you know the resume you submit is the resume that they're going to see and that is it. So that's nice to know that you take it a step further. Well, let's shift gears, kim, if you don't mind, and let's talk about what you're doing for fun when you're not working.
Speaker 3:Oh, I would love to. So I consider myself, I consider myself a foodie and I think I'm in the right area. You know you are done with is expanding.
Speaker 3:You know we've got new restaurants all the time and I'm like, oh my God, I gotta go check them out. So I love to visit new restaurants in the area around the city and you know I've been to quite a few here locally. Like I love Buffalo Wild Wings. Now they have a rooftop. I can watch my football games there Right. And in recent years I've seen a lot more rooftop concepts and I'm feeling like, yeah, that's my vibe, It'd be a rooftop. And if you put live music on top of that, that's just the icing on the cake for me. Love live music, and, speaking of which, I love the summertime, not this 15 degree weather that we've been having lately, so I'll be on the rooftop after that, when it winds up a bit.
Speaker 3:But I take full advantage of, like the free concerts in the park, free jazz concerts, you know. I know work run has in Dunwoody has lots of free concerts throughout the throughout the summer and it's just a great way for me to unwind and enjoy good music, spend some time with friends and family.
Speaker 2:But also enjoy, just being outside. Yeah, and in the community, I agree, if you love live music. I'm really looking forward to the opening of culinary dropout, which is them. They are going to be having and I need to reach out to them to see if we can get them on the podcast before they're opening, but they are going to be having live music seven days a week 790. So, I'm looking forward to that. I don't think they have a rooftop, but that's okay, live music live music.
Speaker 2:That really changes things, that's a game changer for me. I agree, we may have to go together sometime.
Speaker 3:Out there.
Speaker 2:Well, so we're going to shift gears again and talk about something a little more serious. Has there been a? Well, we've all had hardships and challenges, but is there one in particular that maybe you have faced in life that you can say for now, having been through that challenge, that you're stronger for better, for today?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 3:So when I think about what has made me stronger, I I come to being a single mom of two, and before I was a mom, I I moved in the in a way that I wanted to move through life and May not have been as thoughtful About the decisions that I made, but when I earned the prestigious title of mom, it really grounded me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it taught me resilience, it taught me to be resourceful, but it taught me how to really stop and enjoy the little things that bring joy, because I can remember picking my kids up from daycare with the big smiles and the open arms. They're just excited to see me, and I might have had a particularly hard day at work and that was everything To me. They are. They are absolutely the impetus behind me striving to be a better person. So I want them to Really see me exemplify the characteristics that I want them to embody when I move through life. Now I do so intentionally, because I know that kids learn so much from just observing and I wanted to make sure that they observed mom being kind, being caring, loving, hard-working and, ultimately, just human.
Speaker 2:Well, the audience can't see me, but I am sitting here nodding my head with every word that you say. I too am a single mom of two and and it does it completely changes you and and I Applaud you for sharing that because it does. You know, I Guess it's not something that we really talk about too too much, but before kids like I'll, even for myself, use the word selfish, you know like it was. It was really about me and what brought me happiness and what was, you know, and that it does it completely changes with parenthood and I Blessed to be a mom myself. So, and then throw the single mom on top of that, you know you are the role model, you know, for their. You know their model, the behavior after you, and it does make you want to be a better person.
Speaker 2:So often people talk about finding a partner or spouse. You know that's gonna. They want to be a better person for you Know, but very rarely do you hear people talk about wanting to be a better person for their children. You know, I don't think that that's talked about as frequently. So, oh, it definitely does, and especially the single, the single parent, that definitely does. But I love what you said about. I was. I was an elementary school teacher for 19 years and I love what you said about. You know they come home and that when you, when you go to pick them up and you've had a hard day and they just open arms and Like your day just washes away and it becomes about the kids.
Speaker 2:You know, I think there's gonna be a lot of people that that story resonates with Well. So, really, about to wrap up, is there a chemist or anything else that you want our listeners to know? Your position at Patrice and associates.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I do. As a recruiter, I I am dedicated to the hiring process as a whole to create but I want to create the best experience for both the company and the candidate and most people. Most people will agree that time is valuable and, from a candidate perspective, you have a recruiter that has an established relationship with a client. It's a way to put your name and your resume towards the top of those making the considerations. We work with you to make sure that you present your best self to the client.
Speaker 3:From a company perspective, recruiters can save time and money. Also, at Patrice and Associates, particularly, our recruiters have access to an extensive network and database that we can tap into, giving us a broader pool of talent to choose from, which not everybody has. Instead of spending an exorbitant amount of time reviewing hundreds and hundreds of resumes, hr teams can then focus on interviewing only the best qualified candidates that are presented for consideration. Any placement that we do or we get is backed by a guarantee, which is another insurance for you, further mitigating that risk of any unsuccessful hires. I don't know that enough people know about that, yeah Well, thank you for sharing.
Speaker 2:If we have listeners that want to reach out and learn more, what is the best way for them to get in touch with you?
Speaker 3:They can call me directly at 678-640-9808, or you can find me in LinkedIn under Kimberly Briggs BRI-GGS.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Well, it has been an absolute pleasure to have you on today. Thank you so much for joining us, Kim.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Well, that's all for today's episode, Atlanta. I'm Stacey Risley with the Good Neighbor podcast. Thanks for listening and for supporting the local businesses and nonprofits of our great community.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast North Atlanta. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPNorthAtlantacom. That's GNPNorthAtlantacom, or call 470-946-7007.
