Hello and welcome to the Bootstrapper's Guide to Logistics, the podcast highlighting founders doing it the way that doesn't get a lot of attention. We're here to change that by sharing their stories and inspiring others to take the leap. It's a roller coaster ride that you might ultimately fail.
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Speaker 2:It was very hard.
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Speaker 1:We are deep into season three now on the Bootstrapper's Guide to Logistics, doing what we've been doing for a handful of years now just sharing founder stories behind what I believe are the most compelling businesses in the industry. Somebody. And then they have to be acted on and special thanks to Tyson Lawrence for sharing his story recently Liz Wayne and Casey Winans, along with Josh Klebanoff. We've had everything from trucking company owners to warehouse software brokerages you name it on the show, and we're glad to just continue spreading the word about what people are building and shed more light on the people that are doing it the old-fashioned way, without raising a ton of capital and only using the resources that they have available themselves. That's why we love the bootstrappers, it's why we love the underdogs, and so today I'm thrilled to get to introduce Rachel Hayden, who is the CEO and founder of Confidential Career Solutions in Dallas. Good morning, rachel. How are you today?
Speaker 2:Good morning Nathan. Thank you for having me on the show. I'm doing well.
Speaker 1:Thank you Wonderful. I know you've had an illustrious career with some really big names in not just logistics but in business IBM, pepsico, xpo in the logistics world. So you've got big company chops in your background and then somewhere along the line you decided you know what, I want to do my own thing. And now you have a boutique recruiting firm in Texas. So I want to unpack some of that with you, first starting with the big company side, because I imagined it served you well when you shifted into being a business owner. So what was the draw for you of these mega corporations and these really recognizable names early in your career?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when I started IBM I started right. I was green when I started to work in an executive position. I wasn't an executive but within a huge company and I was fortunate to go through a temp service to get into IBM. So and I was also fortunate also to work within the CAD department back then when they were developing CAD and so I got to get in with the trainers for CAD and with IBM. It was such a formal position. We wore blue and white. I was never used to any type of business like that. I love dressing up because I thought that was great.
Speaker 2:But the business itself it was neat at an early age to be surrounded by such strong executives at an early age. And so I got to see from the business side of the world which I was not used to. I was used to service because I'd always hustled for a job. I worked as a waitress. I did service positions to where I could earn money. I knew how much money I could earn, so I was used to that. But I wasn't used to the business etiquette. So coming in and learning the business etiquette for IBM was fantastic. And and Kelly girls actually hired me. I mean IBM hired me on from Kelly girls. So I was actually an IBM employee, which I was very proud of. By the time I was like 20. And so that to me, was really really neat. And uh, so I um, so I took that and I thought, well, why stop here, let's try to go ahead and keep within the business world.
Speaker 2:And I ended up getting into an executive recruiting position with actually I'm still friends with her a second grade, my second grade friend from school, and she had an executive recruiter firm and she said why don't you come work for me? There's, you know, this is a pretty neat job and you can make a lot of money at it and you'd be really good at it. I'm like, oh okay. So I jumped into it and I started learning it and I really liked it because I liked the communication that I had with the client, and then I liked the communication that I had with the candidate and then just putting it all together, because in my prior years too, I was always drawn to coaching basketball teams for the city, and so when you coach a team, you're actually bringing the forces together, making it happen for a win. And so I think that's where I gravitated toward the recruiting piece because I enjoyed the win. I enjoyed bringing the candidate to a position where they could be successful and then making the client happy as well. So it was like almost a competitive drive for me within myself to bring those two together. So that so interesting that that brought me into the recruiting piece.
Speaker 2:And so at an early age, you know, we were going into the IT era and 90 and way back then, and so we were going into the IT era, but but you know, it crashed back in 90. Right, and so at that time I was working also with a company. I'd left her company and I was working with a company called well, it was a company, transportation company and with the transportation company I opened up a business, recruiting business. And while I was working with the recruiting business, they wanted me to get them a salesperson. And so I said I don't know anything about brokerage. Is this truck drivers? What are we doing? Because I don't know.
Speaker 2:I how to recruit a truck driver. And so I did get them a salesperson, uh, to support a huge client they had, and the salesperson did fantastic. So they said, well, we're going to close down the it division, um, and of the recruiting department, and since you've been recruiting outside of it anyways, would you want to come over to our company and recruit? So I did. I said yeah, I um, yes, would you want me to recruit? And they're like, well, we need sales and you did such a good job with the sales, can you do that? I'm like yes, so I got in there and I started recruiting for the sales book. But the thing is is what I noticed was when we were bringing in the sales candidates, because they didn't have any training, we were losing them.
Speaker 1:Turnover was high.
Speaker 2:It's tough. You bring someone in and they don't know anything about, or they know little about, transportation. They don't know about what a reefer is, what dimensions that can hold, what a flatbed does the flatbed need tarps? You know just little things that when you're working in the industry and you're quoting a load can be part of the quote. And then they lose the opportunity because they didn't have the training. So I was fortunate to work with a fantastic HR employee there and we discussed about making a training program for that company and we put together a training program because we wanted to retain the candidates that we were getting. So my job at that point actually became recruiter and trainer.
Speaker 1:What already stands out to me listening to you describe this is some folks go into their career and they have a goal in mind of I want to be a director of HR one day, or something like that, and they're singular in where they think it's going to go. And other people are like I'm going to just take what comes my way because I don't know what the next thing is going to look like. And yours seems to be a combination of both already, where you probably couldn't have predicted where you were going to end up, based on where you started, and yet each time you adapted to whatever the opportunity was. Would you say that that is that? Uh, does that resonate with you as part of who you are, as you're just flexible and you're able to?
Speaker 2:roll with the punches. Uh, I'm always looking for opportunity and because I feel like if you bypass opportunity, you never know what it could bring Right. And so I always kept. I always kept my eyes open for opportunity. But also I had to stay focused on what I was doing to make the recruiting, um, the recruiting and training program work so I could get to the next opportunity Right, because I knew bringing in a training for this particular position it would retain really good candidates that we were bringing in. They wouldn't get frustrated, they could have a quicker start, they could be successful right.
Speaker 2:So, identifying that opportunity and saying, okay, yes, we can do this, because I've always looked at it as yes, we can do this, because I've always looked at it as yes, we can do this, no-transcript. And so, with that being said, it's like I, you know, you identify the opportunity. You have to be able to identify the opportunity and want to move toward the opportunity. Because what I learned at an early age and because I thought it was just going to happen for me oh, I'm in this position, I'm going to get promoted, oh well, how come I'm not getting promoted yet?
Speaker 2:You have to make it happen. It doesn't just magically happen.
Speaker 2:Like, if you want to move up, you have to make it happen, which means usually you have to put in a little extra work or the, the extra training, or the or the certificates, or taking the time to. Uh, you know better yourself in one way and I was never really taught that, but I had seen both of my parents work really hard in life, and when I noticed they work really hard in life, I noticed that, um, nothing comes free. Right, you have to work hard, you know, and so. But there was a while when I was younger thinking, oh, you know, I'll be fine, I'm going to get promoted, this company loves me. And then, uh and uh, it wasn't happening as quick as I wanted it to. And that's when I said, well, you know what I'm going to have to really push to make this happen, but I've got to show them that I'm successful at what I'm doing to make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so at an early age, you know, I learned to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so at an early age I learned to do that. So then, fast forward, you end up, obviously, you had many other roles in lots of other organizations. Point where you you said, okay, I'm going to take all of those lessons that I've learned and I'm going to start my own business. Was that something that had been brewing in the back of your mind for a long time, or was it just a spark of inspiration?
Speaker 2:one day. How did? It is what I realized, because there was a couple of things that were on the forefront. I didn't know how stable the company I was with was going to be, and I knew that we had a plan to grow and I didn't know what was going to happen.
Speaker 2:But I also knew that in my position as a talent manager acquisition, I was dealing with other recruiters executive recruiters that were bringing talent in right, but the talent they were bringing in they couldn't really identify exactly what we needed.
Speaker 2:And because the industry is tough, right, I think, uh, everyone's learned it has has been educated on it now for the most part. But uh, the industry is tough, like knowing the difference between company to company titles and positions, because they all maybe have different titles for the same position and it could be a different position like an account manager in one company could be actually just managing the account to where, as an account manager in another company, could also have a mix of sales, because they're cradle to grave, right. And so the I noticed that there was a need for that and so I started really thinking about well, you know, I know, having the executive experience prior to and because what I used to do is recruit recruiters, so it was a niche and so I was like you know, this is a niche because there's not many recruiters out there.
Speaker 2:And I think I'm going to go ahead and try to build on this niche, because there's an opportunity again that is presented to me. I didn't know, like I've never had my own business, I didn't know how to do it. I had to do a lot of research for it. I was scared, I you know. There was a point where I was. You know, I had a, I owned a home, I had a car payment, I had a kid. I was like, oh, no, like oh, I'm taking a big chance here. I'm taking a big chance and I was sweating bullets. I tell you I was.
Speaker 1:I was like okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go ahead and start this. I'm going to go ahead and do it. It's a prime opportunity time to do it, because we just went through a merger and acquisition and a lot of change there and I was like, okay, it's time for me to to. I guess the best word to say is jump.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like when you're on the diving board for your first time and you're like I'm going to dive but I'm so afraid that I could belly flop. But I'm going to dive, and it was like that. It was like, okay, just do it. And I had my family and friends going you can do this, you can do it, and I'm my family and friends going, you can do this, you can do it. And I'm like, okay, okay okay, oh, that's wonderful.
Speaker 2:And then I look at you know, like get ready. And then finally I just jumped, I just did it. But I will tell you when I did it, because I put a lot of pressure on myself that the first couple of weeks I was like, oh no, I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to make it. Oh, you know what? Okay, just keep making your calls, just keep reaching out to people. You know what you're doing, just keep doing it. And for just a glimpse moment there I was like maybe I should quit because it's not going to happen. And no one's returning my calls, people aren't really listening to me because I just started my business. It's not going to happen. And I got that phone call from my first client saying, okay, we need a broker manager in our office. I was like okay, and I just started talking to him. I had the experience, I knew what I was looking for.
Speaker 1:Um, and yeah, I can speak their language.
Speaker 2:And I had that right there. When you get that first client, if you, if you have a business or you've ever had a business, that first piece of business, just it's like a spark plug. It's like, oh okay, and then it becomes addictive, doesn't it? Then it's, oh okay, go, so I did, and then it becomes addictive, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:Then it's okay. I did it once. Now I know it's possible.
Speaker 2:I did. Now I just want to do more. And I landed a fantastic client within the first probably 35 days of working my own business. So we get paid after the know, after the client, after the candidate sits in the seat, starts. And so I got that first check reasonably soon and I I framed it. I looked at it for a while because I was like, oh man, proud of yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely that I that I could do this right, that I could do this right, that I could do it. And it brought that feeling of you got to keep going, and so that's how I jumped into it and there was a lot of nerve. I know people I'm talking to someone right now who's trying to get going in their own business, right, and there's nervousness of can I make it, can I do this? But this person is such a they're a professional at what they do and I said you've got to give yourself credit for knowing what you do is important and you make an impact, because a lot of people know that they have that incredible experience and it can be value to someone out there, right. But then when you're starting your business, you doubt yourself if you've never started a business before, because you don't know. It's the unknown, what is scary, right?
Speaker 1:well and the client is there's no track record behind you yet, uh, as a, as a small business to rely on, and so what they're really buying into and what they're really trusting is that you're going to figure it out, because you don't have you don't have credibility in the market, but they the feedback that I've heard from a lot of founders on their first customer, or their first few customers, was my customer believed in me to the point that they not family, that's not friends. That is so empowering that you go from hesitating on the end of the diving board to feeling like you've got a cape on and you're superman and you can do anything. And I think it is a point on nearly every entrepreneur's journey that they remember when a client believed in them and Not a lot of people know about that moment.
Speaker 2:It's a private thing very much and I love that. You framed it too. Know I did and you know I've been. I've been open now for almost 14, 15 years and in the industry at for confidential career solutions. I've been very careful about who I work with. You learn some hard lessons in business. You know um and then, but you yeah have you been let down?
Speaker 1:I have and what are some of the harder moments that you've gone?
Speaker 2:through huge um, when you land a huge client and you think it's going to be so spectacular to work with them, but then you see that you're just another recruiter that they're working with, they don't really. Uh, you, you come in and you've got to really push to get the information that you need from them. They don't give you all the tools you need. They're not on time because you're just another recruiter, you're just another executive recruiter coming in to help them among the other 15 that they have, and they're going to look at your candidates, but they also have an internal candidate that they're considering as well, but they want to see all the candidates because they want to make sure that the internal candidates are best, which I get growing organically.
Speaker 2:But the thing that's really hard is when you work with some of the larger clients and they how can I say this?
Speaker 2:it's a privilege to work with them, so they don't really need to give you everything and how can I be successful if I don't have all the tools or if I don't even have the buy-in? Because when I sell a candidate, I'm really excited about selling the candidate to the company. That's one thing for me. It's like I have to believe in the company to sell the candidate to the position, be excited about it too. And when you can't get excited about a company and this is where at first I kind of had to think about it Do I really want to work with that company?
Speaker 2:Do I really want to take a candidate out of their employment place, pull them into a company to where they're just going to be a number, and I sold it as being a great opportunity for growth. And oh, they have such great culture and they have this when they don't. So I yeah very careful about who I work with at that point, and I Laura, the largest candidate clients sometimes aren't the best clients, right, but you do have a lot of clients out there. Well, sometimes you get looked over, you know.
Speaker 1:And a lot of times for the really large companies, they're placing so many jobs that each one by itself does not mean that much, but for you as the recruiter, it represents a much larger portion of your business, and then for the candidate it's their entire career, a much larger portion of your business, and then for the candidate it's their entire career.
Speaker 1:So there's just such a different sense of how much it matters to the recruiter versus the candidate, versus the employer, and I imagine it's easy to get or it was easy to get jaded in some of that until you found, hey, here are the types of employers that I really do want to work with and that I do feel really confident. And then also you occupy a really unique space in the job world where you have to. The candidate is going through a life, potentially life-changing experience, and it's going to impact their budget. It's going to impact their commute, it's going to impact their budget, it's going to impact their commute, it's going to impact their family, and you have to show up on the client side. This is pure business, but for the candidate, this is their life, and so I would imagine you have to be an empathetic person to be able to help a candidate navigate that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Because they can't be murky sometimes, right and I do agree the whole thing with you. Know you want it to be transparent for them from the start. You want them to be able to see what it is at the very start, and you know I have a lot of empathy for the candidate, but I also understand the client's need as well, and the only thing that's going to bring those two together is the transparency right, and so the transparency has to be there.
Speaker 2:If the transparency is not there with me and the client at that time, it's not going to be there anytime afterwards with the candidate. So the candidate really has to. You know, it's one thing a company going through change for instance merger and acquisition okay, now some of that you can't really be transparent about but also with more of the senior levels or someone coming in at a senior level, they're going to have to know a little bit about what's going on right, because they're going to have to lead the change, to make the change right. And so it's a really tight line you walk. You know it's a fine line to be walked.
Speaker 1:You got to respect the client's business as well as respect the candidates wants and needs and ability to fit in with the client right, and so do you have a candidate that comes to mind, that was maybe one of your, your favorites, where everything, the stars aligned just perfect and they, they landed the job and it changed their life. Or you know something, something along those lines of the fairy tale ending where everything went as you wanted it to and, um, it keeps you going.
Speaker 2:You know, yes, when I look at a candidate that's been at their job for when since of time I started like 10 years plus 14 years and they're still with the company that's a huge win, right, because that is strong retention. That means that the match was there from the start and they got to build, and so I have a few candidates that are still at the companies that I put them with.
Speaker 2:I also have company and clients that I helped grow out from a start that are doing really well and so adding good talent and understanding the company's need for me. That's what I do. It excites me to see the client or the candidate grow like they have. And so, yeah, I do have.
Speaker 2:I do have a candidate that, uh, hated, didn't oh gosh didn't want to make the change because they're not good with change, and I had to talk to them. I'm like, okay, this is position, would be a great position for you because you have these attributes that fit into the position. Because you have these attributes that fit into the position transitional skills that will work. You're a good, you know your retention to retain a client and your customer communications and your service, and not only internally I had to really push them. I had to really say, ok, you know this would be a really good move for you. And so when I took them and this is when I worked, when I started way back and we were trying to get entry-level salespeople in, I grabbed this person from a restaurant who was a waitress and I had to persuade her to come into a brokerage sales position which she knew nothing about and she didn't really know about corporate. I got her in there and like today's date, like she's probably about 275 all in, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I did talk to her the other day and we were just kind of going back because I've known her for so long and and when I was talking I said yeah, you know you were killing me. It was taking you forever to make that move. You were so good.
Speaker 1:She was stuck at the end of the diving board.
Speaker 2:You know I was patient with you, but I'm so glad that you made the move. She goes, yes, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Well, and you have a fundamentally people driven business, which has to be highly rewarding, and when you get to see the long-term impact of those, the actions that you've taken and the relationships that you've built, I would imagine that's incredibly rewarding. And then on the flip side, right now anyways, it's a challenging job market out there. So there are a lot of folks that are not getting the big wins and there's a lot of open to work badges on linkedin people looking. So what advice would you have, not necessarily on the entrepreneur side? Now I'm going to shift a little bit and just talk about some of the folks that are out there that are that need help. What advice would you give, um, to somebody who's who's looking for that next thing and is having a challenge?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So from college grad to executive, it's competitive at all levels right now and I don't think that it's been this competitive for a while. I don't think that it's been this competitive for a while. And I think the most important thing right now for these candidates is you have to brand yourself and look at it like you're selling a new product.
Speaker 2:Okay, you put the new product out there. It's a great product out there, it's got great potential. But if you don't market, market that product, no one's going to know about it. Plus, it's going to be with all the other same like products that are out there. They don't know the value, they don't know what this product is going to bring in comparison to all the other light products. So you've got to go out there and you've got to brand yourself right now.
Speaker 2:And I don't think I mean I think, um, I see some people branding themselves, but you really have to go strong right now, because the competitive market, the pool, and for what you're looking for in your industry whether it be supply chain and logistics, f&a, service industry right now it's competitive. So you've got to show them you're the best person for this position. And it could be several ways. It could be by posting something on LinkedIn. If you're not a writer, you can find an article that's trending right now and talk about what you know and how the trend is affecting what you know and show the knowledge You've got to show the knowledge, sure Thought leadership yeah.
Speaker 2:Get yourself within groups Network Right now.
Speaker 1:Finding a job is a job yeah.
Speaker 2:So you got to make sure you got to utilize your time to the best that it can be, and just making connections is great, but you're going to have to take it a step further and you're going to have to. You're going to have to brand yourself. You can do. There's people out there that do it professionally for you you can do it. Um, you can now go to ai and ask how to do it right, and so so you have to get yourself out there.
Speaker 2:It's not good enough just being the superstar that you are in, the position that you were in, because you have a lot of other superstars right now all in the same group and people might take it for granted.
Speaker 1:They're like, hey, I've done all these wonderful things, but if people don't know about it, it didn't, it doesn't matter, and resumes are not always the best at youulating folks' experience, and we do live in a digital world now, and so your online presence does have a significant impact. I know of several people that would say the only reason I am where I am right now is because I started writing on LinkedIn, or I started posting on Twitter about supply chain, and it opens to. I mean, this podcast is a result of an exchange on Twitter four and a half years ago and that's why, to me, it's still wild. But the power of branding to your point is far more significant.
Speaker 1:And if you haven't invested in yourself and doing it before there is, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is right now. So if you haven't, if you haven't already done that work, it's not too late to get started and the industry will turn around, the economy will shift at some point and those opportunities will materialize more. And in the meantime, thank you for what you're doing to support not only the industry, because we're both supply chain logistics nerds at heart, but also the people and the talent behind all of it, and you're doing it the way that I love. You have a boutique business. You don't have 5,000 people. You've got six or eight folks and you are focusing on relationships every day and you're bootstrapping it the oldest way to start and run a business that exists, and so we are happy to help spread the word about Confidential Career Solutions and what you've done so far. If people want to reach out to you, rachel.
Speaker 2:what's the best way to do that? And it's rhayden at confidentialcareersolutionscom. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Wonderful, yeah, wonderful. Thank you, rachel, for sharing your story today and know that we are all rooting for you Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to another episode of the Bootstrapper's Guide to Logistics, and a special thank you to our sponsors and the team behind the scenes who make it all possible. Be sure to like, follow or subscribe to the podcast to get the latest updates. To learn more about the show and connect with the growing community of entrepreneurs, visit logisticsfounderscom. And, of course, thank you to all the founders who trust us to share their stories.