WEBVTT 00:00:33.262 --> 00:00:39.634 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. 00:00:39.634 --> 00:00:44.070 We're here to change that by sharing their stories and inspiring others to take the leap. 00:00:44.070 --> 00:00:48.010 It's a roller coaster ride that you might ultimately fail. 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:49.543 That's when I kind of knew. 00:00:49.584 --> 00:00:50.567 I was on to something. 00:00:51.281 --> 00:00:52.146 It was very hard. 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:54.548 It truly is building a legacy. 00:00:55.260 --> 00:00:57.789 The more life you live, the more wisdom you have. 00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:01.751 Because we are where we're supposed to be, kind of answering the call. 00:01:01.751 --> 00:01:04.709 Don't shoulder entrepreneurship on your own. 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:06.634 I'm your host, nate Shoots. 00:01:06.634 --> 00:01:09.704 Let's build something together from the ground up. 00:01:09.704 --> 00:01:14.417 Hello everybody and welcome back to the show. 00:01:14.477 --> 00:01:31.432 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. 00:01:31.432 --> 00:01:31.933 Somebody. 00:01:31.933 --> 00:01:41.471 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. 00:01:41.471 --> 00:02:03.302 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. 00:02:03.302 --> 00:02:14.423 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. 00:02:14.423 --> 00:02:15.925 Good morning, rachel. 00:02:15.925 --> 00:02:16.507 How are you today? 00:02:16.947 --> 00:02:17.989 Good morning Nathan. 00:02:17.989 --> 00:02:20.132 Thank you for having me on the show. 00:02:20.132 --> 00:02:21.533 I'm doing well. 00:02:21.735 --> 00:02:29.259 Thank you Wonderful. 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:35.610 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. 00:02:35.610 --> 00:02:43.216 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. 00:02:43.216 --> 00:02:46.344 And now you have a boutique recruiting firm in Texas. 00:02:46.344 --> 00:02:57.000 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. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:03.810 So what was the draw for you of these mega corporations and these really recognizable names early in your career? 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.090 Yeah, so when I started IBM I started right. 00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:16.229 I was green when I started to work in an executive position. 00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:29.080 I wasn't an executive but within a huge company and I was fortunate to go through a temp service to get into IBM. 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:39.227 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. 00:03:39.227 --> 00:03:42.669 It was such a formal position. 00:03:42.669 --> 00:03:44.610 We wore blue and white. 00:03:44.610 --> 00:03:52.455 I was never used to any type of business like that. 00:03:52.455 --> 00:03:55.656 I love dressing up because I thought that was great. 00:03:56.076 --> 00:04:06.313 But the business itself it was neat at an early age to be surrounded by such strong executives at an early age. 00:04:06.313 --> 00:04:12.853 And so I got to see from the business side of the world which I was not used to. 00:04:12.853 --> 00:04:19.358 I was used to service because I'd always hustled for a job. 00:04:19.358 --> 00:04:20.961 I worked as a waitress. 00:04:20.961 --> 00:04:24.149 I did service positions to where I could earn money. 00:04:24.149 --> 00:04:26.944 I knew how much money I could earn, so I was used to that. 00:04:26.944 --> 00:04:29.413 But I wasn't used to the business etiquette. 00:04:29.413 --> 00:04:34.287 So coming in and learning the business etiquette for IBM was fantastic. 00:04:34.287 --> 00:04:36.831 And and Kelly girls actually hired me. 00:04:36.831 --> 00:04:39.585 I mean IBM hired me on from Kelly girls. 00:04:39.585 --> 00:04:42.872 So I was actually an IBM employee, which I was very proud of. 00:04:42.872 --> 00:04:45.283 By the time I was like 20. 00:04:45.283 --> 00:04:49.230 And so that to me, was really really neat. 00:04:49.230 --> 00:05:01.149 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. 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:23.132 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? 00:05:23.132 --> 00:05:28.562 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. 00:05:28.562 --> 00:05:30.307 I'm like, oh okay. 00:05:30.307 --> 00:05:58.589 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. 00:05:58.589 --> 00:06:04.413 And so I think that's where I gravitated toward the recruiting piece because I enjoyed the win. 00:06:04.413 --> 00:06:11.413 I enjoyed bringing the candidate to a position where they could be successful and then making the client happy as well. 00:06:11.413 --> 00:06:16.952 So it was like almost a competitive drive for me within myself to bring those two together. 00:06:16.952 --> 00:06:20.649 So that so interesting that that brought me into the recruiting piece. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:40.418 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. 00:06:40.418 --> 00:06:47.088 Right, and so at that time I was working also with a company. 00:06:47.088 --> 00:06:59.112 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. 00:06:59.112 --> 00:07:05.112 And while I was working with the recruiting business, they wanted me to get them a salesperson. 00:07:05.112 --> 00:07:09.632 And so I said I don't know anything about brokerage. 00:07:09.632 --> 00:07:12.238 Is this truck drivers? 00:07:12.238 --> 00:07:12.740 What are we doing? 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:13.483 Because I don't know. 00:07:13.983 --> 00:07:15.687 I how to recruit a truck driver. 00:07:15.687 --> 00:07:24.100 And so I did get them a salesperson, uh, to support a huge client they had, and the salesperson did fantastic. 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:38.685 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? 00:07:38.685 --> 00:07:39.208 So I did. 00:07:39.208 --> 00:07:42.999 I said yeah, I um, yes, would you want me to recruit? 00:07:42.999 --> 00:07:47.471 And they're like, well, we need sales and you did such a good job with the sales, can you do that? 00:07:47.471 --> 00:07:51.187 I'm like yes, so I got in there and I started recruiting for the sales book. 00:07:51.187 --> 00:08:00.490 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. 00:08:01.452 --> 00:08:02.194 Turnover was high. 00:08:02.293 --> 00:08:02.855 It's tough. 00:08:02.855 --> 00:08:10.213 You bring someone in and they don't know anything about, or they know little about, transportation. 00:08:10.213 --> 00:08:19.954 They don't know about what a reefer is, what dimensions that can hold, what a flatbed does the flatbed need tarps? 00:08:19.954 --> 00:08:59.608 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. 00:08:59.608 --> 00:09:02.921 And then they lose the opportunity because they didn't have the training. 00:09:02.921 --> 00:09:23.566 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. 00:09:23.566 --> 00:09:27.974 So my job at that point actually became recruiter and trainer. 00:09:30.622 --> 00:09:46.749 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. 00:09:46.749 --> 00:09:55.434 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. 00:09:55.434 --> 00:10:07.732 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. 00:10:07.732 --> 00:10:09.725 Would you say that that is that? 00:10:09.725 --> 00:10:15.087 Uh, does that resonate with you as part of who you are, as you're just flexible and you're able to? 00:10:15.569 --> 00:10:16.352 roll with the punches. 00:10:16.352 --> 00:10:26.092 Uh, I'm always looking for opportunity and because I feel like if you bypass opportunity, you never know what it could bring Right. 00:10:26.092 --> 00:10:27.815 And so I always kept. 00:10:27.815 --> 00:10:31.927 I always kept my eyes open for opportunity. 00:10:31.927 --> 00:10:56.090 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. 00:10:56.090 --> 00:11:00.707 They wouldn't get frustrated, they could have a quicker start, they could be successful right. 00:11:01.260 --> 00:11:17.940 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. 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:22.780 And so, with that being said, it's like I, you know, you identify the opportunity. 00:11:22.780 --> 00:11:28.053 You have to be able to identify the opportunity and want to move toward the opportunity. 00:11:28.053 --> 00:11:39.311 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? 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:42.104 You have to make it happen. 00:11:42.104 --> 00:11:43.308 It doesn't just magically happen. 00:11:43.640 --> 00:11:55.487 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. 00:11:55.487 --> 00:12:12.688 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. 00:12:12.688 --> 00:12:16.497 Right, you have to work hard, you know, and so. 00:12:16.497 --> 00:12:23.308 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. 00:12:23.308 --> 00:12:27.815 And then, uh and uh, it wasn't happening as quick as I wanted it to. 00:12:27.815 --> 00:12:36.092 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. 00:12:37.780 --> 00:12:41.511 Yeah, and so at an early age, you know, I learned to do that. 00:12:42.042 --> 00:12:47.419 Yeah, and so at an early age I learned to do that. 00:12:47.419 --> 00:13:02.390 So then, fast forward, you end up, obviously, you had many other roles in lots of other organizations. 00:13:02.390 --> 00:13:09.056 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. 00:13:09.056 --> 00:13:14.440 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? 00:13:14.761 --> 00:13:15.001 one day. 00:13:15.001 --> 00:13:15.322 How did? 00:13:15.322 --> 00:13:20.401 It is what I realized, because there was a couple of things that were on the forefront. 00:13:20.401 --> 00:13:28.541 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. 00:13:28.581 --> 00:13:48.533 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. 00:13:49.697 --> 00:13:57.861 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. 00:13:57.861 --> 00:14:24.667 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. 00:14:24.667 --> 00:14:45.769 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. 00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:54.749 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. 00:14:54.749 --> 00:15:02.642 I didn't know, like I've never had my own business, I didn't know how to do it. 00:15:02.642 --> 00:15:05.023 I had to do a lot of research for it. 00:15:05.023 --> 00:15:08.946 I was scared, I you know. 00:15:08.946 --> 00:15:10.968 There was a point where I was. 00:15:10.968 --> 00:15:17.233 You know, I had a, I owned a home, I had a car payment, I had a kid. 00:15:17.233 --> 00:15:21.076 I was like, oh, no, like oh, I'm taking a big chance here. 00:15:21.076 --> 00:15:25.223 I'm taking a big chance and I was sweating bullets. 00:15:25.223 --> 00:15:26.906 I tell you I was. 00:15:27.107 --> 00:15:28.370 I was like okay. 00:15:28.510 --> 00:15:29.933 I'm going to go ahead and start this. 00:15:29.933 --> 00:15:30.964 I'm going to go ahead and do it. 00:15:30.964 --> 00:15:42.841 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. 00:15:42.841 --> 00:15:43.804 I guess the best word to say is jump. 00:15:43.824 --> 00:15:51.108 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. 00:15:51.108 --> 00:15:54.425 But I'm going to dive, and it was like that. 00:15:54.425 --> 00:15:57.149 It was like, okay, just do it. 00:15:57.149 --> 00:16:02.667 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. 00:16:02.667 --> 00:16:03.909 And I'm like, okay, okay okay, oh, that's wonderful. 00:16:03.929 --> 00:16:06.813 And then I look at you know, like get ready. 00:16:06.813 --> 00:16:10.660 And then finally I just jumped, I just did it. 00:16:10.660 --> 00:16:23.392 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. 00:16:23.392 --> 00:16:23.872 Oh, you know what? 00:16:23.872 --> 00:16:28.296 Okay, just keep making your calls, just keep reaching out to people. 00:16:28.296 --> 00:16:31.121 You know what you're doing, just keep doing it. 00:16:31.121 --> 00:16:38.795 And for just a glimpse moment there I was like maybe I should quit because it's not going to happen. 00:16:38.795 --> 00:16:46.127 And no one's returning my calls, people aren't really listening to me because I just started my business. 00:16:46.127 --> 00:16:47.733 It's not going to happen. 00:16:47.733 --> 00:16:56.352 And I got that phone call from my first client saying, okay, we need a broker manager in our office. 00:16:56.352 --> 00:16:59.866 I was like okay, and I just started talking to him. 00:16:59.866 --> 00:17:02.451 I had the experience, I knew what I was looking for. 00:17:03.481 --> 00:17:07.111 Um, and yeah, I can speak their language. 00:17:07.623 --> 00:17:10.180 And I had that right there. 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:17.170 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. 00:17:17.170 --> 00:17:20.749 It's like, oh okay, and then it becomes addictive, doesn't it? 00:17:20.749 --> 00:17:25.508 Then it's, oh okay, go, so I did, and then it becomes addictive, doesn't it? 00:17:25.579 --> 00:17:26.527 Then it's okay. 00:17:26.527 --> 00:17:27.132 I did it once. 00:17:27.132 --> 00:17:29.317 Now I know it's possible. 00:17:29.336 --> 00:17:29.598 I did. 00:17:29.598 --> 00:17:30.805 Now I just want to do more. 00:17:30.805 --> 00:17:38.014 And I landed a fantastic client within the first probably 35 days of working my own business. 00:17:38.014 --> 00:17:46.044 So we get paid after the know, after the client, after the candidate sits in the seat, starts. 00:17:46.044 --> 00:17:50.693 And so I got that first check reasonably soon and I I framed it. 00:17:50.693 --> 00:17:57.067 I looked at it for a while because I was like, oh man, proud of yourself. 00:17:57.086 --> 00:18:02.900 Yeah, absolutely that I that I could do this right, that I could do this right, that I could do it. 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:12.386 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. 00:18:12.386 --> 00:18:23.680 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? 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:46.640 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. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.583 But then when you're starting your business, you doubt yourself if you've never started a business before, because you don't know. 00:18:53.583 --> 00:18:56.812 It's the unknown, what is scary, right? 00:19:06.380 --> 00:19:30.649 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. 00:19:30.649 --> 00:19:55.504 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. 00:19:55.504 --> 00:20:24.191 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. 00:20:24.351 --> 00:20:25.892 It's a private thing very much and I love that. 00:20:25.892 --> 00:20:29.394 You framed it too. 00:20:29.394 --> 00:20:31.635 Know I did and you know I've been. 00:20:31.635 --> 00:20:38.004 I've been open now for almost 14, 15 years and in the industry at for confidential career solutions. 00:20:38.004 --> 00:20:39.869 I've been very careful about who I work with. 00:20:39.869 --> 00:20:42.062 You learn some hard lessons in business. 00:20:42.062 --> 00:20:47.972 You know um and then, but you yeah have you been let down? 00:20:47.993 --> 00:20:52.368 I have and what are some of the harder moments that you've gone? 00:20:52.388 --> 00:21:08.846 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. 00:21:08.846 --> 00:21:17.496 Uh, you, you come in and you've got to really push to get the information that you need from them. 00:21:17.496 --> 00:21:19.949 They don't give you all the tools you need. 00:21:19.949 --> 00:21:45.822 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. 00:21:46.883 --> 00:21:58.196 But the thing that's really hard is when you work with some of the larger clients and they how can I say this? 00:21:58.256 --> 00:22:09.787 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? 00:22:09.787 --> 00:22:17.456 Because when I sell a candidate, I'm really excited about selling the candidate to the company. 00:22:17.456 --> 00:22:19.505 That's one thing for me. 00:22:19.505 --> 00:22:26.047 It's like I have to believe in the company to sell the candidate to the position, be excited about it too. 00:22:26.047 --> 00:22:37.086 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? 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:51.672 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. 00:22:51.672 --> 00:22:57.612 And oh, they have such great culture and they have this when they don't. 00:22:57.612 --> 00:23:11.905 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. 00:23:11.905 --> 00:23:15.028 Well, sometimes you get looked over, you know. 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:36.346 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. 00:23:36.365 --> 00:23:55.453 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. 00:23:55.453 --> 00:24:03.234 And then also you occupy a really unique space in the job world where you have to. 00:24:03.234 --> 00:24:11.868 The candidate is going through a life, potentially life-changing experience, and it's going to impact their budget. 00:24:11.868 --> 00:24:21.030 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. 00:24:21.030 --> 00:24:33.511 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. 00:24:33.632 --> 00:24:33.972 Yeah. 00:24:33.972 --> 00:24:39.625 Because they can't be murky sometimes, right and I do agree the whole thing with you. 00:24:39.625 --> 00:24:43.215 Know you want it to be transparent for them from the start. 00:24:43.215 --> 00:25:03.410 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. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:12.511 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. 00:25:12.511 --> 00:25:14.654 So the candidate really has to. 00:25:14.654 --> 00:25:43.631 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. 00:25:43.631 --> 00:25:46.788 And so it's a really tight line you walk. 00:25:46.788 --> 00:25:49.148 You know it's a fine line to be walked. 00:25:49.180 --> 00:26:13.192 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. 00:26:13.192 --> 00:26:22.941 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. 00:26:22.961 --> 00:26:40.865 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. 00:26:40.865 --> 00:26:49.753 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. 00:26:50.059 --> 00:27:04.851 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. 00:27:04.851 --> 00:27:06.673 That's what I do. 00:27:06.673 --> 00:27:12.287 It excites me to see the client or the candidate grow like they have. 00:27:12.287 --> 00:27:13.708 And so, yeah, I do have. 00:27:14.288 --> 00:27:25.211 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. 00:27:25.211 --> 00:27:30.662 I'm like, okay, this is position, would be a great position for you because you have these attributes that fit into the position. 00:27:30.662 --> 00:27:35.485 Because you have these attributes that fit into the position transitional skills that will work. 00:27:35.485 --> 00:27:46.614 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. 00:27:46.614 --> 00:27:50.777 I had to really say, ok, you know this would be a really good move for you. 00:27:50.777 --> 00:28:14.449 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. 00:28:14.449 --> 00:28:30.980 I got her in there and like today's date, like she's probably about 275 all in, you know, yeah, yeah. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:35.939 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. 00:28:35.939 --> 00:28:38.248 It was taking you forever to make that move. 00:28:38.248 --> 00:28:40.144 You were so good. 00:28:41.681 --> 00:28:43.347 She was stuck at the end of the diving board. 00:28:44.601 --> 00:28:47.691 You know I was patient with you, but I'm so glad that you made the move. 00:28:47.691 --> 00:28:50.189 She goes, yes, Thank you so much. 00:28:52.780 --> 00:29:08.019 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. 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:13.273 And then on the flip side, right now anyways, it's a challenging job market out there. 00:29:13.273 --> 00:29:23.934 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. 00:29:23.934 --> 00:29:28.211 So what advice would you have, not necessarily on the entrepreneur side? 00:29:28.211 --> 00:29:32.630 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. 00:29:32.630 --> 00:29:38.633 What advice would you give, um, to somebody who's who's looking for that next thing and is having a challenge? 00:29:38.820 --> 00:29:39.020 Yeah. 00:29:39.020 --> 00:29:53.799 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. 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:58.059 I don't think that it's been this competitive for a while. 00:29:58.059 --> 00:30:06.767 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. 00:30:07.408 --> 00:30:10.111 Okay, you put the new product out there. 00:30:10.111 --> 00:30:17.081 It's a great product out there, it's got great potential. 00:30:17.081 --> 00:30:19.024 But if you don't market, market that product, no one's going to know about it. 00:30:19.024 --> 00:30:25.481 Plus, it's going to be with all the other same like products that are out there. 00:30:25.481 --> 00:30:34.971 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. 00:30:34.971 --> 00:30:38.170 So you've got to go out there and you've got to brand yourself right now. 00:30:38.360 --> 00:31:02.672 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. 00:31:02.672 --> 00:31:08.240 So you've got to show them you're the best person for this position. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:09.746 And it could be several ways. 00:31:09.746 --> 00:31:13.411 It could be by posting something on LinkedIn. 00:31:13.411 --> 00:31:27.712 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. 00:31:28.381 --> 00:31:33.951 Get yourself within groups Network Right now. 00:31:39.888 --> 00:31:41.333 Finding a job is a job yeah. 00:31:47.180 --> 00:31:54.270 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. 00:31:54.270 --> 00:31:56.048 You're going to have to brand yourself. 00:31:56.048 --> 00:31:56.991 You can do. 00:31:56.991 --> 00:32:00.923 There's people out there that do it professionally for you you can do it. 00:32:00.923 --> 00:32:08.721 Um, you can now go to ai and ask how to do it right, and so so you have to get yourself out there. 00:32:08.761 --> 00:32:23.440 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. 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:40.692 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. 00:32:40.692 --> 00:32:53.490 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. 00:32:53.490 --> 00:33:03.049 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. 00:33:03.049 --> 00:33:07.809 But the power of branding to your point is far more significant. 00:33:07.860 --> 00:33:14.528 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. 00:33:14.528 --> 00:33:16.506 The second best time is right now. 00:33:16.506 --> 00:33:29.592 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. 00:33:29.592 --> 00:33:44.250 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. 00:33:44.250 --> 00:33:46.731 You have a boutique business. 00:33:46.731 --> 00:33:48.053 You don't have 5,000 people. 00:33:48.053 --> 00:34:04.807 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. 00:34:04.807 --> 00:34:07.299 If people want to reach out to you, rachel. 00:34:07.321 --> 00:34:08.121 what's the best way to do that? 00:34:08.121 --> 00:34:11.788 And it's rhayden at confidentialcareersolutionscom. 00:34:11.788 --> 00:34:12.088 Yeah. 00:34:14.152 --> 00:34:15.454 Wonderful, yeah, wonderful. 00:34:15.454 --> 00:34:20.710 Thank you, rachel, for sharing your story today and know that we are all rooting for you Thanks for having me. 00:34:23.523 --> 00:34:31.828 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. 00:34:31.828 --> 00:34:36.105 Be sure to like, follow or subscribe to the podcast to get the latest updates. 00:34:36.105 --> 00:34:42.246 To learn more about the show and connect with the growing community of entrepreneurs, visit logisticsfounderscom. 00:34:42.246 --> 00:34:47.168 And, of course, thank you to all the founders who trust us to share their stories.