Do you remember your first hire? There is so much that goes into building a company, but few things matter as much the quality of the team you assemble. Given the immense importance of team building, we wanted to create a series where we ask entrepreneurs who have been there and done that, to share their stories and lessons with the community.

Maddie Garris

Originally it was just me and my husband helping me with moving things around! I never would have dreamed of gaining a staff but I now have a 7 person team of wonderful women who work weddings for me! It is impossible to do alone so once I had children and needed someone to stay home with the kids I had to hire people on! I was originally just leaning on friends and family to work weddings with me but it became clear that I needed people who would be as passionate about the day as I was so I created a google form and sent it out on some community facebook pages! I have been figuring this whole thing out from the ground up so I had absolutely no idea how to hire people. I did some interviews and didnt feel like they were right for the positions. A few of the people on my staff I met through my other job or are friends of mine but then there are the few that were actual hires from my interviewing process. It has been so amazing to build a dedicated team who are passionate and actually really good at the event planning and coordinating business. It is really fun having a real team but it was definitely hard to navigate at first! Read more>>

Nhue Tran

At Poppin’ & Sippin’, we’re dedicated to providing exceptional mobile bar experiences for our clients, which makes hiring the right mobile bartenders a challenging but crucial task. We’re not just looking for individuals with mixology skills – we need friendly, trustworthy, and knowledgeable professionals who share our client-centric approach. We strive to deliver top-notch service, and that requires our employees to be fully invested in understanding our clients’ needs and preferences. It’s a high bar to set, but we’re committed to finding the perfect team members who will help us raise the bar (pun intended!) and make every event a memorable one. We don’t just pour drinks, we pour heart and soul into every event! That’s why our hiring process for mobile bartenders is so rigorous. We carefully handpick each team member to ensure they not only have the skills to craft amazing cocktails but also the charisma to charm our clients and their guests. We’re talking extensive interviews, mixology tests, and background checks – we leave no stone unturned! Our goal is to build a dream team that shares our passion for exceptional service, attention to detail, and making every event a memorable one. It’s a tough process, but the end result is worth it – our clients deserve only the best. Read more>>

Shelter Hodanu

Having a team is one of the most important aspects of being a creative or an artist. The collaborative nature of creativity means that we often can’t see or know it all on our own; we need others to provide insights and support. However, building a team can be quite challenging, especially in regions where the art market isn’t as vibrant as in the Western world. It can be tough to find people who genuinely want to collaborate and invest in creative projects. Read more>>

Celeste Gomez

When it comes to writing a book the writing and editing fell on me and I knew exactly how I wanted to structure my first book. Wanting to be an Author, I knew I would need to lean on community to help. From having proofreaders to having a Translation Team for the Spanish Version, to now having a Virtual Assistant to help me get my book into multiple bookstores. My Virtual Assistant has helped me contact bookstores across the U.S. and Mexico. We come together to help plan my book tour, marketing strategies, and social media growth. When I reached out to my Virtual Assistant, this would be our first time working together, and I wrote out strategies for her to do. Being very detailed in my tasks for her was very helpful! Read more>>

Annie Pereira

When I was fresh in the hair and makeup business, I was focusing on building my own brand and clientele. As I gained more experience, I had the pleasure of networking with other artists and creatives that were inspiring, talented, and enjoyable to work with. It took a couple of years for me to gain more volume, but with consistency in my work I began turning bookings away. At that time, I decided I wanted to include my network in those bookings to allow growth for my business. I’ve hand-picked each individual artist for my team from previous work experience and networking. There have been some hiccups along the way when sometimes an artist’s work doesn’t match the Amplified Beauty brand, which comes the difficult side of letting someone go their own way. At the end of the day no one would care about my business more than myself, and I have to take that into consideration when hiring other artists. Read more>>