Overwhelmingly, media coverage of team building, hiring, training, etc. is often geared towards the issues faced by HR at Fortune 500 sized companies. Even when it’s positioned as advice for small business owners it is often coming from an executive or consultant working primarily with giant corporations. We think it’s far more relevant to hear from small and medium business owners who have successfully grown their businesses – and so we asked some very talented folks to tell us the stories of their initial hires and the struggles and lessons they can share.

Sheree Hartwell

When I acquired the agency from former owner, Robert Black there was a full staff and they remained with me for some time after the transfer of ownership. Matt Englehart who is the current Director of our On-Camera & Commercial Print Divisions has been with the company over 25 years. For many years in the beginning of the acquisition, I would handle all of the in-coming talent, book the talent, handle all placement in other markets – I wore ALL the hats! As the business has grown, I have been able to hire an incredible team who assists in all of these areas. Typically when I hire, I go with my gut and have been fortunate that it hasn’t lead me in the wrong direction! There is no formal education for our business, so ideally we love to hire people who have a passion for our industry and then train them from the ground up. Even though our business can be very exciting it is a job at the end of the day, so there are times that the day-to-day can become mundane. For us, it is important for candidates to have a passion for people, fashion, entertainment, beauty, etc. Read more>>

Jamie Hoelscher

Once my business was ready for operation it was time to build a team right away. It was a balancing act because I was focused on selling our program to schools and knew that the process could go really fast or really slow. I had to get some teachers hired and trained so we could start doing booking demos and teaching classes. It’s an odd way to hire when you are trying to employ someone but can’t give them any guarantees on how many hours they would be getting or even an idea on what days/times we would hold our classes. I was really asking people to take a leap of faith with me. Read more>>

Ann Hyett

Habitat Hyett is owned by both my brother and myself. Since day one, it has been us two managing everything but when we opened our retail store doors, we knew we needed authentic staff to help sell our vision. It’s hard to let go of some duties in the beginning stages of onboarding staff, but over time you understand that when you have more free time as the business owner, your able to accomplish so much more both inside and outside the business. Read more>>

Sutton Van Gunten

I’m the beginning I was in the food trailer and there were a couple of us dedicated to making the dream happen. My Sister, Bella, and my best friend, Clark, initially helped me get it going. They gave me as much time as they could afford while holding down their regular jobs. I mostly worked by myself in the first couple years except when we were invited to events or threw parties ourselves. Lots of long hours staring out the window dreaming up ways to market myself. Then when as we got more popular and found our niche I had a team of young folks who didn’t mind working late nights in the bar district. Those were fun days in Austin in the hey day of food trucks. When we moved to that area is when we finally saw traction with the business. We were one of very few healthy late night options at the time. The rag tag hipster kids we attracted were perfect for our vibe. Read more>>

Mandi Hawke

At the start, Proud Empowerment Business Solutions was just me, fueled by a vision to create a space where socially conscious businesses and marginalized entrepreneurs could thrive with empathetic and impactful storytelling. It was exhilarating—and admittedly a little intimidating—to wear all the hats: strategist, creative, admin, marketer, and cheerleader. In those early days, every project I took on felt like planting a seed, hoping it would grow into something meaningful. Read more>>

April Harrington

When I first launched my real estate firm, it was just me. Starting alone felt like diving into a deep blue ocean with no shore in sight—exhilarating but nerve-wracking. I had a vision of creating a people-first firm rooted in ethical practices authenticity and community impact, but in those early days, I wore all the hats—from marketing, recruiting, selling, listing, finances, client meetings and administrative tasks. It taught me resilience and gave me a deep understanding of every facet of the business, which I still carry with me today. Read more>>