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.

Grace Johnson-Wright.

I started my business with myself as a teacher, my best dance friend since middle school, and my mother as my business manager. We began classes and private lessons for adults in a rented studio in Landover, MD. The Adult ages 18+ had difficulties with committment to our programming and we began to get many requests to train the younger age groups. Read more>>

Lauren Colson

No, I didn’t have employees at the start, it was just me and all that client work. I hired a virtual assistant (as a contractor) almost day 1, because there were a lot of things I didn’t know how to do and didn’t like doing. I realized I needed that support pretty quickly.. I took a gamble with a woman I met virtually in VT who worked alongside me for 2 years and became one of my best friends. So grateful for her! Read more>>

Wes Gilliam

I think about this a lot, we’ve been really lucky to have such a great team with us for a while, with very little turnover. My lead sound engineer Logan has been with us about 5.5 years now, our kitchen manager has been with us about 2.5 years and was a regular patron before that. It really does make it easier for everyone when you have a great staff, and we’ve been very lucky to have a small but dedicated staff with us for several years. Read more>>

Christian Harris

When I came to Savannah, there was a small group of dedicated coaches whose sole goal was to grow the sport in the area. The region was just starting to bud and in a town where word of mouth is everything, the word of mouth was starting to spread. I got very lucky. Read more>>

Michael Killik.

For the first few years it was just me, the lone madman, doing everything! And it worked great! I got us to national pretty much by myself! But I knew I couldn’t take it any further than that, and I was getting exhausted! Being that my previous career I was a middle school teacher I had a good eye for spotting diamonds in the rough, or people that are being underutilized or underappreciated in their current jobs. Read more>>

Sean and Brandi Wagoner.

We started with just the two of us but had great support from family and close friends. We knew exactly how we wanted to do events, from the level of service and detail to set us apart from other vendors. We started with word of mouth and then quickly pulled the trigger on the knot and some Fb marketing early on. By our 3rd event we asked a long time friend and bartender to do the larger event with us. Read more>>

Rachel DeCavage.

I was a solo entrepreneur for my first three years in business. Before that I had worked at my family’s company and managed a team of eight, to eventually fourteen, people. So, when it was time to hire for my own company, I felt like a seasoned pro. It’s only now, nine years later that I realize how far I have come as a manager & employer. Read more>>

Isaac Gordon

Breakpoint Booking was born out of teamwork. The company would not be where it is today without the collective effort of everyone who has been involved. I’ve always stumbled upon like minded professionals who shared my same passion for music and business. It wasn’t until 2009, when I started my management company, that I teamed up with a few who helped me with my clients. That experience inspired me to begin an internship program which I have run for more than a decade. Read more>>

Artesia Ridgel

Being an entrepreneur within itself is trying. When Couture Cakes & Co started off, we were known as Sweet T Treats. The marketing & advertising team, delivery team, inventory team, financial team, consulting team and the actual cake artistry team were comprised of the single power house, which was none other than myself. I knew I wanted to be known for “Avant Garde” cake creations, and finding a team who not only believed in the vision, but respected and aligned with Couture Cakes & Co. culture was key. Read more>>

Adam Silverman

I came into the business of owning a digital marketing agency as a website developer, so the very first thing I did was hire a web designer to complement my skills. So, I was doing all of the business development and management, and then I had a designer to start the projects for me. I had already been working with Leah (our designer) in other situations for a while so it was a VERY easy hire to make. Read more>>