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.

Nick Cromydas

It was two of us co-founders at the start until we realized just how much there was to be done so we recruited another co-founder to join our founding team. Sure we would hire interns. We would hire contractors and part-time workers here and there, but the focus was on getting product market fit with the core team before we hired a full-time teammate. Read more>>

Gina-Marie Bethel

For a very long time it was literally just me, struggling through the late nights and back and forth with clients and it made me so drained and anxious. I was apprehensive about bringing someone aboard but in my career field I was thankful to be exposed to such witty, like minded creatives who had the same goal as me; to create awesome and dynamic works that would take us world wide. Read more>>

Jônia Queen

When I decided to start Raiz Brazil Dance Company , I started scouting Dancers in my own Samba Class , looking for Samba Dancers that had a minimum performance level to start and Dancers that had the interest in training and growing. Read more>>

Renee Hughes

When I started my practice, it was just me. About two years in, I hired my first contractor, a virtual assistant. That was an amazing experience and the best thing I could have ever done. I doubled my productivity at least. She was a great hire. She loved the business, understood it, and was energetic and smart. Read more>>