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.
Maricruz Acuna
I started in Real Estate many years ago back in Mexico. Things were very different over there at the time, as there was no formal training, exams or licensing process to complete. I was very fortunate, because my dad was in the business and I learned a lot working with him. Read more>>
Patrick Sherman
As a business over of over 25 years you must understand all aspects of the business and day to day. Initially for the first year we ran the company with minimal staffing and my wife and i worked 7 days a week and were always in the trenches. This included painting, laying down carpet and cleaning the facility daily. Read more>>
Devonn Vidal
I ran Sneakky as a one man show for the 1.5 years of the business’s existence. I had a vigorous schedule. 6am – Quality Control and Lace the sneakers cleaned the previous day 9am to 3pm – Pickup and Deliveries Read more>>
Karissa Tuttle
Our donut business started off as only a husband and wife team working our day jobs and working nights and weekends on our donut truck. Fast forward 1.5 yrs later we evolved into our first shop and truck combined. This required us to hire for the first time and we didn’t know how many to hire. Read more>>
Scoobie West
When I started Scoobie West & Company, it was just me doing hair and makeup for a ton of people on wedding day! Along the way of freelancing in the Atlanta malls, I was able to meet and work alongside so many talented hair and makeup artists. Working side by side in retail is one thing…working a wedding is a completely different story. Read more>>
Keri Ramos
At the beginning, it was just Scott and I. We worked out of our home. We had inventory coming straight from the warehouse to our garage. We did this for 18 months straight. During this time, we got married and saved everything else we earned. After a year and a half, we opened up a training facility and were ready to recruit some people! We posted on Indeed, and before we knew it, had over 1000 people apply with us. Read more>>
Morgan Taplin
When I started event decorating/planning, I was on my own. After a couple of event bookings, I thought about what I wanted to bring different to the event industry in San Antonio and how my brand would be set apart. Read more>>
Brittany Holland
When MK Cleaning Service started in 2015, I did not have any teammates (I call my employees teammates because the word employee is a controlling word and there are many ways to display leadership without control). I did not hire my first teammate until 2018. I strategically did not hire anyone because I wanted to make sure I built my brand, a great rapport, and a trusting relationship with my clients. Read more>>