Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adina Brunetti. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Adina, appreciate you joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

Being a lifelong recruiter, I finally created my dream team by launching my company at a young age. However, due to a lack of funds and a bootstrapping mindset, I discovered that I was toying with the idea that most business owners find challenging: hiring entry-level workers on a budget in the hopes that you can train them and ultimately, they will become more responsible.

But despite how cliche it may sound, time truly is money, particularly if you are an entrepreneur. You need to surround yourself with people who don’t add to your workload right away because forming a successful start-up will pressure you. Don’t surround yourself with people who promise to lighten your load later.

Money will never be easy to come by when starting a new company unless you are one of the fortunate few with ample start-up capital. Having been through the procedure myself, I do, however, strongly advise investing what you already have in your team and making your first hire a senior-level and experienced employee.

Even in its early stages, senior leadership positions elevate your business. You can rely on these members of your team for guidance and advice and immediate high-level performance with little training.

Never feel intimidated by candidates you believe to be more intelligent than you; instead, emphasize quality rather than quantity. Choose carefully and never be afraid to wait a little longer to hire the best person, even if that means reposting your job listing or holding several interviews. Senior employees who join your company early are frequently the ones who shape it the most.

It’s time to expand your junior staff once you’ve established and sorted your leadership team (even if it only consists of one or two people). When hiring for a start-up, you want people who naturally take the initiative and can dive right into any project, even if they have never done it before.

Find someone who makes you think differently, is highly motivated, and is full of positivity.

Adina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always had a craving for fantastic food and everything associated with it. For every hospitality establishment, I’ve been to, I’ve always had a new vision of how it could be beautiful, delicious, and enjoyable.

I finally got the chance for self-realization in the restaurant industry when I established AB 27 Group, and we began receiving clients from the hospitality sector. Naturally, my knowledge of marketing and business development also made it simpler for me to come up with original ideas. Ultimately, I was probably motivated more by a hobby and the enjoyment of the creative and culinary process than by business opportunities. Adina Creative Food and AJMB Hospitality businesses followed.

When I got the opportunity to work on my first ever restaurant project, which was about brand development, I didn’t wait for a single second and immediately took responsibility. It was the time when I felt the utmost joy. At AB 27 Group, we gradually began receiving more leads and clients. Restaurant owners used to recommend us. Simply through word of mouth, we were receiving calls.

Business development and branding for the hospitality industry eventually became very popular. I had to convene a group of restaurant industry professionals and launch a different project called Adina Creative Food. I published two remarkable books regarding the hospitality industry over the past two years.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I’ll be the first to admit that the way I established my reputation was natural and unintentional on my part. But after looking back at my journey, I can offer a formula: Your reputation is the sum of your actions and what people say about you. The most effective leverage you have in business—and, for that matter, in life—is this simple formula.
The advice that you shouldn’t worry about other people’s thoughts seems dubious to me. Others frequently determine your fate, whether it’s a vendor giving you a great deal, a hiring manager considering hiring you, or someone with purchasing power. One small sway from a reliable contact can either push you in or push you out.

My clients are aware that I will always put their needs first. I gained a reputation as an authority. Because clients know what to expect from me when they choose to work with me, from communication to turnaround time to finished product, consistency was also important.

Being fake won’t help you because you won’t be able to maintain consistency. Even on bad days, you must always treat everyone you meet with the same admirable traits.

Any advice for managing a team?

Certain information must occasionally be kept out of the employees’ hands. Hearing rumors in the office hallways and thinking that those who were informed are more significant than others can be demoralizing for workers. If this isn’t the case, the business should work to be open with every employee.

Having a strong sense of belonging to the organization is crucial for sustaining high employee morale. Be respectful to your coworkers. Everyone desires respect from others. This is particularly important in the workplace.

Put employee development first. Nobody wants to feel as though their career is stuck. Additionally, while employees have a significant role in their development, managers cannot afford to do nothing. Employees can advance when management is adaptable and permits interventions such as study leaves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ajmbhospitality.com/ and https://www.adinacreativefood.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adinabrunetti/