I'm The Blog

Let’s face it: it can be discouraging to hear “no” throughout your career, especially when you want the chance to prove yourself. But that’s where resilience, hard work, grit and determination come in. When I applied for a role at a small marketing firm as a new college graduate, my eyes were set on the position of Marketing Coordinator. I was full of enthusiasm, ready to roll up my sleeves and dive into the hustle of a dynamic team when, instead of landing the marketing gig, I was hired as a front desk receptionist.

This role wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, and it felt like one of my first inevitable career “no’s” to be placed in a position I didn’t apply for, but I quickly shifted perspective because I had my foot in the door. Taking the receptionist job oriented me to my vision and sense of purpose — and truly showed me the importance of taking initiative, being a self-starter and letting my work speak for itself, all while navigating a firm’s complex dynamics from the ground up.

This early experience helped shape how I now guide CEOs back to their own personal mission and purpose when they face obstacles by staying adaptable, maintaining conviction and keeping an end goal in mind. Here are four lessons I’ve taken from turning a “no” into a “yes” along the way.

Related: What is Resilience and Why is it Vital to Your Success?

1. Think about the full journey

Navigating the corporate world requires a holistic approach — thinking about the full journey of different initiatives from inception to execution. But it also requires thinking of yourself holistically. You will not always be in your present role, but stay open to wearing many hats beyond your job description to contribute to the customer journey in different ways.

I started as a receptionist, but when the designer at that company quit, I seized the opportunity by offering to help design ads for an imminent client meeting. My graphic design minor in college and designing side hustle equipped me to handle it. Soon, I did everything: From answering phones, making coffee, and setting up conference rooms to pitching design ideas to CEOs of successful corporations and executing those designs. I was a receptionist fresh out of college creating million-dollar ads — all because I kept an open mind. Research and staying alert to new opportunities should always be folded into the larger journey.

Related: 5 Ways to Get Ahead of Your Competition by Making a Lasting Impression on Your Clients

2. Experiment and package your ideas well

Fast forward to today, and I am now the head of my own marketing team. The journey has moved on from navigating “no’s” to putting in the hard work and demonstrated performance to guarantee the “yes.” A byproduct of getting to this point includes experimenting — which is not just something to do when you have extra time or budget to burn. It is crucial to prove what ideas work best and stay ahead of the competition. Even if an experiment doesn’t go as planned, it can be used to adapt your approach.

For instance, despite extensive research and strategic planning behind your proposals, sometimes the initial packaging doesn’t reflect the depth of your work. A surface-level judgment can make or break an idea before proving its worth. This is where the “eye test” comes in, asking you to marry statistics with intuitions and observations. With the right delivery, you give your best strategies the platform they deserve and prove your expertise in doing so.

3. Listen, learn and adapt

If you do receive an initial “no,'” stay humble, but don’t let it defeat you. Even the most well-researched person in the room still has things they don’t know. Make it a habit to listen to the experts around you and absorb knowledge from those with more experience in certain areas than you. Collaborating with other teams takes you out of your department bubble and allows you to understand the bigger picture better.

Every interaction is an opportunity to learn and strengthen your case. When proposals are still in the theory stage, take your testing and your research and go out there to get small pieces of buy-in. By building relationships with those with different expertise, you are circulating your ideas and gaining crucial information about how to refine them. Then, by the time you get to pitch, you will already have people on your side.

4. Figure out how to get the “yes”

New initiatives won’t succeed unless they are aligned with a company’s overarching vision, so everyone can see how they contribute to achieving organizational goals. Often after a “no,” I’ll dig deeper. Instead of taking it as a sign of the team’s failure, I ask: “What do we need to do, show or prove to hear ‘yes’?” This is when knowing how to listen becomes so important.

Incorporating initial testing feedback into your proposals strengthens the argument for each idea and provides tangible proof of their efficacy through experiments and customer insights. This ensures that each proposal is well-supported and clearly tied to the company’s strategic direction.

Dive into the data and put yourself in the shoes of the relevant target market. Do whatever it takes to prove why you deserve a “yes” based on your research, knowledge and expertise. It’ll take a bit more footwork and perhaps even a reimagining of your approach, but if it helps you get past that “no,” it will solidify your credibility and experience track record.

Related: 4 Steps to Help You Turn a ‘No’ Into a ‘Yes’

Shift your mindset

In the unpredictable journey of building a career, facing rejection can feel like hitting a wall. But here’s the truth: those “no’s” aren’t roadblocks; they are detours pointing us toward new opportunities. So, don’t let something crush your spirit when it doesn’t go as planned. Embrace it. Learn from it. Those setbacks can be stepping stones to something better if you change your mindset. It’s about resilience — using those “no’s” as fuel to keep pushing forward, stronger and smarter.

It’s no secret that every successful company needs a solid, identifiable corporate culture. Statistics show that 88% of job seekers believe a healthy work culture is essential for success, and the younger generations now prioritize “culture fit” above all else when job hunting. Unsurprisingly, a strong corporate culture that keeps employees engaged directly translates to as much as a 202% performance increase.

With such compelling data, it’s shocking how often startups fail in this regard. As a successful CEO and cofounder, here are four common mistakes I’ve seen and how to avoid them in your startup journey.

Related: Lack of Trust — What Does It Do to Your Company?

1. Not knowing when to transition from the “tribe” stage and into more structured processes

My company, Flowwow, is currently in that awkward “preteen” phase where we’re no longer a startup “tribe” but not yet a large corporation. This creates tension because those who have been around since the beginning often romanticize “the good old days” and resist implementing more structured processes.

Because this is often a challenging phase for brands, many cling to the “startup family” model of everyone doing everything for too long. This can hurt morale, motivation and long-term growth and heighten the risk of a brand stalling out at a critical stage. We tried to avoid this mistake by ensuring our overall mission was tightly aligned with the values shared by every person we hire.

We ensure everyone feels supported and heard, confirming that everyone understands our flexible and adaptable processes. We also help place each person into a team that best suits their skills and personality so they feel useful, fulfilled and engaged. Remember that the data shows 85% of employees feel disengaged, yet 69% say all they need to feel happier and engaged is acknowledgment and recognition.

2. Not allowing your culture to evolve with the brand

Some camps believe brands should stay consistent over time, but we think that evolution according to the market and trends is far better for overall longevity.

Remember: as your brand grows and matures, so should your corporate culture. As a founder, it’s your job to shift internal and external perceptions about your brand during these transitional times. Your core values should remain the same, but how you act on them makes the difference.

For instance, when Flowwow shifted from a flower service to a gifting marketplace model, the founder’s job was to not only reframe public messaging but ensure we were highlighting the things most important to us as a brand: openness, transparency and quality.

By making this our focus, we didn’t need to do anything specific to steer our culture; it naturally evolved from authentically shared values. These principles have remained steady over time, but our “value-driven” actions are more tangible: We provide resources like language learning, mental health assistance and medical insurance to show the team that our values are more than words.

Related: How to Lead With Transparency In Times of Uncertainty

3. Neglecting to establish top-down communication

I’ve heard of many startups that have failed or floundered because the founding team felt they needed to hide hardships or only tell employees what they felt was “necessary.” Often, this is done with good intentions. They mistakenly think it will demotivate or alarm employees to hear about a crisis or difficult road ahead. Don’t fall into this trap! You hired these people because you trust and believe in them, so prove it by being transparent and allowing them to support you and each other.

When management offers open communication lines, employees feel empowered to take responsibility, bring fresh ideas and make decisions in the brand’s best interests. HBR notes that good communication from senior leadership is a top driver for employee engagement.

4. Forgetting that the founder is the heart and soul of the brand

Founders often fall into the trap of playing Superman (or woman): They feel like they need to be involved in everything all the time, usually at the expense of their well-being. Initially, this might be necessary, but a founder’s top goal should be to find and cultivate a core team that can be trusted to take over most of the daily tasks.

A strong, compelling corporate culture needs an axis on which to turn, and that axis should be the founder. Instill your values into every person you hire, and then let all the things that made you want to hire them shine through. Use your influence and passion to improve, amplify and direct the company. By acting as your team’s safe, trusted harbor, you allow your corporate culture to blossom organically, resonating with both employees and customers.

It’s vital to avoid letting yourself burn out. You are an example for everyone, so it’s your job to pay attention to your mental well-being and continually work on understanding and managing your emotional impulses. Acknowledge your limits, act within them and let your team see that you’re human. This sets the foundation for a healthy, honest atmosphere.

Related: How Being Transparent Helps Scale Your Company

The future of work is now, so don’t let your culture lag behind

Corporate culture is essential to present and future organizational health and longevity. Watch factors like absenteeism, participation and even body language to get a complete picture of whether your brand’s atmosphere needs work. Remember, a healthy organization balances stability and growth, and lasting improvements must always be top-down.

I’m in the public relations space, and as of last count, there are more than 48,000 other PR firms in the United States. A large fraction of these compete with my agency in the five hub cities where I operate. Yet mine consistently ranks among the highest in those cities — Nashville, for example.

Is it because I know my industry better than my competitors? Because I land more placements for my clients? Because my team is more talented or my network of connections more expansive? As much as I’d like to think that I’m running with the front of the pack based solely on the quality of my services and the effectiveness of my methodologies, it’s far more likely that I earn rave reviews and generate referrals from my clients due to two words: personalized attention.

More specifically, my team and I go well above and beyond to create an exceptional customer experience at my firm because I’ve learned over the years of running my own business that it’s the client’s impression of you that matters most — that’s what informs all other aspects of customer relations, drives all other client decisions and determines if they’ll stay with you or not (even more so than short-term results).

Even in the digital age we all inhabit, with so many automated tasks and productivity tools that populate our workplaces, personalizing the professional is a surefire means to client retention and satisfaction. Here are five practices I regularly follow to make the most positive impression on my clients I possibly can.

1. Get a copy of your client’s org chart

When you understand the structure of your client’s business, you understand who does what, who reports to whom, and, in turn, you know who to go to for what. Not only is this an immense time-saver — as in not filling people’s inboxes unnecessarily with work that doesn’t pertain to them — but your clients will also appreciate that you did your homework on their staffing.

It’s so much more impressive to send a note that says, “Would your team like to see this before we send it up to Jeremy?” or “I believe Bettina has the final sign-off here” than “Are you the right person to contact about this?” And note the use of actual names here — learning the first names of everyone you’ll be working with moves you into first place faster than you’d think!

Related: 4 Ways to Make the Best First Impression With Your Customers

2. Use proper grammar and punctuation

Make sure that all your communications to your client — and, far more importantly, all the communications you prepare on their behalf — are written properly. Yes, it takes some extra work to eliminate errors. Still, it’s absolutely worth the effort when you consider how much just one typo can mar an entire project (ever seen “pubic” instead of “public”?) and how poorly faulty grammar can reflect on quality output, education level and attracting the intended audience.

Though it may be true that language standards are slipping in America, that doesn’t mean nobody’s noticing the shoddy quality of copy. Some people still notice and care. If your client is one of them, you’ll earn bonus points by knowing the difference between “compliment” and “complement” by not allowing both “San Antonio Riverwalk” and “San Antonio River Walk” in the same publication. Use your grammar checker. Always do a spell-check. Re-read everything you produce. And if you don’t have a language maven on staff to serve as your in-house proofreader, hire an affordable freelancer who can provide quick turnaround times.

3. Choose video over audio

Whenever possible, schedule video calls and videoconference meetings over phone calls and phone meetings. The day and age of in-person meetings is quickly becoming obsolete. Still, there will never be a replacement for face-to-face interaction, eye contact, observing facial expressions and showing your client with every head nod and eyebrow raise that you’re following what they’re saying and closely attending to your conversation.

During the pandemic, cultivating one-on-one relationships over Zoom and Teams became the new norm, and most people are entirely fine leaving it that way! Interacting over a screen instead of a conference table is just more convenient, time-effective and environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, we can’t afford to lose the “one-on-one interaction” part of business relationships. Remember the old Bell advertising slogan? Well, video is the modern-day equivalent of “the next best thing to being there,” so leverage your camera as often as possible to “see” your clients, not just talk to them.

4. Mark your calendar!

Notate birthdays, business anniversaries, baby due dates. Keep a record of your client’s big meetings and conference attendance. On those days, send a person-to-person text or email. And the more specific, the better, such as “Hope your coffee product presentation in Jersey went well and the traffic wasn’t too bad on the Parkway!” Or “Congrats on baby Elliot. That was my grandfather’s name, and I hope it serves your brand-new son as well as it did him.”

By incorporating the personal into the professional, which is a pillar of my own approach at my company, clients value your role more because you’ve actively endeavored to become part of their lives, not just an appendage of their business. In other words, when you add personal touches to your communications and conversations, your clients can’t help but think of you on a more human level rather than just a professional contact with whom they can easily cut ties.

Related: 6 Strategies for Making a Good First Impression During Business Meetings

5. Observe the line between personal and professional, but use both — often

On a related but separate note: As much as I’m saying to weave personal connections into your daily dealings with your clients, you never, ever want to go too far. You can use humor, but not off-color humor. You can show vulnerability, but you don’t want to appear weak or indecisive. You can ask questions and admit what you don’t know, but be strategic (not lazy) about trying to resolve issues yourself before coming to your clients with them. And be yourself, absolutely always be genuinely yourself, but don’t expose so much that you cross the line into overintimacy or inappropriate divulgence.

By speckling your client interactions with individual touches as you simultaneously maintain proper decorum, you will put a personal face on your business name. And that name will leave more of a mark on your customers precisely because of your adept balancing act between the personal and the professional.

Part of making a meaningful impression on your clients is consciously putting your best face forward every day, in every way. Don’t let them see a messy office behind you on Zoom, but let them vent about their kid’s tonsillitis for 10 minutes if needed. Don’t bad-mouth other clients or finger-point when things go wrong, but get to know them well enough that you’d love to grab a drink next time you’re in town.

Take every opportunity you can to show your clients — and then remind them often — that “business as usual” to you means being prepared (as in learning an org chart), producing quality output (that’s been proofed), scheduling face-to-face encounters, observing special occasions in their lives and sharing your authentic self, who happens to be a multifaceted, wonderful human being with flaws who’s also an utter professional and a real pro at what you do!

Businesses and business leaders can benefit from ongoing education. It can help inform you on trends in new markets and tools to access old ones that have been previously out of your reach. From brushing up on the latest digital marketing best practices to learning a new language, there are many ways you can set yourself up for improved business in the future.

To help aid in your ongoing growth as an entrepreneur and learner, you can get the Unlimited Lifetime Learning Subscription Bundle featuring Rosetta Stone for $179.99 (reg. $849) using coupon code: ROSETTA through May 12th only.

The lifetime subscription to Rosetta Stone included in this deal allows you to study all of the 25 different languages on the platform, which has been used for nearly three decades by TripAdvisor, NASA, and additional respected organizations. It uses speech recognition technology and lessons that mimic how we learn our native languages to help optimize the learning process.

This discounted bundle also features lifetime access to StackSkills Unlimited Online Courses, which features a rotating selection of e-learning experiences focused on a wide range of universally applicable subjects. Get access to over 1,000 online courses on IT, business, marketing, and a lot more with this highly rated subscription.

As a whole, this bundle is rated an average of 4.8/5 stars by verified purchasers in the Entrepreneur Store. Business leaders who understand the value of ongoing education will appreciate this opportunity.

Remember that you can get the Unlimited Lifetime Learning Subscription Bundle featuring Rosetta Stone and StackSkills Unlimited for $179.99 (reg. $849) using coupon code: ROSETTA when you order through May 12th.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Navigating today’s labor market is a high-stakes game for small businesses as they compete to attract top talent. The U.S. Chamber reports that while there are 9.5 million job openings in the U.S. this year, there are only 6.5 million workers to fill them. With small businesses employing over one-third of all U.S. workers, a labor shortage can amplify the pressure to find and retain employees. But as small businesses look at their workforce, it’s not just about filling roles; it’s about meeting the needs of both new and current employees to build an enduring team committed to helping the business grow.

Here are a few strategies for small businesses to consider as they build and strengthen their teams.

Related: 4 Ways the Labor Market Is Changing Right Now

Create a hiring plan that looks a year ahead

For small businesses where time and resources are often limited, it’s crucial to be a few steps ahead when hiring new talent. Waiting until there’s an immediate hiring need can lead to a scramble and ultimately constrain revenue growth. To avoid this, map out your anticipated hiring needs for the next year.

When building a hiring plan, make sure to account for seasonality or peak periods of your business experiences, any expected attrition, anticipated growth in your business and desired efficiencies you’re hoping to achieve. This will help ensure you’ve created a resourcing plan that will better support you in effectively running and growing your business, and can give you a runway of two to three months lead time to have additional hires in place when they’re needed most.

Go beyond hard skills when hiring

In the hunt for the perfect candidate, getting caught up in the checklist of hard skills can be easy, but looking for an exact match of qualifications on paper can limit the talent pool. Soft skills like teamwork, active listening and reliability are often the components of what turn employees into partners in your business’s success. They not only determine if your team can thrive, but will also be reflected in how your customers experience your company. During the interview process, use behavioral questions to understand how candidates think and work through complex situations. You’ll find that those skills and experience will translate well to helping you with complexities your business may face.

Approach onboarding like your future depends on it

Onboarding is your chance to establish strong expectations for how you want employees to contribute to and represent your business going forward. Make it count. Set the bar high. These newest employees are your change agents in helping you achieve your dreams for your company. It should also provide a comprehensive roadmap that delivers both company and personal expectations to set everyone up for success. Providing clarity on what’s required of employees and expectations for how they deliver for your team will help your employees understand what you care about, how much you care about them and encourage them to reciprocate with the extra effort you and your business deserve.

Evolve from a paycheck to total rewards

For many employees, money isn’t the sole driver when choosing an employer. While salary increases and other monetary benefits go a long way, these aspects of compensation aren’t the be-all and end-all of employee satisfaction. Gerald Hamel, a QuickBooks customer and treasurer of Make a Chess Move, recognized the importance of this amid the “Great Resignation” and decided to start offering employees more than a paycheck and provide them with a package of benefits that really fit their needs. After all, workers who receive some benefits aren’t likely to leave their current employer for another (only 18% plan to do so). Consider offering other benefits such as comprehensive medical insurance plans, PTO and retirement accounts to attract new employees and increase retention.

Perks that span beyond traditional benefits can also serve as a strong incentive for employee retention. For example, 48% of employees say that flexible work hours are one of the top three aspects they value the most. Consider offering a work structure that can support employees’ work-life balance through hybrid or remote work. These are often important among employees and can help small businesses stand out in today’s competitive workforce environment.

Related: 2024 Could Be the Year that Makes or Breaks a Lot of Small Businesses, According to a New Report

Quantify the pulse of your employees

As a business grows its workforce, performance data becomes crucial to understanding how the team is performing, how engaged team members are and opportunities for improvement. Go beyond asking employees for their feedback. Conducting a formal, anonymous survey will help you quantify and track progress against established employee priorities including their desire to stay, their commitment to being customer-focused every day and their assessment of company operations or career development resources.

Tracking these dimensions over time will help you assess if your efforts to support and grow your employees are paying off. Set joint goals for these scores with your employees and ask them to be involved with developing and implementing improvements that can drive scores up. You’ll find employee commitment is likely to go up when they have an opportunity to inform action plans, realize the benefits and collectively celebrate score improvement.

What makes small businesses stand out in their communities isn’t only their product or service, but the people behind the business. In today’s job market, it takes more than a classified ad to find the right people to help run a business. By embracing thoughtful hiring tactics, nurturing a culture of growth and valuing employee feedback, small businesses can hire and retain employees who are just as invested in the business’s success.

At 28, I found myself married and expecting a baby while also founding and CEO of a quickly growing early-stage tech company. To say my situation raised a few eyebrows (and was met with a significant amount of skepticism) would be an understatement.

Day in and day out, I was being told things that simply didn’t make sense: “You’re too young to be a CEO,” “You’re too young to have a baby…” then suddenly, with the flip of a switch, one day the advice you receive changes to “you’re too old to have a family,” “you were selfish to wait.” For some reason, we have decided parenthood and entrepreneurship do not go hand in hand – not for women, anyway.

I’m certainly not the first person (and won’t be the last) to be presented with the choice between pursuing your biggest professional goals and your ultimate lifelong dream of becoming a mother. So here’s the thing: two years later, I can say this: both things are possible.

I want to take a step back and fully recognize how fortunate I was to have certain resources and support that not everyone does to help me through. Only 51% of women take five or more weeks off for maternity leave; worse, 62% of lower-income women do not take any maternity leave. A truly unacceptable outcome. We must be better.

Ahead of sitting down to write out my experience, I spoke with countless parents who covered a wide range of experiences. Ultimately, these were the takeaways: 1) there was a consensus that taking off more time would result in some penalty at work, 2) they felt like taking time off hurt their chances of a promotion and 3) some parents I spoke to couldn’t take time at all due to financial circumstances.

For people who feel they are in a similar position to me know that even though it will be difficult, you can and will get through it. And maybe, by using the platform I have been given, the conversation can get louder, and maybe it won’t be quite so difficult for those who follow. Maybe we’ll even become just a little more accommodating.

So, let’s talk about the reality of pregnancy and entrepreneurship — the parts nobody likes discussing.

I was told more times than I can count that investors wouldn’t want to back a pregnant CEO, that pregnancy was a deterrent for VC funding, that parenthood was the reason investors feared female-led companies, and that taking maternity leave would signal a lack of commitment to the company.

The advice was given: do not tell them you’re expecting, and take no meetings in person. Regardless, we forged ahead amidst the chaos of impending parenthood and business growth. We began discussions with potential investors when I was about seven months pregnant, and we officially closed our Series A just days after I gave birth. Yes, you read that right — texting investors while in labor is not for the faint of heart.

Related: Why Women’s Entrepreneurship is Booming Right Now

The days and weeks following, the struggles of diaper changes, navigating breastfeeding, and, as if that wasn’t enough, a broken tailbone from childbirth, all while running a company—these are the untold stories that leave women feeling isolated and unsupported. It’s time to dismantle the stigma and normalize conversations around the challenges of pregnancy and motherhood in the workplace.

As for my path, I didn’t take maternity leave until my baby girl was about 12 months old — I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to do so. But by then, I was exhausted and didn’t feel like I was doing either role particularly well. Ultimately, my three-month maternity leave was the best decision for me, my family and my business.

Not everyone is in the same position as me or will be as fortunate as me to take the delayed leave I did, but for those who may be struggling with work-life balance or the challenges of being a new parent, here’s what I’ve learned.

To those who think they don’t need the time off, or that their careers can’t afford the pause, let me be clear: that perspective needs a shift. You are not just entitled to this time; you need it. And it’s not merely about physical recovery — it’s about mental and emotional health, bonding with your child and adjusting to the monumental task of parenting. This isn’t just for birth mothers. Mothers, fathers, adoptive parents, all of us need this time. Why?

1. Your child is paramount. Forget work for a moment. Bonding with your child is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that nothing, absolutely nothing, should overshadow.
2. Parenting is the world’s toughest job. No corporate challenge compares to the early days of parenthood. Taking time helps you adjust to this new life phase, something I wish I had more of before diving back into work.

Related: How to Balance Entrepreneurship and Parenthood Without Losing Your Cool

And a few tips I have for those navigating this journey:

• It’s OK to put yourself first. One of the best pieces of advice I can give: it’s ok to be ‘selfish’. This is the one time you can say no, ask for help and set boundaries — for all intents and purposes, the world should feel like it’s revolving around you.
• Don’t be afraid to communicate openly with your team and clients. It’s easy to be scared and to be honest about what you’re going through. My advice: Be open and honest, and more often than not, you’ll be surprised by the support you get.
• Plan and delegate. Before your leave, set clear expectations and delegate responsibilities. Empower your team so the business can run smoothly in your absence, minimizing stress for everyone involved.

It’s time to break the silence surrounding parenthood and entrepreneurship. Let’s embrace the complexities of our lives, challenge societal norms and pave the way for a more inclusive and supportive future.

Hiring talent with entrepreneurial minds helps foster the same culture of innovation that brings a company from idea to fruition. As an HR leader who seeks to employ true self-starters — those who take the initiative and are eager to see the impact of what they’re building — I have witnessed these traits contribute to the successful scaling of their companies.

Candidates identify with this work culture. Let’s face it: nobody wants to feel like a small fish in a big pond where nothing they say or do matters. Part of the allure of working for a company still in its growing stages is that you can truly impact shaping its trajectory. This environment encourages opportunity beyond a job description – for both the employee and the company, allowing the entrepreneurial spirit to spread throughout the organization.

New and growing organizations must understand that scaling in size requires a different skill set than the early stages of founding a company from the ground up. There are four keys to success when taking a company to the next level.

Related: 3 Strategies to Optimize Your Hiring Process and Find the Best Employees

1. Let go of control

Filling positions at the next vertical level often requires external hires. How do we blend the historical knowledge inside the company with the experience we are bringing in from the outside? The answer lies in partnerships that leverage the entrepreneurial mindset people bring to the job — the initiative to challenge orthodoxies, test, and experiment. Then, give them room to succeed. Not understanding a new methodology at first isn’t wrong.

My advice to new leaders is to hire up. We want individuals who are smarter than us so they can tell us how to improve functionalities like finances and sales. Tap into the expertise they developed elsewhere. Instilling entrepreneurial thinking in our employees allows every role to add more value than we could have predicted.

2. Get SMART about strategy

Entrepreneurs need a strategic plan to be successful, but I have seen a lot of businesses that don’t really know what they want. Success can come quickly, but so can failure. As an entrepreneur growing your company and hiring for new positions, your job is to set the “North Star” — the clear expectation of where you want to go and how to hire the right people to get there. That involves planning goals for the next five years and giving the people you hired the freedom to establish the goals for each of their departments with that North Star in mind.

One way to set a strategic hiring plan is to use the SMART technique: Is it specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-oriented? If a company hired 100 people last year and wanted to hire 200 to account for expansion this year, this objective would tick many of those boxes. Leaders in hiring positions must work backward from their business objectives to ensure they are onboarding the right people who can help the company achieve and execute that strategic plan.

Related: SMART Goals May Be Holding You Back — Try This Effective Goal-Setting Technique Instead

3. Listen more

Beyond just the HR team, managers and other leaders need to agree to honestly hear employees’ ideas and concerns. Turning a vision into reality is arduous, involving honest conversations with stakeholders and learning to look through different lenses. Those of us in leadership positions need to ask ourselves: Do I always shoot down people’s ideas? Can I take constructive criticism?

If not, many training programs are available to develop active listening skills. Additionally, entrepreneurs need to collaborate with other entrepreneurs. So, find resource groups where entrepreneurs can share what worked for them or when they had to pivot. Finally, make yourself as accessible as possible. Personally, I really enjoy it when people come into my office and leave laughing because I know they feel safe enough to speak their minds.

4. Blend creativity with data

In the era of AI, creativity alone isn’t enough. Leveraging data to show why your hiring and employee initiatives are both strategic and financially responsible is critical to the success of your scaling efforts. At the same time, it’s easy to get so stuck in the data that it makes you risk-averse, so use data to strengthen and validate your creative ideas, not stifle them.

Data is as much about identifying where you might need to pivot as it is breaking down why a creative attempt might go wrong. Analyzing data like employee churn, tenure, productivity, etc. Ensuring your hiring practices are optimal for fostering the right company culture needed to scale and thrive is crucial. Where the numbers could be improved, use this as a lesson or guidance for the future. If your employee turnover is not where you want it to be, figure out why, take the steps needed to correct it, and move forward. Do not use words like “failure.” Ultimately, the art of analytics is blending creativity with decision-making in partnership with those who will be the heart of your success.

Related: ‘The Employment Situation’ Report for April Shows Employers Are Taking Hiring Down a Notch, Employee Wage Growth Slowing

To grow, hire freethinkers

I have seen the difference between scaling companies that manage the challenges of growth and those that waste the opportunity in their willingness to truly listen to their employees and embrace change. Leaders have to get comfortable with teams being part of their growth. Steve Jobs came up with the idea for the iPhone, but he was only as awesome as the people behind him.

Perhaps now more than ever, an increasing number of workers are seeking an environment where they truly feel a sense of personal value. Don’t be scared of the unknown; stay open to the craziest of ideas. This shift in mindset is essential for fostering innovation, driving growth, and staying ahead of the curve. With this in mind, hiring the right people will keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive throughout the growing organization.

My parents were born in 1947. For 35 years, they drove to the same exact buildings and worked the same exact jobs. My mother was a high-school math teacher and my father was an investment advisor. They didn’t demand much, and their story isn’t uncommon. They were part of an entire generation that valued job stability and loyalty — but those values are a thing of the past. Today’s workforce is largely comprised of millennials (ages 28 to 43). As the last of the boomers retire and Generation X ages, it’s imperative that we prepare millennials to take over the leadership responsibilities of organizations.

This requires us to think differently. Millennials want vastly different things than their predecessors did, and what’s more, they’re glad to change jobs to find them. A recent Gallup study reported the following statistics: Millennials are the generation most likely to switch jobs; 60% of millennials are currently open to new job opportunities; and millennials are the least engaged generation in the workplace. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the average millennial held 8.6 jobs between the ages of 18 and 34. What’s more, research demonstrates that younger generations are no longer interested in taking leadership roles. In the next decade or two, there could be a shortage of emerging leaders wanting to take on leadership responsibilities for what’s viewed as minimal payoff.

If successful organizations want to stay successful, they must work to understand what millennials really want and create attractive leadership opportunities that align with those things — otherwise, a leadership shortage could happen in the coming years. Here are a few ways they can do it.

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features mother and daughter Elisabeth and Gina Galvin, the duo behind artisanal snacking company Stellar Snacks. Elisabeth Galvin is also the founder of snack brand Delyse, which began as a side hustle in an old CVS before growing into a leading supplier of gourmet snack products. Today, Delyse services national airlines, including American Airlines and JetBlue, and Stellar Snacks is in various grocers across the country and online retailers and provides in-flight snacks for Alaska Airlines.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Stellar Snacks. Gina Galvin, left; Elisabeth Galvin, right.}

What did your professional day-to-day look like when you founded Delyse as a side hustle?
In the 90s, I moved to the U.S. from the South of France, chasing a dream of becoming an entrepreneur in America. I spoke virtually no English at the time, so I enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Nevada, Reno, to learn. I was taking 20 credits and had a jam-packed schedule with courses ranging from English as a second language to communications and advanced mathematics. My days were filled with classes and studies. By night, I found solace in the kitchen, where I cooked with the nostalgic flavors of home — which always brought me immeasurable happiness.

When did you start Delyse, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
One of my favorite snacks to make from scratch was French pralines, using my family’s recipe. These are roasted and candy-coated peanuts that we commonly enjoy by the beach in the South of France (called chaud chaud pralines). They were my favorite, and I couldn’t find anything like them here in the U.S. I perfected the recipe at home and loved to share this delicacy with my American friends — who were wowed by the flavor. One day, I was invited to a Fourth of July party and wanted to bring something unique — so, of course, I brought those nuts. That was the day that a spark ignited. My snacks were a huge hit at the party and caught the attention of two attendees in particular who happened to be the CEO of Reno Air and his wife, a famous food stylist. They asked me if I could make my pralines for Reno Air and become their signature snack! They asked me, “Can you do it?” My response was, “How long do I have?” to which he answered, “Can you do it in three months?” At that moment, I set my mind to it and told him, “Absolutely. I’ll make it happen.”

What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
I knew that to succeed with this opportunity, I had to scale. I ordered three authentic copper kettles from Italy to perfect my craft. They were too large for my kitchen, so I started to roast in my garage while I looked for a bigger place. I secured permits, obtained a business license and established my company “Delyse Inc” (a play on the word delicious in French). I was still a full-time student at UNR, so I started by selling the pralines on campus and at games. My English was still in its early stages, so I lovingly named the line of snacks “Thoz Nuts” (just the way I pronounced it with my accent) and created the brand and packaging. Thoz Nuts gained traction, becoming a favorite at local gourmet and specialty stores and selling out at my booth at sporting events. I established that there was a demand, and now it was time to grow my production capacity. I found a location that was previously a CVS store, and I made a deal with the landlord (who became a beloved mentor). He said, “Rent is $700 per month; you can start paying me when you make money.” I vividly remember proudly paying on my very first month. It was the first check I wrote from my Delyse checkbook!

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle, and how did you navigate them?
Besides the challenge of balancing my course load with my startup, my main business-related challenges were establishing credit with vendors and suppliers and getting equipment financing. I opened a bank account with a credit card that had a $500 credit limit. This allowed me to get started pre-paying my vendors. Once I earned their trust and proved that I was performing, I was able to establish net 30 credit terms, which is ultimately what you need to scale a business. Starting from scratch, it can often take three years to establish credit, and I was very lucky to do so in three months. Another challenge was finding employees. In my communications class, I had a lot of classmates from the baseball team, and I convinced them to come to work with me because it was a good workout — roasting is a lot of work and a very hot environment. Then I hired my first full-time employee, who still works with me 30 years later.

How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
It took two months to start earning revenue once I got all the equipment installed and running. I was selling Thoz Nuts for $1 a bag and selling 1,000 bags per game. Every single football game sold out. In the third month, Reno Air came through on its promise and brought Thoz Nuts on board. I started by making 20,000 bags per week at $0.50 per unit. In the first year of business in 1992, Delyse made about $800,000. Reno Air was in full expansion, adding new destinations, and I was growing with it, especially during the early popularization of Silicon Valley and new flight routes to the Bay Area. In 1995, I had a new idea to sell advertising space directly on my bags in order to offer them as a free snack to airlines and win new business. This made waves in the travel industry and brought in airline clients like United, American Airlines, American Eagle, Northwest Airlines, Skywest and many on-premise venues at the airports. I worked with famous brands that loved the concept of reaching a high-end traveler demographic and creating a captive audience for the ads. Some of these notable brands were American Express, Motorola, Ty Warner, AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, General Motors, Newsweek, Book of the Month and AT&T. This evolution brought Delyse to the next level, earning about $3 million per year. That proved our ability to perform on time and at a large scale and truly put my company on the map.

What does growth and revenue look like now?
While we stopped [offering] Thoz Nuts on airlines due to the rise of severe peanut allergies, Delyse continued to grow and serve commercial aviation partners with other snack packs, trail mixes and, most notably, pretzels. Then in 2018, my main vendor shut down its plant in California, leaving a complete void for pretzel manufacturers on the West Coast. It was a crisis for Delyse and many other companies. I decided I was going to take my destiny into my own hands and open a pretzel bakery. Like that, Stellar Snacks was born — a second company I co-founded with my daughter Gina, who was in college at the time. She was pursuing a double major in marketing and women’s studies while also helping me with brand design as her side hustle after classes and her internship. Within five months, our bakery was operational, and Delyse started offering our bespoke Stellar Snacks pretzels to United Airlines, then Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue. Our in-store distribution of Stellar Snacks also grew from local stores to the West Coast, then national accounts.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Stellar Snacks}

What does growth and revenue look like now?
Delyse Inc. and Stellar Snacks both continue to thrive. Our pretzels are served to hundreds of millions of passengers per year, carried in thousands of grocery retailers coast to coast and loved by a loyal fanbase. Our revenue has surpassed the eight-figure mark, a testament to our commitment to quality and innovation.

What do you enjoy most about working as a mother-daughter team?
Gina and I share an unparalleled bond of trust and unwavering support, fostering a collaborative environment where ideas flourish, and challenges are conquered together.

What’s your advice for others hoping to start successful side hustles or full-time businesses of their own?
Create a strong business plan, and make sure you secure your first customer before taking the plunge to cover your overhead. Entrepreneurs are risk-takers, and it’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out because clarity comes as you go. Learn from people you trust, surround yourself with dedicated team members who understand “startup mode,” study your industry, acquire valuable data and nurture genuine partnerships with your vendors, banks and customers by being honest, transparent and sharing your vision to sow the seeds of success. It truly takes a village, and the people who know your story will want to support and see your growth. While the journey will have its challenges, the fulfillment derived from pursuing your passion is immeasurable. Believe in yourself and your mission.

Gambling.com Group founder and CEO Charles Gillespie started his entrepreneurial journey in the most fitting way possible. With a big bet. Eighteen years later, Gillespie describes his decision as “almost beautifully stupid,” but it’s hard to deny that his gamble paid off.

Gambling.com Group is the world’s leading online gambling affiliate network, with a portfolio of over 50 media sites offering gambling-related content and instant connection to online casinos. Gillespie likens his business model to hotels.com in that both services connect customers to the best local options to fit their needs, whether that means a bed or a baccarat table. “We get paid by the online gambling companies for referring new customers to them,” Gillespie explains.

At its core, Gambling.com Group is a performance marketing company. It aims to drive what Gillespie calls “high-value traffic” to its clients. In the online gambling industry, high-value traffic means more than just bringing in high rollers; it also depends on customers looking to wager immediately.

Related: ‘Every Billionaire Wants a Casino.’ Jay-Z Is Trying to Open a Caesars Palace in the Heart of Times Square.

“It’s all about high intent,” Gillespie says. “People searching things like best sports book promos, best online sportsbooks, things that really show intent for that user to understand not only what options are out there, but which one is best for their circumstances.”

Before becoming a major proprietor in online gambling, Gillespie was a major player. Growing up in North Carolina, the self-described “geek” spent his youth building websites and eventually stumbled across some people with a penchant for online poker. Over time, Gillespie and his friends got pretty good at the game; at one point, poker became his primary source of income for a few years.

After starting his first online gambling affiliate site in 2003, Gillespie decided to push all his chips into the industry. He began working on his company in 2006, out of his Ruffin Hall dorm room at UNC a la Mark Zuckerberg, writing lines of code between classes. Unfortunately for him, the US government was less keen on the concept of legalized online gambling. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in late 2006, which Gillespie blames for killing early chances of a homegrown online gambling industry in the States.

Related: ‘It Never Crossed My Mind That I Would Fail’: Chris Bevilacqua on the Launch of Simplebet

Despite the bad beat, Gillespie didn’t fold. Instead, he went all in on achieving his dream. “We didn’t have a lot of money, and we couldn’t do it in the U.S.,” Gillespie said. “So we decided to go to the next biggest market in the world full of people that love to gamble.” The 22-year-old post-grad made his biggest bet on himself yet, booking a one-way flight to China with nothing but some lines of computer code and a dream. Upon arrival, Gillespie hired 25 people to help him and his co-founder build what became a million-page sports betting content website.

“Starting our career in China taught us to learn fast,” Gillespie says. “We cut our teeth in one of the most competitive business environments imaginable.” He recalls meeting with a prominent investor early in his time in China, where the investor told him, ‘These people make American capitalists look amateurs. They are infinitely more capitalist and aggressive than any competition in the States.” According to Gillespie, he was right. The cutthroat business environment taught the young CEO to narrow his focus. “If you chase too many rabbits at once, you won’t catch any of them,” he said.

Related: The History of Online Gambling (Infographic)

After getting the company off the ground, Gillespie set his sights on the UK, the world’s largest properly regulated online gambling market. He pivoted away from sports betting and toward online casino games. “We went all in on the UK market, and that’s when our fortunes started to change. We got some traction, started making meaningful money, and also got the opportunity to buy the gambling.com domain name in 2011,” Gillespie said.

By then, Gillespie had given up on the US figuring out how to regulate online gambling. He had moved on to greener, less gridlocked pastures. So, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of online gambling in 2018, Gillespie was caught off guard. “We were focused on the UK, Ireland, European markets,” Gillespie said. “So we had to turn the whole thing around.” And turn around they did. Pivoting from seriously considering a European IPO, Gillespie committed to returning his company to the States, even if he had to wait a few years. Today, the US makes up most of its $108 million total revenue, accounting for $60 million. According to Gillespie, Gambling.com Group is the only publicly traded online gambling affiliate company in the US that was built rather than bought. In hindsight, Gillespie views some of his early risks as naive and reckless. However, these risks taught him a valuable lesson that resonates with every entrepreneur: the best bet you can make is one on yourself.