SLO LIFE Magazine AprMay 2021

esumes perfected. I’d talk with them about how to call and speak with
different companies and employers. I really enjoyed that, working with
people to help them better themselves. So, by then, I had remarried, and
I moved with my ex-husband up to the Bay Area, before he ended up
getting transferred to Fresno. I’d say that my real career ambition and
everything that led me to where I am today started then. I worked for a
national staffing agency that staffed for high-level, C-level positions, so
CEOs, CMOs, COOs, CFOs.
How was that? It was amazing to see how companies operated from
a leadership level, what the responsibilities and expectations and
requirements were of all these higher-level positions. And so, when you’re
interviewing your clients about who they’re looking for, you’re learning
a lot about how companies operate and who they need to fill those roles.
It was awesome. I was in my twenties and I was just really interested
in seeing how businesses operated, and I got that inside scoop. But the
thing I realized pretty quickly was seeing companies that would hire for
the same position again and again and not having it work out. I mean,
the new recruit would be perfectly qualified and would have a great
personality and attitude and an amazing track record, but it wouldn’t click.
We’d see clients coming back to us repeatedly and I’d start to wonder,
“How come a CFO—or whatever the position happened to be—can’t stay
on with the company?”
What was the issue? It was a leadership problem. That’s when I started
to really tune into the intangibles: human behavior, culture, and, most
importantly, relationships. I began to understand that those things, at the
end of the day, are every bit as important as the more tangible things like
a technical skillset and knowledge and experience. That insight was critical
for me going forward and it shapes everything I have done since. So,
after my divorce, we came back to Arroyo Grande and I started my own
business. I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit, and I wanted to help, I
wanted to make a difference. I started doing customer service trainings for
local companies. I said, “Gosh, there are so many small businesses around
here that could improve in this area.” But, I learned very quickly that the
companies that already had great customer service were the only ones willing
to invest in the training. The ones that didn’t, the ones that were struggling in
that area, the ones I really wanted to help, just weren’t interested. >>
34 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | APR/MAY 2021