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Welcome to Creating Next, the groundbreaking podcast by TransImpact that delves into the dynamic realms of parcel spend management and supply chain planning. Join our hosts as they navigate the cutting edge of industry innovation, sharing insights and strategies from top experts. Subscribe now for an immersive journey into the strategies and technologies shaping the future of your business.
Jey - 00:00:03:
Welcome to Creating Next, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of parcel spend management and supply chain planning. We are here to bring you the latest insights and strategies from industry experts. At TransImpact, we are on a mission to turn our clients into raving fans, and this podcast is an extension of that commitment. Get ready to explore the strategies and technologies that are shaping the future of our industry. In this episode, we're diving into the world of high-performance recruiting, leadership, and sales strategy with none other than Brent Orsuga, founder of Pinnacle Growth Advisors. Brent is a powerhouse in the logistics and supply chain recruiting world, with over 16 years of experience placing top talent in asset-based logistics, 3PL brokerage, and freight tech. Brent shares his journey from college athlete to entrepreneur, how sports shaped his leadership style, and why mindset, preparation, and relentless execution are key to success. We'll also talk about what separates top performers from the rest, the importance of personal branding and sales and recruiting, and how companies can create a winning culture. Let's dive in.
Brent - 00:01:13:
I want to start off, I want the audience to learn a little bit about who you are. Who is Brent Orsuga, right? I think you've developed a really good, strong brand for yourself in our space. I'm a big follower of your content on LinkedIn. We think a lot alike as far as what preparation and mindset and how that impacts the outcomes that all of us are trying to achieve in our professional career. So tell me your story, man. I mean, now you own your own recruiting firm, Pinnacle Growth Advisors. You've been very successful. But where did you start? What's your journey? How did you get to this point, man?
Announcer - 00:01:43:
Yeah, so originally from San Jose, California. Came out here to Arizona to play basketball originally and then got hurt on the first day of practice, so my knee blew out. And that journey was closed. So I ended up going to ASU and just never left. The first job out of college was with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. If you know them, they kind of recruit a lot of athletes and they kind of have this management training program. So at a very young age, I was put into kind of a leadership seat, right? So I was running a team of people at 23, 24, and I realized I had a quality there. And that included hiring as well. The journey into recruiting started because there was actually a big recruiting firm in Scottsdale that came to get me to use me as a candidate. What I didn't know is they had a motto that said, keep the best, place the rest. So selfishly, I didn't know it at the time. They're like, oh, we want this guy for us. And when I got put into recruiting, I realized it's kind of always been in my blood if you want the truth, right? So whether it be recruiting kids in my neighborhood to go play sports, whether it be in college saying, hey, we're going to these places, it's always kind of been a person of influence, if you will. So it's always been inside of me. From there, recruited within the construction industry from like 03 to 08. In 08, we kind of know what happened. Global changes, construction went away. And then this is how I got into supply chain was starting back in 09. So I've been recruiting within supply chain and logistics for now 16 years, which is a long time. And where we play is in like a couple of different sectors, man. The asset-based side, 3PL and brokerage, freight technology. So a lot of what you see downstairs is kind of the people we play with.
Brent - 00:03:22:
It's nice, man. So basketball, that was your sport growing up?
Announcer - 00:03:25:
It still is.
Brent - 00:03:25:
Or were you a point guard?
Announcer - 00:03:26:
Shooting.
Brent - 00:03:27:
Shooting guard.
Announcer - 00:03:27:
Shoot or shoot.
Brent - 00:03:28:
I still see your videos dropping buckets at Life Time.
Announcer - 00:03:31:
Yeah.
Brent - 00:03:33:
Talk to me about how you think your sports background correlates to your now professional career.
Announcer - 00:03:40:
Competitive. Dog. You have to fight for everything. And I came up in an era where if you didn't perform, you didn't get playing time. So I was always competing, always trying to earn my spot, if you will. And then once you get there, you got to maintain it. Because there's always someone coming behind you. And I think that's the same that we can talk about in business as well. You've never reached that pinnacle. Tie that into the name. But number two, just always had that dog mentality. I know this sounds crazy. And I see Tom Brady and some of these guys talk about it. But I was always really good about creating an enemy or triggering myself into play a little angry. And I hate to say it, but I still do that in business now. Like if there's a day when I need to kind of trigger myself, I'll go on LinkedIn and find something to almost make me upset. So I kind of play angry, play intentional, whatever. So that's a sports thing that I've been able to transfer into business.
Brent - 00:04:31:
Trying to light that intrinsic motivation, right? Because I think the discipline is the most important aspect of it, right? You can't teach discipline.
Announcer - 00:04:38:
No.
Brent - 00:04:39:
You have to force discipline on yourself. But it's never something that's very comfortable, right?
Announcer - 00:04:43:
Yeah. And I never needed anybody to motivate me. I've always been self-driven, self-motivated, always been an early riser. I mean, to this day, I still wake up at 3.30. I'm at Life Time at 4 when it opens. I'm robotic with my schedule because I can control that. And the reason a lot of that kind of is part of my life, too, is I'm a big believer in win the morning, win the day. So by the time 7 o'clock rolls around, in my mind, I'm 1-0.
Brent - 00:05:06:
Oh, heck yeah.
Announcer - 00:05:07:
And so it sets the entire foundation for the day as far as that goes. It's a huge part of my life is the morning stuff.
Brent - 00:05:12:
I think that's one of the most overlooked aspects of overall success in anything that you do. And I think that's where top performers really start to get on the same page is How you start your day sets the tone for everything else that follows. I mean, you get up groggy. You're rushing to your first meeting. That anxiety starts to kind of hit. That's going to carry you through the rest of the entire day, and you're going to constantly feel like you're playing catch-up because you feel like you're behind.
Announcer - 00:05:38:
Yeah.
Brent - 00:05:38:
Where you get up there and you kick the door in. Like you said, you're 1-0, right? So now I'm already up. I'm up on the day. What else am I going to conquer? What else am I going to win? You want to keep the winning streak.
Announcer - 00:05:47:
Well, I look at it like playing offense and defense. I can control that. I'm really big on controlling the controllables, and I can control that morning dynamic, right? Because the minute I let myself into the big, bad world of business, I'm kind of in fight-or-flight mode, right? So I'm responding to emails. You've got this fire to put out, all these things. But from the morning time, for me, I double dip too. So not only am I working out, but I'm also educating myself. Like I don't listen to music. I listen to podcasts. So having that time five days a week to have 60 to 75 minutes of this, I feel like I get real dangerous real fast because I'm constantly not just feeding my body, but I'm feeding my mind too.
Brent - 00:06:19:
What are your top podcasts you listen to?
Announcer - 00:06:20:
You know, I listen to a lot of Ed Mylett, obviously. Andy Frisella, those guys just kind of jam with me. Dan Martell, who just wrote a bad buyback your time.
Brent - 00:06:29:
SaaS Academy. A big follower of Dan Martell.
Announcer - 00:06:30:
So anything that... Is I don't really need the motivational stuff. I like more tactical stuff as far as that goes. And just right now I'm really big into learning as much about AI as possible. I mean, it's the buzzword at this conference as well. So I'm just continually self-development is like a big part of my life. I've invested honestly hundreds of thousands of dollars into coaching or webinars, whatever the case, seminars, excuse me, whatever the case may be.
Brent - 00:06:55:
You know, I think, so first thing I want to say is to the sports mentality. I'm a big believer in this. A lot of companies, there's the cliche of, you know, hey, we're a family.
Announcer - 00:07:04:
Yep.
Brent - 00:07:05:
You know, come to this organization, we treat you like family. I think that's just a bunch of BS in a lot of cases. You're not going to fire your brother like you would somebody that's not related to you at a company. And that's just the facts. You're going to handle that differently. I think running a company is very similar to running a sports organization. You have to have top talent at each position in the right position to be effective and to win. And every year, even if you're a top performer, top scorer on the team, you're competing for your job year in and year out. There's an expectation that you're going to put the work in to get better year over year, even when you're on the top of the mountain. And you run it like a sports team. And everybody has to buy into that.
Announcer - 00:07:46:
I think the truth is most sports teams are ran better than most businesses. And one of the biggest reasons why is they actually have playbooks. We've all seen hard knocks on HBO, right? So when somebody gets cut, what do they do? Hey, hand in your playbook. So a lot of companies, I think that's one of the biggest misses that they have is from the onboarding training type side of things. That's like you and I just playing backyard football. Hey Jey, go get open, right? Go this way. But if you have a system, a process, a structure, that is how you're able to kind of scale. So I think companies do a good job there, too. And then, look, we live in the real world. The real world is not full of participation trophies. The real world is based on numbers and the scoreboard. Never lies, but people do. Your results and your numbers will always tell you exactly where you are in life.
Brent - 00:08:29:
Yeah, I really could not agree more with you, man. I think that's spot on. On the podcast, Andy Frisella, man, I think he's one of those guys that I gravitate. Everybody you just mentioned, I'm a big fan of. Andy is one. To me, the tactical aspect of what Andy provides isn't necessarily my focus with him. He never fails to just trigger that fire inside of you. It's that reminder. Not that you need it, but it's still beneficial to hear that. There's no excuse. Nobody's going to feel sorry for you. You've got to get up and do the work every single day. If you expect that it's going to be easy, you've got the wrong expectations. You should expect that it's going to be really hard. You've got to embrace that hard. You know who Alex Hormozi is?
Announcer - 00:09:11:
Of course.
Brent - 00:09:12:
Alex Hormozi says something one time that I've just never forgotten. If people can reframe their mind away from thinking, poor me, I have to go do this, to poor everyone else who has to try after me, it creates a total different perspective of what you're trying to accomplish. Because now you're looking at that as this is an opportunity. I feel bad for everybody else who has to try to keep up. And that's the mentality you have to have in everything that you do in life.
Announcer - 00:09:38:
Well, I think one of the big things that not a lot of people talk about is, I'm a big believer in you are what you consume. So think about what we're talking about. This is what we consume. This is what we feed ourselves. And a lot of people, I see them just kind of aimlessly scrolling on stuff that is not going to benefit them, right? So I hate to say that I've tricked the algorithm, but I'm really conscious. I'm like, what I allow in. Because if you don't, it will be dictated to you, right? So you're just going to scroll. And you know how quick 30 minutes can go by on social media or whatever. And so I've just been really selective on what I allow in to my space.
Brent - 00:10:14:
I do the same thing, man. And it's interesting too, because I think we live in a world now where 20 years ago. The success of somebody within an organization was much more reliant on the leadership within that company to coach and develop and educate and train that person to eventually take their seat or the seat above them. Where now we have at our fingertips the ability to self-educate. You can teach yourself just about anything that you want in today's time. And so that's why I always kind of tell people, I'm young for my age relative to a position that I'm in.
Announcer - 00:10:48:
Sure.
Brent - 00:10:49:
But that's not necessarily because I would say I've performed exceptionally better than others. I've utilized what's at my fingertips to prepare better so that when the opportunity comes, I'm ready for it. Because if you're not prepared for it, you don't even notice that opportunity sitting in front of yourself. So I spend hours, literally hours every day on YouTube, on Instagram, not scrolling. My algorithms are fixed like yours, man. It's business. It's self-development. It's motivation. It's all these things that I know are going to wire my brain to keep my mind on that one track that I want to stay focused. Well, you'll appreciate
Announcer - 00:11:22:
this. My favorite all-time quote is you get rewarded in public for what you practice in private. Yeah, no doubt. Nobody sees the dark hours and the early work and driving to the gym at 3:45 a.m. No one sees that, right? Everyone sees the end result. And that's a big thing going on right now, too. I think there's a glorification around entrepreneurship, right? Everybody thinks it's super easy and everyone's driving Lambos and you start an LLC. And everyone's crushing it. And that's just not the reality. You have to remember a lot around social media, it's a highlight reel. People are going to show you what they want to see. I don't care if it's from the business side, if it's the perfect family and their trips and all these things. And you can let that consume you. But a lot of times what you consume, you're going to go into compare mode. And that's where a lot of people kind of get stuck. But if you run your race and just do your thing, let them watch you, not the other way around.
Brent - 00:12:09:
Yeah, I agree. So what are you seeing today in the market in the areas you're focused for hiring? These companies that you work with, what are the key traits that they're saying, Brent, I need you to bring me a candidate that has these three or these five things. These are the prereqs for somebody that's going to work at our company. It's everything
Announcer - 00:12:26:
we're talking about. Killers, dogs, hunters, people not afraid to pick up the phones, people with old school work ethic, people that know what it takes to grind, people that aren't emotional and have emotional regulation. Because in sales, it's going to be a little bit of a roller coaster, right? You're going to get high and you're going to get low. And it's in those low moments that you really kind of get exposed to.
Brent - 00:12:45:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:12:46:
And so I think the big thing, too, is that people look for individuals that maybe even have an internal sales process. Because there's a lot of talk about, hey, these books of business and what can you bring over. In the days of non-competes and non-solicits, it's just not that simple. But if I have certain characteristics in a sales process that I have been able to develop and tap into, that I can take with me. And so I think that's really big in the market. But right now, what you have, I hate to say this, is a lot of mediocrity. So you have 80% of the companies fighting over 20% of the time. Think about this. And I just did a video recently where the reality is there's two job markets. You have the public job market and the private. The public is where a lot of people play. This is job postings, applying to things on LinkedIn, going on Indeed, right? That's public. Everyone can access that. That's where you have 80% of people fighting over 20% of the jobs. Where people want to be playing is in the private sector. But to play in the private sector, you've got to be a performer. That means that people like yourself, being a high performer, you're going to have access to 80% of the positions. Because companies are going to look at someone like Jey and be like, you know what? I don't even have a seat. I just want this guy wearing my jersey. I'm going to create a role for him. Or what people don't understand, a lot of what we do is like confidential upgrades. So companies are going to look at people and be like, this is my VPSL. I'm paying this guy $250. I think I can do better. Go find me someone's snipers behind the scenes that I can upload into this position. That's not posted.
Brent - 00:14:07:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:14:08:
So that's what people don't talk enough about. There's a whole different job market that people just don't educate themselves on.
Brent - 00:14:14:
And how transparent are your clients with you about those confidential hires? I mean, are you the guy that they're calling to say, hey, we're not going to post this, Brent. We're looking for somebody that's going to come in here and transform this department for us.
Announcer - 00:14:25:
More than you think.
Brent - 00:14:26:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:14:26:
More than you think. Oh, I believe it.
Brent - 00:14:29:
I've done it many times.
Announcer - 00:14:31:
And especially the last two years, when there's any kind of down market or shifts, everything gets exposed. Everybody gets evaluated, right? And one of the biggest shifts we saw the last couple of years was the whole coach position, right? Everyone got back in the weeds, all hands on deck. We got to navigate and get through this. So the player coach thing became more prevalent. And I don't know if it's an ego thing or what, but some people think they're above that. And I don't know how you're going to lead people if you're not able to kind of lead them by example or lead from the front. One of the best clips that I always love is from The Last Dance with Jordan. What did he say? I would never ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do myself. You want to know why he got buy-in, why he was able to get respect from these people? Because he was the first one in and the last to go, right? So he led by example. And I don't think a lot of people do that. They want the cushy office and leave to go play golf at 3 o'clock.
Brent - 00:15:20:
Yeah, I could not agree more with that. I really could not agree more with that. I think you have to show people. Look, every leader in an organization, my opinion, should set a standard. And once you set that standard, you should be that standard consistently, day in and day out. And the only way to truly exemplify what that standard is is to show the people that are underneath you what that looks like. Demonstrate that firsthand. Hold their hand through the first couple of exercises or projects or client reviews or deliveries, whatever it is in the industry that you're in. And then you can tell them how you want it done. And they'll have a framework. And a mindset of, oh, I remember how that was done. I remember how Jey did that. Now they're going to meet your standard. If you're going to hold people to a certain expectation and you don't show them what that means and they fall short, whose fault is that, really?
Announcer - 00:16:09:
I would agree. And I think the biggest saying that I've always said with these companies is you are what you tolerate.
Brent - 00:16:13:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:16:13:
You are what you tolerate. So when you tolerate mediocrity, when you tolerate average, when you tolerate low performance, when you tolerate people being late, I'm basically telling everybody else, this is okay.
Brent - 00:16:23:
Yep.
Announcer - 00:16:24:
This is our culture. This is how we operate. But when you hold the line. That's not okay.
Brent - 00:16:29:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:16:29:
And the standard is the standard is the standard. It's a different, I don't want to say pressure cooker. I just think Alabama, Georgia, Texas, that's a different locker room. Guess what? Not everybody gets a seat there. And it's no different in companies. And we'll tie it back into sports all day long because it's the truth.
Brent - 00:16:48:
Yep. I agree, man. Back to the work-life balance thing. The reason I asked you that question is We live in an environment today where it seems that people are really trying to put on a pedestal work-life balance. And, hey, you know, you need to, your home life should take precedent over your career. Look, I'm not saying you should be sacrificing the important things of life, like time with your family, your children, your wife. Like, that is most important. However, if you have aspirations to reach a certain point in your professional career, if that is what you are striving for. Work-life balance does not exist. You have to find this harmony between the two where you enjoy what you're doing and it's not taking away from the other. They're feeding each other, right? Like the reward you get from investing in one is then bringing a return to the other. And that may mean some days you're working 20 hours. That may mean some days you're working eight hours. That means some days you may be taking a day off. But the balance aspect of it was where I think we get way too wrapped around the axle on this of trying to fit things into a box and say, well, it's 8 p.m. I shouldn't be replying to that. Well, if it's not a priority, it's not urgent, maybe you shouldn't. But if that's something that's going to move the needle that is going to advance you and contribute to what you're trying to achieve, I would argue that you should.
Announcer - 00:18:13:
Well, one of my favorite interview questions to ask people, because it tells me a lot about how they're wired, is tell me what you do at 5 a.m. And tell me what you do at 7 p.m. I'm not judging. I just want to know.
Brent - 00:18:23:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:18:24:
Because if you say, well, I'm actually at the gym at 5 a.m. And at 7 p.m. I'm educating myself usually on YouTube versus while I'm watching Yellowstone and The Bachelor. I know what I need to know. I'm not judging you. I just know what I need to know. No, I get it, man. And when it comes to this balance, I think, too, there's something that I personally have been taught and implemented where is educating even the kids or whatever why dad is going on this work trip, why dad has to take that phone call, why I need to remove myself from a room to handle this situation. And it's for what I'm trying to build and provide to them. That's right. So you guys like Disney VIP trips, right? You guys like my wife likes to go on these crazy trips. Well, let me tell you how that's going to be handled. And so I think when you outline it and set those standards and expectations, it kind of justifies it a little bit more.
Brent - 00:19:06:
For sure, man. And even more important when you do have children, right? I mean, I've just my wife and I, we had our first daughter three months ago. So I'm not teaching her business classes yet, but she's about three months away from getting some tutorials. It's when I think about how I want to raise her and our future children, I want to make sure that they understand that the example I'm trying to set is not that I'm trying to not spend time with them. It's if you want to have a certain lifestyle or you want to provide for your family, this is what it takes. This is the demand that's required for you to have certain things. And if those things aren't important to you, that's okay, right? Everybody wants what they want and it's relative to who the individual is. But if this is what you're striving for, I'm going to keep going back to that. This is where your bar is set. Well, don't expect to get there if you're not going to do the work and that's required, right? Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady. I mean, the GOATs, the greats. There's a big misconception that people think that they have something that others don't. I think it's actually the reverse. And I'm not the one that created this. I've heard this many times. It's they don't have something that the others do. And they don't have an off button.
Announcer - 00:20:12:
Yeah.
Brent - 00:20:12:
And that's what separates them is they don't turn it off no matter what. Where other people, they'll sit back and say, ah, you know what? I don't really feel like doing that. Or today is not my day. I'm tired. Or I don't feel good. The greats don't do that. They don't even allow themselves to consider the thought. It's I got a job to do. There's no way around getting this job done. It's not coming off.
Announcer - 00:20:33:
Well, there's two things to piggyback off what you said. First off, when it comes to family and kids and everything, I believe, and I've been taught this by Ed Mylett of all people, things are caught, not taught. People watch you, right? Because a lot of people just tell you one thing, but it's a hypocrisy because they're not living that lifestyle or whatever. So I think that you've got to be conscious of what people are seeing. Because it's one thing to bark orders. But if you're not backing it up, people aren't going to respect you. That's why leading from the front is so important. And number two, I think all those names that you mentioned, and this coincides with myself, I find ways to get myself into action, right? I find triggers. I always say I need a rabbit. I need something to chase. Even physically, whether it be, man, I got to go do a race. I got to have this signed up. I got to have something on the books, a business thing. I'm really big on reverse engineering goals. I have to know exactly what I'm trying to go after. It's like a personal GPS. You would never just get in your car and drive. When you have a very set standard metric that you can go after, I'll guarantee you I'm always going to get that. If I showed you my phone in 2025, it's going to list out the revenue, the number of placements, and the average fee I want. So I absorb myself in that every single day so that I don't get off track. Or if I do, I'm going to see it. I have this stuff around me at all times.
Brent - 00:21:47:
Tell me what your standard day-to-day looks like.
Announcer - 00:21:51:
It's robotic. I mean, I wake up at 3.30. I'm going to Life Time from 4 to 6. This is, you know, kind of two hours of working out. Now, at that time of day, I can kind of take my time. So I am. And there's really good people at the gym at that time of day, too. I don't know if you saw the video I did there. I said, you want to talk about high performers? Well, they're probably there, right? So go find them. You know, you want these people? Well, go find them. Be proactive. From there, I go home and play dad from 6 to 7. I drop my sixth grader off at school. Then I'm in the office. And the minute I'm in the office, it's game time. But, one of the biggest things that I know I do is I call it, I play offense. So before I get into email hell and responding and kind of playing from my back, I'm pushing forward. So I want to get off my plate what I want to dictate. So I'm sending out all my emails, all my texts. I'm setting the pace here. Then everyone can respond to me. Then I'll get to your stuff. So that's always been really big for me as far as that goes. One of the other things I tend to do is I always walk and talk. So I'm always moving throughout the day. We live in sunny Scottsdale, so it's hard not to, but something about that emotion, that strategic, even 45 minutes just to kind of get out, recalibrate, get some sunshine energy is really big. Go home. These kids nowadays always have something, whether it be dance pickup or tennis or whatever the case may be. So I got to play dad there for a little bit. Do bedtime with them. And I always say kids down, I'm down. So I'm down by eight 30. So eight 30 to three 30 is my-
Brent - 00:23:08:
Well, three 30 comes quick.
Announcer - 00:23:10:
Yeah. And so it's just like, that's, I hate to say it's seven days a week, but it's kind of seven days a week.
Brent - 00:23:14:
What kind of a, what kind of workout routine you follow?
Announcer - 00:23:16:
So it's just different. I mean, obviously heavy into kind of lifting, you know what I mean? Just obviously different days as far as that goes. And then from the cardio standpoint, I play basketball still a lot and then just hit these mountains in Arizona. I mean, we're blessed to kind of have all these places that I can go and do these trails, but that's another place there too, where I'm either going to talk to myself or I'm listening to a podcast. So again, self-education is just such a massive part of my life. Going back to what you said, I'm a lot older than you, but man, I remember I used to have a Tony Robbins CDs. Remember you used to have CDs like in your visor. And I'm like, I think that thing cost a thousand bucks back then.
Brent - 00:23:49:
I was around when we had VHS and CDs.
Announcer - 00:23:51:
But nowadays that's what I'm saying between Instagram. If you use TikTok the right way, YouTube, I mean, podcasts, there's so much information that if somebody is not tapped into that, I'm at a loss as to why.
Brent - 00:24:02:
Yeah. I couldn't agree more. What's your prospecting strategy for new business? So you go to the gym in the morning, work out, shoot some hoops, go home, take care of the kids. You get to the office. Now you're doing your outbound work. How do you strategize and plan who you're reaching out to? What's your cadence structure? Kind of walk me through that. You know, it's
Announcer - 00:24:21:
funny. I would say at this point, just because of the brand that I've been able to build on LinkedIn, there's a lot of inbound, man. There's a lot of inbound. I would say 90% of it. And, or referrals. Because you have to remember, if you come from a place of just giving value, putting others first, I don't always need something from you. And I just plant all those seeds. It's going to come back tenfold. So I think the biggest thing people have to focus on is just serving others, right? Because that's the most important thing. There's definitely times from a strategy standpoint, I'm like, oh, I want this company. I want that. And I just play offense. Again, I just kind of figure out who I need to talk to, connect the dots, start sending texts out. Who do you know over here? So again, that's just full offense as far as that goes.
Brent - 00:25:02:
I think you and I are going to agree with this. I believe that in the professional world, people do not put enough emphasis on their personal brand. I think that the personal brand of who you are, and I think you're a great case of this too, and specifically with what you do for a living with recruiting and trying to find qualified candidates to fill either posted jobs or the quiet hires. Companies look at you as somebody who that's someone that I want to vet.
Announcer - 00:25:31:
Yep.
Brent - 00:25:31:
Somebody that's going to work at my company because he has a certain measuring stick that meets or exceeds what we want in our people. We don't have to get in there and do the vetting because Brent's going to do that for us. And he's going to bring us people that we already know, check those boxes for
Announcer - 00:25:46:
us. It's been a big part of things because I always say in the recruiting game, a lot of companies are asking sixes to go get tens.
Brent - 00:25:52:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:25:52:
It's not going to happen. You can't, no offense, but you can't ask someone in HR who doesn't know the recruiting sniper game to go get some killers because the people you want are working for somebody else. You got to know how to get in front of them. So the way you can get in front of them is by attracting them in. I attract, I don't chase. Every now and then I got to chase and I'll sniper them down. But for the most part, you talk about high performance, going back to the brand. You'll never really see me post about jobs. It's around my daily routines, being a girl dad, playing basketball, living on the mountains, sharing podcasts, but it's also everything is high performance, high performance. From mindset to how you conduct your day to business development. I know I just did a post that blew up the other day where it was talking about hunters and not being able to depend on others to give you leads. That thing just exploded because I think it resonates with a lot of people. The other thing from the recruiting lens too is I'm a big believer you are what you show. So my reputation is based on the caliber of individuals that I show to companies. And I've been fortunate where they don't question me, going back to what you said, because they know I have that standard, that I have that expectation. And if I pass someone over to you and I say, this guy's good, they believe it.
Brent - 00:26:56:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:26:57:
That's really, really big in any kind of referral or business. Do you put your name behind anybody?
Brent - 00:27:02:
Only if I believe in them.
Announcer - 00:27:04:
Absolutely. And so when you vouch for somebody, that goes a long way. Would you agree?
Brent - 00:27:08:
Absolutely, yes.
Announcer - 00:27:09:
And I don't think people-
Brent - 00:27:10:
And I'm very particular about who I'm-
Announcer - 00:27:11:
100%. But people underestimate how much of this goes on behind the scenes. And one of the best things I always heard from Nick Saban was there's always an and or a but. I don't know if you ever saw that, where he was saying that he gets hit up by scouts. And he says, you always want people to say and, not but. Meaning, Jey's a great guy. He's a great father. And he's a killer leader. He's a killer seller. And he works out. All these things. And, and, and. The minute they say but, you're done. Jey's a great guy. This guy can sell anything. But. He's a little reckless, but he leaves a little early. You see what I mean?
Brent - 00:27:44:
Oh, yeah.
Announcer - 00:27:45:
There's a massive difference. I don't think people understand how much ands or buts happen behind the scenes.
Brent - 00:27:49:
So that's the attention to detail, man. I think that's what's very important. From a position, like a hiring perspective, are there any key positions that you've seen have been more consistent than others over the last 12, 18 months that companies are really looking forward to fill?
Announcer - 00:28:04:
What drives every other position? What keeps the lights on?
Brent - 00:28:06:
Yeah, it's sales, man. Revenue is top line.
Announcer - 00:28:08:
That's it?
Brent - 00:28:08:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:28:09:
So you don't need customer success. I don't need accounting. I don't need HR. I don't need finance. All these other positions if no one's selling it. That's why I think too, selling has become like a lost art. And you got to understand there's a big difference between being a professional and an amateur. I look at myself even in recruiting as a sales professional because I've invested that time, energy, focus, and dollars to master my craft. If you treat it like I'm just an amateur and you have this business development sales, well, I always live in a world too. What have you done for me lately? Too many people live off, well, I won President's Club in 2016 and I had this big book. Well, you probably got that book because someone quit and you inherited some accounts. Real dogs eat. So I always want to understand, again, someone's sales process. But again, tell me what you've done in the last three months. That's how you're judged.
Brent - 00:28:53:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:28:54:
Tell me what you did last week.
Brent - 00:28:55:
Yeah. I totally agree, man. Totally agree. So are you primarily focused just on sales-oriented roles?
Announcer - 00:29:02:
The market dictates that, right? The market dictates that. So when things are humming along, and I think as we start to see in 25, a lot more operational roles will open up, whether it be carrier side, account management. Then you're going to need managers of those people. But again, right now it seems coming off the last two years, sales is definitely the most dominant position.
Brent - 00:29:21:
And are you finding folks for individual contributor sales? Are you focused primarily on leadership, managerial roles, all of the above? One more common than the other?
Announcer - 00:29:29:
You know, I think right now that everybody kind of, I think, cleaned house to a degree. And so it feels like more of the individual contributors are there. That's kind of the driving position. But again, you have 80% of companies fighting over 20% of the people that can actually do that job.
Brent - 00:29:44:
Right.
Announcer - 00:29:44:
So that's just kind of the chapter of life that we're in here in February 25.
Brent - 00:29:47:
Are you seeing that companies now are trying to staff up and increase headcount of their sales teams? Or are you seeing that they're more replacing return and fall off for folks that are not cutting it?
Announcer - 00:29:58:
I think more picky. I think when things, when you had like that COVID run, for example, you could get creative. You could do kind of the freight one-on-one model. Where now they're saying, well, gosh, rather than pay two young guys 50 grand each, pray, hope, and wish they work out, I'd rather just go get a proven person at 100. The dollars are the dollars. So we're seeing a lot more gravitation towards that way, as opposed to some of the lighter bets, if you will.
Brent - 00:30:21:
How often are you seeing that? When you place somebody, obviously you're hoping that they work out, they're a rock star because you've put your word behind them. And the assumption is that if they get what they need at that company, they're going to be successful. But how often are you saying that leadership at companies are falling short with some of the people that you're placing or just in general in the market?
Announcer - 00:30:46:
You know, I think when you have a track record of success, there's an assumption that you can just kind of slide in and go. And I'm still a really big believer. One of the questions I ask is this guy starts Monday morning at 8 a.m. What does that look like?
Brent - 00:30:59:
Yep.
Announcer - 00:30:59:
Like what happens? People. Discount the importance behind that. You go through this entire process to get a high performer or just anyone good on your team and then what you just kind of back off at that point. There's a great book called The First 90 Days which outlines how important that is because that sets the whole foundation for everything. This sounds crazy, but you want the truth about companies? Most companies have two paths. They have high performers who are overdoing their thing, and they have what I call the welcome committee. And the welcome committee is the happy hour bubbly crew, right? And if I don't dictate where I'm going to force my people to go, where do you think they're going to gravitate towards? The bubbly, hey, welcome to our group. Let's go grab lunch, whatever. Those might not be your model people. So I always want to gravitate towards, hey, kind of go this way, right? These are where the high performers sit. These are the people you want to talk to. And I think when left to their own devices, if you will, people tend to lean towards easy.
Brent - 00:31:52:
I 100% agree. There's a podcast. I don't know if you've seen it. It's Mike Tomlin. He was on with Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder. And Mike Tomlin spoke to this exact point. And he said, coaches today are failing because you bring a guy in and you have all these expectations for him, and he's not meeting those expectations. And you go into coaching meetings and you're complaining, man, this guy's cutting his route short. He's not getting to a spot on time. He's too far leveraged inside. I need him outside the hash by yard. He's just not doing what I'm asking him to do. And Mike Tomlin's philosophy on this was he would challenge his coaches, well, are you leaning in to coach him instead of coming in here and complaining about what he's not doing? And coaches, even at the highest level, forget your job is to lean in and coach your people. It's to develop your people. And if you don't do that, then it's not their fault for not doing what you are expecting them to do. It's your fault for not leaning in and coaching them, which is what you are here to do in the first place.
Announcer - 00:32:59:
I want to stay there because this is a really important topic. I just did another post about this recently where I think a lot of sales organizations and leaders have to embrace this. If somebody is not performing at the level that you expect, you have to coach them up or coach them out. You're actually selfish just to let people stay in neutral and keep somebody aboard. This is what companies mess up. And I see this a lot. Just because someone isn't working in your environment doesn't make you a bad person and it doesn't make them a bad person. It's just not the right fit. So every company should be able to go to anybody that's not meeting the standard and be like, I'm going to work for 30 days. I'm going to work with you. I'm going to try to coach you up because I see intangibles. I see things that are inside of you. This should work. If after 30 days that's not there, I need to coach you out and I need to free up that seat for somebody else. Because, again, it's selfish of me to hold on to you because this environment, this system, this model, this team is not setting you up to win in your career. And as painful as that may feel, I almost need to turn you loose to be able to go and find whatever is right for yourself.
Brent - 00:34:04:
And I think you could even take it a next step where sometimes it's not always two paths. It's not always coach up or out. It can also be a third path where I'm either going to coach you up, coach you out, or I'm going to coach you into a different position. You might be the right person in the wrong seat.
Announcer - 00:34:19:
Great point.
Brent - 00:34:19:
And especially in today's environment, all these startups or a lot of companies that are trying to scale and get to that next phase of growth, every company is going to reach multiple inflection points in their journey. I mean, and when you get to those inflection points, you've got to look at your team just like a sports team. And you have to assess the talents you have in the room. You've got to make a decision as a leader. Do I have the right person in the right seat that has the knowledge, the skill set, the drive, the acumen to elevate our company to the next level? Or, and do I have the time to coach and develop them to get to that in the timeframe necessary to hit our growth goals? It's okay to say that. That you don't have the ability to do that now. And it's okay to say, I need to bring in somebody else that does, but I do need to keep this individual because they bring value, but I got a better seat for them. And that's what people have to understand is, I believe the biggest demise of organizations, no matter what the industry is today. It's the inability to make decisions. It is the inability to make decisions in a timely manner because you're either scared to make the wrong decision or you feel like you don't have enough information to make that decision. And oftentimes you find yourself going down this rabbit hole of paralysis by analysis because you're trying to figure out what am I missing that I need to put my finger on that makes me feel really good about this decision that I'm making. But the reality is you're never going to feel 100% confident about any decision you make. It's a 70% rule. And it's the rate of velocity of making decisions that separate organizations that are hyper successful from moderately successful to just stagnant growth. You got to make decisions and you got to have a scale of what do I need to know to make this decision? And I'm okay not having these things, but this is my measuring stick to say, I've got all I need to know that I feel confident enough. I got to make this move.
Announcer - 00:36:12:
Man, I dumb it down for companies on the hiring standpoint. I said, you want to know the goddamn truth? It's just like dating. Somebody falls. It's a yes. If it's a yes, I'm leaning in. Let's expedite this person. Let's get to the offer stage. I want them done. If it's a no, it's a no. There's nothing else to talk about. It's not. Or the third bucket is, I don't know. It means I think I like you, but I'm not sure. So I need to do more calls, more due diligence, more assessments, whatever, to then get you up to a yes or no dynamic. If you just dumb it down and simplify it, but going and putting somebody through five interviews and really their five first interviews because there's no communication, that's a whole another story we could go on. People overcomplicate things.
Brent - 00:36:49:
I could agree more.
Announcer - 00:36:49:
Make a decision. Stick with it and go. And you're going to get that belief behind you because people know that you kind of even have that self-confidence and belief that this is the right path. No one's going to be 100%. We know that. But they're 100% in their conviction behind that.
Brent - 00:37:05:
I think also to that point. When you're looking at trying to get the most out of somebody, say you're hiring a new position, and it could be a posted hire or a quiet hire. If you aren't 100% confident, which you're never going to be, but you feel confident enough that, man, I feel like this person has it. There's some questions that I have, but you know what? I think it's worth the chance. The mistake, in my opinion, that companies make at that point, if you have any doubts that you know need to be addressed, you need to be transparent and candid with that candidate or that individual and set the expectation. What am I asking you to do? How are we gonna achieve this together? And why am I asking you to do exactly what I'm asking you? They need to know what they are investing in and what you are investing in. And you make it clear as day. Here's the expectation. If you are not performing at X level within 90, 180 days, or maybe it's a 12-month ramp up depending on sales cycle, this is what I'm holding you accountable to. So now there's no question. And when push comes to shove, when I hit that coach up or coach out point or maybe coach to another position, you can't dispute that because I was up front and said, this is what I'm looking for. Did you deliver or did you not, right? But you have to be willing to make that investment from a leadership perspective so that you can't look at that person and say, you didn't meet expectations, but neither did I.
Announcer - 00:38:32:
But Jey, I can't tell you how many companies don't do that.
Brent - 00:38:34:
Oh, I know. I'm saying that's a problem.
Announcer - 00:38:36:
When you play loose, your players play loose. They don't know how many points they need to score. They don't know that you're expecting them to get this many yards, right? But when you have that so clearly defined, and you'd be surprised how many people, when they have a target. Will actually get it. And there's a lot that I can go into there because I tend to reverse engineer and work away as though something already happened. Like even from personally goal setting, if I set a revenue number, a lot of people want to go up. We want to hit 30 million this year or whatever. Well, I'm going to start to work up. Here we hit five, here we hit 10, here we hit 20. What I've always been taught is no, we already did 30. It already happened. I'm going to work away. So I'm going to go from 30 to 25 to 20. And then the guys, come on, we're right there. We're getting closer, we're getting closer. And you create that belief, but it's almost, again, just a completely different up versus down dynamic.
Brent - 00:39:23:
And I'll 100% agree. I think you have to take it to even more of a granular level for certain people where if you have a target, right? If our collective goal was 30 million, right? Hey guys, 30 million of new sales this year. And I have a team of 10 sales reps. And let's just say we allocate it evenly, 3 million ahead. You need to show them the roadmap to success.
Announcer - 00:39:47:
Yep.
Brent - 00:39:47:
Because you need to factor in average deal size, average sales cycle, who our ICP is, who we're targeting from a buyer persona perspective, how many average touches that it takes to get there. So how many leads do I need to touch? How many qualified leads is that going to convert to and then into a sales qualified lead? And you need to break it down at a monthly level all the way down to a weekly level so that they have targets that they are looking at every single week. Otherwise, you're going to have people that are opening their laptop every day and closing it every day, and they don't know whether or not they were successful that day.
Announcer - 00:40:24:
So this is refreshing to hear because I'm just going to say this, you get it. You get it, man. And that's what so many companies are missing because they don't have those defined metrics. And 3 million feels like a big number to people. But guess what? That's 750 a quarter.
Brent - 00:40:40:
Yeah.
Announcer - 00:40:40:
Okay, well, guess what? That's only 250 a month. Let me show you what that looks like. So I'm really big on getting numbers smaller and more attainable. And I think a lot of companies kind of miss on that. So again, it's refreshing to hear because that's the way to go.
Brent - 00:40:54:
This is something else that I take away and I firmly believe in from Nick Saban. We got to stop talking about and focusing on the outcomes.
Announcer - 00:41:02:
Yep.
Brent - 00:41:02:
It's not the outcome. If you are working for an outcome, then you are focused on the wrong thing. You should be focused on the execution of every phase of that buyer journey or whatever your role is that leads to that outcome.
Announcer - 00:41:18:
What did we say earlier? Control the controllables. I can control my activity, the amount of emails I send out, the amount of phone calls I make, the amount of touches. Sales is a contact sport. I think people underestimate how many shoulders they have to tap to get the results that they want. Another area I want to stay in too that I think is really important from a leadership standpoint, I'm really big when I talk to people on what are the reasons to win. You just had a child. That's a pretty good reason to win. You play the game a little bit different now, right? Whether it be monetarily or whatever, there's a reason there. And I think as you're leading people, not managing them, and being able to understand that on a per person basis, I can lean into that a little bit more. Because somebody, you want people that are hungry, first off. Somebody, I want somebody that's gonna get married, needs to buy an engagement ring, has a sick parent they gotta take care of, maybe has a little bit of debt, because I don't wanna play mental chess with them, but I can motivate them, reminding them of their reasons to win.
Brent - 00:42:15:
What's your why?
Announcer - 00:42:16:
That's it.
Brent - 00:42:17:
And when I ask people that, I'm not looking for some monumental answer. It doesn't have to be one thing. It can be a culmination of things, but what is your why? What drives you? What is it that makes you get up every day and want to go and do what you're doing at the highest level? What are you doing this for? Is it, hey, I wanna be the first one in my family to graduate college? I wanna be the first one in my family to buy a home. I want to be the first one in my family that could take my family on vacations, right? Things that you look back in your past and everybody has their own journey. Like you said, you didn't come from money. Nothing was handed to you. Very similar for me. I didn't grow up in a bad situation, but I definitely, I never went on a childhood vacation with my parents. It just wasn't in the cards for us. What we could do was we kept food on the table, my parents did, and we lived a good life. We got to play sports, we got to do things, but we weren't doing anything extravagant. I didn't know all the details behind the scenes until I became an adult, but I look back on that and I realize. I want more for my family, right? And my left. He wants to be the one.
Announcer - 00:43:31:
Oh, trust me. That quote will, of course, and it's real in every family. The one. Here's the thing, too, is that you tell me why that can't be part of the interview process. Peeling back those layers. Asking someone, well, tell me a time that you faced adversity and how you kind of got through it. That's not the jam. This is a people business. I need to know what's inside you. I need to know what triggers you, what ignites you. And if you don't have something, I hate to say it, I kind of know what I need to know.
Brent - 00:43:55:
I agree.
Announcer - 00:43:55:
So those are things that people underestimate. It's not a job application. It's you're dealing with people and people are all wired different, have different reasons to win, different reasons to get out of bed. That's what companies need to start to tap into.
Brent - 00:44:08:
I thousand percent agree, man. Because look, if you don't have your business. Is literally your people, right? I mean, if you lose your people, you lose your culture. If you lose your culture, you're gonna lose your company. If you lose your company, you're gonna lose all your customers and it's all for nothing, right? Alabama, we're gonna keep talking about these examples, but they resonate and they have value. Yes, they get top five star recruits. Yes, they get the best talent. But there's a reason why Alabama sends more people to the NFL than any other organization. When these other schools have just as much talent, it's because of what they do with those people and what they instill in them from a mindset and a work ethic and the why behind it. And they band this culture together that everybody buys in to the vision like you talked about. What are we here to do? What are we here to accomplish? What do you want in your future? Because if this is what you want, this is what we're going to develop you to be. And if people believe in that, that's them as an individual. That's what separates the great coaches and the great leaders from the average man is they have the ability to reach people but find those people.
Announcer - 00:45:17:
Well, not just that, but can you imagine a company hiring you and me and being like, hey, you guys go run your teams. You think you and I are going to look at a scoreboard and not compete against each other? And yet one week you got me, the next week I got you. And I'm not going to throw it in your face and remind you, hey, Jey, my eyes are bad. What does that say up there? Oh, yeah, brother, I got you. Right?
Brent - 00:45:34:
Absolutely.
Announcer - 00:45:34:
Think how much elevation can happen in a company just by us as leaders competing.
Brent - 00:45:41:
I agree.
Announcer - 00:45:41:
So you underestimate how important that position is in a company. What did I say? Follow the leader.
Brent - 00:45:47:
Yep.
Announcer - 00:45:48:
And again, it goes back to kind of just how you're wired and how you're built. But it's such a big thing that's missing in so many companies.
Brent - 00:45:54:
So what's your, what's Brent's five and 10 year vision?
Announcer - 00:45:58:
Yeah. I mean, look, I have a vision in what I do. It's very hard to exit, right? Because being such an integral part of the business, but I have a really big vision of how I'm going to scale this thing out. Almost like a real estate model where I just want people all over the country. And just, I want to be the dominant player. I didn't come into this to be number two. I always say either you're Jordan or you're Pippen. I'm not Pippen. I want to be the guy. So I even did a video yesterday where I said, you want to know how you're making a real impact in an industry. It's not how you introduce yourself. It's how other people introduce yourself. So if I go downstairs and I introduce, hey, this is Jey with, you know, it's not, hey, this is Jey. This is the guy you got to talk to. This guy's a killer. He's the one that knows everyone. This is the dude in this space. That's a completely different brand and dynamic you've built for yourself. So I want to be that. I want to be the Jerry Maguire, the Ari Gold, the top recruiter, the dude, the one. That is very, very important to me, but I have to continue to do that, through results.
Brent - 00:46:54:
Do you see yourself growing your team?
Announcer - 00:46:57:
Yeah, I think it's just through the amount of business that's coming in, you have no choice. And I'll be honest, like that's been the probably hardest part over the past decade is finding people that meet your own personal standards and expectations. And as a business owner, you have to know not everyone's you. If they were you, they'd have their own thing. So it's still something that even as I go through this journey that I'm trying to piece together, but of course, man, I want to blow this thing up. I hear you, man.
Brent - 00:47:20:
Well, look, Brent, I appreciate you coming on the podcast, man. It's been a long time coming. Glad we finally got to sit down in person. I have no doubt we will stay connected and stay close. Keep crushing it, man. Love your content. Love what you're doing, brother. Keep leading from the front, man.
Announcer - 00:47:33:
I appreciate that. Thanks again.
Jey - 00:47:35:
Thanks, brother. That's a wrap for this episode of Creating Next. We hope you've enjoyed our discussion. Remember, driving value and maximizing your bottom line impact is our mission at TransImpact. If you found this episode valuable, be sure to subscribe to Creating Next and leave us a review. We appreciate your feedback. You can also connect with us and learn more about TransImpact Services by following us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more exciting episodes discussing Creating Next for your business.