"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." Robert McKee
Have you ever been in a familiar conversation with someone and after listening to their story you find you have learned something new about them that left you engaged and wanting more? I know I have!
Stories have a powerful impact on people because they are the experiences that shape who you are. I like to think of life as a book made of many chapters. The more interesting the chapters, the more interesting the book. People are their own books. Our stories are our chapters. It’s your story and whatever your experiences may be, they make up you and YOU are interesting.
I am lucky enough to be in a profession where I get to listen to people’s stories all day long and even more get to help share them to future employers. This year at Bloom Talent, we are excited share we are launching something new called, ‘Share your Story’ series. We want to share your story and help you feel proud of it!
What stops people from sharing their story? Often it’s fear of being vulnerable or it’s simply you’re unsure how to explain parts of your story. That is what we are here to do. Help you put it together and feel proud of it. How you share your story makes all the difference.
To kick things off I am going to share my story on starting Bloom Talent.
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From a young age I’ve always been curious about people. My father in fact used to catch me staring at people and would tell me, “That’s not polite, you shouldn’t stare”, but I couldn’t help it. People just fascinated me. In fact, I still get called out for doing this.
In high school I struggled because I wasn’t passionate about anything I was learning. I kept asking myself why is this important to learn, why do I have to do it this way, why does this matter? All this questioning made me question myself a lot. I struggled to feel confident in my decision making which affected my performance in school. In retrospect, I suppose all this questioning was an indicator that I was an entrepreneur at heart and wanted to do things my own way.
College was a different story. I found that I loved learning and especially loved that I got to choose what I was going to study. I did well in college and chose a major that allowed me to explore people and understand why and how we communicate with one another.
I was lucky enough to find my career at 25. I was introduced through a friend to Recruiting. Recruiting was the right mix of helping people and exercising the strategic/entrepreneurial part of my brain that loved solving problems. Learning to recruit was very challenging because I was surrounded by a lot of talented and successful people that understood the business a lot better than I did. I had to start from the bottom and learn. It tested me in many ways and tested my ability to push through challenging situations. It was in fact a transformative experience. I always tell people that Recruiting is not just a job but a journey. I was lucky though as I had a few fantastic mentors that helped guide me along the way.
In 2014 I had my ‘ah-ha’ moment. I knew it was time to start my own business. I could no longer ignore the voice inside me shouting, “It’s now or never!”. Making this decision was both exciting and scary but with the support of my entrepreneurial husband I started Bloom Talent in January 2015.
Starting Bloom Talent has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It has been both rewarding and personally challenging. I started Bloom Talent with the intention of truly connecting with people and helping them along their way. I chose the name “Bloom” because it symbolized growth, opening up, blossoming which is true to who I am. It has never just been about the bottom line but about the experience people receive when working with Bloom Talent.
In October 2017 I welcomed my beautiful baby boy, Theo, who changed me forever. This change was something I knew would happen but didn’t REALLY know. Balancing work and family became a new hurdle to overcome and welcome. I had to re-learn what my bandwidth, boundaries and priorities were with this new landscape of parenthood and work. Bloom Talent was my first baby so it definitely rocked my world but I am happy to say in the best possible way! The beautiful thing about running a business is it can change and grow with you. I have so much respect for ALL mothers but I now can identify better with a working mom, more specifically an entrepreneurial mom.
Owning your own business is a fun and wild ride. You learn things that you didn’t know you could do. It’s both scary and rewarding and so worth it. Many other entrepreneurial spirits have both supported and taught me things along the way along with the great team of people I’ve hired over the years.
You quickly learn to let go of people and situations that no longer serve you. You learn feeling uncomfortable is GOOD for growth. You also learn to stop and enjoy your success, whether big or small milestones, they should be celebrated regularly. Plus, you have to remember to keep things humorous.
I am especially happy to see today in 2019 that so many more women are starting businesses and changing the landscape of entrepreneurship for future generations. If you are on the fence about starting a business, let’s grab a coffee and talk it over. Happy to provide guidance where I can! I am excited to listen and get started.
"The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories." Mary Catherine Bateson
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Sharing your story matters. Let us help you do that at Bloom Talent. The first step is emailing us at hi@bloomtalent.io and we can set up a time to talk!
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