Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Indianapolis Woman-Owned Business: Leticia Snoddy's 25-Year MSIL Staffing Journey

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Indianapolis Woman-Owned Business: Leticia Snoddy's 25-Year MSIL Staffing Journey · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is Leticia Snotty, the founder and owner of MSIL
0:21
Staffing and Packaging. Founded in 2001, they are
0:25
recognized as one of the fastest growing minority and women owned
0:30
workforce solution providers located in Indianapolis.
0:34
MSIL specializes in manufacturing and warehousing,
0:39
offering cost effective labor management services.
0:43
Leticia also founded Pro Talent Group in 2017, adding recruiting
0:48
to her broad range of expertise. Now, under her leadership, MSIL
0:53
has been listed among the Indianapolis Business Journal's
0:56
largest woman owned businesses. TC is commitment to efficient
1:01
operations, workplace safety and building strong community
1:04
partnerships have helped MSIL grow into a trusted name.
1:08
By blending insightful leadership with a passion for
1:11
creating job opportunities, Leticia has built a strong
1:14
legacy in the staffing and logistics field.
1:18
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AD back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:05
today, founder, owner of MSIL Staffing and Packaging, Leticia
2:09
Snotty. Thanks for making the time to
2:11
Share your story today. Well, thank you for having me.
2:15
OK, so you had worked for many years in the staffing industry
2:19
and there was this fateful moment where you found yourself
2:22
as the single mother of two and somehow ready to roll the dice
2:27
and start your own business. Can you describe what led to
2:30
that moment? Yes, so growing up, I'm the
2:34
oldest of five, my mom and dad, my my mother is probably my most
2:40
inspirational person in my life. She worked so hard throughout
2:46
raising us, but we never had without was one thing is was her
2:50
love, her compassion, her work ethic.
2:55
That's what one of the things that really instilled in all of
2:58
us. And just with that being said, I
3:04
I just look at her for the inspiration that, you know,
3:08
growing up and I just wanted to help people because she did that
3:11
too. She helped people.
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I mean, she worked in factories, but coming home and after a long
3:18
day, she would work 10-12 hour days and come home and take care
3:22
of five kids. You know, now being the eldest,
3:25
I was also with the responsible one to be in charge of
3:28
everything at home. And as I grew up, I moved away
3:33
from home and I started working for a manufacturing, automotive
3:38
manufacturing company. And I always thought, man,
3:41
there's got to be I, I want to do more.
3:43
And I kept learning and trying to advance in advance, in
3:46
advance. And I always thought, you know,
3:48
I want to do more. And one thing, a conversation I
3:50
had with mom, it's been years ago, but she said, you know, you
3:53
were seven years old and you said, mom, I'm going to take
3:57
care of you one day and I'm going to buy you a house.
4:00
And she brought this up years later and she said I'm going to
4:04
have, she said that I told her I'm going to have a business and
4:06
I'm going to take care of you. And one of the things that I did
4:12
when I started the business, the first thing I did was bought my
4:17
mom a house. And without knowing that
4:20
conversation because I think I. Was didn't remember you had said
4:23
that. I did not remember I said that.
4:25
So I, and to this day, I, we, you know, between all of us, we
4:29
take care of her, but I, I bought her, her house, her car
4:32
and her, she has no struggles. She's.
4:36
Good. How far into the business were
4:38
you before you were able to afford to buy her a house?
4:40
I think it was third, fourth year that's.
4:43
Pretty good, yeah. Yeah.
4:45
You found some success pretty early on.
4:47
We we ran, we hit the ground running definitely.
4:51
So explain to me sort of the the circumstances that led to this
4:56
because you're a single mother of two, maybe not the best time
5:01
to be transitioning into starting a new business.
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Most businesses take a while before they're actually cash
5:07
flowing. What what transpired here to
5:10
sort of kick this all off? Well, we worked in the venues
5:13
and, and let me go back a little bit because I did work for the
5:16
manufacturer and automotive industry.
5:19
But then I got an opportunity to work for this gentleman who had
5:22
a staffing company. And in those six years, I
5:25
learned everything from the front of the house to the back
5:28
of the house, which means, you know, taking applications,
5:32
meeting customers or going out and doing sales, opening
5:36
offices. So I opened six out of those
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nine offices that he had. And I did work my way up to
5:42
sales in those six years. And then from that, I got an
5:46
opportunity to start my own business.
5:50
And at the time, I had a partner and together, you know, with his
5:54
connections and my, my capabilities and my knowledge,
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we hit the ground running. We started working with the
6:01
venues, all the venues. So the sport venues, we worked
6:04
for them for almost 20 years. So you had clients right out of
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the gate? We did day.
6:11
One day, one day one. And part of that was because of
6:14
my previous employment that I had.
6:18
I already had relationships that I had built with other
6:22
clientele. So being in the sales, I knew
6:25
people already, you know, so they came to me also and I had
6:30
other clients that started coming back to me and saying,
6:33
look, we like the way you handled your, you and your team
6:37
helped us. That's how that's who we want to
6:39
do business with because you guys care.
6:42
One of the best compliments I ever got was during our business
6:47
was a customer called and said, you know, I haven't slept this
6:53
well in a long time. He said, knowing you guys are
6:57
here and you know, that gentleman has passed since then,
7:01
But that was probably one of our biggest compliments.
7:03
And I thought that's what we need to do.
7:06
We need to make sure that our people are taking care of our
7:09
customers and our clients and our people.
7:11
Yeah, I mean. That's really the ultimate
7:13
testimonial. Isn't it?
7:15
Yeah, it is. So how quickly were you cash
7:18
flow positive then? I think within a couple years,
7:21
two to two to three years, we started making money right away.
7:25
I mean, I had again, I hit the ground running.
7:27
I, I'm a single mom. Where's my next check coming
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from, right. So I had to go out and find it.
7:36
I had to know where I'm going to eat.
7:37
You know how I'm going to eat. How am I going to feed my kids?
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So there was no, no choice for me but to go out and get
7:44
clients. So I right off the bat, we had
7:47
worked with the venues in the packaging industry, we worked in
7:52
the packaging industry as well. What I mean by that is we
7:56
provided people contract labor to those industries, so.
8:02
So you had connections into some of the industries that you'd
8:05
already been working in, so that was a relatively easy foot in
8:10
the door. But as you were servicing some
8:13
of these other industries, how did you open up those doors?
8:18
Word of mouth was really good for us back then.
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Social media wasn't around then. You know, we've been in
8:23
business. We're going to celebrate 25
8:25
years. And so back then everything was
8:30
through word of mouth of who you knew or our contacts.
8:35
So excuse me, they talk a lot. Of well, and I think it's a good
8:41
time to to point out here that doing this interview today is
8:45
actually a little uncomfortable for you.
8:46
You don't really like the spotlight on yourself.
8:50
Can you say more about that? I do not I, I love when people
8:56
ask me about the business. I I like talking about the
8:59
people who got us there. And there's have been many, many
9:04
people, but I will tell you the initial seven that started with
9:08
me are still here. So there are.
9:13
And we've had a lot of people still here would have been with
9:15
us 10 years, 15 years and growing.
9:20
So it says a lot about how you treat people, you know, and how
9:24
when you're growing a business, it's about those people and
9:28
putting the emphasis on the trust, the trusting that they
9:35
have the ability to do what they're supposed to do.
9:38
We don't micromanage, you know, so I, I don't like to, I don't
9:43
like that word to micromanage people.
9:45
I want them to bring their strengths and their abilities to
9:49
what they can do. And that's, that's basically
9:52
what has grown this business. You know, everybody has a
9:54
passion for what they're doing and helping people.
9:57
And that's the people we try to find to make sure that that
10:01
that's the same culture we have and grown.
10:03
How do you filter for that during the, you know, the, the
10:07
interviews, the recruiting, that hiring process, how do you
10:11
narrow down that, oh, this, this is going to be a good fit for
10:15
us? You know, I know people don't
10:17
like me saying this, but it's a gut feeling because it it, I can
10:22
give you a great resume, but until you put that person to
10:27
work, you know, and see what they really can do and give him
10:30
that opportunity, that's that, that's where you're going to
10:34
really know. But when you look at a resume,
10:37
yes, it's in great resume and you're talking to that person,
10:40
but it's when you get to know that person and really say, OK,
10:44
he's got something or she's got something.
10:47
Yeah. You know, how about how do you
10:49
handle? So that question, I think we
10:51
were talking more specifically about your internal office
10:54
staff. When thinking about sort of the
10:57
front line workers, the contract workers that you're placing at
11:00
your client locations, you're doing that at a much bigger
11:03
scale. How do you approach that sort of
11:07
filtering process in those scenarios?
11:11
In those scenarios, the same way, same way I always tell
11:14
people it, it's funny you brought this up because I always
11:17
say to all our recruiters and people being in the front lines,
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it's like, look, put yourself in those people's shoes.
11:24
They're coming in through those doors.
11:26
That's uncomfortable to be asking for a job, you know, So
11:31
put yourself in those shoes. And also you have to be
11:36
cognizant of where you're going to put these people to and match
11:39
the right client with that person and the person with that
11:43
client. So you always have to ask them,
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is this somebody that I would let into my own home?
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Is this somebody I would, you know, entrust to do the job so.
11:57
And it comes down to the gut feeling of the employees that
12:00
you have, you're empowering them.
12:02
Yes, absolutely, every day. What does MSIL stand for?
12:09
It stood for it stood for Minority solutions for
12:13
inspection and logistics. So that's what it did in the
12:18
past. We went down to Alabama when we
12:21
were when we spread out and we were in 13 States and we went to
12:28
a minority event and there was a gentleman there and says, why do
12:33
you call yourself minority solutions?
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And I said, I don't know, I guess because I'm a minority.
12:38
And somebody had brought the name to me and said, Hey, you
12:41
know, this might fit, fit for your, for who you guys are.
12:45
And he's like, well, I don't think I don't think you should
12:47
do that. And I thought I never put in,
12:50
you know, a thought that it might be uncomfortable or maybe
12:56
not not right. Or, you know, who knows?
13:00
So we decided to just take the name off and just put MSI off,
13:05
which was a lot easier for people.
13:07
OK, yeah, more palatable for some folks.
13:10
But obviously creating a diverse and inclusive workforce has been
13:14
important to you. Why?
13:16
Yeah, I love people and helping people.
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And you know, I couldn't see myself being a doctor or a nurse
13:25
because Oh my God, that takes a different type of passion and
13:27
mentality, right? Wow.
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And, and I have a sister who's a, a nurse and I, I applaud her
13:35
everyday and I applaud the service people everyday.
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But you have to find that one passion that you are good at.
13:42
And for me, I always wanted to help people find an opportunity
13:47
to better themselves and better their lives.
13:50
So let's talk more specifically about the services that you
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offer. You're placing contract workers.
13:57
Is this strictly a temporary rolls?
14:00
Is it temp to hire? Tell, tell us about it.
14:03
Yes, yes, it is both. It is both.
14:06
There's a lot of companies that have they flex up and down
14:10
throughout the year and they have their peak seasons, a lot
14:13
of them, for a lot of them in the industry, especially
14:15
e-commerce, their peak season is right now.
14:19
So it's Christmas, right. So quarter 4 is always their
14:22
peak season and that's when we always see a climb in our in in
14:27
the customers needs. But my job or our job is to make
14:32
sure that if we find people jobs, we also educate our
14:37
customers and say, look, maybe they are you only need them for
14:42
this position right now, but there's other openings that you
14:46
might have let them show you what they can do and they can
14:49
evolve and maybe grow into a full time position.
14:53
That is the best sales tactic for us to find a person is
14:56
saying, hey, this customer wants to hire you full time.
15:01
So that is where we succeed is when we see somebody go not
15:05
through us, not only through us, but getting a full time job that
15:10
that's a success story. And that's got to make the
15:14
employee really excited. You know, most people, I'm
15:17
assuming, tell me if I'm right here.
15:19
Most people are not looking for work for just six weeks.
15:22
They want a job, they want a career, they want a steady
15:25
paycheck. But right now I'll, I'll take
15:28
what I can get kind of a thing. And so when there's sort of that
15:31
carrot of, hey, listen, our end goal is we're going to get you
15:35
this six week, eight week, 12 week position.
15:38
Show them what you can do, show up on time, be there, do your
15:40
best work. This could lead into something
15:43
else. They're like, oh, OK, like I'm
15:44
really motivated now. Absolutely.
15:46
And there is some people that come to us and say, look, I only
15:49
want something part time because I have a full time job, but I
15:53
want that extra income. You know, who knows what they
15:57
want it for, right? It could be for for their
16:00
children or Christmas or something like that.
16:03
And it works perfect. So some for some people works
16:07
perfect for the the peak season. And the industries that you
16:12
serve are what? Oh, e-commerce is huge with us.
16:16
We used to serve the venues we still do to some capacity and
16:21
then a packaging, food manufacturing, automotive.
16:26
So those are our big ones and. What geographies are you in now?
16:32
So we are all Indiana, Kentucky, we were in Illinois and we go
16:38
back and forth between other other States and we go anywhere
16:42
there are customers need us. So if a customer we have a great
16:46
relationship, we've been working for them for years and they say
16:49
hey, we have other facilities in other locations.
16:52
Can you can you help us? Yes, it.
16:55
And if it makes sense for both of us, yes.
16:58
And you have to, if that were the case, if one of your clients
17:01
in Indiana said, hey, we've got some locations in Alabama, we,
17:05
we want your help. You would physically open an
17:07
office down there to be able to help recruit people and support
17:11
the employer down there. Yes, yes we do.
17:14
So at that point it had like you're saying it has to make
17:16
sense, economic sense, like the the job volume has to be enough.
17:19
Yes, yes, absolutely. OK.
17:23
I know that you guys place a big emphasis on workplace safety and
17:28
training. Can you think of a specific
17:31
story where that focus on safety proved really crucial for either
17:37
the team member or the client or both?
17:41
Yes. So we had OSHA is a big part of
17:45
our business. So we have to be compliant in
17:49
all avenues when it comes to OSHA training, constant
17:53
training, yearly training. So there was a couple of issues
17:58
that we had to come to acknowledge that, hey, maybe
18:04
this isn't the best safe safety or safe environment for our
18:10
people. So we had to part ways and
18:13
that's OK, you know, but you have to do those things and you
18:16
have to, otherwise your workers comp goes through the roof and
18:20
the safety of the people, you know, that's first and foremost.
18:24
So that's important. It sounds like you've got your
18:27
priorities in order and it's not always an easy decision to make
18:30
because you're taking away business, right?
18:32
And you're taking away job opportunities for folks.
18:35
But at the end of the day, you want people to be safe.
18:38
You don't want people hurt. That creates a lot of bigger
18:41
long term issues. Yes it does.
18:45
Was there? I'm sure that there were
18:48
particular turning points or hurdles that you had to overcome
18:54
over the last, you know, 20. I think it's a 25 years in the
18:58
growth of MSIL, something that was particularly pivotal,
19:03
pivotal for you. Yes, there was with Speaking of
19:08
workers comp, one of the things that really came to Fraser.
19:12
Workers comp is a huge cost for any, any company, especially
19:16
with a lot of people. When you have thousands of
19:18
people working for you, you have to find, you have to find ways
19:23
of cutting costs and, and you know, finding the best cost
19:27
effective ways, right? One of the things that we did,
19:30
we workers comp came to us and said, hey, this is going to
19:35
increase about 50%. It's like what?
19:39
That would have put us out of business.
19:41
So internally we had to find ways.
19:43
It's like, OK, we have to do something about this.
19:46
So we joined a captive program and it is a captive program is
19:52
about 150 other agencies. So they might be competitors,
19:57
but they are also our partners because we hold each other
20:01
accountable and we own our own workers comp.
20:05
So that's where you asked me earlier.
20:07
You know what? What was that pivotal moment of?
20:11
Why? For us, safety is so important,
20:15
right? So that's one of the reasons and
20:19
being a part of this captive program really opened our eyes
20:22
and saying, wow, OK, maybe this isn't the right fit for us with
20:27
this clientele, especially because of our people and their
20:29
safety. We have to acknowledge that.
20:32
And we had to make that tough decision, but that was good.
20:35
It also has opened a lot of other doors.
20:39
Explain what? What kind of other doors have
20:40
opened for you? So it opened other doors by when
20:43
I said, do you know there's other agencies out there that we
20:46
are partners with. So maybe they weren't at all the
20:50
locations, but maybe we were in those locations.
20:53
So we became partners in that in that customer to fill fulfill
20:58
those needs so that you. Can work together.
21:01
Yeah, yeah. And so are all the groups that
21:06
are in this captive They're all other staffing firms.
21:11
They are. They are.
21:13
Fascinating. Yeah.
21:16
So in 2017, you founded Pro Talent Group, A recruiting firm.
21:23
Yes. So a little bit different.
21:26
How does this complement what you're doing at MSIL?
21:30
So on MSIL, we are a light industrial with pro talent
21:36
group. We provide whether it's contract
21:40
or it is direct hires. So customers can come to us and
21:45
say, OK, it might be AC level positions.
21:48
So it's upper level management positions that they need.
21:51
So we're, it's more of a head hunting, you know, source for
21:56
them and especially that we have the resources to do that and it
22:02
provides the current customers to come to us and say, hey, OK,
22:07
you're providing us, you know, the, the labor for these jobs
22:11
over here. But we, let's say we need a, an
22:14
accounting or an HR manager or maintenance, you know, tech.
22:20
So we need those positions filled.
22:23
So we work in that area and fill those positions and they are all
22:27
direct hire. So it makes it really nice for
22:29
for the people coming in and looking for positions.
22:32
So with with Pro Talent Group, are you mostly servicing the
22:38
same industries that you are with MSIL?
22:41
Well, we are, but we're also in other industries now.
22:46
So we are and pharmaceutical companies as well.
22:52
So it expands teachers. So teachers is another one.
22:56
So it's, I mean we've expanded our our portfolio.
23:01
That's interesting. I've talked with a lot of
23:03
staffing firms, a lot of recruiting firms.
23:06
This might be the first one I've heard that does teachers.
23:10
And so we're talking teachers at like elementary schools, high
23:13
schools, or is this like colleges and universities?
23:15
No, it's a it's schools. It's local public schools here
23:19
in in Indiana. And so I'm curious how that
23:23
process works. Are you typically recruiting
23:25
them from another state? Are they from maybe a a nearby
23:30
district? How does that typically?
23:32
So people who usually moving or looking for another position,
23:37
and a lot of them are positions for just a temporary fill in
23:41
school teachers as well. So that helps, you know.
23:46
But the executive level recruiting, I'm guessing that's
23:49
easier to do nationwide. You don't need a physical office
23:53
to fill a position in, say, LA. Correct, correct.
23:58
And so there are some similarities between the two
24:02
business models, but they're clearly there are distinct
24:05
differences. What's the biggest difference
24:08
between running each of these different types of operations
24:13
that might surprise folks from the outside?
24:16
I think the people, the people in the positions and also the
24:19
qualifications. So you know, hiring somebody for
24:26
to run a machine is different than somebody who's going to run
24:30
that whole area, you know, the whole plant.
24:34
So that's two different completely two different
24:39
positions. So how do you, are you
24:46
internally, I think this is my question, internally are you
24:50
hiring different types of folks to recruit for that CEO versus
24:57
you know the type of person that you would hire to recruit, you
25:00
know, the factory worker? Yes, there's a lot of people out
25:04
there, recruiters or headhunters that have had it, that's done
25:09
this for years, and that's all they do.
25:12
But that's their positions, you know?
25:14
And then you have others who concentrate on supervisors,
25:18
managers, forklift drivers, people running machines, you
25:22
know, it could be any of those positions.
25:26
That's their specialty. And then you have the skilled
25:30
specialty people who are the experts in the higher level
25:34
education. And they've got more contacts in
25:40
those types of networks that are also easier for them to reach
25:43
into as. Well, they do.
25:44
They do. Oh, you know, I imagine in a
25:48
business like yours that it would be much simpler from an
25:51
operational standpoint to provide A1 size fits all
25:56
approach. But you guys have a lot of
25:59
flexibility as as I understand you know you customize to what
26:03
the client's needs are. Can you illustrate that with a
26:07
specific story that shows your flexibility in being able to
26:11
customize the offering to what the client needs?
26:14
Absolutely. So you asked about when we
26:17
started to see revenue coming in and we started right off the
26:22
bat. So one of the things that we
26:26
were able to do and, and it brings a smile to my face
26:29
because it was, it was hard, but it was also exciting and it was
26:36
a growth moment for us and, and a pivotal moment because we, we
26:40
could pivot. We figured out, hey, we don't
26:42
have to just provide staffing, right?
26:44
We don't have to just provide people for organizations.
26:47
We can also go in and be a true partner.
26:51
So we were there, there was an automotive company here in town
26:56
and this was in the beginning in our first years.
27:00
And they came to us and said, look, we have all these engines
27:05
and we need help. We need people to come in and
27:08
inspect these engines and it's like, oh, OK, all right, but can
27:12
you do it off site? It's like, well, sure.
27:16
And my, my staff always says, you know, you can't just say,
27:23
yes, we can do anything we want, right?
27:25
And I'm like. But that was my style.
27:27
That's classic entrepreneurs say yes and then figure out the
27:30
practicalities later. So.
27:32
One of the things they did was, OK, we need to look at these
27:36
motors and inspect them. It's like, yeah, we can do that.
27:39
So we hired a bunch of people. We went into, you know, and we
27:43
were very hands on in the beginning.
27:45
I was too. So you can't expect other people
27:48
to do something that you've never done.
27:50
So you went and were inspecting motors yourself?
27:54
I did it too. I wanted to learn, you know, I
27:56
could never change my a tire, but I knew how to change down to
28:03
an injector. So we were given the opportunity
28:06
when we talked about inspection services and I'll give you a
28:10
true sample is you're looking at an engine and there could be a
28:16
part on there and let's say it's this, you know, I'm holding up a
28:19
pin, but it might be missing a part on here.
28:23
And that's what we have to do. We had to go in and visualize.
28:26
Well, they took their engineers and their quality managers and
28:32
took us under their arm and saw that we had the ability to
28:36
passion, you know, to want to work and do things.
28:38
And they said, why don't you guys won't we just start working
28:41
with you guys. And this started to expand to
28:44
the point where we started servicing all their suppliers,
28:49
200 of their suppliers, we started working with them.
28:52
So we had a growth within just one that is an explosion.
28:57
So that was a true testament of when you say, you know, what was
29:03
that pivotal moment for you, That was it.
29:06
It's like we're, we're not just a staffing company.
29:09
We want to be your true partner. We want to know and show you
29:12
what else we can do. You need other things done.
29:16
You need to have those things. You're running out of space in
29:19
your facility. Let's let's think about this
29:23
together and let's move that into a facility that and I'll
29:26
wait. Let us do that for you while you
29:29
concentrate on your growth. We start doing this over here
29:32
for you and. What was the reason they wanted
29:34
it off site? Because they just didn't have
29:36
any more space there. Yes, that was one of the reasons
29:39
there was also a union facility. So they took it off site and
29:44
then we ended up getting our own facility because they called one
29:48
day and they said, hey, can you move a lot of these engines over
29:51
to another facility and put them under your, your, you know, do
29:56
you do those there as well? As well as having another
29:59
million square feet over here working with, we had over 250
30:03
people working at that time. So you just formed a whole new
30:06
business. You're not just staffing, you
30:09
rented warehouse space. We did.
30:11
You're providing a very specific engine inspection service that
30:15
led to more similar type work from 200 of their suppliers.
30:19
Suppliers. That's right.
30:21
Fascinating because some people would have looked at that and
30:24
said that is not our business model.
30:25
No, thank you. Why do you know I mean?
30:30
Why? Why did you see?
30:31
It differently because it was growth, it was an opportunity
30:35
to, it was exciting and it was an opportunity to do more.
30:39
And we till this day we have that ability to do more.
30:43
So we have not just Pro Talent Group and MSIL, but we also have
30:49
CIS, which is certified inspection services that we
30:52
provide and we're doing that as well now.
30:55
And So what kinds of inspections are we talking about?
30:58
So it's also in the automotive industry, but there's nothing to
31:02
be said that we can't go in. And if Apple called today and
31:05
said, hey, our boxes and our, you know how you have your
31:09
phone, it comes in a really pretty box.
31:11
But something could be missing in some of these because the
31:14
machines faltered somewhere along the way.
31:18
Can we bring this to you or can you come on site and do that?
31:21
Absolutely. We have the people.
31:24
So let's hit pause and and explore this a little bit
31:27
because there's sort of two schools of thought when it comes
31:30
to moments like this. And some people are more of the
31:34
mind of you got to stay laser focused, right?
31:37
You and I are both entrepreneurs, Leticia, like
31:40
shiny object syndrome, right? It's like, oh, there's another
31:43
idea. There's another idea like, and
31:45
we can make ourselves and more importantly, our teens dizzy by
31:49
chasing all these different ideas, right?
31:52
And so a lot of people, smart people, coaches, CE OS founders
31:56
and what's a, you got to stay laser focused on what your
32:00
business model is. But this is a great example of a
32:04
time where it made a ton of sense to throw that advice out
32:08
the window. I'm going to guess there are
32:10
other ideas that you've had that you've not pursued or maybe just
32:14
tinkered with and then set aside.
32:16
How do you, when you have a new idea, I think this is the
32:18
question I'm trying to get to Leticia, is when you have a new
32:21
idea, how do you figure out which bucket to put it in?
32:24
Like, oh, we're going to, we're going to chase this versus
32:27
that's just noise and and we need to say no to that.
32:30
OK, so one of the things that we had to do is or I had to come to
32:33
realization as all of us, it's like I can't do all things
32:38
right. We can't be all things to
32:41
customers, but we are good at certain things.
32:44
Now one of the things that we are really good at is people and
32:48
providing labor. And with that is OK, we can take
32:52
that labor and use our people to help customers in other ways,
33:01
but I we can't be everywhere at once.
33:04
So one of the things that we started to do is when we hired
33:08
people to join our team is we hired experts in those areas.
33:14
So if there's an opportunity that comes up in packaging, we
33:17
have somebody for that. There's an opportunity that
33:19
comes up and, and maybe automated or something, you
33:24
know, in that industry or inspection services, we have
33:27
that. So we have we have a great team.
33:32
So let me see if I'm connecting the dots here.
33:36
Maybe the first filter that you go through is, is the size of
33:41
this opportunity warrant the effort to put into it, right?
33:46
If somebody said, hey, we need something that, you know, can be
33:49
done by two people, you know, part time, it's like, well,
33:53
that's that's probably not, you know, worth our effort to to
33:56
kind of redirect. So maybe that's the first filter
33:58
and then the second filter might be, do we have access to the
34:02
appropriate experts to lead that team?
34:05
Right. That is perfectly said.
34:07
Now we've said no as well, but we have connections.
34:12
So if there's a customer that comes to us and has said, hey, I
34:14
had this huge project, but we're not into, we don't have a lot of
34:19
machines, right? We don't have the machines.
34:21
We don't do those things. So we have customers that do.
34:26
So we have matched other clients with other clients and we've
34:31
given, you know, opportunities to other clientele and we get to
34:36
service both. So even though we said no,
34:41
there's still opportunity. Yeah.
34:45
Any fun projects that you're working on right now that I
34:49
don't know, maybe you want to give some voice to?
34:53
Let's see. I think right now with the
34:57
projects that we have going on, there's a lot of opportunities
35:00
coming our way right now. Obviously COVID put a halt on a
35:05
lot of industries, right? And insecurity of the not the
35:10
unknown, I shouldn't say insecurity, but the unknowns,
35:13
right? We had such a High Peak during
35:18
that because nobody wanted to hire direct and they said OK,
35:22
but we were just like a doctors and hospitals and, you know,
35:29
other areas. We were an essential part of the
35:32
industry. So we had to go to work, our
35:36
people had to go to work, we had to help our customers.
35:40
But we find that there was a growth there as well.
35:43
And also once people started going back to work and things
35:47
started you're opening back up, we saw a decline and in the
35:52
industry. So one of the things we did is
35:55
OK, boots on the ground, we got to go do the same thing we did
35:59
before. We got to get in front of our
36:01
customers. Now that they're opening their
36:02
doors, we got to see what opportunities there are there.
36:05
And there's opportunities now that have hit our, our, on our
36:11
hands that we are working on. And one of the things that we
36:16
did, we switched technologies, we switched our ATS system,
36:20
which provides us a lot more technology to service not only
36:25
our clients are. And when I say clients, it could
36:29
be our people that are working in our client locations, which
36:32
are also our clients. So it's, you know, the employees
36:35
and it, it allows us and them to better reach out to us and
36:41
better for us to reach out to them.
36:44
So not only do we have social media, we have chat boxes.
36:48
We have abilities to reach thousands of people at once
36:53
where we used to 25 years ago. I'm sitting here going like this
36:58
one person at a time, right? Or text messaging one.
37:01
Person at all one by. 1 So it's totally different than it was
37:06
back then. So the applicant tracking system
37:09
that you're using now, the ETS, is there layers of AI that are
37:14
already incorporated into that, that are adding to the
37:17
efficiencies? There is the ability to, again,
37:22
where we used to have to fill out an application on paper,
37:25
it's all automated and you can go in and fill everything out.
37:30
The ability for our customers when we have time, time machines
37:35
to keep time right for our people when they go in and clock
37:39
in, it's a computer that's really, you can press a thumb on
37:43
there and they know who you are. You can put, you know, code on
37:47
there and they know who you are. And it's the ability for the
37:49
customer to access their information on there too.
37:53
And the people's information as what far as their hours and how
37:56
they work, how many hours they've worked, be able to
37:59
access their invoicing where all that used to.
38:03
We never used to have that before, so technology has
38:07
really, really changed. Sounds like it's making things
38:11
more convenient in, I don't know, 3 levels, right?
38:15
For the streamlined your your clients that you know, the
38:18
employees that you're placing in the jobs, your clients, the
38:21
employers that are looking for employees, as well as your own
38:25
internal office staff who probably spent a lot of time
38:29
doing things much more manually in the past.
38:32
This is freeing up their time to spend more one-on-one, sort of
38:35
the human interaction part of it.
38:37
Yes, yes, that is so important. You know, that's one thing that
38:41
I see that AI, you cannot replace that one-on-one, that
38:48
ability to get that gut feeling because AI doesn't have that.
38:52
Yes, they can go through everything, right?
38:55
Find all the information they need and the the experiences,
38:59
the everything that you need to put that person into a location
39:04
or match it up, match with their the customer.
39:07
But it really doesn't take away from the human touch, you know
39:12
that it takes away from the human touch, which you can't
39:15
replace that. Beyond staffing and logistics,
39:20
how do you see your companies contributing to the broader
39:24
community, and why is that so important for you, Leticia?
39:29
I think just giving people the opportunity to prove what what
39:36
they can and giving people the chance, right, that is
39:40
important. And I think that's the main
39:42
reason why I started this business.
39:44
Somebody gave that to me, right? I learned throughout my years.
39:49
That was my education is what I learned from the people put in
39:55
my path and I have learned IIA lot of times I just kept my
40:00
mouth shut and I just kept I was a sponge.
40:03
You know, I, I wanted to learn more and that's what I want to
40:06
do for other people is I want to give them the ability to come to
40:11
us and say, you know what, I like working for them.
40:14
They gave me the start. But here's what I did, and
40:20
here's where it got. I got Yeah.
40:23
There's there's so much purpose to be found in meaningful work.
40:27
You know, obviously the paycheck is very important, but the
40:31
purpose and the, I think the camaraderie that you get with
40:35
your Co workers is perhaps equally as important.
40:40
It is, it is everyday. Our culture.
40:44
Culture is everything to us, right?
40:46
And to any organization, I would hope so, because without the
40:50
culture, I mean you don't have, you don't have anybody that has
40:55
the same passion or the same drive that you do.
40:59
And that's what you look for. You know everybody that that
41:04
works on the same team as, as I do, right as our team does.
41:09
We all have and that same drive. We're all wanting to help people
41:14
and and give them and provide them a step to that ladder.
41:19
Yeah, you've obviously seen a great deal of success with your
41:24
companies, Leticia, But that success doesn't come without
41:30
hardships, challenges along the way, whether it's something
41:34
personal that you had to overcome or something on the
41:37
business side of things. What is a big challenge that you
41:41
had to overcome? How did you get through that and
41:44
what did you learn in the process?
41:47
We mentioned earlier that I had a partner, we had a business
41:51
partner and we decided to go our our separate ways.
41:57
What that was a, a pivotal moment in my life because these
41:59
are I walked away or I fought for what I built and that was
42:09
for me. That was the point and time to
42:13
say I, I can't give this up. I, I worked too hard and I've,
42:19
I've, I have all these people who depend on me and I can't
42:25
just walk away from it. Not none of us can, you know, so
42:29
I looked within. I had to and I, I said, you know
42:32
what, I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight for this.
42:36
And what it took us because that was back in, I was 15 years ago
42:43
and there was a comment made that we wouldn't be around after
42:47
certain months. And I thought, you know what?
42:51
Watch me. More fuel for the fire.
42:54
More fuel for the fire and what happened was what we built in
43:00
those nine years. I got back in three so and the
43:09
original 7 I spoke about came with me.
43:12
OK, so. Where did that strength come
43:17
from? I mean, you're in this fork in
43:20
the road and there's got to be a part of you that's saying it's
43:24
just easier to walk away, throw in the towel.
43:27
That's never been me. That's never been me.
43:30
I, I don't care what it was or what hardship we've, we all go
43:34
through hardships, right? And, and being in business, you
43:37
know that you have to make a tough decision whether you are
43:42
going to succeed or you sell or you're going to have to walk
43:47
away or something, right? Something happens and you have
43:53
to know in your heart whether it's something you want to
43:56
continue or not. And for me, it's always been
43:58
there. It's always been there.
44:03
I just I just. Is it a competitive spirit?
44:05
Is it a stubbornness? How would you characterize it?
44:09
Stubbornness, our perseverance and I think our upbringing had a
44:15
big part of it to do because my mother and my father and and us,
44:19
we, we struggled now as kids. You don't know any better,
44:23
right? You don't know that a pair of
44:26
shoes for Christmas is all you get.
44:28
And for some people or for some families, you think, Oh my gosh,
44:35
that's so sad. Well, for us it's like, wow, I
44:38
got a pair of shoes, right? I, I got something.
44:43
So that's it. It's the big difference of the
44:46
way you were brought up or the way I was brought up is the not
44:50
knowing, but also knowing that if you work hard enough for it
44:55
and smart enough because not you can't do everything.
45:01
But if you have that passion, feed off that passion and other
45:05
people feed off your passion. And it sounds like a lot of that
45:11
came from your mother, both probably through the genetic
45:15
chain as well as just observation, watching, learning
45:19
how she carried herself. Yeah, that's the way we were
45:21
brought up. I suspect this next question is
45:26
going to be a little uncomfortable for you, but
45:28
setting all humility aside, what's your superpower?
45:37
People tell me it's my kindness, but I also feel sometimes that's
45:43
my weakness. The superpower also is knowing
45:50
people and giving people the benefit of the doubt, so I think
45:55
that's probably it. How has your kindness felt like
46:00
a weakness at times? I think you know, and you know
46:04
this when you give somebody the opportunity and they don't take
46:11
it or you give somebody a chance to prove themselves and they
46:16
just don't, you know, but it, it's OK, you know, you're going
46:20
to see those things and, and they're not failures.
46:24
To me, it's an experience. It's feeding your knowledge,
46:29
right, feeding your, your wherewithal as far as, OK, this
46:36
is a growth moment for me. This is an experience and this
46:40
is how I learn things. So especially how you fall or,
46:44
you know, you got to get back up, right?
46:46
You learn from those things and you just move on.
46:52
What's something fun you enjoy doing away from work?
46:56
Exercise is that. Part of a daily routine for you?
47:01
I did it through when my I was pregnant with my children.
47:05
I did it as a young child and I just kept doing it.
47:08
It is important for me because if you can't take care of
47:11
yourself, how are you going to take care of others?
47:15
How do you see the staffing industry evolving in the next
47:18
couple of years? What do you think are some of
47:20
the big changes that are coming? I think continued technology is
47:23
going to increase and it's going to be AII think those are the
47:31
avenues that are just going to continue to expand and it's just
47:35
going to expand with staffing. You know, I mean, we saw
47:40
machines that are coming in and doing people's jobs now, right?
47:45
We saw that happening in the last several years and it's and
47:50
I think it's hurt the ability to give people the opportunity to
47:55
do work, but it's also helped because it gives people another
48:00
Ave. It's like, OK, I might not be
48:02
able to come in and do this job, but hey, I'm going to learn
48:05
this. And technology, I mean,
48:08
maintenance is one of the biggest ones for us and all our
48:12
customers. Constant techs are needed.
48:18
So some of the automation, some of the robots that are coming
48:22
in, they still need serviced. And.
48:24
So for folks who can make that transition into a different type
48:27
of role, this opens. Up a new opportunity yes yeah
48:30
learn a new skill, learning new skills and there's so many
48:38
accessible companies and non for profit organizations that are
48:46
teaching kids coming out of high school or you know there's the
48:50
the colleges they're teaching the kids know as much as you can
48:55
when you when you are out and don't just learn one my advice
49:02
would be to learn more so. Where can people go to learn
49:09
more? Say they're not in high school,
49:11
they're not in college, they're been out in the workforce for a
49:14
while and they're seeing things changing pretty quickly around
49:18
them. What coaching would you OfferUp
49:20
to somebody like that? Definitely to learn a skilled
49:25
trade, they're skilled trade schools out there.
49:27
There's all types you can go online, you can reach the
49:32
commerce, the all the the schools will offer new skills as
49:40
well and teach, they teach you they they have programs and
49:45
there's some great programs out there as well that also provide.
49:49
And then you know, when we hire people, we put up, put them
49:52
through our own teach our own schooling.
49:55
So when we hire somebody, not only do we look at what they
50:00
come with in their education, or maybe they don't have that part,
50:04
but they have that passion. We have the.
50:07
We have the wherewithal to teach.
50:10
You provide that, is that paid training or is that something
50:13
they need to do prior to taking the job where they get paid?
50:16
How does? That no, no, no, we teach.
50:18
It's OJT on the job training. Oh wow.
50:21
So, you know, when we bring people in, we teach them the way
50:23
we do things, right? And we teach them our
50:26
technology. We teach them how to who not
50:33
only speak with people but also, you know, just they and get
50:36
themselves involved in the community.
50:41
You know, sometimes our mistakes, and I'm using air
50:45
quotes for that, end up becoming our greatest teachers.
50:49
Is there an earlier career moment that for you seemed like
50:52
a set back at the time but actually propelled you forward
50:55
when you look back on it now? Yes, I think it was that 15 year
50:59
ago decision that I made. Not to throw in the towel, I'm
51:02
going to fight for what I think is right.
51:04
I'm going to fight for what I think is mine.
51:06
That's right. And then you and because you had
51:10
acquired so much experience and knowledge at that point, you
51:14
were able to rebuild in a much shorter time frame than what it
51:18
took you the first time around. Yes.
51:20
And and it wasn't just me. Again, you know, I commend all
51:25
the people that work on our team because they are some wonderful
51:29
people. They are great, they're
51:32
passionate. They are when I say they if you,
51:38
if I picked up this phone and called somebody, it didn't
51:41
matter if it was midnight or whatever, they are there.
51:46
That's who our team is. That's great.
51:50
That dependability of all ours is something that's hard to
51:53
find. I don't expect them to, but but
51:56
you know, I'm saying that's that's where they.
51:58
Are in the event that we're needed.
52:00
They're they are the type of people.
52:02
That we, yeah. And that's our culture.
52:03
That's our family. So.
52:07
Let's you see, I've just got one more question for you.
52:09
But before I ask it, I want to take care of a few things.
52:12
First of all, anybody who wants to get in touch with Leticia's
52:15
companies, the easiest way to do that is to go to their website,
52:19
which is super short and easy to rememberms-il.com, ms-il.com,
52:27
one more time, ms-il.com, and we'll put that in the show notes
52:30
for folks. Also, just as a reminder, if you
52:34
want to get more employees access to benefits that won't
52:36
hurt them financially and carries a financial upside for
52:39
the company, reach out to us at Add Back benefits.com.
52:43
Finally, if you'll take just a moment to leave us a comment or
52:45
review on your favorite podcast app, we will be forever grateful
52:49
to you. Thank you.
52:51
So last question for you, Leticia, You and I reconnect one
52:55
year from today and you are celebrating something big.
52:59
What's that big thing that you hope to be celebrating one year
53:03
from now? I would say another, another
53:09
business path, another Ave. to add to our to our growth.
53:16
Is there something cooking that you want to give voice to?
53:20
There is, but I'd rather I'd rather let it come to fruition.
53:25
Keep it under your hat for now. I can appreciate that.
53:28
Well, Leticia Snotty from MSIL Staffing, I want to be the first
53:32
to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
53:35
today. I really appreciate it.
53:37
Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate it.
53:40
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
53:43
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
53:44
today.