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How First Step Staffing Method is Building Dignity Through Employment with Kellie Brownlow | Staffing Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their
0:20
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:23
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:26
My name is Anthony Kotaspodi, and today's guest is Kelly
0:28
Brownlow, Chief Mission Officer of First Step Staffing, a
0:32
nonprofit staffing agency that cultivates a world of untapped
0:37
talent to provide an always ready and reliable workforce for
0:41
their local business partners. They believe that a job is much
0:44
more than a paycheck. For people facing barriers to
0:47
employment, it can mean dignity, opportunity and hope.
0:50
They help people who have been most disenfranchised from the
0:53
workforce, including men and women experiencing homelessness,
0:57
veterans and returning citizens. From industry specific
1:01
experience to personal coaching to work site transportation for
1:05
workers, First Step is designed to make a difference, ensuring
1:09
successful staffing and meaningful employment in the
1:12
communities they serve. Kelly has a bachelor's in
1:15
communication and political science from Rhode Island
1:18
College and a master's in public administration from the
1:21
University of Georgia. As the Chief Missions Officer,
1:25
Kelly is responsible for fundraising, community and
1:28
partner engagement, client support services, and marketing
1:31
and communications in all existing markets, which include
1:35
Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, Dallas, LA, San Bernardino,
1:40
Philadelphia, Augusta and Houston.
1:43
Now before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
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2:15
Now back to our guest today, the Chief Mission Officer of First
2:18
Step Staffing, Kelly Brownwell. I appreciate you making the time
2:21
to Share your story today. Yeah, thanks for having me.
2:25
So, Kelly, before we get into First Step staffing, I'd like to
2:28
hear a little bit about the path that led you to First Step.
2:33
Sure, it's a long path. I'll I'll summarize it here.
2:37
So I moved to Georgia right out of college for grad school.
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Knew that I wanted to go into public administration for a
2:48
time. Considered nonprofit, graduated
2:52
in public administration, spent most of my career in government
2:56
relations and economic development.
3:01
Finally was at a point, the first time in my life without a
3:03
job. I was a political appointee and
3:05
we lost the election. And so ended up being able to
3:09
make that dive into nonprofit and that was with Boys and Girls
3:12
Clubs. And while I was there, one of
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the things I learned most people don't know is most boys and
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girls clubs are in rural areas, not metropolitan.
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Most of the kids we serve are in rural parts of the country.
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And I got really into when you look at the stats and follow
3:30
like what their future could look like, they're
3:35
disenfranchised from the workforce, really.
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I mean, the ones who can leave rural areas do, and they're not
3:39
gonna come back. They work in the metro areas.
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They go to the ones who are there are not introduced to the
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opportunities around them or by the time they are, it's not
3:50
appealing to be a farmer, which is really all about science.
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So bottom line is I got really into advocating for introducing
3:59
kids in rural areas to workforce development for at at a young
4:05
age so they could know the opportunities around them.
4:09
Ended up advocating at the State House in the governor's office,
4:13
got appointed to the state workforce board from there, and
4:16
ultimately a position opened up here at first step.
4:19
I was approached and it really, really appealed to me that this
4:26
organization is doing what I was trying to do on the front end,
4:29
on the back end, right? Like I, I was trying to avoid
4:33
getting these kids to this position.
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That was what my thought was. And now this is on the other
4:38
side of that, that they've, they're there.
4:42
So now what do you do so. And so let's talk about what you
4:45
do. You know, I talked with a number
4:47
of staffing agencies. It's pretty unusual for them to
4:51
be set up as a nonprofit like yours.
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And I think as we tell more of your story, it'll become clear
4:56
why that structure is in place. So tell me about in your own
5:00
words, what First step does. Sure.
5:04
So first up, staffing is a light industrial staffing company just
5:08
like anyone that that you could name that you've probably
5:11
interviewed before. We have a sales team just like
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they do. We fill jobs just like they do
5:18
99% of our customers for whom we're placing people in jobs are
5:22
private for profit companies. But the significant differences
5:27
that the individuals we aim to put in jobs are that those
5:33
target populations you referenced homeless recently
5:37
homeless experiencing homeless at risk of homeless and justice
5:41
system involved veterans. Yes, that has become a smaller
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portion. And then what I just described
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as individuals with chronic barriers, they're chronic
5:50
unemployment, chronic poverty. And so that's kind of the
5:55
difference between that's the first distinguisher between US
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and usually like a for profit staffing company.
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The second is we provide transportation to and from work.
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So that alone is, is a, a big sell, but, but it makes sense,
6:10
right? If the individuals we're serving
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are 70% homeless, they most likely don't have a way to get
6:16
to work. And then we also provide
6:20
services to support them in retaining that job, right?
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The first step is getting the job, The next step is keeping
6:27
the job. And so, and then I also like to
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say what distinguishes us from other when we're in there, you
6:37
know, bidding for a proposal? We have a, all of our
6:42
competitors are pulling from the same pool of employees, right?
6:46
We're not, We have a whole different pool of employees, an
6:51
untapped workforce, willing, able, capable, just locked out.
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And so and this, this is really a fact.
7:00
So because of that, if, if one of our customers calls tomorrow,
7:04
today and says I need 40 people tonight, we, we can pull them in
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like that and we do. And so that distinguishes us
7:11
that we're kind of tapping it. You know, I say we're, we are
7:14
screening in the individuals that all of our competitors are
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screening out. So let's talk about the pull,
7:24
the pool of people that you're pulling from.
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So we're talking about homeless people, veterans is a small
7:32
percentage, and then we're talking about people who were
7:36
previously incarcerated. So some skeptics would say,
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yeah, but Kelly, are these really the folks that I want
7:44
working at my company? Like, you know, they, they had
7:47
some trouble with the law or, you know, they, they don't even
7:51
have a home. Like, how do I know I can rely
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on them to show up? You know, like, why aren't these
7:56
people working anyways? Like talk me through kind of
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like, I'm sure you've heard this before and what the reality
8:03
actually is of these folks that you're helping to place.
8:07
So the reality is last year we employed over 7500 individuals.
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No one we employ is sentenced to us.
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Every single person we employ comes to us on their own.
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And I remind my team all the time we're called first step,
8:25
but we are almost always the last stop.
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Because these men and women have tried over and over and over
8:33
again to retain employment traditionally.
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Just like you or I would, just like my kids would, just like my
8:38
neighbors would. But they are told no over and
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over and over again, no, because you don't have an address, no
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because of your hygiene right now, no because you have a
8:49
criminal record. No, because you haven't worked
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in 10 years, over and over and over again.
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And, and typically when they come to us, never mind their
8:58
life's trauma that they've all experienced, they're actively in
9:02
trauma because they have been told no time and time and time
9:05
again by employers, you know, so these are individuals that want
9:10
to work. They are just not allowed.
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I mean, that's what I, I use the phrase often when I'm talking to
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funders, They are locked out of accessing economic opportunity.
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And I, I call them the forgotten population.
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Cause so often and necessarily we are talking about wage gaps,
9:30
right between different demographics and what that looks
9:33
like and how we got here. And that's an important
9:36
conversation to have. But whenever we're having that
9:39
conversation, I remind people that the individuals we're
9:42
serving would love to be part of that gap.
9:45
They'd love to be part of the gap because that means they have
9:48
access to economic opportunity and then they can get over that
9:52
gap. These people aren't even part of
9:55
that gap. They're completely left out.
9:59
And they're left out because of things like you're saying they
10:02
don't have an address. And so they're like, Nope,
10:05
you're out. Maybe their hygiene currently
10:09
isn't to the standards that the employer, Nope, you're out.
10:12
And you know, I hadn't really thought about it in the terms
10:15
that you're describing. They're an active trauma because
10:18
they're trying so hard to take part in the, the workforce.
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They, they want a better way of life and the people that could
10:30
give them access to it just keep telling them no.
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And so they're frustrated and they're down.
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And so first step is the last stop for these people.
10:38
And how do you help to solve those barriers that have
10:44
prevented them from getting work before?
10:46
Yeah, so I, I love, I love. We get this question a lot.
10:49
And I often have to remember to coach my team of, you know,
10:53
initially we're not solving for them, we're overlooking them,
10:56
right. So you come in, you have two
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forms of ID, you come into orientation.
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We've got a room of 40 people here right now.
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We do a panel drug test that day, 2 forms of ID, and we do do
11:11
background checks for our own purposes.
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But every single individual in here is going to be placed on a
11:19
job and then they'll start within 72 hours and they are
11:23
going to have transportation to and from work.
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OK. So that that's the first step,
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right? Access to economic opportunity.
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The second step is that discussion about, you know, like
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right here today, they will say, is there anything at all right
11:38
now that will get in the way of you, A, showing up at work on
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this assignment and B, succeeding in it.
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So some of those things might be well, I an immediate thing that
11:49
we can help with is well, I don't have a Marta card to get
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back home, which is our public transportation here to get back
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to the transportation site to get on the bus or I literally am
11:59
living in my car and don't have a place to take a shower.
12:01
Those things that might, you know.
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So if those things immediately, we will help working with
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community partners to get them to access those immediate
12:09
barriers. Then over time, after our
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clients have worked 30 days successfully worked and shown
12:16
that they can be there and show up, it's several of our markets
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they have access to kind of what we say is that next step, right,
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like the first step is economic opportunity, the the second is
12:27
economic mobility. And so after that 30 days we
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have programs that help support for housing like and and it's,
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it is a very flexible, it is, it's private foundation funded
12:42
money. So it's not tethered to
12:45
government red tape. We have housing financial
12:49
assistance, we have financial literacy classes and we also
12:53
connect them to up skill training that we pay for in high
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demand, higher wage trades so that they can move on to the
13:02
next the next place. And so and that's kind of the
13:05
trajectory. And then, you know, we our goal.
13:08
A lot of times we get the question of, you know, how long
13:11
is your job retention? Like what is successful?
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And for us after 90 days, we want to see it dip, right?
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Because that means they've been in the workforce, they're
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successful, they've got their confidence back, their dignity
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back, their hope back, and they are ready to take that next step
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into a, into a position that they're going to have economic
13:34
and workforce mobility. That said, some of these
13:37
individuals we work with, I mean, we have several people who
13:41
have served 35 to 45 years in prison.
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They will not be able to get another job anywhere else
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because of their background. I mean, we have individuals who
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worked with us for 7-8 years. They'll always work with us.
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And so there's no limit on on how long they can work here.
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But our goal is to get you in, restore your dignity and
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confidence, and prepare you for what's next.
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And the previously incarcerated people, why aren't they able to,
14:07
like other folks, be able to move up to another position?
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So the individuals that we serve at first step and when I talk
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about previously incarcerated, a lot of people go immediately and
14:19
frankly, I did too, you know, to individuals in and out of the
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system. Most of the men and women we're
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serving are 20 to 40 years of time served, which are, which
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are, really, and you can imagine what type of felony charges that
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is. And, and many employers it,
14:41
that's just a deal breaker, you know, and I, and I struggle with
14:46
it so much because they've paid 35 years of time, you know, and,
14:54
and the fact that they can't, and one of my, one of the, one
14:58
of my clients says, you know, all I want to do is earn an
15:01
honest living. That's it, right?
15:03
I don't want to be put back in the situation that got me there.
15:08
And, and this, this particular client came to us, you know, he
15:12
had worked with another non profit a little bit different
15:15
than ours, but they didn't provide transportation.
15:18
And so he basically ended up, I mean, he couldn't get there.
15:22
It was like a site that was 30 miles away.
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And in most urban areas outside of New York City, our, our
15:28
public transportation system is not as connected.
15:30
And so basically three days in a row, we was late, even though we
15:33
got up at 4:00 AM to get to the site for 8:30, they had to let
15:37
him go. And he tells the story of he was
15:39
just crying and crying, 'cause I mean, he did not want to go back
15:43
to that life and went to the community partner and just
15:46
crying and said I will do anything.
15:48
I'll do anything. You can pay me $5.00 an hour.
15:50
I'll do anything. And they sent him here and he,
15:57
he, he's a great story. I can get to later.
15:59
But but that's that is who we're seeing.
16:02
Do it now. I want to hear the rest of this.
16:04
OK, so his name is Nick. And so he came here, he worked
16:10
for us for two years on multiple jobs.
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I mean, he was like, we could put him anywhere.
16:15
I mean, he just they loved him on the job sites.
16:18
He would be a supervisor. He he was such a hard worker.
16:21
He was super motivational for all the other clients that
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worked with him. And we actually didn't become
16:30
aware of how successful Nick was until we came across, he was
16:33
tagging us on social media talking about how we changed his
16:36
life. And so of course, we reached
16:38
out. He's still working for us.
16:41
We were able to enroll him. And, you know, and I'll go back
16:45
a bit too, He says too. He says, you know, when he tells
16:48
his story, he goes, the only adults I knew growing up were
16:52
prostitutes and drug dealers, that that's his words.
16:55
And he was in and out of the system till he went in the
16:57
system for 25 years. And so, and here's the great
17:03
thing. We were able to help Nick with
17:04
financial assistance and forever, you know, in prison he
17:08
learned welding. And so I would say forever to
17:13
him, you know, Nick, we can get you into an apprentice program
17:17
because apprenticeships are actually the most background
17:20
friendly here, at least in Georgia.
17:22
And I said, we can get you into an apprentice program.
17:24
You could really turn your life around very quickly.
17:28
And he kept saying, no, I mean, you know, and that's OK.
17:31
We kept on offering it. Literally 3 months ago.
17:34
He comes in, he's an ambassador for us now and he comes in for
17:39
an event and he's wearing all this protective gear and I'm
17:43
like, what are you doing? And he goes, I am a welding
17:46
apprentice. He's like, you would not believe
17:47
how much money I'm making right now.
17:49
And he goes, Kelly, in a year I'm going to be making $100,000.
17:53
And I was like, you know, really, Nick, I think we talked
17:55
about this and he said, and this is what's key.
17:58
And again, I can tell you story over story over story.
18:01
He said I wasn't ready, Kelly. He said that amount of money
18:05
that you were talking to me about two years ago was
18:08
overwhelming for me to think about managing.
18:11
Overwhelming and he's like, and you know, you did always
18:15
position it as like you'll be making $19.00 an hour and then
18:18
$100,000 and they pay you to go through training.
18:21
And, and he said it just, I mentally wasn't there.
18:24
It was too much. And I love that story because it
18:29
gets to the kind of making sure we're meeting clients where they
18:31
are and understanding they need to do things on their own time.
18:36
You know, we have another client, Mr. Marshall, who 38
18:40
years in prison, 38 years came to us after six days on the on
18:46
the street after being released. And ultimately he really wasn't
18:51
ready to work at first. So we went through some things
18:52
to get him ready. And truth be told, he was in an
18:55
$11.00 an hour job, right? He hadn't worked in so long and
19:00
he loved it. I mean, he did so well.
19:02
He was there six months and he kept saying, yeah, Mr. Marshall,
19:04
you're let's we can put you in up skill training.
19:07
And you know, he kept saying, no, Fast forward a year, no,
19:13
Fast forward 18 months, he's still at this job site, but he,
19:17
he stops in on one of our staff calls.
19:19
He sees my, one of my team members and he says hello in the
19:22
parking lot. And he said, guess what?
19:23
I, I got my own apartment. It's a one.
19:26
I, he, he said, you know, Miss Kelly, I filled out all of the
19:29
paperwork by myself. He's like mostly, mostly all I
19:31
said, that is so awesome. And so even when we were looking
19:36
at his apartment where it was in the rent and what he was making,
19:39
you know, we tried to convince him again and we said we'll pay
19:42
for all of this. But the bottom line is he said,
19:44
I, I'm very, very comfortable where I am.
19:48
And so to to I'm, I'm bystanders, you know, it looks
19:54
like, well, he's not making a livable wage.
19:56
True. He's in a one bedroom apartment.
20:00
How's he gonna sustain this? I mean, the truth is for him
20:03
after 38 years in prison. This is he's at a comfort level
20:08
that he doesn't want to give up. And who am I?
20:11
Who are we to tell him that's that's not where society expects
20:15
you to be? And so I always say to to
20:18
funders and our partners, like everyone of our neighbors should
20:23
have access to quality jobs, to bedroom apartments, housing and
20:27
mortgage. Everyone should have access to
20:29
that, but they don't have to seize it if they don't want to.
20:34
I think that's an important point.
20:35
I think maybe what you're touching on here is there's sort
20:38
of a natural inclination for us to sort of impose our own values
20:42
or belief systems on other people.
20:44
Like, hey, there's other opportunities for you.
20:47
You could be making this instead of this.
20:49
You could be in a position of authority.
20:51
You could, you know, have a 2 bedroom instead of a one
20:53
bedroom. And he keeps telling you, hey,
20:56
I'm good. Like this fits me like I right.
21:00
And so, yeah, you probably have to check yourself a little bit
21:03
and say, OK, we make the opportunities available, but we
21:07
don't have to push it on him. Right, right.
21:10
There's one of my team members came in one day and he said,
21:12
hey, we've got this client here. He's living in his car, but he's
21:15
saying what he wants for a support service is he wants to
21:18
get his GED. And, and I'm saying, well,
21:20
wouldn't that be more comfortable if we helped get you
21:22
out of your car? And he's saying, no, he goes, So
21:24
what do I do? I said, help him get his GED
21:27
because that's his goal, right? And I said, so think about that.
21:30
That's his goal. We help him reach that step.
21:33
Eventually he's going to get to the place that says, OK, now I
21:35
want to get out of my car and go somewhere else.
21:38
And like, but for us to sit here and say, great goal, but we, you
21:40
know, we got to get you out of your car first.
21:42
You know, is is kind of the opposite of what we're trying to
21:45
do here because our ultimate goal is making sure as many
21:50
people as possible we serve can achieve self-sufficiency, but
21:54
they're only going to achieve that following their own path.
21:58
You mentioned with this individual that when he first
22:02
got out, he wasn't quite ready to work, so you had to do some
22:05
things to get him ready for work.
22:07
What? What are those things?
22:10
So one of them is actually, so he was physically not not in a
22:17
good spot. Like he fit, like physically I,
22:19
you know, he didn't, really wasn't able to take care of
22:21
himself in prison and then came out and slept on the street for
22:25
six weeks and I mean for six days.
22:27
And so we have a, a service that we offer where we can help
22:31
clients get connected to disability benefits that that
22:36
kind of make sure they have some sort of income to access basic
22:39
needs until they're ready to work.
22:41
So we did that for him, got him connected to that.
22:44
We also found him some transitional housing so that he
22:49
could be housed and live in a situation where he's not in
22:53
prison, not by himself and like learning just some basic
22:56
society. Think about this.
22:58
The guy iPhone to him was it's a computer.
23:03
I mean, all of this, right? So we had to get integrated back
23:06
into society a little bit and he did.
23:10
And it was, I mean, it only took about six months.
23:12
It was a it was a he was so motivated that it, it only took
23:16
about, you know, didn't take that long.
23:18
But but it's, it's that's the one thing we have to do is
23:22
assess whether or not they are ready.
23:24
And often they themselves will tell us, you know, the fact that
23:28
he had been in prison 38 years, couldn't use some basic.
23:31
We didn't, we never want to put someone on a job that won't
23:34
succeed. Right.
23:35
And that also leads back to the type of jobs we have.
23:39
Our jobs are very strategically entry level jobs that anyone can
23:45
get into and succeed without any advanced training, right?
23:48
Because the last thing, as I said, this is all about dignity
23:51
and confidence and opportunity. You know, Nick or Mr. Marshall
23:54
or any one of these guys and, and women, men and women, we
23:58
don't want to send them somewhere after they've been
24:01
told no over and over and over and over and over again.
24:03
And then they get there the first night and can't do it.
24:07
You want to put them in a position where they can be
24:08
successful. Absolutely.
24:11
Yeah, these extra services that you're providing transportation
24:18
and through some community partners, you know, you're able
24:20
to help them get access to showers, you know, so they can
24:24
get themselves cleaned up, maybe some housing solutions.
24:30
I think we're starting to get into why specifically this is
24:33
set up as a nonprofit, because to be able to offer all those
24:36
services as a for profit company, your rates would have
24:41
to be so high to the employers that you're serving that the the
24:46
math just isn't gonna work. Am I correct here?
24:48
So part of it is the, so you're the employers that you're
24:52
helping. Obviously they're paying a fee
24:53
for these employees and then you're also doing fundraising
24:57
and bringing in funds so that you can provide all these extra
25:00
support services. Yes, that's exactly right.
25:03
So we are A5 O1 C 388% of our budget is covered by earned
25:10
revenue that's from our customers, right.
25:11
So that covers all of our client wages, the administrative stuff
25:18
that goes along with that, the sales people that are getting
25:20
the the accounts. So that's 88% that that covers
25:26
all of the basics of like a basic industrial staffing
25:30
company. The other 12% is raised from
25:34
foundations. You know, most of our funding is
25:37
local in the areas that we're operating.
25:41
And so, and that does cover all of these extras.
25:44
That covers the transportation, that covers the being able to
25:48
pay the cost of upscale training.
25:51
It covers our housing financial assistance program, our
25:54
emergency fund. All of that is funded by
25:57
philanthropy and, and I particularly love how we've
26:01
designed our program because because it's private
26:05
philanthropy, we're able to provide immediate access to
26:09
whatever those individuals need because it's private
26:12
philanthropy. So there's nothing, you know, I,
26:13
I say like, you know, we don't have to prove how homeless
26:15
someone is, how poor they are, how, you know, we don't have to
26:18
prove any of that. We can.
26:20
Because it's not government funds, is what you're saying.
26:22
Because they're private funds and not government funds.
26:24
You don't have to go through the red tape.
26:27
Yes, yes, we have a limited number of government
26:29
partnerships, but what we found when it comes to housing and
26:32
training is it takes so long to access the funds and fill out
26:37
the paperwork. And mind you, and I'm on the
26:39
workforce board here, so I, you know, I'm not, it's not anti
26:42
government, it's just, it's just, it's the processes that
26:44
are there. It takes so long that by the
26:47
time we're able to get it all done, the person's either gone,
26:51
are no longer interested or has spiraled down even worse.
26:55
Because if I can't, if you're, if you're living on the street
26:57
tonight and I can't help you some way, somehow, then, and
27:01
then I'm telling you get up and go to work tomorrow at 8.
27:04
You know, hope you're, you know, you have no, no, nothing to plug
27:08
your phone into, none of that. A lot of these individuals don't
27:11
have phones. I, I had an anecdotal story is
27:14
we had a, a client come in a couple months ago and, and he
27:17
said, you know, I, I lost my pay card and so we, I'll need to
27:22
call and, and get a new pay card.
27:25
So I said, oh, OK, well here she can help you get that done.
27:27
And she said, well, I already gave him the paper and he, he
27:30
literally was holding a phone in his hand.
27:33
It was an Android. And, and she says, well, the
27:36
phone number's right there. And he goes, I don't have a
27:39
phone, can I use yours? And so we show him like how to
27:45
use his phone. We let him use ours obviously,
27:47
but even walk around this phone that we helped connect him to
27:49
for days. He didn't know what it was.
27:50
Did not know he literally took transportation to come to our
27:55
office to see if you could use our phone.
27:59
So what I'm curious, what did he think that he had?
28:03
He didn't know how to use it. He could not understand how it
28:05
was an actual phone, right? It's a screen.
28:07
You have to make the numbers. Me and my, you know, my dad's
28:10
just got his, his cell phone like 10 years ago.
28:13
I mean, not even like five years ago when it's stiff hard to,
28:17
yeah. If you've been incarcerated for
28:19
30 years, if you, you know, if, if you've been unplugged from
28:23
everything that's going on outside, you come out and
28:26
there's a whole bunch of things that you don't recognize or
28:28
understand how they work. The things that we take for.
28:30
Granted, that's right. And and while we were patiently
28:33
explaining him how to use it, he was clearly getting very
28:36
anxious. So we were like, you know what,
28:37
go ahead, use our phone first and you can call, Let's get your
28:41
pay card straightened out and you know, then we'll walk you
28:45
through literally just how to put the put the phone up and
28:50
dial it. And so you mentioned something
28:54
just there which is interesting, a pay card.
28:57
So talk a little bit about that because I'm guessing a lot of
29:01
these folks don't have traditional bank accounts for
29:03
direct deposit. That is very, very true.
29:07
At one point it was 80%. We've we've helped improve that
29:11
a little bit. But yes, 80% on average do not
29:16
have a bank account. We are always very upfront about
29:22
the importance of, of getting a bank account and that the pay
29:27
card is not an ideal situation because there's a fee for that.
29:33
Over the past couple of years, if we've kind of ramped up our
29:36
fundraising to provide more services, we have partnered with
29:40
multiple financial institutions to offer our clients financial
29:46
literacy and, and educating the financial institutions on, I
29:51
mean, this was four years ago, we met with one of the
29:53
institutions and they're like, Oh no, no, look, we've got this
29:56
great accessible for everybody, you know, whatever.
29:58
And I read through it and the fee at the end if you go for a 0
30:01
balance is $10. And I said, you know, for you
30:06
and I, that's nothing I said. But for someone who is going to
30:10
get paid and then probably go to negative $10 the day after,
30:15
that's a huge thing. And so, and what's been great is
30:18
that we've had so much positive feedback and financial
30:23
institutions hearing us and doing what they can and working
30:26
with our clients. And the other part was, you
30:29
know, for years they've been doing financial literacy and
30:32
financial workshops to help and what I would say primarily
30:38
targeted toward the working poor, which is a much different
30:42
group than who we're dealing with.
30:44
And I would explain to them, you know, like, you're going through
30:46
this and you're like, ultimately we're going to get you to how
30:49
you can put yourself in a position to attain a mortgage.
30:51
And I said that is frightening for our people.
30:54
Frightening. So we've got to come down to the
30:57
very basics and you know, we've gone.
31:00
So it's basically, you know, the whole we do one whole thing
31:03
about the importance of a bank account, one whole set like
31:06
whereas that would be their traditional audience is walking
31:10
in there with a bank account, right.
31:12
This this is like the importance of a bank account.
31:15
Then some budgeting and then I mean we do one like advanced one
31:20
that we've done in the past where it was how to save for a
31:23
car, but it's, but we've really had to work with our partners on
31:28
remembering who we're talking to.
31:32
That's. A and so the good news is we've
31:34
actually the last numbers we've checked, 50% of our clients had
31:39
direct deposit and that was just a couple of months ago so.
31:42
Wait, wait, wait, say that again, how many 50% now have
31:45
direct deposit. So the number that you mentioned
31:48
before was 80% eighty and previously did not have a bank
31:52
account and you've shifted that to now it's only 50%.
31:57
Yes. And that's been over four years
31:59
of working and figuring it out. And how do we normally bring
32:02
this in? But yeah, absolutely.
32:04
And so we and and we pull these numbers now because some of
32:08
these financial institutions have have funded us.
32:12
So that's like one of the deliverables and again, none of
32:15
them. And this is the other thing we
32:17
will not go sole source with any financial institution.
32:20
Cause what we've explained throughout is that our clients
32:23
need a choice just like everybody else, right?
32:26
So we have four or five different partners that come in,
32:30
some fund us to their foundation, others don't.
32:32
But we have four or five different ones that come in and
32:35
do their workshops and expose our clients.
32:37
And they're not, there is some law or something that they're
32:40
actually not allowed to promote there to open a bank account
32:44
with them. But we've done, and here's the
32:46
other thing though we've done, we had one thing where it was
32:49
like, and trying to figure out why it was so hard for clients
32:52
to open a bank account. Well, it was like getting to the
32:54
bank. So interestingly enough, and
32:57
this was like an eye opener for us and our partners.
32:59
We did a day where a couple of banks came in and we were like
33:05
doing they, they can open an account right there on the spot.
33:08
So many people got denied that the bank, it was like looking
33:14
back and thinking, oh, like, so they're sitting there doing it,
33:17
trying to do it and they got denied for whatever reason, oh,
33:21
back rent, It's, you know, credit card debt, whatever that
33:24
might be. But that was also eye opening on
33:28
on wow. OK, so we've been talking about
33:30
all this. They're doing the right thing
33:32
again, saying let's open a bank account.
33:35
And this is what happens with with housing, you know, we're,
33:39
we're going to provide housing financial assistance.
33:41
And I mean, and we did this budget and we raised the money
33:46
for it. And I actually even used for our
33:49
estimates, like regular rent that that I would maybe pay.
33:54
What I didn't factor in is how much more you have to pay for an
33:57
application if you have a criminal background, how much
33:59
more upfront you have to pay if you have a criminal background.
34:02
So, you know, yeah, I'll, I'll let you, I will take you with
34:07
your felony. But that's not that's usually
34:09
not the case. It's hard to find, you know,
34:15
landlords that will do that. And then when they do well,
34:18
instead of the first months and last month, we need the first
34:21
months, the second months and the last month.
34:23
Wow. So you tell me you has $4500 in
34:29
this situation to get, you know, to to move into housing.
34:32
And so it's like I'm learning as we've added these programs,
34:35
barrier after barrier after barrier, even the upscale when
34:38
we were first doing it before we had raised the full amount of
34:41
money, it was like we would do the upscale, but then they've
34:46
got to do the work to get the job after.
34:48
Well, we raised enough money to have someone full time do it.
34:51
And so, you know, part of that was like, OK, it it, we are
34:55
about self-sufficiency, but let's help connect them to where
34:57
there's some openings and stuff. And then what we learned is A,
35:01
well, great, they have the upscale, but won't take that
35:03
background or B, you know, you get to that level of employment
35:08
and you have to have a high school degree, high school
35:12
diploma, I guess is what you'd say.
35:13
And so we've had to add that in of slowly getting our folks
35:16
through their GED. But it's, it's learning as we've
35:21
added these services kind of to your first step to actually help
35:26
them overcome the barriers, not just overlook them.
35:28
We've learned how much harder it is than we would have imagined
35:33
because of what they did 203035 years ago.
35:37
And so you are revising your process because what you would
35:41
prefer not to have happen is they get to the point of saying,
35:43
OK, I'm ready, let me apply for a bank account and then have
35:47
somebody tell them, sorry, you're locked out again.
35:50
So now you understand some of those interim steps that need to
35:53
be taken to put them in a better position to qualify for those
35:57
things. You're giving them a better
35:59
chance to qualify. And so we've gone from 80% of
36:02
people did not have a bank account now to 50% of people
36:06
have direct deposit. That's an insane increase in a
36:10
few years. Do you have any other stats like
36:13
impress me some more with the work that you're doing?
36:19
I get. So here's this is a yeah, I
36:22
would say the stat that that I always think is impressive
36:25
because of the fact that of who we're employing, right, right.
36:29
Who we're employing otherwise would be working nowhere.
36:33
No one would allow them this year individuals we're we're
36:40
about 74% of our clients are are experiencing homeless.
36:46
They they qualify in the homeless 2520 to 25 also or also
36:52
also or have some sort of criminal background.
36:58
This year they will earn $51.9 million in wages, 51.9 combined,
37:06
51.9 they will be paid $51.9 million in wages.
37:12
These are individuals that are crying on a bus because no one
37:15
will hire them. They can't get anywhere.
37:17
I mean, we've often I'll see people crying in the hallway and
37:19
I'm like, are you OK? And like they, they gave me a
37:22
job. I can't believe it.
37:23
I mean, these back to that first question.
37:26
These are people who want to work so bad they cry when they
37:30
have it. And it's interesting even for
37:31
our housing program, one of the, you know, there's two criteria.
37:36
You have to open your bank account.
37:40
You have to and, and after the first month you have to pay a
37:42
little bit on your own. As you get through, you know,
37:46
and you have to work, you stop working.
37:48
Sorry, pay a little bit on your own.
37:50
To what? So the way it's designed is the
37:54
first month we pay 100%. So our goal is to get them, if
37:58
they're homeless, into housing, if they're facing eviction out
38:02
of that, that you. Pay 100% of their housing
38:04
solution in the 1st. Month, the first month and then
38:07
it goes down to 80604020, you know, and they have to produce
38:11
their portion of that. And, and actually, if they leave
38:16
our jobs, get a higher paying job, that's OK.
38:18
They can stay in the program. They just have to show proof of
38:21
employment and they have to show us their proof of their payment.
38:24
We play, we pay the landlords directly.
38:28
And so, so I say all that to say, but when we sat down and
38:33
talked to them, some of the participants like, well, what do
38:36
you think about the, the criteria that you have to work?
38:41
I mean, I almost offended them and they were like, we want to
38:46
work. Like why that?
38:47
Why would we be mad at that criteria that we have to work?
38:50
They're like, we're here 'cause we want to work.
38:52
And again, that just kind of gets back to your first piece.
38:57
It's just it's so hard to dig yourself out, is what we're
39:00
realizing. Like, so not only do these
39:02
individuals want to work, it's as as hard as another perfect
39:09
client came in, needed, basically didn't show up at
39:13
work. We were kind of surprised.
39:14
He comes in, says, well, I didn't show up.
39:16
My cell phone got shut off. I wasn't able to pay the bill.
39:19
This was a Monday, so we say, well, we'll pay the bill.
39:23
It was $40.00. So it wasn't like he hadn't paid
39:25
in months. It was literally $40.
39:28
And you know, I, I learned a lot from this situation myself.
39:32
So we paid his bill. He goes back to work.
39:35
By Thursday, we learned he had stole someone else's cell phone
39:38
on the job site. And you know, my team called me,
39:41
I was traveling and they were like devastated, like you just
39:43
paid his bill. I said, Yep.
39:45
But you know what, if he didn't think, why would he steal a cell
39:49
phone? I said to buy food to sell it,
39:52
and I said if he didn't have $40 on Monday to pay a cell phone
39:57
bill and I. I was literally.
40:00
Nothing, and I was literally kicking myself and we actually
40:03
created an entirely new program out of this 'cause I was, I, you
40:07
know, I was what? I just again, not meeting him
40:10
where he was, right? Well, pay your cell phone bill
40:12
and it's gonna be all great. And, and, and think about that
40:17
$40 can spiral someone $40 from being in a place of somewhat
40:26
stability to all the way down. I mean, you know, stealing is a
40:33
thing. Like we say at first step where
40:35
we are, you get a first step, first chance, second chance,
40:38
third chance. We have people who will walk off
40:39
the job site. They don't understand these are
40:41
all these things that will coach you and put you back.
40:44
But the guy filed criminal charges and so, and, and so it
40:50
really like I, I, I say all of that leads back to my stat of,
40:56
you know, this is who we're helping.
40:59
And this year, they're going to earn $51.9 million.
41:02
So talk about the new program that you birthed out of this
41:07
unfortunate situation. It's literally called an
41:11
emergency fund. Where if clients come to us with
41:16
some sort of situation of like it might be food, sometimes
41:19
they'll say can you get bus food?
41:21
You know, So basically we're raising money to have grocery
41:25
cards on hand, transportation cards on hand, Walmart cards on
41:30
hand, so that in this situation, what I should have and now can
41:35
do is here's your cell phone, Here's 100 bucks for Publix in a
41:40
or whatever grocery store is nearby.
41:41
Here's Walmart in case you need any of this.
41:44
And here's 7 Marta cards to get you through the week, right?
41:47
What? And then what else do you need,
41:50
right, That little bit And those, those are just basic
41:53
needs that I just said, you know, those are basic things
41:55
that every single day I have and I don't realize how important
42:00
they are, you know, And so and I, you know, I kick myself every
42:03
time just thinking if I had I, I don't know why I didn't think of
42:07
that, you know, and, and again, it's not go ahead, go.
42:12
Yeah, let me tell you what went through my head as you were
42:15
telling that story. And I'm not proud of it, but
42:17
you're telling the story. This guy came in, I have money
42:21
to pay my cell phone bill. My cell phone got shut off.
42:23
So you help him out. I'm like, OK, great.
42:25
Guy's back on track. And then you told me.
42:28
Yep. And he stole somebody's cell
42:30
phone at work. And my mind immediately went to
42:32
what a degenerate. Like clearly is somebody you're
42:36
going out of your way to help. And what does he do?
42:39
Never occurred to me, you know, you know, 20 seconds later
42:44
you're telling me the rest of the story.
42:47
Of course he had to steal something he had no, if he
42:49
didn't have money for his cell phone, he doesn't have money for
42:51
food. Who among us if they were in
42:54
that same situation, no money, no food for a week.
42:58
He's not because he's not getting paid till the end of the
43:00
week. Who wouldn't make the same
43:01
decision? Am I going to starve for the
43:03
week? Like I'm going to roll the dice.
43:05
I'm going to steal somebody's phone.
43:06
I'm going to do something to put some food in my belly.
43:10
And so if I'm thinking that, and I'm here loving your story and
43:14
supporting everything that you're doing, this kind of
43:17
thought process is happening, you know, repeatedly in our, in
43:23
our society, because nobody's sort of stopping to think about
43:26
the life circumstance that that sort of led them to make that
43:29
decision. And so that's why I thank you
43:31
for sharing some of these anecdotes because they're,
43:33
they're really powerful and helping to make that point.
43:36
You've got data and you've, you've shared some really good
43:39
data so far. I wonder if you have any data on
43:42
the employer side of things The the folks that you're helping to
43:47
place employees with. How is this affecting them?
43:51
How is it impacting them? So it's interesting.
43:56
We have some employers and I'll say it's a minimal that you can
44:00
tell they chose us. They love our mission, they love
44:05
what we're doing, and they will speak out with you about it.
44:10
A lot of them, and I get this from the business sense, right?
44:13
Because in very few places we're the only staffing company on
44:16
site. Everyone we work with, every
44:18
single one of our customers, where we are in their
44:21
organization, staffing is their human resources.
44:23
So obviously no one puts all their eggs in one baskets.
44:26
There's five or six of us on the floor and a lot of times
44:30
truthfully, you know what they value about first step staffing.
44:35
But this also goes to prove something is that a, like I
44:38
said, I mean, we have this untapped workforce, a pipeline
44:40
that we're constantly building every day that we can put people
44:44
to work very fast. We also can make sure they get
44:49
there, that's we're committing to them getting there.
44:52
And then guess what? They're excellent workers.
44:55
There is no difference between US and the other staff people on
44:58
the floor. So I don't mean that to say they
45:01
don't agree with our mission, but it, you know, they from
45:05
their business sense they're looking for making sure you get
45:07
the job done, you get it done well, you get it done on time
45:10
and you show up. And that's what our clients do,
45:14
you know, And so, and again, we can fill jobs faster cause the
45:18
other 5 on the lot are picking from the same pool.
45:22
We're not even in that. We got a whole different pool
45:24
for you. And so, you know, and then there
45:27
are some customers who love, love, love what we're doing.
45:31
And, you know, and we've also worked with customers who it's
45:34
interesting, their business really wants to get into second
45:38
chance hiring, but they don't want to take the risk.
45:42
And our model is we hold all that risk, right, because they
45:45
work for us. So this company could talk about
45:49
that they were doing it through us, but they don't hold any of
45:51
the risk. I mean, we all the insurance is
45:52
on us, we pay all the wages, everything is on first step
45:55
staffing. And so we have worked with
45:58
customers who have kind of said, I want to dip into it, but you
46:03
know, I, I want to take that risk.
46:04
And it's interesting you you say, you know, I remember
46:06
arguing with my neighbor one night about this because he kept
46:08
saying like what you initially you said, or you would think
46:12
like, do you ever get pushed back of like, well, what are
46:14
they going to do? And I said, listen, these aren't
46:16
white collar crime people. They weren't embezzling from
46:19
their companies. Like, you know, I'm like, these
46:22
are individuals. And I said, you know, on one
46:24
hand, you could look at that as the opposite, but but these are
46:28
individuals who probably wouldn't even know how to do any
46:32
of that. And they've done nothing wrong
46:34
for the last more than quarter of a century, right?
46:40
I mean, they're released, which means in my eye that, you know,
46:43
that it I you have to just like, it's like, you know, we give
46:46
it's, it's the you're innocent until proven guilty.
46:48
Well, shouldn't you be considered reformed until you're
46:51
not? When you?
46:53
Leave the prison system. I would guess that recidivism
46:56
rates are much higher when folks can't find gainful employment.
47:01
Right? Like you said it kind.
47:02
Of. For some of these folks, it puts
47:04
them in a similar situation that maybe got them into some of that
47:07
trouble in the first place. That is, I mean, and you know,
47:10
that goes back to what Nick said when he tells his story.
47:12
He says, that's all I knew, you know, and he goes and all I, I
47:17
just wanted someone to let me earn an honest living.
47:20
You know, we've actually, it's interesting because we, I, I
47:23
actually had a, a formerly incarcerated individual with me
47:26
talking to a funder at a funder meeting because as often as we
47:29
can, and that's why we have these ambassadors.
47:32
You know, while I am so passionate about what we do, I
47:36
don't tell the story near as good as the clients who have
47:39
been impacted by it, right? So we were in this funder
47:42
meeting and the funder was pointing out that, you know,
47:45
really pushing hard back on our wages, which I have another good
47:49
stat if you want that in a minute, but I'm really pushing
47:51
hard back on our wages and that's not a livable wage.
47:54
And, you know, and we give our state, well, it's strategically
47:57
entry level, you know, and the, the, the client goes, well, if
48:03
I, you know, if I can interject, I've been out of prison 2 years.
48:05
I served 22 years in, in, in, in prison and he said I got paid
48:12
$0.05 a day to work 8 hours. And he's like the fact that they
48:18
will give me a chance to work, He goes, I probably would have
48:20
taken $5.00 an hour, you know, at this he said, you know, I was
48:24
being paid $0.05 a day. And so, and I didn't even know.
48:27
It was an interesting stuff for me 'cause I didn't know that,
48:30
but it was just an interesting perspective.
48:31
And it's, you know, like in what I always say, you know, if there
48:35
is pushback on our wages, it's one step at a time, right?
48:38
We're called the first step for a reason.
48:40
We're not the 15th step. We are the first step.
48:43
And then there's more to go, right, that you that you need to
48:46
take. And the other thing about wages
48:48
is interesting. So the pandemic for us was
48:52
really interesting because we didn't close because our our
48:59
customers that we serve were considered basically essential
49:01
services. And so our average hourly wage
49:08
went up 50%. So it was $10 in 2019 and now
49:13
it's 1580. And that's for like basic these
49:16
these are, that's the lowest, you know, when you're walking
49:20
in. But a lot of that was because,
49:23
you know, remember when nobody could get anyone to work?
49:27
Well, we could. And so, but we were able to
49:30
leverage that for our clients because we could we could put
49:34
them to work and we did have them available.
49:36
And so that, that's a great stat for us as well.
49:40
You know, as I'm hearing your story, Kelly, something's
49:42
occurring to me that and you, you sort of shared this through
49:46
some of the anecdotes, is that the population that you're
49:50
serving your clients, as I love that you call them, these are
49:55
people who are so excited to work because in so many cases,
50:00
so much has been taken away from them for so long.
50:05
You know, I'm trying to figure out how to put this into words.
50:08
Like I love to work. I love my job.
50:10
I love being productive. I think I would love and
50:13
appreciate that on a whole other level if I hadn't had the
50:17
ability to do that in a really long time.
50:20
And I think that's what I'm hearing you describe from these
50:22
folks, is that they're even more excited than the average person
50:27
to have the opportunity to work because they've gone without it
50:31
for years. Yep, and and when and then when
50:34
they tried, when they came out reformed and said, I want to do
50:37
this, I want a better life for myself.
50:39
They were told no, no, no, no, you made a mistake.
50:41
You're sorry. You can never work you you made
50:44
a mistake. And so I mean, so think about it
50:47
like it's even more when, when they get here, it's, it's, it is
50:52
there's, I say, you know, they're desperate and then they
50:55
leave so grateful. And, and what's interesting is
50:57
when we talk about the dignity and the opportunity, this is,
51:00
this is another interesting story.
51:02
Because so as we've evolved and literally when we were founded,
51:07
it really was like, how do we help these individuals meet
51:11
their basic needs, right? It's individuals that are
51:13
homeless. And then why are they homeless?
51:15
Because once their housing subsidy runs out or gets
51:18
decreased or whatever, they don't have a job to support that
51:23
increased expense. And it's not that they don't
51:25
want a job, it's that no one will hireright.
51:27
And so they, so when I first started, it was like, well, you
51:34
know, gosh, we have to talk about how important a paycheck
51:36
is, regardless of how much you're paying, they need to eat,
51:39
you know, the paycheck is the most important part of this.
51:41
Like what would they do without a paycheck?
51:43
So, you know, I, like I said, I think it's always best for
51:46
clients to tell the story. So we went out and did some
51:48
quick clips about what does a job mean to you, right?
51:51
And I was completely expecting like a paycheck.
51:53
I need to eat a paycheck. I had to pay for my kids
51:55
childcare, a paycheck. I mean, not one client said a
51:59
paycheck and it was so beautiful.
52:02
And again, it was one of those things of gosh, why of course,
52:06
of course. But they said confidence,
52:07
dignity, hope, security, a way to take my life into my own
52:12
hands, my own plan, agency decision making, I mean, all of
52:17
these things. That was like, of course,
52:19
purpose. I mean, yeah.
52:20
And it's interesting. And now we actually regularly
52:23
ask that question and we have a bunch of montage videos on it.
52:25
But again, I, I went in with this perspective of, well, what
52:30
would I be thinking if I was in that situation?
52:31
Right, 'cause you don't know, 'cause you're not.
52:33
And I never will be, hopefully. I mean, at, at this point, I
52:36
don't think I'll be serving a lot of time in prison.
52:38
And I thought, well, they were gonna be like, why does I need
52:41
to buy food? But that, no, that's surprising.
52:48
And so we ended up changing our whole mission and everything on
52:50
that because that's really, it was interesting 'cause we
52:53
started out like our mission. And I, I do believe it's sad.
52:56
And you know, we've been in business since 2007, you know,
52:59
to end homelessness through work.
53:03
And then I realized like, well, you know, we're not really
53:05
ending homelessness, right? Like in general, societally,
53:08
we're not ending homelessness. But really our mission is to
53:11
restore dignity through employment so that these
53:16
individuals can attain achieve self-sufficiency on their own.
53:23
What I love about your story and the name of the organization,
53:26
first step is that it's clear that this is a hand up, right,
53:32
Not just a handout, which I'll say there are lots of people who
53:36
deserve a handout. You know that that need it.
53:40
You know, they're they're in a position in life where they need
53:42
a little help up and that's what you're doing here.
53:46
And so I think it's terrific. What, what are the what are the
53:49
growth goals from here like? What's it take for you to set up
53:52
in another geography? Interesting you'd ask about the
53:56
growth goals. We are actually having a retreat
53:58
off site with our entire board and our leadership team tomorrow
54:02
to talk about that. But in general, what it takes
54:06
for us to go to another geography is, you know, there's
54:10
like you could look, I guess 3 legged, whatever.
54:13
The first one is the light industrial staffing industry,
54:17
right? Like how saturated it is and
54:19
what, what is going to be our chances of being successful
54:23
there and and gaining some market share because without a
54:28
job, you know, the job is we are an employment agency period.
54:32
That's what we do. So that's obviously the most
54:34
important. The second is that we have the
54:40
populations that we're trying to serve, right, So that those
54:43
populations have to be there. And the third is the community
54:48
partnerships, right? A we need to be additive to the
54:53
solution in that community, not duplicative.
54:56
So we need other community partners to look at us as a as a
55:01
complement to the situation and, and challenge solving and all of
55:06
that, not like somebody else is already doing it.
55:08
And then also we we need to build up that trust and
55:12
credibility with all the other community based organizations
55:14
and nonprofits because that is where 95% of our clients come
55:18
from. And then on the flip side, we
55:20
refer our clients back out to them.
55:24
So we're all serving the same target population, but we refer
55:27
our clients out for whether they need housing or hygiene
55:30
assistance or food assistance or whatever that might be.
55:33
And so those three things have to exist in advance for us to be
55:38
able to consider launching. And we actually have a scorecard
55:42
that we use that was developed by A, A, A Farber fellow that we
55:47
had. But it is those three things are
55:50
the most important. But obviously, and the other I
55:52
should say too is we do also have to consider like labor laws
55:56
and stuff like that. You know, there are some states
55:58
where it's the workers comp is going to be much more expensive
56:01
and that we have to look at how we're going to balance that out
56:03
or employer benefits, whatever that looks like.
56:06
And so, but those are generally the three things that we will
56:09
look at in advance. Any locations that are on the
56:13
horizon that you can give voice to?
56:17
You know, I, I well not today only because that's kind of what
56:22
we're doing with our board tomorrow.
56:23
We're kind of we, our board has, we could, we used to be 3
56:28
different boards in three different locations and we
56:30
consolidated last year into one whole financial agency.
56:33
And so this is the first time we're meeting for them to kind
56:37
of direct what that looks like. And and you know, we're going to
56:40
have a 2 day discussion about what is growth, right?
56:42
Is growth more branches, is growth more clients where we
56:47
are? Is growth more revenue?
56:49
What does growth look like for us?
56:50
And you know, it could be a combination of all three, but
56:53
kind of having that facilitated 2 day discussion about what does
56:57
that look like. For first step, I can tell you
57:01
that we get calls on a daily basis and there are probably, I
57:06
mean just in the past week I saw four come through and two on our
57:09
website which was interesting about you know would we consider
57:13
opening locations. And, and those were coming from
57:19
the the municipalities or from employers or.
57:23
We had couple from well employers we are sometimes asked
57:27
to and and honestly with our some of our growth has been
57:30
through an existing like Nashville.
57:32
We opened with an employer in Dallas that was an employer that
57:36
we have a contract with. They have a national contract.
57:38
They asked us to go into that community.
57:39
We checked out all of the other things, but we also went in with
57:42
a contract, you know, and so the the request come in from
57:49
community partners, potential employers, local government.
57:52
I mean, in Orlando, it was the local government that recruited
57:56
us in and asked us to come and and open there and help.
58:01
And they're, they're a community that is really, really committed
58:06
to solving for homelessness in Orlando.
58:08
And so they, they thought that missing piece was employment and
58:13
brought us in. They've been a great community
58:14
to work with. So it's it's, it's different
58:16
everywhere you go, but a portion of all of those elements have to
58:20
be there. Yeah.
58:22
And you know, with a still a really tight labor market, we're
58:25
recording in October of 2024, you know, like you've mentioned
58:29
several times, you have access to a different pool of folks.
58:32
And so especially when companies are having trouble filling those
58:35
positions through other staffing methods, you guys come in and
58:39
say, hey, we got a whole bunch of people that you haven't
58:41
talked to yet. Yeah, and a lot of people see,
58:45
go ahead. Go ahead.
58:46
Go ahead, Kelly. There's a, you know, a lot of
58:50
people will point out like, well, the unemployment number is
58:53
so low and we're like, yeah, it is.
58:54
And that's great. But the one who are still
58:56
unemployed are the ones we're serving that 3% or 3.9% that's
59:01
so low and keeps on decreasing. Well, it's the individuals we're
59:04
serving that are falling in that number.
59:07
Yeah, who are? How would you describe the
59:10
employers that are the best fit for your programs?
59:16
Obviously the employers that really embrace the mission
59:20
because like I said, I mean, we're, we are dealing with
59:23
people who haven't worked in 10 years.
59:25
You don't know, like what it's worth to work in a modern
59:27
society. And so like I said, they are
59:28
gonna make mistakes, right? And when I say mistakes, you
59:32
know, we, they'll walk off the shift at 3:00 because the
59:35
supervisor said something they didn't like, you know, and so
59:37
they just leave. And like, we have to explain,
59:39
you can't just leave. You can call us the next day and
59:41
say this is not a good fit. Or, you know, we get it.
59:45
Everyone has kid problems whenever you, you, you can't be
59:48
at work, but you got to tell us in advance.
59:50
We know. And so employers who understand
59:52
that and are OK with us either coaching and reassigning that
59:56
person or being, letting us put someone else in it.
59:59
And, and most of our employers are like that.
1:00:02
But understanding, I mean, whether or not they, they chose
1:00:06
us because of the mission, it's understanding that the
1:00:10
populations that we're helping. Like because I think if you
1:00:13
don't, yeah, the margins can get tight and you can.
1:00:18
Get frustrated with that, you know, so I, so those would be
1:00:21
the best employers that, that understand that.
1:00:25
And then also, I mean that a lot of our employers love the other
1:00:29
benefits we provide because even though there's five other
1:00:33
staffing agencies in there, they're all doing the same job,
1:00:36
earning the same income, right? So there there's got to be a
1:00:40
challenge if that's the income you're earning and the other
1:00:42
benefits that we, the support services we provide to help our
1:00:46
team, our clients keep that job. I think they that has become
1:00:51
something increasingly valuable for some of our in fact one of
1:00:55
our customers came and sat in on a training a couple of weeks ago
1:00:59
just to like see how what we were doing and how we were
1:01:01
talking about it with the clients.
1:01:05
Kelly, I just have one more question for you before I ask.
1:01:08
I want to do 2 things for those listening today.
1:01:10
If you like today's content, please hit the like Share
1:01:12
Subscribe button on your favorite podcast app.
1:01:15
I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch
1:01:17
with you. Kelly, what would that be?
1:01:20
Sure, that would be via e-mail is usually the best and I can
1:01:24
spell it out for you. It's Kelly KELLIEB, as in
1:01:30
boy@firststepstaffing.com. Terrific.
1:01:35
Last question for you. I'd like to hear about a
1:01:38
particular challenge, whether personal or professional, that
1:01:41
you've overcome and some lessons that you learn coming through
1:01:44
the other side of that. OK, I think I'll go with a
1:01:50
personal one because it relates to a lot of what I was just
1:01:53
talking about. So my dad was a heroin addict
1:02:00
when I was growing up and he served total of 16 years in
1:02:05
prison for Robin Ebank. This is when I was all growing
1:02:08
up. And it was interesting because I
1:02:10
kind of made no one in my house had had a college degree.
1:02:13
So it was kind of hard for my mom, you know, she didn't have a
1:02:16
college degree at the time he was gone.
1:02:18
There were three kids. And so I made it my mission that
1:02:24
I will never have to have anybody support me.
1:02:27
I was, you know, 16 years old when I made that mission.
1:02:30
But truth be told, like I've done pretty well in charting my
1:02:35
path of always knowing. And this is what I got from it,
1:02:39
always knowing where I want to be in the next 5 years.
1:02:44
And so, you know, I knew I wanted to get educated enough
1:02:48
that would put me in a position where I would always have a job.
1:02:52
And I used to say, you know, in case my husband becomes a drug
1:02:55
addict and comes, you know, things like that, like in case
1:02:57
that happens. And then that has helped me, you
1:03:01
know, coming out of that personal growth moment
1:03:03
professionally, always assessing where I want to be in that next
1:03:08
five years has been so very helpful.
1:03:11
And sometimes it was in that same company in, in just a
1:03:16
different role or maybe in a leadership position, you know,
1:03:19
twice I was like, I think in the next 5 years I want to venture
1:03:22
out, you know, I think I want to.
1:03:23
And, and so it helps you, you really are subtly achieving that
1:03:28
goal every day when you know where you're headed.
1:03:32
And so I think that, you know, I started to think about that by
1:03:37
force, like like, or, or like by running away from something and
1:03:43
thinking, how do I not get put into that situation myself?
1:03:47
But it ended up being, you know, wisely something that I
1:03:51
personally use that has helped me for the past 25 years of my
1:03:54
career. Well, and I would assume that
1:03:59
the experience that you had growing up, your father, you
1:04:02
know, struggling with drugs and being in prison for so long,
1:04:07
gives you a different sense of compassion for the people that
1:04:10
you're helping because. You get through that and I lived
1:04:14
through and it's interesting because you know, and it's, it's
1:04:17
now it's years later and this is in the 80s and this happened.
1:04:19
But you know, I remember that when he came out like he could
1:04:22
not get a job at anywhere because he, it was a, he robbed
1:04:25
a bank. It was a felony.
1:04:27
And and so at one point we're like, because he's getting so
1:04:31
depressed at home and my mom worked and whatever and we were,
1:04:33
you know, kind of getting to be adult age.
1:04:35
And so it's like, well, just go volunteer at the zoo.
1:04:38
And do you know, he could not volunteer at the zoo because he
1:04:41
had a felony conviction. I mean, really.
1:04:44
And and that did always stick with me.
1:04:46
And it's interesting. Like I used to say it for when
1:04:48
when I was younger and going through it, I was like, oh, this
1:04:50
is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna start a house where,
1:04:53
you know, limited people can come in, but then they can
1:04:55
because I kind of, I didn't, I didn't fully consume the not
1:05:00
being able to get a job until this.
1:05:02
And it is absolutely, it did appeal to me when talking to and
1:05:06
interviewing for this role about who they're helping and how
1:05:09
they're doing it. And it's even more interesting
1:05:12
seeing 3540 years later, the same challenges.
1:05:19
Well, Kelly, I want to be the first one to thank you for
1:05:21
sharing both your time and your story with us today.
1:05:24
I really appreciate it and I appreciate your mission.
1:05:27
Thank you so much for having me, it was a great time.
1:05:30
Folks, that's a wrap on another. Likewise, that's a wrap on
1:05:34
another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
1:05:36
Thanks for learning with us today.