Latest / Six-Figure Chicks / Episode 18: Building a Thriving Business Without Losing Yourself with Lily Brezler
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hey there, it's Mel C, and this is the Six Figure Chicks Podcast. Quick, powerful conversations with women making six figures and beyond. It's a real talk, big wins, and no fluff. Just 15 minutes to get inspired and get you on the go. Together we rise, together we change lives. Hey there, welcome back to another episode of Six Figure Chicks. And I'm so delighted I am actually joined by a fellow Six Figure Chicks author from Scottsdown Volume Two, Lily Bresler. Thank you so much for joining us. speaker-1: You're welcome. Thank you for having me. speaker-0: Of course. Okay. So let the audience know a little bit about your awesomeness. speaker-1: ⁓ thank you. So ⁓ my name is Lily Bresler with Strategic Staffing Associates. ⁓ I help small to mid-sized businesses to grow by connecting them with exceptional talent. And I've been doing this for on and off for about fifteen years. I work with roles for anything from sales to the C suite, but my passion is building teams ⁓ that thrive by finding that exceptional talent to join their team. And I really look at hard skills, soft skills. along with culture fits in order to make that ⁓ placement last. speaker-0: That's awesome. I know how challenging it can be to find quality people. So we ⁓ live and breathe by, delegate that to other people. speaker-1: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yes. I love to partner with with hiring leaders, so speaker-0: Yeah, I mean, and we we all deserve that extra help. So before we get started and kind of like the business side, let's give something ⁓ fun that not a lot of people know about you. speaker-1: So one thing is that I'm a singer. Some people may know it, but ⁓ I do love to sing. I was in a band many years ago. ⁓ right now I sing in the Veritas band at my church. So we are on mics and we have a great time worshiping. speaker-0: ⁓ that's awesome. Well, you heard it here first, so your your side gig could be singing at some club. So watch out. speaker-1: Yep. Maybe someday. speaker-0: ⁓ that's great. Okay. So ⁓ I always talk about like with business and you know, or personal, there's always roadblocks that we face. So kind of what's been a roadblock or challenge that you faced in your business? speaker-1: So one thing, I come from a corporate recruiting background, and a defining challenge that I faced is finding my internal voice, really allowing my authentic self. Sometimes it's hard when you're working in an ultra conservative working environment. And so I struggled with that, but as I've gotten a little bit older and a little more experienced and since starting my own staffing business. I've realized that that really helps me to be my authentic self because it allows me to connect with people, it puts people's guards down, it helps me to build those relationships faster. And in the end, it's really helped my business to be more successful. speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. It's a trust factor, right? Like people come to you not because of your product or service, but because of you. speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I do need to do the work, but getting them in the door and and making them trust is really important. speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. And I mean, like, so we I mentioned earlier that you're in one of the six figure chicks books, one of our most recent ⁓ books, Scot Snow Volume Two, where you did let the walls down. ⁓ you were probably as, you know, authentic and real as you have been nowhere else, because this is like, okay, we're letting it all out. what we do sometimes in the books is like Kind of what would you tell your younger self? So thinking back on that, what would be like one piece of advice that you would give to your younger self? speaker-1: probably tell myself that n to give yourself more grace and you know going back to that being authentic piece, you know, allowing people to get to know you. one thing that I've learned is listening more than I talk. I really as a recruiter, we ask a lot of questions and ⁓ I'm a very curious person. So it's always more fun to listen to people's stories and Hear what got them to this point in their career and see, you know, how I can help them to take that next step. speaker-0: Mm, I love that. So like thinking back on when you're talking to clients, ⁓ what's like one thing that you can give them to kind of stand out of out of the other hundred other companies people may be wanting to work for? speaker-1: I would that's a great question. I would say really take an interest in your hiring process. My most successful placements have been with hiring leaders that understand and take the time for the hiring process, although I'll do a lot of the heavy lifting for them and I cr have processes in place that streamline it so that you know it is a time, it can be a time consuming thing that takes them away from their duties. So I like to serve as a partner for them. And I found that when hiring leaders are engaged, we're doing our weekly check-ins, they're getting feedback to me quickly on candidate submittals, that the process flows much more smoothly. The other piece I would say is I like I said, I love building teams. So w really digging in with me in our initial consult, and as the client and I get to know each other better, really understanding the culture. The environment, the expectations, that goes a long way. speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. So when you are working with your clients, like what's the timeline on an average, you know, great hire that you can give? speaker-1: ⁓ it varies. It can be anywhere from so I do sales to the C suite. So a leadership role will take a little bit longer, a little bit longer process. We set those ⁓ boundaries and everything in the beginning of our hiring process. So there are no surprises. However, you know, we're dealing with people, so there's always surprises. ⁓ mostly good surprises, but I would say, you know, just making sure that we set it up ahead of time and ⁓ get that understanding that, you know, we're gonna get that right person in place. speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. And it I love how you talk a lot about communication, having the meetings with your clients, and and that is so important to keep everyone in the loop with what's going on. speaker-1: Yeah, it's it's important. And then knowing who the what the interview process will be with the hiring leaders, who's gonna be involved in that interview process? speaker-0: Are you involved with them in the interview process or do you kind of take a backseat? speaker-1: I do the initial screen and then I I hand it over to sometimes some of my clients have internal recruiters that I partner with. Oftentimes I work with small to mid-sized businesses that do not have their own recruiters. So I I'm as involved as they will allow me to be. You know, I'm always there for advice. I'm always there to walk them through interview processes. Some clients have more experience than others in hiring, so I'm happy to help coach hiring leaders and help them. you know, to prepare for the entire process. But usually I work with ⁓ leaders that ⁓ have had experience in hiring, but I will help for sure. speaker-0: Yeah. And that's that's the great part. Like what I'm getting from, you know, what you've talked about is like, gosh, we don't have to do it all by ourselves as business owners. We can ask for help. We can hire extra experts in that field to do parts of our business without having to really bring on a full-time person just for XYZ projects or tasks. speaker-1: Absolutely. I mean it's an investment, but it's an investment in your team. And I have fifteen plus expi years of experience in hiring in corporate. And now that I've run o founded and operated my own business for a little bit over three years now, ⁓ I ha I've had even more experience ⁓ delving in and and and working through that entire process. speaker-0: Yeah, I love it. And being able to just give people back time and just assurance that you're gonna be there to help guide them through the whole process, just make it easier on them. And you know, just because we own businesses does not mean that we know how to do things like finding the right candidates. And I mean, I know I've gone through a handful of ⁓ assistants or bookkeepers, just trying to find the right one that's for me. Mm-hmm. speaker-1: Yeah, and it's it needs to be a match. I mean, and I work on both sides. I try to make I I call myself the corporate matchmaker. I try to make sure that I have that great match between the candidate and the client. And everyone's happy. And and then I'm happy when I make that fit. And it's the it makes me even more happy when I have repeat clients and those candidates that stick for years and years and years and will call me and say, ⁓ I'm still here, or they'll call me. If they're you know, they shift roles or, you know, get laid off in any way, shape or form like I have in my career. We've all been, ⁓ at some point in reduction of forces and all of those things. So yeah, I still need to learn the part of asking for help in my visit. ⁓ At times. At times. speaker-0: Like it's never ending because as your business grows, so does your level of support that you need. ⁓ because when we start our businesses, we usually wear all the hats. Yes. And then we we do have to constantly remind ourselves, it's okay to ask for help. Yeah. speaker-1: Absolutely. I I've been asking. I'm like, Mal, help me. Help me. speaker-0: Over here. Yeah. So you heard it here first. Like if you're a business owner, you know, that you have some open seats, you're having trouble finding hiring qualified individuals. You're tired of interviewing 50 people and getting hundreds of resumes. Like I know how it is, you just get stockpiled with every single person, no matter what. Yeah. speaker-1: I weed through those fairly quickly through, you know, different forms of technology. And I have processes in place that I remember one of my coworkers would say, How are you hiring these people so quickly? I hired a a leadership team at one of the ⁓ companies that I worked with. And ⁓ it's just about really digging in deep and and connecting and and listening. Listening is a big thing. speaker-0: Mm, yes. So definitely connect with Lily if you'd like to know more. Like if you're in a pinch, stop. Like just ask for help. The worst thing somebody can do is tell you no, which she won't do. But I always like saying that of like ask for whatever you want knowledge on. ⁓ yeah, right. So okay, and just a few minutes left on the episode. Let's turn it up a little bit. and ⁓ share with the listeners what is your favorite song? Like maybe you get in a pickle of like, ⁓ I'm so stressed or I have so much to do, let's turn it on and get back in the mood. speaker-1: So one of my favorite songs, it's an older one, but it's ⁓ it's called Put Your Hands Up by McLamore. Uh-huh. There's a line in it that goes, And the ceiling can hold us. And the ceiling can hold us. A little bit of my singing. But ⁓ I love that. It just gets me pumped up before I'm making sales calls or before an important meeting. You know, oftentimes we're on Zoom. I do a lot of in-person calls as well. I have an office in Fountain Hills. So ⁓ I just like to try to get myself a little a little energetic so that a main one of my values is having fun. So we want to have fun while we're doing this, right? speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. And I really do un know that like the music can really have an effect on us of and then outwardly to the people that we're talking to, they're like, ⁓ my gosh, Lily, she's always in a great mood. I wanna be around her. I wanna do business with her. speaker-1: I try, I try. speaker-0: I love it. Okay. So before we wrap it up, how can people find you online? What's the best way? You know, we will share it in the show notes, but ⁓ for our listeners now. speaker-1: So best way to probably reach me would be LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn a lot. That's my primary social platform. ⁓ so just under my first and last name, Lily Bresler. And then ⁓ Instagram. I do have a strategic staffing associates ⁓ Instagram page, and then I have my other page, which is Lily Brez. I utilize both of those, Facebook, ⁓ my phone number, which is ⁓ Seven one seven nine nine one five eight five three. I still have my Pennsylvania seven one seven, even though I'm in Scottsdale, Arizona. ⁓ I'll never give that up. And I my office is located in Fountain Hills, right beside the Chamber of Commerce. It's ⁓ one three, two three five North River Day River Drive, and I'm in Lucky Suite number seven. speaker-0: Yeah. So if you're in Fountain Hills, you know where the chambers at. You know where Betsy Lavoie and her crew are at. So she's right next door. speaker-1: Yeah. And Christian and all the girls. speaker-0: Yes, all the six for your chicks. ⁓ you're just like me. I have an eight ⁓ eight number still from Hawaii. Yeah. And I'm like, I can't ever get that out. speaker-1: No, it's a conversation piece, you know? Yeah. Everybody has their numbers from everywhere across the country, so speaker-0: Yeah, that or, you know, they think I'm spam. speaker-1: That's true. That's true. We do need to avoid that. speaker-0: Okay, well, you heard it here first. ⁓ Lily even shared some of her singing talents. ⁓ go check her out at the church. And thank you so much, Lily, for being on. speaker-1: Thank you, Mel. I appreciate you so much. speaker-0: Yes, right back at you. And ⁓ please connect with Lily, like you know, even if you don't have a staffing need, she's an amazing resource and always a positive being to be ⁓ surrounded by. So speaker-1: Thank you. You too. Yeah. Thank you, Mel. All right, I'll see you soon. speaker-0: Okay, thank you so much. So together we rise, together we change lives. speaker-1: Nives, yes.