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Carol Ann Wentworth · Calm Under Fire

• Col. John Boggs: Welcome to Calm Under Fire. I'm Colonel John Boggs, president of Fortitude Consulting, an executive leadership development and coaching firm. And today we have with us Carol Ann Wentworth. Carol Ann has spent more than three decades helping organizations make some of their most important decisions. Who to trust, who to hire, and who to place in leadership roles. As CEO of Wentworth Executive Recruiting, Her work goes beyond resumes and roles. It's about relationships, judgment, and seeing potential before it's fully proven. Today, we're talking about leadership under pressure, especially when decisions involve people, trust, and long-term impact. Carol Ann, it is such an honor to have you here today. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: ⁓ John, thank you kindly. I'm excited to be here and thank you for that nice introduction. I think both of us, when we connected, we simply love what we do and I like supporting people and really shining their light on their greatness. So it's nice to be here. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Well, thank you. Do you mind if we jump right into it then? Okay. Okay. Well, Carolyn, you've helped organizations make critical hiring decisions for decades. When did you first feel the weight of how much those decisions matter? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Nope, I'm ready. ⁓ I can honestly say, John, from the young age of 26, when I launched my first startup back in the Midwest, ⁓ I had set an intention to work with the number one person in the world at that time in my search work, which happened to be in the modeling and talent industry. And I had ⁓ set a goal and visualized working with Eileen Ford. Col. John Boggs: ⁓ Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: the Ford agency out of New York City. And why I say that is she was very well known in the industry, not only running a very ⁓ tight ship, tight business, but you, she was really like a kernel in modeling. I'm going to say it this way. So people listening will truly understand. She set expectations. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Okay. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: you followed what she ⁓ said or you didn't work with her. And so when she had a Midwest model search, and this is where the weight of this, and I'll bring it into today's reality in a few minutes, ⁓ it was ⁓ five states, 500 girls, five finalists, and three of them came from my agency. So you can imagine getting a call Col. John Boggs: Mmm. Mm-hmm. Whoa. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: from the number one person in the world in this vertical of search saying, Carol Ann, I want to meet you. You have an eye for talent. The way you prepared your talent and submitted them, the way you represented them is different. And so when I remember even getting that phone call at my office that night, and this is back in the Midwest, and I had just launched my firm and I set a goal. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: very clear intention in six months I wanted to work with her because I knew I could learn from her. And boy did I ever John, it was the best 10 year run and I placed talent all over the world with her. And she always said, anytime you see someone I should see, send them over. So I realized the magnitude in that moment that she gave me an opportunity to represent her. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And that was big. And so I took it not only very seriously, anyone that I represented, I put them through a real intense training course so that they, if they went over to Italy, they spoke enough Italian. Because you can imagine coming out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where I had my search firm, and you have parents coming to me saying, Caroline, I trust my daughter with you. Col. John Boggs: Whoa. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: to go to Milan and work the runway shows at 18 years old. What does that look like? And so the weight of it was big. And the people that I represent were of integrity. They were authentic. You know, couldn't smoke, drink or do drugs. And I did drug tests back then because it was my name and it was Eileen Ford's name. So that is where I've always been about if someone believes in me, Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: to you to the highest degree of integrity. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Wow. Well, talk about going the extra steps. ⁓ my goodness. Holy cow. Well, what makes hiring at the senior level different from other kinds of decision-making positions? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Sure. So bringing in today's ⁓ conversation where I've launched my own firm 11 years ago here in San Francisco Bay Area. And I am so fortunate to work with five steady clients. And one happens to be a global solar company. And I started with them. And this gentleman ⁓ has been such a mentor to me because he's had several phenomenal startups that he had taken public. He's done very well. And then he started this solar company 12 years ago, and I met him 11 years ago. And what was interesting is one of his first searches was for AC Level, and it was for their chief marketing officer. And so we went down there and we sat with him. I wanted to meet the people this person was going to be working with so I could understand the personalities. I took the download from the CEO owner and then as I'm observing, he was in the growth mode to build an international conversation. So the weight of that is pretty serious. You don't just send in anybody. And so we literally put a strategy together asking, you know, cause I want to honor their relationships they have built in the Bay area. Cause it's a very small world in that space. And so I said, do you want me to go into your competitors? And he said, actually, no. He said, there's two of them that I know very well and they're my friends. Col. John Boggs: Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And we've always promised not to steal from one another. So I go, thank you. And then, then I said, can I go into this vertical a little bit in manufacturing that might've had some experience in renewable energy, but maybe they weren't directly from the exact same vertical of business, right? So I take it very, very serious and how it's different is when I find the people and I do my job well, Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: it will give them the competitive edge. And it just so happened that this gentleman that I did secure happened to be out of one of the top five similar companies. And I had reached out through my network to find out if they happened to know through conversations, if there was someone that was open to possibilities. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And that's how I ended up having a conversation with this person. And it all worked out. But I take it very seriously, John, because at the end of the day, I'm building relationships. Col. John Boggs: Hmm. Exactly. Wow. So great recruiting requires seeing the potential. And we talked about that right up in the introduction, seeing the potential, not just the performance. So how do you recognize a leadership? How do you recognize that? How do you see that leadership under the surface? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I like candidates to tell me stories about their career journey or if they've had a break in their career. I study their resume and I've done this long enough to know that let's say for example, someone's around the 50 to 60 year age range and you see a gap. You might see a two year gap in there. And the first thing I would ask you John is, John, tell me about, did you have to take care of your parents? Or did you go through a divorce? Or did you have a situation that showed up that you had to shift the narrative? And you'd be amazed at how many people, when I ask that, because I'm not judging them, I just want to know their truth and authenticity. And when I hear that they've taken care of a parent, that gives me... actually I'll give them five stars for that because that's about integrity, dedication, compassion, and that's gonna show up in their leadership style. It always does. And we actually just placed ⁓ a C-level person with a very big search, ⁓ a chief estimator for one of our largest commercial builders, and he starts next week. Col. John Boggs: Mm, yes it does. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: But during this search, I had interviewed several people and one particular gentleman had taken time off to take care of his father. And it was a wonderful conversation and he did make it to the interview process and he did have some ⁓ good conversations. But as it turned out, this other person happened to be stronger than what they needed. So I always tell people don't be afraid. Col. John Boggs: ⁓ Hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Because today, all my clients want authenticity. They want to see if you've done that because that's how you're, if I showed up in that position, that is how I'm going to treat the team. That is how I'm going to translate to the clients, right? You don't, I think today, the misnomer is you're one person at work and you're one person at home. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I want to see the whole package show up, and that's what I want to represent. Col. John Boggs: Yes. Wow, that's excellent. In my work, it's very similar because I work with senior leaders and they, ⁓ as I tell them, you have a professional life, you have a personal life. Okay, let's get past that. You have one life, God gave you one. So let's, I need to know you from soup to nuts. So that's, yeah, yeah, that's how we start. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I love, love that John. Col. John Boggs: I gotta know you from soup to nuts, beginning to end. There is no in the middle. So what do leaders often miss when they're evaluating people under pressure? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I would probably say because they are under pressure and they maybe are more focused on deadlines or what the board wants or meeting certain expectations, they might miss the human element of taking that pause. Like, it's okay, just take a pause and Col. John Boggs: ⁓ uh-huh. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: give yourself a break, because obviously you're in that leadership position because you're good at what you do. But we all have a bad hair day sometimes. And if a resume lands in front of you or a CV, you're considering, and maybe it's your off day and you don't see what that person is really about, you might miss the best candidate you could ever bring on to your team. So a lot of times, And I can pick up on it when I'm working with my clients. If they're having that off day or they're under a lot of pressure, I'll say to them, ⁓ Ashley, do you want to talk tomorrow? Is tomorrow a better time? Because she knows I can sense it and I feel it. I just don't want to have a judgment made on a candidate that I have vetted very deeply and I will not submit to you unless they're good. You know, I'm not going to waste your time. And so I want to also honor my client's day, whatever that is. And we've all been there. A few weeks ago, if we would have tried to have this conversation, I probably would have said, John, I'm ready to pack up and I want to go live in a tree house. Because I am done. The world is crazy. People are crazy. And I just, don't even get it. But it was interesting because this Col. John Boggs: ⁓ huh. ⁓ huh. Yeah. ⁓ my- Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: there was a few things that happened a couple of weeks ago that I had to take the pause. I had to step back and I knew I wouldn't be that good for my clients and my feedback or candidates. So I just didn't book anything, you know, that day because I knew my energy was off and it wouldn't have served anybody. So I think for leadership, it's important to catch yourself and know if you have those moments and take the breath because it's gonna be there in an hour or two, right? Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, at the executive level, hiring gets, well, like, it's about trust. Ultimately, it comes down to trust, people clearly, they trust you. So how do you think about trust when the information is always incomplete? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Perfect. If I do my search well, meaning we run a nine step process to our search program. And so it's not about just sending in resumes, John, to you. It's about looking at all social media. It's looking about any newspaper articles about the person that might be online. It's about when I check their references, asking very good questions. ⁓ I really become the brand ambassador for my clients and so they do have a high trust factor with me and I just my intention is always to deliver the best candidates that are available for their search right and truly if I do my My process well, I have been very fortunate to truly deliver the best people and then the retention is there and they stick. And that's why my clients keep coming back to me because on an average, a person will stay two years up to 10 years. I'd say they hover right around five, six. So it's a real good investment for my client. Col. John Boggs: Mm-mm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: because they know I've done my due diligence, right? Col. John Boggs: You know, I need to be careful when I tell this story here. ⁓ I worked with an organization that, well a couple, one was ⁓ they tended to hire people that they knew from someplace else. In my work I tell folks one of the greatest mistakes senior leaders make is friendship. I call it the cardinal sins and the first cardinal sin is is you're hiring friends and then you find out that friend is not suited for that particular position, ⁓ boy, you are stuck. And now you don't know what to do, so you move them over, you give them another title, or you let them keep the title and the position that they're in, they make another title, ⁓ it's just a mess. It's just a mess. Have you seen that? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I've actually been brought in. Now this happened to, I don't know, probably about five, six years ago with a particular company here. Totally that happened. And they actually brought me in because I didn't know how to fire the person or move them around. And so I did a confidential search to help replace that person. And they ended up with a nice, they ended up moving them out with a severance package. just to make it work. But no, is a lot why my clients bring me in because I can be that person. ⁓ First of all, it's very confidential on how I go about what I do. And then when they have to let that person down, the truth is, as you said, it shouldn't have been done in the first place. I have seen and read more stories on when you bring someone in as a partner that you think because they've been your friend. That's the answer. I always like to offer to my clients, let's look at possibilities. Let's go ahead and do a search and see what that the other people might look like for you. Cause they're going to bring in a whole new fresh set of ideas and new eyes to that marketing conversation or financial CFO conversation or whatever that may be. Now, sometimes it may work and then it's wonderful if it does. But I think if you're looking at the long game, I think it's better to look at more possibilities is what I have found. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ gosh. Gosh. And I can think of one other story, and I'll stop with my stories here, of a person who was brought up ⁓ handpicked to be the next CEO of this company. And they had a global footprint. And he was handpicked. And Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: just like you said. Please. Col. John Boggs: I mean leapfrogged over a number of people. He just leapfrogged right over them all. And he got there and immediately there were, well, I'll sum it this way. He had more lawsuits against him in record time. I mean, from harassment to the ladies were getting him on harassment. The guys were getting him on hostile work environment. It was just every which direction it was coming at him. And I had to ask the CEO, I was asked, hey, could you come help this organization out? And it was a friend and it was a friend. So I said, yes. And I don't normally do that. I'm very picky with who I work with, but it was a for friend. I went in and ⁓ my gosh. And I had to stop and I had to ask the CEO, what caused you? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Y-yes. Col. John Boggs: bring this person up. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: There you go. Col. John Boggs: And the response was illuminating. Well, he had the best sales record in the company. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: but not the leadership. Yeah. Col. John Boggs: Wow. No leadership. great. I mean, he was good at what he did at the level he did it. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: else. Bingo. There you go. Yeah. Col. John Boggs: But now you made him a fish out of water and this was just not gonna work. Well, it didn't work, but at any rate, that's, wow. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Well, and you know, another piece, John, thank you for that story, because you see that, you see it where, again, no judgment on the CEO part, but what ends up happening when you get a person out of water like that, then their ego leads usually the conversation. They're now all of a sudden in a position. They were like, wow, I didn't train for this, or again, didn't have the experience. A good salesperson is a blessing. Let them stay there because when you take them out into the administrative or try to do leadership, actually they don't want to do that. They just want to be out there meeting people and doing what they love. Maybe make them that chief salesperson or something. But ⁓ I find then that ego then becomes the driving point when people are out of their comfort zone. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: because they want to show up and feel like, ⁓ I've got this new title. I'm really good. Although they've got the, ⁓ what do you call that? The imposter syndrome going right. And then it'll collapse. It'll always collapse. I think there again, that's where authenticity runs deep with me and integrity. Because I think if people really know Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: their craft or their skill or their lane they're in and let the light shine on that, you know, and that can be promoted up. Then it works. You know that, my goodness, in doing what you did for your whole career, you could see it in the people that were passionate about Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Yes? Yes? Mm-hmm. ⁓ Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: their contribution, their values, right? Col. John Boggs: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You talked about taking the pause, slowing down. ⁓ How does slowing down help leaders make better decisions when everything feels urgent? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Well, that's, wow, that is a good one. You know what makes it feel urgent? And I, because I experienced this a few years ago when we were really humming along in 2022 and during COVID. And are you familiar with the vagus nerve that we all have? Yes. And I really did not know how I let that... Col. John Boggs: Yes, we all have. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: control me at times. And it was when I felt we at any given time were running 10 to 12 searches every 60 days out of this office, this desk. And then someone would hear about us and we'd be brought in for a special assignment. And we did a couple Uber big ones with a billion dollar real estate development team that wanted us to do some succession plans. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And I knew I could, and I said yes. So I added that to my pile. So where I'm going with this is that it wasn't about money that drove me. It really was about a friend that referred me in, and I gave my word, and I knew I could do it. But now all of a sudden, my vagus nerve down the backside of my head neck here on the left side Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I found myself having like ⁓ onset of stroke, fight effects. And I would think, ⁓ it's just because I'm sitting in the desk, I got to get up and move and exercise. I'll go walk the dog. I'll stretch. Then I'd be back in the chair. But I was putting in 12, 14 hour days and not thinking much of it. And it really took a scare for me at the end of that year. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. ⁓ my. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: when I was in my kitchen with my son, who's a health and fitness person who knows the body well. And I did have an onset of a stroke ⁓ two days after Christmas and ended up in the hospital, more in general, being hooked up to everything. And I don't smoke, drink, do drugs. It's not religious. It's just, I like feeling healthy. But I had burnout. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: my vagus nerve so bad that ⁓ it was a wake-up call. It was like, you know, I'm going to take just the searches that I align with. And that's where I took the pause, getting back to that question, John, is that will it matter in five hours if you take a half hour to do some deep breath work at your desk? Col. John Boggs: Mmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Will it matter? If you just be present for an hour, you're going to get more mileage out of your body. Cause I can speak truly from experience. And, and you know what? We're so bombarded today with information that for me, I personally created that situation. I personally thought when I got Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: received 25 emails on one conversation I needed to answer now, get text messages now, LinkedIn messages now. When I ended up telling my client what had happened at the end of that year, they're like, Carol Ann, did I put that pressure on you? And I said, no, actually you didn't, but I didn't wanna let you down. And they go, slow down, we got this. Col. John Boggs: Oof. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And it was just, it was interesting because I think what happened for me anyway, my experience, John, is when I give my word, I will deliver. But at that time it was at all costs. And I honestly didn't understand inflammation in the body, which is also a pressure on your vagus nerve. And inflammation comes from simple, like our son pointed it out when this happened, because when the doctor said, Col. John Boggs: Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Carol Anne, you're under too much stress and you don't eat enough nutrients. Because I was hardly eating, I would drink my protein drinks and my matcha and cacao and water. But I forgot to have protein and I was lacking nutrients. And that's what also hurt me. And so now I just look at it so differently, John. I set priorities, timelines and deadlines. Col. John Boggs: Ha ha. Yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: When I take a pause, like I did a few weeks ago, and actually I took like two hours away from the desk, and I baked some cookies. Because that always brings me joy. I needed a good chocolate chip cookie, and I told my husband, I'm just gonna bake right now. And he looked at me, he's like, oh, one of those days. And I said, And then I got back in and, you know, and it was fine and everything worked out, but. Col. John Boggs: Hahaha! No. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I think today we just have so much pressure that we put on ourselves and then we get it from social medias and we get it from, you know, when we came up the way, I miss not, you know, you had a day to process something and deliver it the next day for a client, 10 years ago, five years ago, but now it's very, Col. John Boggs: Yeah. Well, Carolyn, what has what has working so closely with leaders and candidates taught you about leadership itself? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Interesting. So. The leaders I've worked with and work with today, I feel honored and humbled, John, because they've given me the gift of their time. And I learned from them, every CEO that I've worked with has given me wisdom from a viewpoint that they've been at it longer. And so it's It's quite interesting. My two biggest clients who I just have the greatest respect for took me under their wings 11 years ago. And I mean, I had a good track record in search and placement and all, but I did not know long string inverters, you know? And the client at the time... So he said, how do you recruit all these great engineers? Because I actually had found one out of Apple that I was able to bring into his company, who's the chief engineer there today, and he's been there eight years. I said to him back when I was recruiting this gentleman, I said, well, I just tell them that ⁓ you have a company that connects solar panels and inverters, and they talk to each other on top of the roofs. And so if you're an engineer and you think that'd be fun and the engineers would just laugh and have fun with me because I would say to them, Mr. Engineer, I have no idea how to build what you do. But I look at your background and it's pretty impressive. Would you be open to having a conversation with my client? They're growing a global solar company and I think you'd be a great fit. Col. John Boggs: Yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And every time the engineers would say, I'd love to, you're refreshing, you're different. Because I didn't try to act like I knew what they were talking about. And so my client, he always calls me his muse because he said, I don't know how you do it, but you have brought me the best people. And we were able to help his company go public a couple of years ago. And it was an honor. And so for me, Col. John Boggs: Ha ⁓ my. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I, and then of course, and I make, I say it humorously, but I studied, I literally said, okay, send me everything on your company so I can read and get up to speed. could talk intelligently, but I would not try to be an engineer because that's not my field. I am good at connecting people. That is what I know. And then my other gentleman who's the builder, he does beautiful office TIs in the Bay area. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: and at improvements. And they had actually secured when the Warriors Stadium was being built with the team we built together, they secured the 16 luxury offices and skyboxes for the Warriors Stadium, which was a huge piece of business for them. And I just remember hearing that they landed that. was so. Col. John Boggs: Yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: happy and proud because several of the people I placed worked on that project. And so he believed in me because he liked my enthusiasm and my approach to how I dealt with people. And so what I learned from him, literally, he helped me get up to speed on understanding everything about tenant improvement, on structural building, on seismic upgrades, know, historic restoration. Col. John Boggs: Thank you. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And it was because he gave me that opportunity and belief. I worked 10 times harder than any other recruiter he said he ever worked with. And it was because I genuinely was so grateful. You know, I did grow up in the building industry and it's why I chose commercial building. My father was a custom home builder. So I love working with the electricians and the vendors and the Col. John Boggs: ⁓ Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Sheetrock and because they're solid years people and I knew I could, I loved hearing their stories. And then you take that to a level of building skyscrapers and beautiful. It's a similar conversation, just a different level of building, if that makes sense. Col. John Boggs: Yes. Yes, yes it does. Yes it does. Yes it does. Wow. Okay, when leaders are making decisions about people, their roles, the teams, the futures, what do they need to remember most? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: to look at it as a real human interaction and not a transaction. The human element over the last, I would say five years, especially with COVID, what that did to a lot of the psyches of people, meaning ⁓ all of a sudden your top brass, were working from home and you didn't have that day-to-day energy and that day-to-day connection, you tended to lose that human element. And so I would say ⁓ for the C-level employee to step back and look at what your employer or your boss or the CEO What skin in the game does he have to have you there? Because anytime a person has a business and they create that environment for the employees to come into, it has to be a win-win, I think, energy balance, conversation, peer kind of feeling, and then it works beautifully. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: But if a C-level person comes in with ego and you have the CEO who has put his blood, sweat, and tears into that company to build a billion dollar company, I want to make sure the people I place at that level truly understand the opportunity that is given. Now, it doesn't diminish Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: what the C level person is bringing to the table and the values that they're bringing. Because again, my clients are exceptional, they really are, because they do take all of this into consideration. But I really become the bridge for both parties. So I can say to a candidate, hey, your ego's a little strong there. I would interview this way, because if you lead with all these, I'm this great person and I have X, Y, Z, blah, blah. It's not going to sit well. The client wants to hear, hey, John, I look forward to working alongside of you. I see what you have built. And I think I, I feel confident I can contribute this to you, you know, and, then, then it just works. I actually received the nicest Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: message the other day out of the blue from one of a sea level I placed at the global solar client in Silicon Valley. He had seen one of my posts and he wrote me the most lovely message. He's been there six years now and he just said, Carol Ann, you have a gift. You really, you led me with such good wisdom and I see that you're sharing it, you know, with others. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: you know, keep at it girl, you know, it was just sweet. But it's what you and I both know as leaders, right? I mean, when you lead with that level of integrity and authenticity and you bring that into a company and it's needed so much today, with just everything we've been through. I think people need to get grounded in their Col. John Boggs: Hmm? Mm-hmm. Yes, it is. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: in their mind, body, soul, as I teach and talk about, you know, it's a whole alignment that makes it work, I think, or I've seen. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Wow, Carol Ann, thank you. For organizations and leaders facing critical hiring decisions and wanting to get, and they want to get them right, what's the best way for them to connect with you? And let me stop here and ask you to do two things for me. One, can you tell us about your book? And two, can you tell us a little bit about your organization and how people can connect with you? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Okay. ⁓ thank you so very much. ⁓ The best way to find me is on LinkedIn and it's at Carol Ann Wentworth. And our website is wentworthexecutiverecruiting.co.co and ⁓ I do get back to people. It may take me a few days because it's my husband and I that run our firm. and I'm very high touch, so I will get back to you. And then ⁓ our book, A Mindful Career, was actually created. ⁓ My husband, who's an award-winning writer, would hear me interview people, and sometimes I'd take up to two hours. And then he said I needed to write a book, and I said, okay, you have to help me, because when do I have time? And so... We wrote the book a couple years ago, we're actually right now upgrading it currently. We wrote about AI five years ago, led with it in our book, but boy has that changed in what's happened. So he's been updating that. But our book can be found on Amazon, A Mindful Career by Carol Ann and Eric Wentworth on Amazon. Col. John Boggs: Yes, it has. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: If I may add the one last piece, and that is we're so excited here in ⁓ May, we're going to be launching a course, a six week online course called Mindful Career Mastery, Unlocking the Code, Mind, Body, Soul. And it's really 35 years of my work, John, that placing thousands of candidates, hearing stories, actually doing the work, know, coaching people along the way. ⁓ But I really wanna get granular with it. And when I say that, it's really about understanding the power of the mindset and not listening to the monkey mind, which we all know chatters away every day. Col. John Boggs: ⁓ Yep. Every day. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: and swings around in the brain as I make humor with it. And then body, that our health is our wealth, that there is no substitute for taking care of yourself along the way. That's why the pause to me is so important. And I think I had to have the wake up call to speak from it, from experience, right? And then soul, spirit, Col. John Boggs: Yes. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: That really is your passion. It's your calling. How do you show up for that? How do you find it? Right? And so ⁓ I spent the last two years writing the program. And I must say, I'm very excited about helping the people that right now are going through a transition that we've never seen before in life. And how do we navigate it and come out on the other end, either Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: leveling up our career, maybe becoming an entrepreneur, who knows, maybe that's your calling, and at the end of the day, Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: What I say is luxury is when you have peace of mind, know, make peace with your mind and you feel good about just getting up and contributing, however that is, not making money, not making success be about money, the great car, the great handbag. I mean, seriously. I always tell my husband, I'm glad I didn't. I never got caught up in any of that. I just, at the end of the day, really wanted a wonderful family life and a career. And my intention was always very clear and my values. And I think if you set your priorities intentionally, and I know you and I talked about that a bit, you know, your life can be really amazing, even during this trying time. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes, it changed. Yep. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: and get out in nature, right? We need to hike more and walk more and play with your dog more and know that it's gonna be okay. You gotta believe it though. So. Col. John Boggs: Gotta believe it. Wow. Carol Anne, you have been absolutely marvelous. Just fantastic. And just one more time for me, could you please give the name of your course and when is it gonna come online? When can people sign up for it? Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Very good. It's called Mindful Career Mastery, Unlocking the Code, Mind, Body, Soul. And it'll actually come online June 1st. We're gonna be launching it May 1st, which means you'll see a lot on LinkedIn about it. And we today just approved the landing page, which was very exciting. And we're gonna have a Founders Club. Col. John Boggs: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And it's actually going to be a live zoom for six weeks. I'll be teaching it. It's not going in and just figuring out the modules. I'm literally going to be with you every step of the way because it has been said that in 21 days you can rewire a learned belief. And you, probably know that from your experience, right? And, and so the, the work and the Col. John Boggs: Yes, absolutely. That's correct. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: handouts. I'm literally putting together a beautiful founders box for each person that will have a journal in it, a beautiful pen, ⁓ special like mini posters I've created on Canva, things that I have used and I know work to create a shift. And it was just important to me when we Col. John Boggs: Uh-huh. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: went into this, said, I want to be different. I don't want to be like the other courses that because I've tried taking them like over the years, I'll go in and there's 10 modules and I think, okay, and I click on them and I'll do some of them and then I'll jump over here. And then, you know, I said, I want to make sure people get the results of they're going to believe in me and invest in me. I want to be sure in 21 days, I see that shift in you. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. ⁓ boy. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And I feel confident that that can happen. You know, as long as you show up to do your part, right? Because it's a partnership. But thank you for asking, John. It's an exciting time. And that's what I want to do is have people follow faith in themselves and not fear in the world. Because right now, the conversation out there is painful and people are losing their jobs. Col. John Boggs: Absolutely. Absolutely. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: and they don't know what to do and they don't know how to navigate it. And when you and I initially talked, you know, a few weeks ago, and I'll make this very short, I promise. In 2008, when the recession hit, my husband and I lost everything. We lost our business. We lost our homes. We had stuff. We had our cars repossessed in the middle of the night. Like it was the weirdest. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. much. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I could have ever experienced. But it was interesting, I, people, because there were eight of us couples that all hung out together because our kids all played sports. And six of them all divorced. They sold their big McMansions or went into foreclosure because they overspent everything and they had the Ferraris and all the weird cars. I have a fusion and it's fabulous. But when it happened, Col. John Boggs: Wow. Mm-hmm. Thank Mm-hmm. Ha ha ha! Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: I knew in my heart that I wanted my family to stay together at all costs because it wasn't my husband's fault and it wasn't my fault. We were caught in that conversation. And I was younger. And so I said, honey, I'll go back to corporate work. Because we had had a coffee house in Sausalito and put our life savings into it. And that's why we were downsized rather quickly, like a lot of people. Col. John Boggs: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And so I knew that I could get back into searcher recruiting. I literally, this program I wrote, I wrote in 2008 at the end going into 2009, I sat down with that legal tablet and it was actually kind of cathartic because I didn't have anything attached to me. Like all of a sudden I had this clean slate. Now what am I going to do? And so I got very clear, the clarity that I wanted to work, be back in search and work with people. And then I had a whole process on what I put myself through. And within two weeks, once I worked this process and I was already kind of halfway there because I did a lot of volunteer work and things in the community, but I restructured my LinkedIn profile to speak to that clarity. Col. John Boggs: I need... Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: And I actually had three search firms reach out to me and I was hired within like two and a half weeks. So, so I know it can work even in, even with AI. We're right now taking several AI courses and I'm using Claude and I love it. Who knew? So, so I tell people there's enough on YouTube. There's enough there. Don't be afraid of it. Col. John Boggs: Wow. Wow. Who knew? That's right. ⁓ Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: that's what's going to hurt you. And if you look at it from a new lens of possibilities, and you know this from the work you did, that's why you were a colonel, because you got this. But I want to give people hope. want to make sure that they follow a process. It does. It really works. Col. John Boggs: of possibilities. ⁓ it works. Okay. Well, Carol Anne, thank you very much. Thank you for being here today. And to everyone that's listening. Hey, reach out to Carol Anne, you want to learn something about hiring or you need to hire someone, reach out to Carol Anne and get her book. It's it's it's out there on on Amazon and they're already working the next edition of it. So ⁓ do yourself a favor and go out there and grab it. Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO: Thank you. Col. John Boggs: Alright folks, that's it for me on today. And remember, leadership is just too serious. It's too serious a topic to take lightly. So please pay attention to it. And if you need help with Carol Ann, please reach out to her. And that's it on this end. Out here.