Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building Community Through Business: Taylor Evans's Path to COSI Leadership and National Advocacy

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Building Community Through Business: Taylor Evans's Path to COSI Leadership and National Advocacy · The Inspired Stories Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast
• 0:08
  where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
• 0:11
  their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
• 0:14
  adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
• 0:17
  today's guest is Taylor Evans, founder and president of Rust
• 0:20
  Belt Recruiting. They are a specialized firm that
• 0:24
  connects manufacturers with top tier talent, providing full
• 0:28
  service recruitment solutions. They focus on building strong
• 0:31
  partnerships in the industrial sector.
• 0:34
  Under Taylor's leadership, the company has celebrated 8 years
• 0:37
  of growth, placing countless professionals and rewarding
• 0:41
  manufacturing careers. His path hasn't been without
• 0:44
  challenges. Taylor candidly shares how
• 0:47
  changing his relationship with alcohol was a critical factor in
• 0:50
  his current success, noting that without overcoming this personal
• 0:54
  battle, his current achievements might not have been possible.
• 0:59
  Now before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
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• 1:43
  All right, back to our guest today, President of Rust Belt
• 1:46
  Recruiting, Taylor Evans. Thanks for making the time to
• 1:49
  Share your story today. Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 1:51
  I think this is going to be a lot of fun.
• 1:53
  I've enjoyed getting to know you offline a little bit and, and
• 1:58
  you know, have this conversation with you today.
• 2:00
  So thank you for giving me the opportunity.
• 2:02
  My pleasure, happy to have you here.
• 2:04
  So Taylor, you started your career in the sports industry,
• 2:08
  worked with the Cleveland Cavaliers Sports Commissions.
• 2:12
  What drew you into this field initially, and how do you think
• 2:16
  that experience really shaped your early career perspectives?
• 2:21
  Yeah, so, you know, I grew up a rabid sports fan, You know, I
• 2:27
  mean, I I was a young reader. And even more than being a young
• 2:34
  reader, I was drawn to numbers. So my parents always saved the
• 2:39
  sports section of the newspaper for me every day, even if I was
• 2:42
  out of town for two or three days.
• 2:44
  I came back and I had to read every page and more importantly,
• 2:47
  the stats line. My brother used to call me
• 2:48
  stats. So I had a disproportionate
• 2:52
  knowledge of like high school football players and how many
• 2:54
  rushing yards they had and, and all of these things, the way my
• 2:57
  brain worked. But it grew a love for sports in
• 3:01
  me. And as I progressed through high
• 3:03
  school, you know, I wanted to be the next Jerry Maguire, one of
• 3:07
  the good guys that was going to represent professional athletes.
• 3:12
  And as I began looking at my different college options, you
• 3:18
  know, I ultimately landed on Ohio University, which year in
• 3:23
  and year out is generally ranked as the number one sport
• 3:26
  management and sports administration program in the
• 3:29
  country. It is where that degree program
• 3:32
  was founded. So Ohio University has a
• 3:37
  disproportionate alumni network in the sports industry relative
• 3:42
  to the size of the school. I say that's so surprising.
• 3:45
  I mean, I've been to Ohio University.
• 3:47
  Great reputation, beautiful campus, kind of out in the
• 3:50
  middle of nowhere, not the place where you would think like
• 3:53
  sports management education is born.
• 3:56
  Yeah, you know, they, they were, they were trying to find a home
• 3:59
  for it. And around 1960 is when it
• 4:01
  landed in Athens. And they've continued to grow to
• 4:05
  this day. So, you know, a few years ago,
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  and I've lost track of the exact number, there were like 30
• 4:10
  athletic directors who had come from OU.
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  It, it was just a really big number.
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  And it continues to be a first class program.
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  So I went down there and really jumped right in and, and, and
• 4:27
  got involved. And eventually I realized I
• 4:30
  don't want to be an agent. And even though we have plenty
• 4:33
  of time to talk today, it was just, it was about the nature of
• 4:36
  the work and maybe my core values and, and what I wanted to
• 4:40
  be and didn't want to be. And I actually then had every
• 4:45
  intention to work in experiential marketing in
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  Connecticut for an agency that I interned for after my junior
• 4:52
  year of college. But my senior year, I, I was the
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  president of the sports and Business Association down there,
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  the student organization, and one of my professors encouraged
• 5:03
  me to come up to Cleveland for a sales training that they were
• 5:07
  going to do for 15 of our students.
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  He wanted me there as the president of the student
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  organization and everything like that.
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  And as I say it, I fell in love with the bright lights of the
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  NBA and, and embarked on a sales career there.
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  And so, yeah, I started out my career with the Cleveland
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  Cavaliers, got to work with four different properties that they
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  had at the time. Started with the Cavs quickly
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  became the Canton Charge, which was their D League, now G League
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  team and now the Cleveland Charge in the Cleveland
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  Gladiators in the Arena Football League and then the sorry, the
• 5:50
  Lake Erie monsters, now the the the Cleveland Monsters, which is
• 5:53
  our AHL hockey team. So you know, I I really got to
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  get immersed into a first by organization, learn really great
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  sales principle, see how marketing and all that is done
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  and so much of that has been transferable through my career.
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  So while the pay, when I look back on it, maybe it wasn't what
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  I, I could live off today, I am it, it was invaluable in terms
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  of the education and the experiences I got in both places
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  down in Athens, in here in Cleveland with with those
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  experiences. What's 1 big skill set that you
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  acquire during your time in the sports industry that you're able
• 6:31
  to apply today at Rust Belt recruiting?
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  The I, I would say the biggest thing that I apply is just my
• 6:37
  understanding of sales and marketing, right?
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  They, the cabs really poured a lot of time and resources into
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  training us as sales people. And I was part of the sales
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  center at Ohio University as well.
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  And and just understanding how to build a great brand and how
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  to create value outside the actual product and deliverable
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  that you do. So in the NBA, it's the product
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  on the court. And I was there the year after
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  LeBron left and you know it actually the year after, the
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  year after, right. So he left in O 9 or whatever
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  and then in but everyone's seats had been renewed for the next
• 7:18
  season. So everyone was still in the
• 7:21
  stands. It was the year after that and
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  we had an NBA lockout that started on day 10 of my job with
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  the Cavaliers. And so we were actually selling
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  people on the the idea of if and when the NBA was going to come
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  back in this post LeBron era. Learned a lot, you know, Learned
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  a ton. But learned a lot about taking
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  rejection I would assume. Yeah, all kinds of things.
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  But you know, the biggest thing you learn is how you know, you
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  know, try to create a great experience, a great brand and
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  control what you can control. I think that was the biggest
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  thing, you know, the you can always put a, a fun and
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  entertaining product out there in terms of the in game
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  experience. I was down there with my 7 year
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  old a few weeks ago and it's incredible.
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  You know, it's truly like a with no disrespect intended, it's a 2
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  1/2 hour circus, which and and they play basketball in between,
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  you know, really good basketball, you know, but
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  basketball nonetheless. There's so many like programs
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  and stuff. It is it is live better than the
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  term circus. It is live theater before your
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  eyes and it's really cool to watch.
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  So learned a time, great respect for what Dan Gilbert and the
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  team have built here in Cleveland and really grateful to
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  have worked for a best in class organization, you know, despite
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  this short time that I was there.
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  So you move from sports to manufacturing and then into
• 8:51
  recruiting, kind of help us connect the dots here.
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  Yeah, so once I left the Cavaliers, I went to the
• 8:58
  Cleveland Sports Commission and help them operate an event
• 9:01
  called the Continental Cup, which was a global sporting
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  event where we would bring youth athletes to Cleveland to play,
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  you know, they would be teams across four different sports.
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  And it was kind of like a mini Olympics.
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  It was born out of when Cleveland hosted the Children's
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  Games many years before that. And that was a short stint for
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  me. And then I I didn't foresee
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  myself being in Cleveland long term.
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  I made the move to Austin, TX to be the account manager director
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  of their sports Commission and be out there getting on and
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  bringing events to Austin. But right before I left I met my
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  now wife and we dated a distance for two years.
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  So the heartstrings brought me home and to be honest with you,
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  like as much as Austin is a world class city and I really
• 9:49
  enjoyed my two years there. Even my Co workers, given that
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  we were working in the convention and visitors Bureau,
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  they would tease me and say, you know, Taylor, like you often
• 9:58
  talk more about Cleveland to our prospects than you do about
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  Austin. And you know, I really this,
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  this city in this region resonates with me.
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  So I, you know, I was grateful to come back and and to be here
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  now. And, you know, I came back
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  without a job on purpose, was very comfortable with that.
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  Had, you know, some money socked away to kind of come back.
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  And I just wanted to go through some interview processes and
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  find the right opportunity. But I landed with a manufacturer
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  and, and that wasn't in the plans per SE, but I was ready to
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  venture outside of sports and, and, and it exposed me to this
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  world of manufacturing, which I had, you know, no understanding
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  of and, you know, got to see that up close, but ultimately
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  wanted to work a little bit closer to my house and stumbled
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  my way into recruiting, right. I, I had no like clear, no
• 10:54
  clarity coming out of that sports career, what was going to
• 10:57
  be next. So I took an opportunity in
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  recruiting and did that for about a year and a half.
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  And then on a Thursday night in October of 2017, we found out my
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  wife was pregnant. She was a single mom before I
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  met her, which is, you know, a part of why probably she didn't
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  follow me down to Austin. You know, had a, a young boy who
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  is now a 14 year old 8th grader and, and we found out our first
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  together, second overall was being born.
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  And I quit my job the next day like every normal person does.
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  And, and that I'm going to start a business.
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  And it's to Jenna's credit, only to Jenna's credit that I would
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  have had the, the gumption to do that.
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  We're both from entrepreneurial families.
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  And so, you know, we, we went out and we did it.
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  I gave my two weeks, didn't really have a business plan at
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  that point. I was either going to start a
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  coffee shop or a recruiting business.
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  You didn't even know what the business was before you quit.
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  No, I just knew I needed to go, you know, and so so yeah, you
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  know, and then I was like, OK, I'm going to own AI had I had
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  long had the idea of a coffee. It wasn't totally impulsive that
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  I well, it was totally impulsive that I quit on the timeline that
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  I did. But I had always had thoughts in
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  an entrepreneurial spirit. So it aligned really well with
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  me. But you know, a coffee shop, you
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  know, can cost 50 to 100 grand to stand it up if you're really
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  going to build it out and get all the equipment and stuff like
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  that. And then I always say that's a
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  lot of three and four dollar cups to, to recoup your
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  investment and to make any type of money.
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  And whereas a, you know, a recruiting business in its
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  simplest form can be started with a laptop and a cell phone,
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  one of which I had, I actually had to ask a family member like,
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  Hey, can I have a used laptop from your business?
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  Like I don't have 1 yet. I'm not making money.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got to stop and dig into this
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  thought process here a little bit more.
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  So you'd had ideas, you know, floating through your head.
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  Coffee shop, maybe recruiting business at some point.
• 13:16
  I know I want to own my own business, but why quit your job
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  the day after you find out that your wife is pregnant without
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  knowing even what you're going to do next?
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  Were things just that bad where you were working at the time?
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  No, I, I wouldn't say that, you know, I, I was, I was
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  dissatisfied, but to be honest, I think at the, in that season
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  of my life, there would have been a general dissatisfaction
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  with wherever I was working. I, I, I had an itch.
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  I was never really good. And to this day I'm not good at
• 13:51
  just saying this is all I do at Rust Belt or this is all like, I
• 13:55
  was primarily in sales roles. I was not a good fit to just sit
• 13:58
  there all day and sell or sit there all day and recruit or sit
• 14:01
  there all day and whatever it was.
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  I liked the variety, you know, the, the, the, the change.
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  I'm your, I'm your classic late 80s, early 90s ADDADHD kid.
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  But I, I really have it, you know, like it's, it's very much
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  there. So I need that variety in that
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  sense. And so I mean, the, the general
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  talk track between Jenna and I was we have 7-8 months.
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  I forget how much lead time we had until this baby is here.
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  Let's go, you know, like let's like, let's, let's build this
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  one. She was doing great at the time
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  in her job. She was able to provide the
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  financial foundation for me to go and launch my business and we
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  did. And what a ride it's done.
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  So I understand right around the same time that there were some
• 15:00
  other big life events, big life challenges going on.
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  Can you talk about that, Taylor? Yeah.
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  So, I mean, you know, that's the exact same window where my
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  relationship with alcohol was beginning to spiral.
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  And, you know, I really didn't recognize it despite some family
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  history in that area. So, you know, we were pretty
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  freshly married, one on the way and and all of a sudden, one
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  thing I think that took me a minute to shake as an
• 15:34
  entrepreneur. Not too long, but it's just like
• 15:37
  this is no longer like a nine to five.
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  Like I remember I used to be like, OK, well, it's 4:30 or
• 15:42
  5:00 going to close the laptop and that's a day.
• 15:45
  It's like, dude, you haven't even made a dollar yet.
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  Like you need to, you need to be heads down really getting after
• 15:51
  it until at least the flywheel starts.
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  And so, but one of the things inhibiting me there was my
• 15:58
  relationship with alcohol. And so in late January 2018, you
• 16:05
  know, I, I stopped drinking, I, I had my last drink and I, you
• 16:14
  know, started to sober up, dry out, whatever you want to call
• 16:18
  it, and, and, and started to participate in some programs
• 16:23
  that were designed for that. And that was a really important
• 16:29
  season for me, you know, because when you stop drinking, when it,
• 16:33
  when it consumes you that much. And, you know, for me, like, it
• 16:36
  wasn't like I needed, like, you know, I've, I've encountered
• 16:39
  people in my journey who are like, I needed like a pint of
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  whiskey to get out of bed. It wasn't that, but I mean, it
• 16:45
  was starting to creep up in my days.
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  All of a sudden you're working from home, your wife's not
• 16:50
  there, you're bored, you open the fridge.
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  Oh, there's a drink and I'm going to have it.
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  So, you know, one of my dear friends and I, you know, laugh
• 16:57
  about how I shared with him at some point, I was like having
• 17:01
  like a Turkey sandwich with red wine, like not normal behavior
• 17:05
  at lunchtime, right? And, and he'll say that to me
• 17:08
  sometimes, right? Just, you know, it's not funny,
• 17:11
  but it's where I was at in the journey.
• 17:13
  And, and, and so eventually that had to change.
• 17:19
  And I, you know, once I stopped drinking you, you start to go
• 17:25
  through a day in a week, in a month.
• 17:26
  And my first month was a journey, right?
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  I, I had so many opportunities to, you know, quit or give up or
• 17:34
  whatever, But eventually you build that momentum.
• 17:37
  And you know, fortunately, I, I said to someone over lunch
• 17:41
  today, we were talking about this.
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  I said, if I don't screw it up, you know, in late January of,
• 17:47
  you know, next month, it'll be, it'll be 8 years, which is just
• 17:51
  incredible. And you know, I always say I got
• 17:53
  here as fast as I could, right? And you know, I got to 8 years
• 17:57
  as fast as I could, but it really is a one day at a time
• 18:00
  program. I remember talking to a family
• 18:02
  member that first day, like, I don't know how I'm going to be
• 18:05
  able to not drink for the rest of my life.
• 18:08
  And they said to me, don't worry about that, just just do it for
• 18:13
  today. Just get through today, right?
• 18:15
  And now it's not even a thought in my mind.
• 18:18
  So that was a huge season for me.
• 18:21
  Huge season. What was the trigger that had
• 18:25
  you say on that first day, I'm not going to have a drink today?
• 18:29
  Yeah, I just, you know, I, I had some drama on the home front and
• 18:35
  I, I just said I, I can't do this anymore.
• 18:40
  You know, like this is I, I remember saying to my when,
• 18:46
  when, when that breakthrough happened, I, I looked at my wife
• 18:52
  that night and just said the war is over, which I had heard from
• 18:55
  a Christian song that I listened to.
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  But what that meant to me was I'm done.
• 19:01
  I can't, I can't win this battle with alcohol.
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  And the blessing of it all was that I would, you know, I'm 37
• 19:08
  now. I was 29 at the time.
• 19:12
  And I didn't really start drinking until, I don't know,
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  like maybe like second-half of my senior year of high school
• 19:20
  or, you know, that summer going into college, as if that's like
• 19:23
  normal behavior. But I'm, I'm just saying like,
• 19:26
  you know, I've again encountered people who were like started
• 19:28
  drinking at like 12 or 13, Like it was nothing like that.
• 19:34
  Or well, that's not far off. But anyway, you know, it, it
• 19:37
  amounted to a decade of my life. And as I look back and you know,
• 19:41
  again, I still got to get to 8 years and and then nine and then
• 19:44
  10. But time goes quickly and my
• 19:49
  life has been just infinitely different.
• 19:52
  The way that, the, the way that, that has changed the trajectory
• 19:57
  of my life. I cannot.
• 20:00
  I cannot even fathom. That this would have been my
• 20:04
  life if, if I'm being honest with you, there was a part of me
• 20:08
  the way my brain had become so sick with alcohol.
• 20:14
  I, I can't even say it out loud, but I, I, there was a part of me
• 20:18
  that almost thought I wasn't going to live past 40 because of
• 20:21
  my relationship with alcohol. I also believed that I had CTE
• 20:27
  from my football career, from my high school football career,
• 20:30
  rather than just acknowledging that I was consistently
• 20:33
  hungover. Like, that's the insanity of it
• 20:37
  all. It's like, rather than like
• 20:39
  seeking to change the behavior, I was coming up with all kinds
• 20:43
  of rationalization that in hindsight is basically
• 20:49
  borderline insanity. But again, I hadn't acknowledged
• 20:53
  it. And you've got to come to your
• 20:54
  own point to realize it. You know, I've, I've had the
• 20:58
  chance to talk with people who have a really troubled
• 21:01
  relationship with the alcohol. And until the individual accepts
• 21:04
  that it is their time to change, nothing will change.
• 21:09
  So there was that first day that you decided to stop drinking.
• 21:13
  There was some, you know, drama that had taken place at home.
• 21:15
  That's obviously a big step, huge milestone.
• 21:20
  As you look back, I'm curious, between now and then, what were
• 21:24
  some of the other sobriety milestones for you?
• 21:27
  You know, was it a mental breakthrough to get to a week or
• 21:31
  a month? Was there some sort of clarity
• 21:35
  that came at six months? Yeah, yeah.
• 21:38
  So you know that what what motivated me that first week,
• 21:43
  that first month. So the first weekend that I
• 21:48
  stopped drinking, I knew in mid January I was like, so I grew up
• 21:55
  in Southeast PA hour from Philadelphia and January of
• 22:01
  2018, the Eagles were on a playoff run that resulted in the
• 22:07
  Eagles beating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl when
• 22:11
  Nick Foles led him to it. And so I was like, I'm going to
• 22:14
  get through this Super Bowl run and then I'm going to go, you
• 22:18
  know, check out a recovery program as if like, OK, we got
• 22:25
  to get through this first, right?
• 22:26
  Because that's normal. But you know, I, I went through
• 22:32
  that program and, or I'm sorry, it, it, it got to the weekend
• 22:37
  before and I was like, it has to stop.
• 22:40
  So the following weekend I went to the Waste Management Open in
• 22:46
  Phoenix, AZ. If you know, are you familiar
• 22:48
  with that event? By name, but that's it.
• 22:51
  OK, so you know, the Waste Management Open happens every
• 22:58
  year in Phoenix and it is the anti golf tournament.
• 23:03
  You know, might remind you almost of like a live golf
• 23:06
  tournament. It is the first tournament of
• 23:08
  the year. People go, they dress up in
• 23:10
  costumes, they are loud, they are drinking like crazy.
• 23:14
  It is like again, the anti like golf clap etiquette.
• 23:17
  It is it it's it's just the anomaly tournament and it is it
• 23:22
  is packed, absolutely packed. So, you know, we went for my
• 23:27
  brother in law's bachelor party and I spent my first weekend at
• 23:32
  a bachelor party saying I'm not going to do this.
• 23:35
  And the only way I really got myself through, there's a,
• 23:37
  there's a term in the recovery community called the pink cloud.
• 23:40
  Like you're like, Nope, I'm, I'm doing great, I'm on it.
• 23:43
  But you know, I flew out to that tournament and, and I said, you
• 23:49
  know, it's taken me 5 days to get to 5 days.
• 23:52
  Do I want to use the next 5 days to get to 10 days or do I want
• 23:55
  to use the next 5 days to get back to five days?
• 23:58
  You know, and then it was 10 days and I would say, you know,
• 24:01
  do I want to use the next 10 days to get to 20 days or do I
• 24:04
  want to use this to get back to 20 days or to 10 days?
• 24:07
  And so it just, I kept compounding that for a little
• 24:10
  while. I literally, that was my mantra
• 24:12
  to myself and, and just the building upon it.
• 24:18
  You know, the weekend after that, I went to an open bar
• 24:20
  event for the Cleveland Legal Society.
• 24:24
  The weekend after that we hosted a forty person party at our
• 24:29
  house for that same brother in law's engagement.
• 24:34
  You had lots of temptation in. Front it was a grinder of a
• 24:36
  month. Yeah.
• 24:37
  But again, it's just saying like, OK, today's day 21.
• 24:40
  Do you want to get to day? Do you want the next 21 days to
• 24:42
  get you to day 42 or back to day 21?
• 24:45
  You know, how do you want to use your next 21 days?
• 24:48
  And eventually I stopped counting, but I went through
• 24:52
  that and there were so many cool landmarks, you know, I mean.
• 24:57
  Yeah. It's funny, one time we were
• 25:01
  down in, we, we went down South for spring break that year, like
• 25:06
  the like the Carolinas and, and we drove in, we were driving
• 25:09
  back and I was working with a counselor at the time and I
• 25:12
  called him and I was like, Hey, I'm having the weird or maybe I
• 25:16
  text him, but I was like, I'm having the weirdest thing
• 25:18
  happen. I was like my like deodorant
• 25:22
  smells like insanely vibrant today.
• 25:24
  Like I my sense of smell is through the roof today.
• 25:28
  What is going on? He goes, your brain is actually
• 25:31
  redeveloping neural pathways and like things are happening.
• 25:35
  It's the same deodorant that I wore every day, year over year,
• 25:38
  whatever I. Didn't know this was a thing.
• 25:40
  Yeah, and it was like your brain is healing itself in a lot of
• 25:43
  ways. You know, I'm still a wild man.
• 25:47
  You know, I I would say my ability, though, to regulate
• 25:50
  emotionally has improved significantly.
• 25:55
  And and and that might be scary if you know me now because I'm
• 25:58
  again, still a wild man. But you know, I had to learn a
• 26:02
  lot. And to be honest with you, the
• 26:06
  biggest breakthrough or, well, I mean, you know, to be fully and
• 26:10
  holy present for my first daughter's birth and, and all of
• 26:14
  them thereafter, and to know that they've never lived a day
• 26:17
  in this world where I've had a drink is a really cool thing to
• 26:21
  me. And, you know, four days after
• 26:25
  I, my daughter was born, we, I received a call from and now a
• 26:33
  former client. But basically it was for, for
• 26:37
  where we were and who we were and what we were, the contract
• 26:40
  of a lifetime. And it blew the doors open.
• 26:42
  And for me, that's a God moment where, you know, I was able to,
• 26:47
  I, I, I, I did the right things. We trusted, we had faith that
• 26:54
  going out on our own was going to provide.
• 26:58
  And literally my first day back to work, I get a life changing
• 27:02
  call with an opportunity. And so that is a higher power
• 27:07
  moment. That is a God moment.
• 27:09
  And it changed the trajectory of our lives and has allowed me to
• 27:14
  live in a way that I could have never imagined, you know, and,
• 27:20
  and, and experience things that I could have never done before.
• 27:25
  And as I from 40 now, I'm thinking about, you know, that
• 27:29
  life past 40 that I maybe one point didn't think was possible.
• 27:34
  That's fine. I appreciate you sharing all
• 27:36
  that and I want to get back to this life changing call.
• 27:38
  Before that, say a little bit more about the support system
• 27:42
  that you had going through those early days of sobriety.
• 27:45
  Sounds like your wife's a big part of this for sure.
• 27:47
  Yeah, you know, I was my my wife for sure.
• 27:50
  I mean, she, you know, was there with me and, you know, there's a
• 27:54
  cabinet right here over my shoulder and, you know, every
• 27:58
  year she, she will write me a note just looking back on the
• 28:04
  year. And those notes mean the world
• 28:06
  to me now. You know, they're, they're,
• 28:08
  they're hanging in there. At least the first couple years.
• 28:12
  You know, my family rallied around me.
• 28:14
  I, you know, they, they say you might lose some friends.
• 28:17
  I, I didn't, if anything, I just made new ones.
• 28:21
  My, my community knew probably, maybe even more than me, that
• 28:26
  this change was for the better. And so, you know, whether it's
• 28:31
  going to recovery meetings and, and the people that would, you
• 28:37
  know, be alongside of me there learning the confidence to, to,
• 28:42
  to share my feelings or, or the feelings that I was struggling
• 28:45
  with, You know, because a relationship with alcohol isn't
• 28:48
  just rooted in, you know, a, a, a love for the alcohol itself.
• 28:54
  It's often something deeper. And so beginning to explore
• 28:58
  those feelings and figure out what it was that was really
• 29:03
  causing that, that hurt is really important.
• 29:07
  And I'm so grateful that I had just an incredible community,
• 29:14
  you know, around me. And so out of respect to their
• 29:19
  privacy, I, I won't name names, but the people who have
• 29:23
  supported me know who they are and I am forever indebted to
• 29:28
  them. You know, and even though I'm
• 29:30
  not as active in the recovery community as I was before, it
• 29:36
  was that I am one call away for all of those people to drop
• 29:40
  anything that they need because I am indebted to them, frankly,
• 29:45
  with my life. What's behind the name Rust Belt
• 29:49
  Recruiting? So, you know, in those early
• 29:53
  days, I was sitting, I always tell the story sitting at my
• 29:56
  dining room table. It was a glass surface.
• 29:58
  I can, it's almost visceral. I can still feel it.
• 30:01
  And you know, I for the first like 2 weeks or so, I was going
• 30:06
  to be the Evans Group of Ohio, which definitely sounds more
• 30:10
  like a insurance agency. The Evans Group was taken and
• 30:16
  one day that name just popped out of my head and I wrote it
• 30:19
  down and I, I always say I kept looking over at it and I was
• 30:22
  like, I really like that, you know?
• 30:24
  And, and eventually I landed on it and it was like 2 days before
• 30:30
  Thanksgiving and I was so excited to go to Thanksgiving
• 30:35
  with a good company name. I had just signed a first client
• 30:38
  doing a first search just so I could show up to Thanksgiving
• 30:41
  and be like, Hey, I, you know, I actually am doing a thing.
• 30:47
  Anyway, the, the name Rust Belt recruiting.
• 30:49
  Look, you know, I've, I've, I, we've embraced the name, our,
• 30:55
  our clients love it. It reflects, you know, this, the
• 30:59
  obviously the past of our region.
• 31:01
  And to be honest, there's times where I struggle with a name,
• 31:03
  like does it hold on to a, to a past moniker?
• 31:06
  But we hear so many clients tell us, tells us exactly who you
• 31:09
  are, what you work with. And frankly, there's a lot of
• 31:12
  people in North East Ohio and the surrounding region who are
• 31:15
  proud to be the Rust Belt. It's like, we're cool.
• 31:18
  We we have an industrial heritage.
• 31:20
  And you know, we always say we're putting a new shine on
• 31:23
  this region and bringing it back.
• 31:26
  But the name is meant to represent the industrial
• 31:30
  heritage. No negativity of course,
• 31:33
  intended. It's all about like, hey, we, we
• 31:37
  are proud of the history of this region and want to be part of
• 31:41
  its renaissance as well. And So what do you guys do?
• 31:45
  Yeah. So we're a manufacturing
• 31:48
  recruiting company. We support manufacturers with
• 31:52
  their talent needs. Anything that really touches the
• 31:56
  manufacturing process, we can support that role as well as
• 32:01
  sales role. So whether it's a, a skilled
• 32:03
  worker on the production floor or an engineer or a management
• 32:08
  role in the office or also on the floor, if it touches the
• 32:13
  manufacturing process, we, we, we are probably a fit to help
• 32:18
  with it. We do all permanent placement
• 32:20
  recruiting. We're also not a high volume
• 32:24
  shop where we've got, you know, 1000 openings, right?
• 32:28
  We, you know, average 4050 rolls at any given time that we're
• 32:35
  working on. So we're a small but mighty
• 32:38
  team, but very active and vocal advocates for manufacturing in
• 32:42
  the region. And you know, tell us the region
• 32:46
  extends out to Pittsburgh and up to Detroit and Akron, Canton in
• 32:49
  Youngstown, in Toledo. So we we really cover a lot of
• 32:53
  these communities in a meaningful way.
• 32:57
  So is this all direct placement? Then you're not doing any temp
• 33:01
  or temp to hire. No all permit.
• 33:05
  All right. And so I want to come back to,
• 33:08
  well, actually before we get to that life changing call, how did
• 33:11
  you get that first client right before Thanksgiving?
• 33:13
  Yeah, I, I think it was an introduction by a friend, Jason
• 33:18
  Geyer, who I continue to work with to this day and in, in a
• 33:23
  different capacity and he's been a great resource and, you know,
• 33:29
  got, got introduced to this individual and the rest was
• 33:34
  history. Got that, Got that first client
• 33:37
  under the belt. That feels good, right?
• 33:39
  That's a concept. You've got a little momentum
• 33:41
  there. That's a big, big deal.
• 33:43
  For no other reason than you can show up to Thanksgiving dinner,
• 33:45
  you know, and say, hey, I, I've got a client.
• 33:49
  Yeah. And then you're talking about
• 33:52
  what was this just a few days after your daughter was born
• 33:56
  that you get this life changing call.
• 33:59
  And I want to hear about that. And I, and I'm going to make
• 34:02
  some assumptions here and I'd be curious to see if I'm right or
• 34:06
  wrong because a lot of people, business owners, entrepreneurs,
• 34:10
  they hear these stories and they're like, Oh yeah, that's
• 34:13
  what I need for my business or my sales career, whatever it is.
• 34:16
  I just need that down, that one like life changing client.
• 34:21
  And I get the sense when I hear some people, not everybody, some
• 34:23
  people talk about that, that it's like, oh, it's just going
• 34:26
  to come to them. It's just one of those like
• 34:28
  overnight kind of success things that like fall into their lap
• 34:33
  almost every story I've been a part of or heard of.
• 34:37
  There is a lot of groundwork that leads up to that overnight
• 34:41
  success. Tell us how it unfolded for you.
• 34:45
  Yeah. So it actually ties in really
• 34:50
  well with, again, that relationship change with
• 34:53
  alcohol, you know, So we had just signed this company as a
• 34:56
  client almost concurrently, maybe a week's difference.
• 35:02
  And it was only my second or third client.
• 35:05
  And so I jumped in and started filling welding jobs and, you
• 35:13
  know, different manufacturing production roles.
• 35:15
  And over the next, you know, call it 5-6 months, I had
• 35:22
  probably only filled 5 or 6 roles, which isn't bad, but you
• 35:26
  know, it wasn't a, it wasn't a crazy number, but you know, we
• 35:32
  were giving that we, me, we're giving them really great
• 35:36
  attention and really working hard.
• 35:38
  And in the summer of 18, during the first Trump administration,
• 35:45
  they were rolling out a lot of steel tariffs and everything
• 35:48
  like that. And our client was bringing in a
• 35:51
  tremendous number of orders and because of rising cost of their
• 35:58
  goods, they were, they were letting people lock in their
• 36:00
  pricing and everything like that.
• 36:02
  And they decided to build a third shift.
• 36:06
  And I think it would, it ended up being 86 openings.
• 36:10
  And when Dave called me, he's like, hey, we need your agency
• 36:15
  to fill all of these roles. And you know, for me at the
• 36:20
  time, you know, in my head, and I'm sure Dave knew this, I'm
• 36:25
  like, well, you have the whole agency on the phone.
• 36:28
  So but it was the kicking off point to actually going and
• 36:33
  making a hire and having someone help me and then another and
• 36:36
  then another. And, you know, it continued to
• 36:38
  continue to evolve from there. And so you start making your
• 36:42
  first hires because of this large job.
• 36:45
  And then how did you keep the momentum going?
• 36:48
  Yeah, you know, it was, it was such a great project for us and
• 36:52
  allowed us to like really focus on growing things.
• 36:56
  So, you know, it it, it really took time to figure out, you
• 37:00
  know, who was doing what and how we were doing it kind of like
• 37:04
  the preparation that came forward, just impulsively
• 37:09
  leaving my job and, and launching my own business.
• 37:12
  It took time to figure out everyone's roles and how we were
• 37:16
  going to be structured and how things were going to get done.
• 37:19
  And, you know, at times it feels like that's still true to this
• 37:22
  day. Like, you know, businesses are
• 37:24
  consistently looking inward and saying, how are we doing things?
• 37:27
  Are we doing things the best way possible?
• 37:30
  Are we are we a truly productive team?
• 37:32
  And and so, you know, it, it has continued to this day to be an
• 37:38
  evolution, But we, we had to, you know, evaluate team members
• 37:44
  and quickly make some hires and try to get everyone into some
• 37:48
  roles and grateful for that team.
• 37:49
  That was, you know, the the the 1st chapter of Rust Bell or the
• 37:54
  second if I'm the first. I've received some awards, the
• 37:58
  Distinguished Marketing and Sales Award from the sales and
• 38:01
  marketing executives of Cleveland.
• 38:05
  Why? Why was this award bestowed upon
• 38:07
  you? What?
• 38:07
  What were the credentials that you brought forward?
• 38:13
  Without using self deprecating humor.
• 38:17
  You know, I, I look, I'm a very engaged guy in the community.
• 38:21
  I'm out there. I'm a, I'm proud to be a
• 38:24
  connector. That's a big trait of mine is I
• 38:28
  am always, when I am meeting with people, looking for ways to
• 38:32
  introduce them to, you know, another person that might be
• 38:36
  worth being in their network, a business opportunity, whatever
• 38:39
  it is. And as it relates to Rust Belt,
• 38:42
  I think we built a really good brand and a good business that
• 38:45
  we can be proud of and, you know, aims to deliver consistent
• 38:51
  work products. So all of those things have been
• 38:54
  good on our end. Yeah.
• 38:57
  You know, again, really appreciated that award.
• 39:02
  And you know, a couple more that have followed over the course of
• 39:05
  my career maybe haven't done as good of a job as keeping them up
• 39:10
  there. But any award I've received is a
• 39:14
  humbling 1 for me. Where do you see the future of
• 39:17
  Rust Belt recruiting going? What's on the horizon?
• 39:20
  Yeah, you know, for right now, for in this season, especially
• 39:24
  with the turbulence in the labor market the last few years and
• 39:27
  and watching what I'm seeing with other agencies go through,
• 39:32
  it's all about stability. Keep turning out good,
• 39:35
  consistent work and let that good consistent work lead to
• 39:38
  more good and consistent clients.
• 39:40
  So we really want to be, you know, steady, reliable,
• 39:45
  consistent and and and above all else a great place to work so
• 39:51
  that our team mates can deliver great work product for their
• 39:56
  clients and and candidates. You know, Taylor, I understand
• 40:01
  from our previous conversations that you take a lot of
• 40:03
  satisfaction from being able to place people into meaningful
• 40:08
  work, right? I mean, you're making their
• 40:12
  lives better, right? The ability to provide for
• 40:15
  themselves and their families. You're helping your client out
• 40:18
  the company fill a role so that they can produce as you think
• 40:23
  back over your, you know, 8 year.
• 40:27
  Career of doing this for yourself at Rust Belt
• 40:29
  recruiting? Is there a particular story that
• 40:32
  comes to mind, an example of somebody that you helped to
• 40:36
  place in a big difference that it made?
• 40:40
  There are, yeah. You know, and they aren't just
• 40:45
  testaments to me, you know, the first one that comes into mind
• 40:50
  was we didn't know this at the time.
• 40:54
  We, we, we, we've sought to do things behind the scenes that
• 40:59
  maybe we have no intention of seeing the light of day.
• 41:04
  They're just an opportunity to, you know, do good.
• 41:08
  We've, we've helped people who are, you know, not in a home at
• 41:14
  this point, right, Who managed to connect with us.
• 41:17
  We, we had a candidate once who was living out of their car
• 41:24
  with, with their family in it like a, a minivan and a, with a
• 41:30
  couple children. And you know, this job was a way
• 41:35
  for them to get back into a home or yeah, get back into a home.
• 41:43
  And there was a two week lag between them getting their jobs.
• 41:46
  So, you know, we were able to put them up in housing for that
• 41:53
  short period of time. And you know, if anything, it
• 41:56
  was humbling. It, it was, it was a really
• 41:59
  healthy dose of perspective to see, you know, we, we put them
• 42:04
  up in a, a motel and it might have had like 2 beds and a sofa
• 42:08
  bed. And you know, we, we were able
• 42:11
  to stop by with a bunch of bags of grocery to stock the fridge
• 42:16
  and and feed the family. And again, we looked at it like,
• 42:20
  hey, this placement fee that we made was of 0 consequence if we
• 42:26
  can just reinvest it into them. And, but what was humbling about
• 42:31
  it was to see the joy within this family for a space that
• 42:36
  might be just one room in, in, in a home, you know, in a
• 42:40
  traditional home that we may have.
• 42:43
  And, and, and they were overjoyed.
• 42:46
  And it was just a perspective. It, it, it did more for me than
• 42:51
  I think we did for them. And, and again, we have other
• 42:55
  examples of that. And you know, I, I don't, I'm
• 42:58
  sharing it publicly because we're talking, but like, we
• 43:01
  don't, we don't do those stories for PR press or anything like
• 43:04
  that. We do those because we get to,
• 43:06
  and that's one of the greatest gifts of this role.
• 43:11
  We want the ability to pour more into people.
• 43:15
  We've always seemed to be charitable and supporters of
• 43:19
  philanthropic efforts in the area.
• 43:22
  The current one that we are big supporters of is an organization
• 43:26
  called One Step Ahead Ohio, which is rooted IN22 areas.
• 43:33
  They have a skilled labour foundation.
• 43:34
  So shocker, we were drawn to them.
• 43:38
  But they also have another area that which is just positive acts
• 43:41
  of kindness. And so we have supported them
• 43:43
  financially and through our, you know, earlier this year, I was
• 43:47
  actually asked to be on their board and, you know, continue to
• 43:52
  pour in our efforts there. So, you know, wherever we can
• 43:55
  pour into the community and be generous in spirit or time or
• 44:01
  resources or whatever it really is life giving to us and to our
• 44:05
  team. So grateful to have the
• 44:07
  opportunity to, you know, do something like the example I
• 44:11
  just shared or, or even just lend our time, you know, even
• 44:15
  just lend our time to someone in need, right?
• 44:17
  The greatest gift you can give people is your time.
• 44:20
  So we we do what we can with what we've got.
• 44:24
  I love that. Shifting gears a little bit,
• 44:28
  let's say there's somebody listening who is interested in
• 44:31
  starting their own specialized agency.
• 44:35
  What advice might you have for them?
• 44:37
  How to stand out? How to make an impact?
• 44:40
  Yeah, yeah. I mean, I would say, you know,
• 44:44
  if you're looking to start your own specialized recruiting
• 44:46
  agency or specialized agency, regardless of your line of work,
• 44:52
  specialization is good. It allows you to be laser
• 44:55
  focused on who and what you are serving and and and more
• 44:59
  consistently connect. It may feel at times like it
• 45:02
  will take you longer to build that client base or that
• 45:07
  flywheel or whatever, but in reality, you will be so much
• 45:11
  stronger and more valuable to your clients as a resource over
• 45:17
  time by connecting with them and, you know, really
• 45:23
  understanding who it is that they are and what it is that
• 45:26
  they do. And so our team is, you know,
• 45:29
  able to do that. They are able to consistently
• 45:32
  take homework or even look at work where we're like, hey, we
• 45:35
  can't deliver on this. We, we don't have, we, we, this
• 45:39
  role or this need is not something that we've been able
• 45:44
  to be successful on. And rather than, you know,
• 45:46
  blindly banging around on a search that we can't fill, we
• 45:51
  can get out ahead of it and actually be more trusted by our
• 45:55
  clients. But again, to be specialized
• 45:58
  takes time. But it it is worth it.
• 46:00
  It just takes a consistent drum beat and focus.
• 46:07
  What's been the most successful growth strategy for you guys,
• 46:09
  Taylor? The most successful growth
• 46:14
  strategy for us has been to build relationships within our
• 46:18
  community. You know, it's, it's, you know,
• 46:22
  we, we've always maintained a good digital footprint.
• 46:24
  We've had different people over the years in a business
• 46:26
  development role, myself included.
• 46:28
  But the best way, the, the, the, the best thing that you can give
• 46:33
  is a referral. And we are so grateful for those
• 46:37
  and they have gone such a long way for us.
• 46:40
  But yeah, it's, it's to consistently be out there and be
• 46:43
  in, in the community, whatever your community is and looking to
• 46:47
  help and support those around you and to give generously.
• 46:52
  Like, you know, the book the Go Giver is such a great strategy
• 46:57
  for developing adding value to others versus adding value to
• 47:03
  yourself if others haven't read that book.
• 47:06
  It's a transformational read and it is it, it should, honestly,
• 47:12
  it should be mandatory reading for every, I don't know, reading
• 47:16
  level. It's at 617, you know, I mean,
• 47:18
  you can like at a young age, a young adult should be reading
• 47:22
  that book. Yeah, that one hasn't come
• 47:25
  across my radar yet. I recently interviewed.
• 47:28
  I'm going to send you a copy after this.
• 47:30
  That's that's the spirit of the go giver.
• 47:31
  So I will make a note to send you a copy and then if you enjoy
• 47:35
  it, you send someone a copy and I love that.
• 47:39
  Yeah, I look forward to it, and I think you just summed up the
• 47:41
  spirit of it, so I'm looking forward to reading more about
• 47:44
  it. What's your superpower?
• 47:50
  It's to be a connector. It's like I've I've harnessed
• 47:55
  the gift that is my overactive brain, right?
• 47:58
  Like I, that ADDADHD is a gift. It, it needs to be viewed as
• 48:07
  such because it is, it's, it's, it's not a disability, it's not
• 48:11
  a weakness. It is a superpower.
• 48:13
  And so my ability to sometimes you see me looking around, you
• 48:18
  know, all that it, it can be a little challenging to converse
• 48:20
  with me, but I'm, that's because I'm thinking I am my, my mind is
• 48:24
  constantly going. And so again, it is to be a
• 48:28
  connector to others. And to be honest with you, the
• 48:31
  most rewarding thing is I don't necessarily like, you know, in
• 48:38
  business, maybe your business does these, Anthony, or you've
• 48:42
  been approached with these. You know, people will come to me
• 48:46
  and say, hey, let's set up a formal referral program, right?
• 48:50
  Where I don't usually take the bait on those.
• 48:53
  I think the spirit of introductions and connections is
• 48:56
  make your community strong, get people together, really allow
• 49:01
  them to link arms and, and be better.
• 49:04
  And even in the meeting I was in this morning in a little
• 49:07
  networking group on that, one of the people said, you know, hey,
• 49:11
  thanks to an introduction that Taylor made to this
• 49:14
  organization, I'm going to be doing a, a three-part series for
• 49:19
  this organization. And anyone that can attend, I, I
• 49:22
  would appreciate them being there.
• 49:23
  And, and it's a business opportunity for that person.
• 49:27
  And I am so happy for them. You know, that, that what a 30
• 49:33
  second, one minute, 2 minute e-mail created an opportunity
• 49:37
  like that, that is so life giving.
• 49:40
  And I know if I do enough of those good acts for others, the
• 49:45
  universe will come back around. You know, like in The Alchemist,
• 49:48
  they say the universe will conspire.
• 49:50
  I say that all the time. The universe will conspire to
• 49:53
  help me. And so I love to connect people
• 49:56
  freely. It is a it is something I really
• 50:00
  enjoy doing, being a connector. That's great.
• 50:03
  You know, as you talk about your ADD, your ADHD and how it's a
• 50:07
  superpower, and I love how that that you you frame that, but
• 50:11
  have you learned certain mechanisms to help you kind of
• 50:16
  rein it in? Yeah, yeah.
• 50:20
  You know, it's, it's whether I remember to use them, you know,
• 50:23
  But I mean, there are certainly, and again, I think probably
• 50:28
  tying it back to that relationship with alcohol, I
• 50:34
  think that was a part of it. You know, I think it was like
• 50:37
  trying to slow my brain down and like, just chill.
• 50:40
  Sometimes it can be hard. You know, it can be really hard.
• 50:44
  But yeah, there's a lot of great techniques out there.
• 50:46
  I am not a professional to be coaching people up on it.
• 50:50
  I know those people. If anyone's listening, I'm happy
• 50:53
  to be a connector there, but it is, you know, there, there's a
• 50:57
  lot of it. There's a lot ADD and ADHD come
• 51:01
  with a lot of, a lot of nuances, if you will, or symptoms.
• 51:09
  What I, I hate the symptoms because that makes it sound like
• 51:11
  a sickness, but the, the, the character traits of an
• 51:14
  individual can be, can be unique.
• 51:19
  And so understanding that beyond just the ability to sit in a
• 51:22
  classroom or listen to a teacher or whatever, there's a lot of
• 51:25
  other byproducts of it. And just learning to recognize
• 51:28
  those signals and triggers has been important and something
• 51:31
  that's a work in progress for me to continue to learn more about
• 51:34
  as I go. Taylor, what's your favorite
• 51:37
  thing to do outside of work? I've got an awesome family, you
• 51:44
  know my wife. We have 4 kids in total now, my
• 51:48
  14 year old. Watching him play sports is one
• 51:52
  of the joys of my life. You know he's going to be
• 51:55
  entering high school here in 6-9 months, but I've had the joy of
• 52:04
  watching him play football and getting to coach him up to this
• 52:10
  point. Going to hand him off to the to
• 52:12
  the the more professionals at this point and just be a be a
• 52:17
  dad in the stands. But love that love being with my
• 52:21
  daughters. I've, you know, my wife, we have
• 52:23
  an amazing family, love to travel, enjoy the occasional
• 52:27
  round of golf when I can get it. And then I pour a lot of my time
• 52:31
  into an organization here in Cleveland called Cozy, which is
• 52:37
  the Council of Smaller Enterprises.
• 52:40
  And Cozy is our small business Chamber of Commerce, which is
• 52:45
  comprised of about 10,000 members, which then rolls in or
• 52:49
  is a part of the larger Greater Cleveland Partnership, which is
• 52:52
  Northeast Ohio's chamber. And so in three weeks, I will
• 52:57
  become the chair of COZY. And as a result, I'm, you know,
• 53:03
  also on the board in the executive committee of the
• 53:06
  Greater Cleveland Partnership as well.
• 53:09
  And then starting in the new year, I'll be joining the board
• 53:15
  of the National Small Business Association out of Washington,
• 53:19
  DC Actually, our first meeting is on the eight-year anniversary
• 53:23
  of stopping drinking. So when I think of God kind of
• 53:27
  giving me a little wink of when I just got that meeting date the
• 53:30
  other day, I look at that and say, I, I see what you did
• 53:34
  there, You know, you know, I mean, to say 8 years ago that
• 53:40
  you'll be, you know, getting to be an active and leading voice
• 53:45
  in the, in, in the national small business community is
• 53:51
  beyond my wildest dreams. And to be leading the Cleveland
• 53:54
  small business community alongside the great team at Cozy
• 53:57
  is just remarkable. I'm on the board of the College
• 54:02
  of Business at Ohio University as well, and then again on the
• 54:07
  board of One Step Ahead Ohio and, you know, a couple other
• 54:12
  committees and affiliations on top of that.
• 54:14
  But it all keeps me pretty busy. And the best thing is I have an
• 54:19
  incredible wife who lets me run around and do all this stuff.
• 54:25
  I was going to ask, how do you find time for it?
• 54:28
  You, you've got 4 kids, you're married to a lovely wife, all
• 54:31
  that takes time commit. You've got this business that
• 54:34
  you're running, that's a huge time commitment.
• 54:37
  All these other different involvements.
• 54:38
  Why do it? I once had a conversation with
• 54:48
  my wife that I, you know, I was able to say I believe my purpose
• 54:52
  on this earth is not just making money or just just to be solely
• 54:59
  at home with this family. And, and that's not meant to be
• 55:04
  to say they're not my number one priority, quite the opposite.
• 55:07
  But like, I believe I've been blessed with, you know, talents
• 55:12
  and I want to give those talents away and leave things in a
• 55:15
  better place than I found them. And I am able to live out like
• 55:19
  my purpose, you know, starting this business was never a get
• 55:25
  rich strategy. It's certainly nice to have the
• 55:29
  flexibility and autonomy and the earning potential that comes
• 55:33
  with business ownership, but more important to me is to have
• 55:39
  the freedom to chase and pursue the clauses and passions that
• 55:43
  are important to me. And so I have uniquely found my
• 55:48
  home in being an advocate for Northeast Ohio in our business
• 55:52
  community and the small business owners and and you know, I'm
• 55:57
  growing into a role advocating for small business owners on a
• 56:01
  national level. So you know, I don't know where
• 56:03
  the journey's taken me. I'm still young.
• 56:06
  I still got a lot of runway to go.
• 56:09
  But if these first eight years of being out on my own or any
• 56:15
  sample, I think it'll be pretty wild if you and I have another
• 56:19
  conversation from the eight years from now to see where
• 56:22
  we've gone. And for that, I'm beyond
• 56:24
  grateful. But it's also getting to just in
• 56:27
  this moment, in this season of life, not knowing what the next
• 56:30
  season is going to hold. I'm grateful to be able to give
• 56:33
  my time and talents away, in many cases freely, in support of
• 56:40
  the greater good. I love that.
• 56:43
  You know, Taylor, I've just got one more question for you today.
• 56:46
  But before I ask it, I want to do 3 quick things.
• 56:48
  First of all, anybody who wants to get in touch with Taylor, his
• 56:52
  e-mail address is taylor@rustbeltrecruiting.com.
• 56:56
  Also, Taylor S Evans, Rust Belt Recruiting is searchable on
• 57:01
  LinkedIn and will include links to both of those things in the
• 57:04
  show notes. Also, as a reminder, if you want
• 57:07
  to get more employees access to benefits that won't hurt them
• 57:09
  financially and carries a financial upside for the
• 57:12
  company, reach out to us at Add back benefits.com.
• 57:16
  Finally, if everyone will just take a moment to leave us a
• 57:18
  comment or review on the favorite podcast app, we'll hold
• 57:22
  a special place in my heart forever.
• 57:23
  Thank you. So, Taylor, last question for
• 57:26
  you. You and I reconnect, let's call
• 57:28
  it a year from now and you're celebrating something big.
• 57:31
  What do you think that is? What's that big thing you hope
• 57:33
  to be celebrating a year from today?
• 57:36
  You know, I, I hope to be celebrating a, an, another
• 57:41
  successful year at Rust Belt. Like we've really been on a nice
• 57:44
  run the last seven months with some turbulence.
• 57:48
  I, I want to have, you know, new faces in our organization, but
• 57:53
  more importantly, the same faces in our organization, you know,
• 57:57
  continue to retain and grow the amazing team that we are
• 58:01
  surrounded by. I, I hope it's been a great and
• 58:05
  successful year for Northeast Ohio from a business standpoint,
• 58:09
  you know, our economic growth and revitalization.
• 58:13
  I hope it's a great year for the manufacturing community as a
• 58:16
  whole and I hope it's a great year for all.
• 58:19
  Like, you know, we all kind of need a good year.
• 58:22
  And the most important thing that could be happening from a
• 58:26
  year from now would be that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 12
• 58:30
  and O and the number one seed going into the College Football
• 58:33
  Playoff on a tear, ready to pay everyone back for this past
• 58:37
  season. Getting left out.
• 58:39
  I'm sorry. I had to get it in today.
• 58:41
  I had to get it in. I love it.
• 58:43
  We'll take it. What a great way to end Taylor
• 58:46
  Evans from Rust Belt recruiting. I want to be the first to thank
• 58:49
  you for sharing both your time and your story with us today.
• 58:52
  I really appreciate it. Yeah, you too.
• 58:54
  I had a lot of fun with you and really just appreciate this
• 58:57
  opportunity to share my story and thank you for being a
• 59:00
  fantastic host. You're you're a true pro at this
• 59:03
  and the conversation was so easy because of what is a gift of
• 59:07
  yours. I appreciate those kind words.
• 59:10
  Thank you folks. That's a wrap on another episode
• 59:13
  of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us
• 59:16
  today.