Why I Decided to Start my Own Company
During a late night back in October I was wide awake and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t sleep. I was at a cross-road in my professional life, unsure and unaware of what would come next. Anxiety and doubt were having a war within my head and it was a loud battlefield. I decided to travel somewhere else and escape reality. For me, this meant watching a movie.
Those who know me well, know that I am a movie aficionado. I love great acting, great dialogue, and a great story. Watching a movie allows me to be immersed in another world. Well that October night, I chose to travel to Middle-Earth. I inserted The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King into my Blu-ray player. I had not seen the movie in over 5 years but over the next 201 minutes I found myself relating to one of the main characters in the film, Aragorn.
I won’t go into the entire plot but basically Aragorn was raised by Elves and then became a Ranger who protected people from outlaws and evildoers. He is a member of a fellowship made up of Men, Hobbits, a Dwarf, an Elf, and a really cool Wizard. They embark on a quest to save Middle-Earth from evil. Aragorn is also fated to one day become King and claim the empty throne of Men.
Aragorn knows it is his duty and destiny to lead the forces of good against the forces of evil and become King. However, for most of his life he is unwilling to embrace his destiny. He goes through an internal struggle, ashamed of his fear and doubts. There is a turning point in a scene from the movie where the Elf leader who raised Aragorn presents him with a reforged sword from his ancestor that will allow him to win the battle of good vs. evil.
He says to Aragorn:
“Put aside the Ranger. Become who you were born to be.”
The Elf leader inspired Aragorn to put aside his doubt and fear and set out to do the things he was meant to do. Aragorn then embraced his status as the King. He accepted his destiny and eventually saved Middle-Earth. I can relate to the inner struggles he went through. Throughout my career I always felt I could do more by starting my own company but like Aragorn was held back by my own fears and doubts. I was already on a career path. However it wasn’t what it was supposed to be. What I wanted it to be. Recently I chose a new path. The right path.
On November 18th, 2014 I officially founded Final Hire, Inc. I had “put aside the ranger” and decided to follow what I believe was my destiny:
Be a trusted partner and advisor to my clients in connecting them to the world’s greatest talent.
Over the last few years I have seen an increase in poor recruiting practices by search and consulting firms. I grew up in the profession where integrity, authenticity, and passion was the DNA of a great recruiter. We established and nurtured our client and candidate relationships, even when we were not actively working together. Quality actually meant Quality, not a candidate presented to a client from a job board that was rarely given time to develop a relationship with. Final Hire, Inc. was created in response to what I feel is a growing demand for a partnership that would offer more value than this.
The #1 reason I love what I do and for which I am most passionate about is that I get to change people’s lives. Every day I have an opportunity to solve problems and make an impact. I am a man of no wizardry, no heir to the throne of Men, and I won’t be serving my clients and candidates with a legendary reforged sword (although I must admit I do have a very cool replica of Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back!) Instead I offer my knowledge and core set of values: Integrity, Authenticity, and Passion. This is the core of who I am and what Final Hire, Inc. is and always will be. I am excited to embark on this new quest and look forward to the growth and fellowship of my clients and candidates.
My plan is to blog moving forward on talent acquisition trends, issues, and best practices. My goal is for it to be educational, engaging, entertaining, and at times thought provoking. I hope it helps those that read it to think outside the box when it comes to talent acquisition and interviewing.