The first post on this blog was, “My First 90 Days in Business”, and with everything that has been going on, along with the new year kicking off, I think the end-of-year warrants an update to further dig into why I started Guild Talent and where it stands since the 3-month update.
At the point of the 90-days in business, we had made a few placements so far, with a 4th offer out. I’m humbled by our success so far with many more (11) offers accepted and a few more coming down the pipe. It has been a great start to what I expect to be a very long and exciting journey. That said we also had our first offer declined, which was something bound to happen 
.
Over the last 6 months, we’ve gone through an awesome ‘leveling up’ of the process/structure of the team/business/services, as well as things like contingency planning when the team is out. I’ve got an incredible team, but we’ve had a few circumstances that have required folks to be out for a few weeks unexpectedly. Starting and building this little business has been awesome. We’ve continued to drive successful projects for our clients, all while learning and growing internally. I recently hired someone to help me with ‘operationalizing’ our own business which has been a game-changer, even in the short time she’s been with us. While I am super involved with the Operators Guild, admittedly, it isn’t my strength.
Our small and mighty team is able to move fast and drive results for our clients, first and foremost, and doing so while putting some structure around the business improves visibility and accountability.
For the first 9-months, Guild Talent worked on Director-level engagements and I already see the trend of us supporting more senior roles, like the VP-level projects we currently have open.
Our process is tight, our network is strong, and our clients are happy. The sky is the limit.
It has been an evolution for me learning where to focus my time and what the needs of the business are, time management is a big one for me personally. Part of the learning curve over the first 9 months has been the cycles of our projects and getting set up for the next ones.
I still don’t think I’m much of a manager but rather we’re all partners on the same team. We’re small, scrappy and engaged. We each have ownership over different aspects of the services we collectively deliver to our clients; We’re all in it together and I’m both proud and honored to be with the people I’m working with.
This is a long game for me. I’ve got lofty goals but I think the biggest learning thus far is that we have time and don’t need to do it all tomorrow. I’m driven, but also have put a lot of focus on my family, slowing down and doing things right so that we continue to successfully close projects, rather than risk taking on too many projects or running too fast.
We’re steadily seeing referrals and both repeat and new clients come through, and with that, all I want to see in 2020 is a full year of us running our business with happy clients and candidates, concreting process, and continuing our focus on Finance & Operations executives. If we can do that, while continuing to build trust with our partners and our reputation for quality, we will have a bright future for sure.
Thanks for reading, and good luck in the new year.
Jamie Ceglarz | LinkedIn
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