The cliché “time flies” is so true. WOW… I can’t even fathom the fact that 25 years have passed since Talent Connections, LLC was launched and 15 years since Career Spa, LLC was founded. It has been a blessing and honor beyond measure! The biggest blessing has certainly been the incredible people I have served alongside to impact so many people, companies, our community, and the HR profession.
How it All Started
I have often been asked, “How did you get started?”. Well, it is simple. I started my career as an auditor at Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC). Following in my Dad’s footsteps seemed only logical. The problem was that I didn’t like the work! Fortunately, I had the chance to move into college recruiting a year into my career, and I never looked back. After a decade in corporate HR, some mentors encouraged me to venture out on my own. My first boss in HR, Jim Hartsook (a dear friend and a longtime mentor), led the push. It really caught me off guard at the time as I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. In fact, I can’t even spell the word “entrepreneur” without spell check! My Dad was a corporate guy, so I assumed I would be the same.
Entrepreneurial (and Wisconsin) Roots
I have come to realize, though, that I am a lot like my grandfather, who owned a drugstore for 50 years in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Back in the day, his drugstore was the place to go, not just for prescription drugs, tobacco, or a malt at the old-fashioned soda fountain, but also for a social connection. My grandfather had a huge impact on individuals and the community he served. Fun fact – he was one of the original shareholders of the Green Bay Packers! About everyone in town knew him, and just like him, I love to team up with great people to serve others. So, maybe entrepreneurship has been in my genes all along!
When I contemplated what I would offer, I considered coaching, executive search, and recruiting consulting. Coaching was an up-and-coming profession, yet I didn’t see myself as a coach, but a consultant. I guess I am more wired to offer advice as a consultant rather than a coach. Someone who will ask questions and lead their client in self-discovery. Executive search was a possibility, but I had worked at a large retained search firm for eight months and had a less than desirable experience. I loved HR and was always biased that recruiting was the most important HR function. If it’s truly all about talent, then acquiring said talent was first and most critical. So, I chose to offer recruiting consulting services to help organizations optimize their talent acquisition!
A New Venture
Fortunately, I had developed a strong background to do this work with my experience at PwC, where I headed up college and experienced level recruiting for several years. Then, add on the retained search gig. Even though the company’s culture wasn’t a fit for me, I learned a lot about hiring at the highest levels in the organization. There was also my experience as the first recruiter for an Atlanta-based software company that was growing rapidly (XcelleNet). Then, back to experienced recruiting when I joined Accenture. After over a decade in corporate HR, I had seen hiring from every angle and learned many best practices. I took that experience, stepped out of my corporate job, and set out to provide recruiting consulting to help companies improve every aspect of their hiring!
The challenge at the time though was that no one else in Atlanta (and almost no one nationally) was providing this specific service niche. This made it harder to educate the market on my value proposition. Fortunately, my first client was McKesson, and I was able to help them with a recruiting process audit, improved employee referral program, and improved onboarding process. What a blessing to have a Fortune 10 company as my first client! The first few years were filled with other recruiting projects, including helping Earthlink and Mindspring integrate their recruiting functions when the companies merged.
All in all, life was good, and the company was off the ground. To further expand, Allis Fox joined me to help with marketing and administrative work. She helped for a few years, left to raise two amazing boys, and returned to the team just two years ago, this time as Director of Talent Delivery!
Time to Expand!
The first service expansion came when WebMD asked for a contract recruiter. Then, CSC consulting asked for three. The next thing I knew, we had 14 contract recruiters out working! Gary Shaar was one of the first contract recruiters. He worked on countless engagements through us for over 20 years until he retired in 2022. Around this time, as contract recruiting was kicking in, some calls also started to come in for contingent and retained searches for full time placement, mostly for HR roles.
At just the right time, I received a call from Teela Hadley (yes!… now Teela Jackson!). Teela was looking to make a career change, and she joined my team in 2005 to head up the HR Search practice. Her first placement was Marlo Gillette at NASCO as head of recruiting. 19 years later, she is still with the company and has advanced to become the head of our HR Search function! Teela has become an icon in Atlanta HR search and has helped to lead and elevate the profession. She has served as the President of SHRM Atlanta (2014) and in many other volunteer leadership roles over the years.
This was also around the time when we did a large recruitment process outsourcing project for Habitat for Humanity International. I was serving then as President of SHRM-Atlanta in 2006 and 2007 (and I also got married). Wow was I busy! Fortunately, Vernesha Smith had joined the team as the Talent Delivery and Recruiting Coordinator, serving with us for 16 years. Ginger Wallis, another instrumental player, served as a Talent Consultant for over 10 years. Melissa Hewett also joined and helped with the SHRM-Atlanta Presidency effort. Melissa is now the Head of HR for the Country Music Association! We really had it going on and we were laying the foundation for the future.
The Launch of Career Spa
Another expansion happened in 2008 when we launched Career Spa! In a similar way, mentors encouraged me to do it! Susan Kent, VP of our Houston Office, joined and was instrumental in the company launch and success! It was clear to us from the start that those who are unemployed and mis-employed were not getting the career management and career transition advice they deserved. I have always felt that recruiters, because of their daily work, know the best practices to teach job seekers how to network, interview and get the offer they are looking for. As recruiters, we felt led to package and offer these teachings.
We have been honored to serve thousands and see so many careers get back on track, while helping others to find new paths that better align with their life purpose. Our true passion at Career Spa is helping people discover their life purpose and then secure a career/vocation that supports that purpose instead of falling into a career and having it drive their purpose. Career choice before clarity of life purpose is a backwards approach, and it happens FAR too often! Thankfully, it’s never too late.
In 2009, Rod Chally joined Talent Connections to help us open an office in Jacksonville, Florida. Rod and I had worked together at Accenture, and he was exceptional in the executive search space. Rod ran the office until he retired a few years back.
Fast forwarding to today and it is incredible to think that we have found full time or contract roles for almost 2,000 people and countless organizations.
Where We Go From Here
I guess this is where I say “cheers” and speak to 25 more great years! Well, I am pretty sure that 25 years from now, someone else who is more capable than me with have the reigns and will have taken both Talent Connections and Career Spa to much higher levels. In the meantime, we forge ahead knowing that we need to continue to serve God by serving others. He has given us this platform and it has proven to be powerful. I am grateful to still be working with Jim, Allis, Teela and Susan. We also added Jon Palombo to the team as our Marketing Director, and he has been advancing our marketing efforts in leaps and bounds.
I am grateful for SO much looking back, and I am excited about the future. We have more work ahead of us to serve, place, consult, lead and give back! THANK YOU, friends and colleagues for calling on us to serve you and for serving alongside us through these 25 years! It is a blessing to be a blessing, and I am truly grateful for each and every one.
Gratefully,
Tom
