From the CEO: 2020 – Looking Back and Ahead

2019 has come to a close and this last year was a defining one for both myself and BloomBright.

We have grown and learned in many different ways, from many different leaders, and I am looking forward to another year of growth and inspiration in 2020.

As I reflect on last year and the experiences I had, I think back to LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference. There, I had the opportunity to be inspired by the likes of former First Lady, Michelle Obama, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, Cynthia Marshall, and CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner. I’d like to share some of the lessons I learned from each of these leaders that have helped me and my company.

Pay it forward

It’s fun to watch people blossom because you gave a little lift.

Michelle Obama referenced the above in her fireside chat at Talent Connect. Paying it forward is something I love to do when buying coffee for the person next in line, but there are a variety of impactful ways to give people a lift.

In 2019, we expanded our BloomBright recruiting teams in both the Bay Area and West Michigan which allowed us to increase our community involvement as well.

In West Michigan, I was the guest speaker for Startup Grind Grand Rapids’ inaugural event and I am also looking forward to our upcoming involvement in Mentoring Monday and mentoring at Techstars’ Grand Circus. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we’re excited to kick off a mentorship program with CodePath and other organizations in tech.

“we are very much committed to being part of the effort to uplevel the entire recruiting industry”

We also like to help our clients “blossom” by helping to optimize their recruiting and operations functions to make recruiting as successful, efficient, and fun as possible.

By providing process, tools, and operations recommendations and training, we help our clients create an internal process that works to hire the right candidates while also providing for the best possible candidate experience.

When the process works, we can help achieve the most difficult success stories, such as when we helped a Unicorn client hire a very senior Engineer for a team that had been struggling with hiring for a year.

Wins like that help raise the confidence, spirit, and capability of the entire team, which is one of the most rewarding things we do.

Speaking of a rising tide that raises all boats, we are very much committed to being part of the effort to uplevel the entire recruiting industry.

In an industry with no formal or universally-agreed upon standards for education, training, and/or ethics, helping our fellow recruiters helps everyone.

We have already started writing blogs and sharing articles on social media, in addition to several other ideas in the works.

Our goal to uplevel both the company and the recruiting industry through the sharing of best practices and lessons learned along the way is something I look forward to this year.

Embodiment of mission and values

Mission. Vision. Values.

As Jeff Weiner put it, these are the core of a strong organization that is more than just a business.

When I think of Jeff Weiner, I find myself almost awestruck that he has led and grown alongside what was once a struggling startup to a now $28 Billion public company acquired by Microsoft. Perhaps this is in part because he truly seems to care about the mission of LinkedIn and the employees there seem to feel that.

Of course business wisdom and financial sense is essential, but by still doing company-wide All Hands meetings focused on the mission of LinkedIn, he keeps everyone focused on the goal of creating opportunities worldwide. Given that BloomBright shares many of the same values as LinkedIn (and being inspired by Meg Garlinghouse’s story of intentionally helping someone outside of her network find an opportunity within her network at the Obama Foundation), we are excited to be part of the LinkedIn Plus One Pledge movement.

We have also “leveraged” (their word for borrow) their value of ‘transformation’ here at BloomBright. Inherent in transformation is growth or evolution, ideally for the better, which is our focus for this value.

Since diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are essential components for an environment consistent with our values, we try to keep growing in our awareness of that which we don’t know.

And as discussed by Jolen Anderson, Visa’s SVP HR & Chief Diversity Officer, at the 2019 Greenhouse Open, we need to keep reminding ourselves that when we get comfortable, we’re probably missing something we should be learning.

I am honored to work with a team that accepts me as female CEO, a human who is working to get better each day, and as a mother who needs to put her children first.

Working with a team that has an affinity for exceptional work with authentic teammates who care about one another is truly a blessing, and knowing that high-performing teams are a natural output of DE&I is simply icing on the cake!

In working on diversity searches with our clients, we get to share our passion for DE&I and we’ve had many successful examples of helping companies build diverse teams, including the hiring of an executive-level female engineering leader.

We look forward to continuing the practice of intentionally looking for people and opportunities within and outside of our network to truly embody and live out our core values.

Having it all: balancing personal, family, and work obligations

Rubber ball, crystal ball

During Cynthia Marshall’s talk, she spoke on her life, career, and the lessons she’s learned throughout.

As a female business leader and a mother, I felt empowered by Cynthia because she was approachable, passionate, and wise.

Some of her wisdom came the hard way, whether by missing important things and burning herself out with a constant cycle of people by day and paperwork by night or by missing routine doctors’ appointments to prioritize work.

She ultimately realized that while you have to manage it all well as a leader, you also have to have your priorities, and those priorities do not have to be the same as the ones held by those around you.

The crystal ball is the to-dos, events, and people that are a priority, and the rubber ball is everything else.

Could the Congressmen schedule the meeting so she could attend her son’s first high school swim meet or should she just skip the meet? She went to his meet and he won (because she was there, she says!). The Congressmen rescheduled the meeting and everything went fine.

I had a similar experience where my crystal ball was choosing to miss a close friend’s wedding and many business meetings to stay home for my daughter’s transition into a new school.

She needed me; it was a crystal ball moment that would have shattered had I not been there.

I am incredibly grateful to work with a team where I can be honest about my family and what’s important to me.

“I am honored to work with a team that accepts me as female CEO, a human who is working to get better each day, and as a mother who needs to put her children first. ”

Working with clients who similarly create environments that assist their team members in the balancing of personal and work obligations is always a highlight for us.

We were thrilled to help one of our Unicorn clients go public after helping to double the size of their recruiting team, add several VPs to the executive team, and increase the headcount and diversity representation for several teams including recruiting, engineering, and support staff.

In recapping 2019, having the opportunity to learn from leaders who have been so successful and at the same time so real, was and still is refreshing.

To be reminded of our communities and the support they give, of embodying my values and mission daily, and the need for balance has motivated me to keep pushing forward, while reminding myself to take a breath or enjoy a girl scout cookie with my kids. 😀

This year, I’m looking forward to making the most of each “crystal ball” moment with loved ones and maximizing the positive impact of my actions. I wish you a wonderful 2020 as well!