Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Englade.
Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Over the last decade of my career, I’ve had to hit the reset button and start over a countless number of times. Before I was a recruiter, I worked in the medical spa industry as a Clinic Manager for nearly six years. Becoming a recruiter never once crossed my mind, but when I met with a recruiter to help me engage on a new career path, she saw something in me and passed my resume along to her manager. The transition into recruiting seemed exciting since I’d still be in sales, so I jumped at the opportunity to try something different and accepted my first position as a recruiter placing administrative professionals in downtown Houston. I wasn’t handed an active book of business or a playbook to reference, but I quickly figured it out and fell in love with the industry. I became a top producer quickly and started to think about what I wanted my future to look like in recruiting, and it wasn’t in administrative staffing. I wanted to give the accounting side of recruiting a shot, so I asked my manager if I could transition into that division and almost immediately, I got my wish and became a recruiter for the accounting & finance contract staffing division. But I had to start over with building my pipeline since I had no accounting candidates on my matrix, so I put my head down and hustled. I quickly became a top producer in this division, as well, and took on several leadership positions throughout my time with the company.
My next position in recruiting took me out of Houston and into the Memphis, TN market. My role was to create processes and procedures for this company’s staffing division, and travel throughout North America and Canada with the Executive Director to implement these new processes, while still having to recruit candidates for the Memphis staffing division. It was tough, but it was also exciting and kept me on my toes. Once the Memphis location was up to speed, the company moved me to the Dallas, TX market where I was tasked with growing their staffing division, while still traveling throughout the country. So, once again, I hit reset and had to learn a new market and fill my pipeline with candidates specific to that market. In April of 2020, I took on a Practice Director position with this company’s Houston, TX operations. I was finally home! But, had to start all over again from ground zero, since I came to the table with no active book of business. So, I put my head down again and hustled even harder. But, just as soon as I started to see progress, I was laid off in September of 2020 due to the pandemic. It was the next day I filed for my LLC and Monarch Talent Solutions launched shortly after.
Monarch Talent Solutions is an accounting and finance executive search firm specializing in direct-hire placements throughout Houston, TX. We are on a mission to transform the recruiting industry by putting humanity back into it by being relatable and transparent throughout the entire process. I started Monarch with one recruiter, in addition to myself, and have since brought on another executive recruiter and just rolled out an offer last week to an additional recruiter, which will make us a team of four! We have done tremendously well building a book of business in a short amount of time by taking that transactional feeling out of our process and humanizing it. Looking for a job is stressful as it is, so by keeping that always in mind and being methodical about our approach, we have gained the trust of many candidates and clients. Kindness is the backbone of our business and we’ve done exceedingly well because of it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road. My biggest professional struggle was starting a recruiting company without an active book of business and minimal business development and/or marketing experience in the middle of a global pandemic. Before starting Monarch, I had eight years of staffing industry experience as a designated recruiter. This meant that my job on the team was to specifically recruit candidates looking for new opportunities. I hardly ever interfaced with hiring managers or had to do anything related to business development.
Professionally, my network was full of individual contributors in the accounting and finance space, meaning transactional accounting folks. I hardly knew any Controllers, C-Level Executives, Directors, VPs, etc., and those were the people I needed to know because those individuals are the decision-makers. Having had minimal business development experience, I was terrified to reach out to these people because I didn’t know how to talk to them and wasn’t sure how I would be received. Here I am, new to entrepreneurship with no direct-hire recruiting experience, having had not made a single placement with Monarch trying to “sell” myself to CFOs and Executives, and stuttering through every phone call. It was horrifying and I was terrible at it.
I knew that I needed to figure this piece out immediately if I were to make it. I needed people’s buy-in and if I couldn’t hold a conversation with a hiring manager because I was suffering from “imposter syndrome” then there was no way this was ever going to work. How I overcame my fear of the phones and rejection was by investing in marketing trainings online and reading as many books focused on increasing sales, prospecting for new clients, and branding as I possibly could. I became obsessed with marketing trainings and did, at minimum, two trainings per week for probably six months. These trainings taught me new ways to craft emails to potential clients, how to leave a voice message without sounding “salesy”, how many touch points each contact needed before the contact became a client, and so on. By emerging myself in trainings and then executing what I’d learned, I got more confident, and it became less terrifying and much more enjoyable. I stopped dreading my business development days and started looking forward to them.
Truth be told, I used to only look forward to recruiting candidates because I was good at it and that’s where I was always most comfortable. Business development was incredibly uncomfortable, but that discomfort pushed me so far outside of my comfort zone that it made me unstoppable. Once I got the hang of it, I just went for it and owned it. I now speak with Presidents, VPs, C-Level Executives, etc., multiple times a week, and the conversations are almost always effortless. Investing in your personal development can be scary, but it’s a game-changer. I’m proud to say that I’m still investing in monthly trainings and emerging myself in personal development books so that I remain at the top of my game and one step ahead of my competition.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the Owner & Founder of Monarch Talent Solutions, as well as an Executive Recruiter specializing specifically in the accounting, finance, and operations space for direct-hire positions in Houston, TX. I’m a people person. I love building relationships, making connections, and creating win-win situations. After nearly a decade of being a headhunter in the staffing industry, in 2020 I decided to follow my heart and leave the agency side of recruiting. The most important part of my job—an authentic human connection—often felt like it was too low a priority. The game was quantity over quality and profit over people. That did not feel true to me so, I made a change and started my own path with Monarch Talent Solutions. As a small business owner, I have skin in the game with every client and candidate. I never forget the stakes of my responsibilities as a recruiter.
Starting my own company with the mission to put humanity back into hiring is by far my biggest accomplishment to date, which I’m most proud of. After being laid off as a Practice Leader from a global recruitment firm during the pandemic in September 2020, I took a leap of faith and decided to bet on myself. I founded Monarch Talent Solutions in October of 2020, a search firm specializing in direct-hire accounting, finance, and human resources during a time when no one was hiring. It was both scary and exciting to turn my back on the corporate world, especially during the most uncertain times of not knowing if the world was ever going to recover from the shambles of COVID. But I knew that if I was going to remain in recruiting, it would have to be on my terms. I was no longer going to be held to a script provided to me by management so far removed from the actual day-to-day life of a recruiter. I was going to be myself, humanize the hiring process and highlight what’s broken, while providing solutions on how to resolve it. I decided to be the voice for many struggling jobseekers and say the things that are labeled “taboo” that so many are too scared to say out loud, which sets me apart from the thousands and thousands of recruiters in similar positions as myself who won’t stick up for their candidates and for what’s right out of fear of losing business because of it. It’s been the most fulfilling experience of my entire life to have started a company that’s mission has been the driving force behind its success in such a short amount of time because of how many people believe in it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
As important as my motivations are, I’m sure you’re also interested in my qualifications, so without further ado: I’ve placed over 2,800 candidates, led elite recruitment teams for some of the biggest names in the business, and generated millions of dollars in revenue for one of the largest firms globally. I’ve developed standardized staffing division practices, established business development metrics, and developed teams into well-oiled machines.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monarchtalentsolutions.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/monarch-talent-solutions-llc/
