Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy West.
Amy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a Sr. Business Development Consultant for People 2.0. We provide back-office solutions that help recruiters grow their businesses. But before joining People 2.0, I was a recruiter myself. My start in the recruiting industry was an interesting one.
I had the privilege of taking time out from the corporate world to raise my 4 children. Around the same time that I started exploring options for returning to the working world, I received a call out of the blue from a friend I hadn’t heard from in years. She said “I’ve been trying to find you! I just started a Global Oil and Gas Recruiting firm & want you on my team.”
My initial reply was “I don’t have any experience in recruiting. And I certainly don’t have any experience with Oil and Gas recruiting!” But my friend had confidence in me. She replied, “I know you, you’ll pick it up quickly.”
So I took a chance and dove in. Soon I was engaged in highly technical conversations with senior decision makers at some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world. I had to adapt quickly and learn the lingo. In those early days, I googled everything. I spent every extra minute learning the technical language of the industry. Even though I was facing a huge learning curve, I knew I was going to love recruiting. Recruiters recruit because they love it. They love helping both clients & candidates find the right fit, so each will thrive.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When I started recruiting at my friends’ company in 2010, business was booming. Oil and gas companies were doing very well. I was passionate about the recruiting work I was doing and I was in the perfect location to do it. Houston, where I was raised, is a major oil and gas hub. In the first few years, my phone was ringing off the hook with job orders to fill and exciting projects to be a part of.
But I soon learned that the oil and gas industry is a cyclical one. By 2015, oil prices were plummeting. My phone started ringing day and night for a different reason: Well-skilled Oil and Gas experts around the globe were out of work. I didn’t have jobs for them because my oil and gas clients were laying off their own employees. Next came calls from some of the most senior placements I had made—they were laid off from the positions I had helped them find and needed desperately to find new jobs.
The next set of calls came from industry recruiters, also out of work and looking for help. It was a wakeup call for me when experienced, highly skilled recruiters, just like me, were being laid off. A common mantra around the recruiting industry started becoming all too real for me: The only difference between a contract employee and staff employee is about two weeks’ notice.
Once again, it was time for me to explore my options. I reached out to a recruiter friend and asked her to keep me in mind if she came across a role that might be a match for me. Less than two days later, she called me back to tell me about an opening at People 2.0 (at the time it was known as TFI Resources). Even with all of the recruiting industry knowledge I had built up over five years, I didn’t know that companies like People 2.0 existed. I didn’t realize that there were entire organizations that were solely dedicated to helping recruiters thrive and succeed in what they love doing.
I had a phone interview with my new boss, Tim, and after speaking for an hour, I was all in. There are sometimes in life where you “just know” something is right. This was one of those times. Having spent the past several years living the ups and downs of life as a recruiter every day, I had complete confidence in the mission of People 2.0 to help recruiters grow. Though it was a scary time, I’m grateful for the downturn in my previous industry because it opened the door to this incredible opportunity. I go to work every day excited to work with the awesome team at People 2.0 and eager to make a difference in my customers’ businesses and lives.
Please tell us about People 2.0.
Recruiters love recruiting. They love putting people to work and making companies more efficient by finding the best employees for the job. But part of running a recruiting business is dealing with back office, administrative functions like insurance, regulatory compliance, payroll processing, invoicing, etc. These necessary tasks take time and energy away from the business of finding, placing and retaining talent.
When a recruiter partners with us, we take over the back office functions, allowing the recruiter to stay focused on their core business of deploying talent. We become the employer of record for their contingent workers and take over regulatory and administrative burdens.
The recruiters we work with are then able to grow faster and achieve a higher level of success by having more time to do what they love doing—recruiting.
The one thing I’m personally most proud of is the high amount of referrals that we receive. There’s a quote I love by brand guru Shiv Singh that says “The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.”
Our clients love our personalized approach to customer service and they freely tell all of their colleagues about us. We really understand that no two recruiters are alike, so we don’t have a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Each partnership that we have with our clients is customized to meet the needs of the recruiters’ business. Our account reps that work tirelessly to make recruiters more successful and our dedication to customer service is what really sets us apart.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
How do you personally define Success? Explain criteria/measures.
I personally define success by my ability to persevere through challenges. I’ve heard there are 3 phases of life: 1) when we’re coming out of a hard season 2) when we’re in a hard season 3) when we’re entering a hard season. It’s not if, but when we face difficult times. The way we think and view life can either be a great strength or our worst enemy. To me, success is training my thought process to keep persevering no matter what obstacles I face. I’m careful to make sure my thoughts don’t end up in the wrong neighborhood and when I’m facing a rough time I make sure I’m mentally equipped to keep going.
A major marker of success for me is who I choose to spend my time with. The team here at People 2.0 is a forward-thinking, industry-leading team. Everyone here has the same spirit of excellence and sense of drive to serve our clients. There’s a synergy to the People 2.0 team and you can feel the energy in the air. It’s a great group to be a part of and inspires me to do my best and work hard every day.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Fall is a busy season for the recruiting and staffing industry and I’ve had several speaking engagements at industry conferences around the US. It’s an honor to work alongside industry thought leaders. Recently I was invited to serve on the 2018 Board of Directors for the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS). I had the privilege of being a conference speaker at the annual NAPS conference in September and I’m thrilled to be working closely with this organization as a board member.
In my personal time, I devote energy and resources to nonprofit and philanthropic efforts. There is a great reward in giving back through charitable opportunities and cultivating relationships with community leaders. Currently, I serve on the advisory board for an American Cancer Society event called Couture for the Cause. I chaired the event in 2015 and we raised more than $185,000, which was 44% above the event goal.
Looking ahead for People 2.0, there are exciting new developments in the works! In the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing a new tool—an online community inside our network of recruiters. This innovative platform will help expand their reach and work collectively to place more people and find more jobs.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1616 S. Voss Road, Suite 700
Houston, TX 77057 - Website: people20.com
- Phone: 713-975-7576
- Email: awest@people20.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/People2.O/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/People2o
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/people-2.0/
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
