Unleashing The Power of Mindset with Noelle Federico

00:00 Director of project management starts new company.
04:48 CEO aims to prioritize people over business.
08:59 Learning to build a successful company and train leaders.
11:28 Adapt to industry changes by solving future problems.
13:57 Stay calm, control reactions, avoid judgment.
17:02 Bookending your days with intention for success.
22:16 Choose growth plan over goal plan, incorporate milestones.
24:34 Develop self-worth through consistent habits and success.
29:18 Generations teaching self-care and personal growth.
31:40 Supporting employees' growth with structure and accountability.
35:36 Seek successful role models for guidance and consistency.
40:07 Single mom overcomes obstacles, bankruptcy, refuses defeat.
41:50 Overcoming gender bias in early business career.
45:00 Be open to learning from industry experts.

Intro [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the elite recruiter podcast with your host, Benjamin Menna, where we focus on what it takes to win in the recruiting game. We cover it all from sales, marketing, mindset, money, leadership, and placements.

Benjamin Mena [00:00:18]:
Come to 2024, and I cannot wait for this to be the best year possible for all of you guys. So real quick update, the recruiting growth summit is actually moved to March. Check the show notes for some additional details on that. If you wanna go back, having a newborn at home, I overestimated the amount of time that I would have to get things done. And because of that, that got moved. So they're definitely excited to host that. Got some great speakers lined up. Already ready to rock and roll, So I apologize to them for the little bit of delay, but I wanted to make sure that it is the best possible event for you guys.

Benjamin Mena [00:00:54]:
So alright. Here's a crushing 2024. Enjoy the podcast. Added about this episode of the elite recruiter podcast. I have my special guest, Noel Federico, who is a CEO and cofounder of the staff agency. And here's one of the reasons why I'm excited about having her on. One of the biggest things keeping recruiters average and keeping them from becoming great is their mindset. Every top performer that we that I've had a chance to interview, every CEO that has a growing company, one of the biggest things that they talk about Is their internal mindset and how they have developed that to help the results that they're having day in and day out consistently.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:37]:
So Excited to have you on the podcast, Noelle.

Noelle Federico [00:01:40]:
I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:43]:
So before we get started, And I know that you have a very unique background, and we're gonna, like, jump in and out of that.

Noelle Federico [00:01:48]:
Top you.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:49]:
How like, what's on the recruiting side, like and the The how did you get even started in the recruiting space?

Noelle Federico [00:01:58]:
So one of the other things that I do is I'm the director of project management for a large law firm in Miami. And through that, we have a lot of other companies in our portfolio, that we help to manage. So we had a rather large company that had a great need for staffing. So we were sitting around in the Miami conference room one day in 2019 late 2019, pre pandemic, and we were, not happy with some of the recruiting firms that we had hired for this other company. And we were just, myself and Mark and Greg and Brian, we're all sitting there talking about, you know, what was falling short, how it wasn't working, the quality of the what we were getting. People weren't loving. It was affecting the company, you know, the other company because of the large call center. And, One of us said, why don't we start our own company? Because lots of times, this is what we do.

Noelle Federico [00:02:51]:
We'll start another company to solve the problem of 1 of the companies that we have in our portfolio. Right? So that's how we started. So it just so happens that Greg, who is one of our pod, Was our recruiter had a recruiting firm that he sold, a very successful one, so he knew that space. And I am a I'm a person that knows how to start companies. I've done lots of that in my career. And so it was like, okay. We need now need to find a person that knows recruiting because I'll be the 1st girl to tell you that I do not know the recruiting I do now better than I did, but I did not know the recruiting space per se. So we found Josh Kerner, who happened to be the brother-in-law of one of the attorneys in our world.

Noelle Federico [00:03:35]:
And so we took him on, And we started, and then we brought on a couple people, and and then we just went from there. And now we're 12 strong. So and now we are actually, you know, we started as sort of to serve this other company, and then we just were like, okay. Now we're just gonna grow and take on other you know? So now we have a very vast portfolio of companies that we serve and ever growing, as well as continuing to grow our internal staff.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:02]:
I love that. So No recruiting background, but you guys had a need, and you guys have been working with recruiters for years.

Noelle Federico [00:04:08]:
And Right.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:09]:
You were not happy with The service were not happy with the quality of the candidates, so you guys just said, excuse my language. Fuck this. Let's do it ourselves.

Noelle Federico [00:04:18]:
Pretty much. Yes. Of course.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:20]:
And then I

Noelle Federico [00:04:21]:
And severalist elite, we came up with a name, and there we we were off and running.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:27]:
That is awesome. And it's one of the things that I absolutely love about the space is, like, one, it's a it's a space where a lot of people can come in and make a difference. And, like, okay. I The I've been seeing how this is going. I think the game could be changed, and now I can bring value to the organizations out there Based on the lessons that I have learned and I have seen through my time.

Noelle Federico [00:04:48]:
Mhmm. One of the things I found really interesting is as I sat there and as we listened to the conversations, And then as we brought Josh in and I listened to him tell me what he didn't like about, you know, other companies that he had worked for, and then as we brought in team members and I heard All these horror stories of recruiting agencies and how awful it was and how nobody cares about the people and and they're run, you know, simply by metrics. And if your kid is sick or your you have to do something for your family, nobody CARES, they want you to you know? So all of that. So me being, I'm a person that just likes to add value. I am really just, I love people, and I love to contribute to people, and so that was my interest. I've studied success principles since I was 12, and I'm 55 now, so long time. And I thought, How cool would it be to build a company based on everything I've learned in my career and everything that I've been studying since I was a little girl? And how what could happen if we built a company based on pouring into the people first and meeting, you know, our business objectives second. And that's really why I pushed actually and requested to be the CEO of this company because I I wanted to do an experiment, really.

Noelle Federico [00:06:06]:
I wanted to see what would happen if everyone that we hired, I actually said to them, if you don't wake up every day wanting to come to work and loving Your job here, then you shouldn't work for us, and you shouldn't come and be employed here, and I don't wanna hire you. And so that's pretty much I still am the Last person that sees anyone that we hire, so we're still small enough that those interviews still come through me. And it is a question that I ask, and it is something that I still say. And so far so good.

Benjamin Mena [00:06:36]:
And I wanna say is, like, has that question really helped shape the culture of the people that you have coming in the door?

Noelle Federico [00:06:43]:
Our our culture is our most valuable asset in my opinion. And Everyone that comes to work for us, my first question is, what's your what? Like, why? Why do you recruit? Why do you think you wanna recruit? Why do you wanna do business development for me? Why why should I hire you? You know, what what are you gonna bring to the table? What is your and if someone says to me, I just wanna make a lot of money, There's been cases where I won't hire them, and and I'm just thank you very much, but no thank you. So and I tell my team, listen. You know That we have to make money in order for us to pay you. Like, you're all adults, and you get that. So you kinda know what you need to do. And, you know, yes, we have metrics and some objectives, but we are not, you know, we're not micromanaging people and and having them stuck in the minutiae. You know? I care about their families.

Noelle Federico [00:07:36]:
We send birthday gifts. You know? We send lunch. Sometimes I'll buy them ice cream. I'll send ice we're mostly virtual, so I'll you know, we'll send cupcakes or ice cream or I still jump on, the staff meeting, every Friday just to get the temperature of how everybody is. I very much care most about them, and And second, obviously, that we're doing business well and and that we're making enough money to cover ourselves and everything else. So and I'm I'm always leading by How can we serve? So go to market with, how can you add value to the client? How can you add value to the candidate? And and, yes, the Financial aspect is important. In my opinion, it's not the most important thing.

Benjamin Mena [00:08:21]:
I love that. And you guys have, like, been growing and you guys have because of, like, you're doing with the team and everything, so that's that's phenomenal, especially in a space where, you know, there are many other organizations out there that I don't wanna say or cutthroat or

Noelle Federico [00:08:34]:
but Mhmm.

Benjamin Mena [00:08:36]:
Here's a stack of business cards. Go make somebody see you later. Right. That's out there.

Noelle Federico [00:08:41]:
Right.

Benjamin Mena [00:08:41]:
Well and one of the questions I wanted to ask is, like, you know, I don't wanna say, like, recruiting has turned into, like, a 2nd career, but you've you've been in multiple other spaces. Has how has being in all those other Spaces impacted what you're bringing to the table with your recruiting agency.

Noelle Federico [00:08:59]:
What I learned to do over the years was build a successful company, and I Learn how to train and grow leaders. Right? So I am a firm believer in that the best thing that you can do as a leader or a manager is to train other leaders and managers and how to do that well because there are a lot of schools of thought that don't work as far as managing people And, you know, leading people. Right? So all of the different industries that I've been in over my 35 plus year career, All of those things have helped me in this position because I know the financials. You know? I know what it takes to run a business. I understand the bottom line. I know, you know, about risk assessment. I know about HR stuff, so I know enough about a little of everything To know who I need, and I'm I know that I don't know what I don't know, and I also know that my real job as a leader and a CEO is to hire People that are smarter than I am in their arena and bring them on board and let them shine. And that's really I think if I I think if I had never been in another industry or never led anything else, I think it would be really easy to just think that, you know, maybe I knew everything or Maybe, you know, it was all about me or maybe it was an ego show.

Noelle Federico [00:10:19]:
I'm just I've been kicked enough around, you know, in all the different Things that I've done in all the companies that I've started over the years and grown that I understand it is not about me at all. You know? A real leader is the one at the back of the room That's watching everyone else and really listening and then seeing how he or she can serve the people on the team because they're the ones that are the hands and feet of the company. Right. They're on the ground. I'm not in the day to day. They know what they need to do. It's my job to make sure that they have what they require so that they can do what they do best.

Benjamin Mena [00:10:53]:
Fantabulous. And I think that's a elite, like, what I've seen with leaders in the recruiting space. Like, it's hard for them to sit back and, like, actually Focus on growing their people when many of them are so used to, like, still having to grow their own desk and that like, biller juggling everything. So I love that you said that. Thing I do wanna ask before we really start doing a deep dive on mindset, you guys have expanded your guys' offerings outside of just recruiting to, elite, Management and consulting, what would you say to other recruiting owners and agencies out there about having a portfolio of options for your clients?

Noelle Federico [00:11:28]:
I would say if you are in if you are in this industry or any industry right now, everything is changing. Right? Work is changing. Workforce, you know, cultivation is changing. The way that we're doing business is changing, so Start looking at what you think might be a difficulty 5 years from now, 10 years from now, and start solving that problem now. Like, think about your Clients that you see, the people that you have, the the candidates that you have, what challenges do they face, where do you see that they're getting stuck, Where do you see that you might be able to invent something that could help them and start inventing solutions to problems that people don't even know that they have yet? That's really the way to kinda grow your verticals so that you're not just pigeonholed. Right? Because if you're pigeonholed in only Doing business when people are hiring, then we all know that there's gonna be lulls in that. Right? If your business is looking at how to add value to your client and add value to the candidates. You'll come up with a whole bunch of vertical ideas, and then you'll kick the tires and see What works.

Noelle Federico [00:12:38]:
Really, though, the thing is to be focused on adding value. Right? Because if you're if you're focused on adding value, then when I'm talking to you and I'm Listening to you as a client, I'm really listening. I'm listening to what you're telling me about your company or the difficulty that you're having with your hiring process, And then I'm thinking to myself, how could we solve this problem for this company besides just placing or giving them a candidate?

Benjamin Mena [00:13:01]:
That's that's awesome, man. It's something that, like, with the market shifting, going into 2024, things it's it's not the same world that we used to live in. You know, the world is changing. Gotta change with it, so love that. So jumping on mindset. I and like I said at the very beginning of this podcast, it's one of the biggest things that every top producer talks about is having the right mindset. Before we talk about having the right mindset, I wanna know from you what are things that really screw up People's mindset and keep them from having a good mindset for success.

Noelle Federico [00:13:33]:
One of the biggest ways that people get trapped Is something happens in the moment right here, and they react to that versus respond to it. So they get very emotional. Let's just we'll take recruiting. Right? Because it's an easy way it's an easy thing for your listeners to understand. So you you have a deal on the table. You think you've got it. Client bails or candidate bails. Now you just lost a $25,000 commission.

Noelle Federico [00:13:57]:
So in this moment here, you start freaking out because that happened. So that just throws your whole you know, if you are not kind of diligent with your mindset, and we can talk about some ways to To focus yourself like you were just saying, but if you are not that, now your whole day is ruined. Maybe your whole week is ruined, and your consistency and your productivity are out the window. Right? Because now you're panicking because it seems like you just lost this $25,000 fee, and maybe that commission is what you needed to pay your mortgage. So You're just tripping now, and and it's very and and so by the law of attraction, however you are whatever your energy is in this moment is the next moment that you're attracting to yourself. Right? So if I'm freaking out in this moment thinking that I'm now poverty stricken because I've lost my commission, Now I'm just attracting, like, more frantic stuff to react to because I've lost my peace. You know? And so, really, if if If you're a top producer, you wanna be a top producer, you wanna be a manager or a leader, you have got to be vigilant about controlling your Reactions and and teaching yourself how to respond versus react emotionally to what might be happening in the moment. Also, you must be careful not to ever judge anything by the way that it looks in the moment.

Noelle Federico [00:15:17]:
You're judging by your intention in the matter. So let's just say this recruiter had an intention to make a $3,000 commission that month, and now they've lost what appears to be That commission. If they're just judging by their intention, then they're just saying, okay. That one didn't work out. Let me go look for the next one. Right. If they're judging by that this is their whole life for the month right here, what happened, they're out the window and they're And everything's gone, right, because of how long is it gonna take them to to calm themselves down and get themselves refocused. So When you're in sales, in any business elite, but especially in sales or business development where it's all relationship based and people can do weird stuff.

Noelle Federico [00:15:59]:
I mean, I'm sure you've heard we've heard some incredible stories about clients, and we've just done weird things right at the end. You can't afford to be reactive. You have to school yourself into having your intentions and your goals and and Setting up your your consistency and your productivity to follow that instead of following what's happening in the moment. Because moment by moment, It's like a ping pong. Anything can happen.

Benjamin Mena [00:16:27]:
In this space, you know, we're not dealing with it with widgets. We're dealing with It's a two sided sales with people.

Noelle Federico [00:16:35]:
Yes. And people are very unpredictable.

Benjamin Mena [00:16:39]:
Noelle a dull moment when it comes to people. Okay. So, you know, you know, making sure that we're reacting properly, making sure that, you know, Where our intentions are more long term. Yep. What are some other structural things that we can do To really start setting up our mindset and and changing our mindset for the better.

Noelle Federico [00:17:02]:
So to really have control of yourself and your peace and kind of your, you know, centering yourself, bookending your days, Darren Hardy talks about this in his book, The Compound Effect, which is one is a book I highly recommend. It's a it's an older book. But he speaks about bookending your days, which is to say that every morning, you're taking a piece of time when you first get up. Instead of grabbing your phone and Looking what the world is doing or social media, you're you know, if you're a spiritual person, maybe you're praying or you're reading affirmations or you're reading a a book that's motivational or watching a podcast. So you're taking time in the beginning of the day to set the intention for your day. Right? Here's what I wanna see happen today. My mom used Call it a glory story. She'd say write out a couple paragraphs of how you want the day to go before you get into the day.

Noelle Federico [00:17:48]:
So you're setting yourself up to start thinking, oh, I'm gonna have 5 great conversations. I'm gonna close a sale. I'm gonna get my kid to school on time, you know, whatever. And then you have the day. And then at the end of the day, you're taking that Same time top just review what happened, accept that maybe some things didn't go the way you wanted, have gratitude for Whatever did go the way you want it to go, and now you're ending your day like that. So you are very much in control of how you begin your day and how you end your day, Which sets your mindset. Right? And then in the middle of the day, when stuff gets thrown at you, you're already coming from a calmer place. You're like, I set my intention for the day.

Noelle Federico [00:18:29]:
Okay. This is happening right now, but it's not the end of the world. What's the solution? Versus, oh my god, you know, Having a huge emotional reaction to something. So to control your mindset, you have to be intentional about this stuff, and you have to be consistent. You know? You It has to become a habit to control your mindset, and it has to be a habit to set up your day and end your day in a good way. If you just leave it to the world, Anything can happen. You're the only one that's in control of your future.

Benjamin Mena [00:19:00]:
Well and I I got a question out there. Like, percentage of the people that you think, like, what do you you know, you're taking talked about taking your day 1 step further, but let's take a step back. How many people out there do you think even plan their day?

Noelle Federico [00:19:14]:
Probably a minimal percentage of people. What is the what is it what do they say? Like, the 5 top 5% of people are the most successful or whatever that Whatever that is, it's those people that are planning their day, and the rest of the world is just like, I hope it all works out.

Benjamin Mena [00:19:29]:
So, like, Even if, like, you listen to this, and I think it's important to sit down, plan your day before you start.

Noelle Federico [00:19:38]:
Yep. And

Benjamin Mena [00:19:39]:
I and I love what you're what you're saying. You're talking about, like, in booking your day too, like, reviewing, spending time reviewing, and that's one of the things that It's it's been a a theme across many of these top producers is, one, they work have a plan, they work their plan. Secondly, they are reviewing At the end of the day, like, end of day review of what they did throughout the day. And Right. I think that's

Noelle Federico [00:19:58]:
one of

Benjamin Mena [00:19:59]:
the things that, like, most people aren't doing. They're not Thinking about what it is and they let the world just take them on or on a ride.

Noelle Federico [00:20:06]:
So think about this. If you were building a house, right, you wouldn't build a house without a plan. If you were, you know, if you were building a building, you wouldn't build a building without a plan. Hope isn't a strategy. You require you wouldn't go to war without a strategy. You have to have a strategy. Your life needs some kind of a strategy, some kind of a plan because otherwise, you know, You're just at the mercy of whatever's happening. You're you're not controlling the outcome in any way if you don't have any kind of a plan.

Benjamin Mena [00:20:36]:
I love that. So okay. So we got the the bookings of the day. What else would you recommend?

Noelle Federico [00:20:41]:
Consistency. You know? I always I tell my team, you know, if you're having difficulty with a particular mind you know, if you wanna change a particular mindset, make a set of affirmations about that, make a set of positive statements, Put them on your computer on index cards, put them in front of your face, put them on Post Its. I'm famous for telling my guys the, you know, the client I am seeking is also Me or the candidates we are seeking are also seeking us and just have some kind of you know, when When things aren't going well, you've had a bad phone call or gotten an email you don't like, like, have something around you that you can immediately look at and Give you a reframe. Right? Give you a re a quick reset. Oh, no. I'm going there. Nope. This is all gonna work out.

Noelle Federico [00:21:24]:
Everything turns out. You know, Positive psychology proves to us that as we folk if that as the more grateful we are, the more we focus on gratitude. And the more we focus on what's good, the more good things show up for us, the more things we have to be grateful for. Like, those are true now the positive psychology is actually a thing. It wasn't when I was growing up, but now it is. And there are studies, many, that prove this. Right? So it's like what you focus on is what you are gonna bring top your experience. So in answer to your question, what to do, put things in front of your face that are gonna remind you of Where you're going versus maybe what's happening in the moment.

Benjamin Mena [00:22:05]:
Awesome. Now when it comes to, like like, taking a little step farther, like, goal setting, like,

Noelle Federico [00:22:10]:
Mhmm.

Benjamin Mena [00:22:10]:
How how does somebody set their goals so that way they're setting them up up for success?

Noelle Federico [00:22:16]:
I like to say that You should have a growth plan instead of a goal plan. Meaning that when you have goals, Right. When you meet them, what happens? If you have a growth right? I mean, what if you have a growth plan that includes Milestones and goals in there. Let's just say you you are setting a plan for the next 6 months, and you wanna see certain things accomplished And maybe you wanna listen to certain podcasts and maybe you wanna read a certain book, and your goal is to get to the gym more. You know, you might have all these things that you want, that you know are important to your personal growth and development as well as your career. So let's just say you put these things into a plan. Right? Now if you have a goal inside that plan or an objective and it doesn't get met or it needs to be changed, it doesn't It doesn't destroy the whole plan. It's just elite 1 thing in there that you need to tweak.

Noelle Federico [00:23:15]:
And any strategy or plan like that, it's like a breathing thing. So, like, revisit it every week or every 30 days for sure. Keep looking at it. Right? Because you might think today, I want this to happen in 60 days, And then something might happen tomorrow that changes that. So keep keep working with it like a blueprint. Right? Keep working with it Like it's a living, breathing thing that you're creating for your life and for your future. And write it down. Because if you can't even write it down and you can't even speak it out of your mouth, there's no way that you're gonna create it happening.

Benjamin Mena [00:23:53]:
Well and that kind of talking about going into goals. I wanna go, like, 1 step deeper in that. You know, how do you like, I love the way you're talking about a big growth plan instead of a goal plan Because a lot of times I see, like, somebody looking at finally becoming a top producer. They hit their goal, and I don't know if it's elite a combination of limiting beliefs or Other factors, but it like, the next 3 months, the next 6 months, like, it's almost like a a lot of people get pulled back down to Earth or pulled back down to A reality that they were already in after they hit this big goal and after this big five. How do you stop that from happening? So that way you're continue to grow.

Noelle Federico [00:24:29]:
You know how you hear about the people that win the lottery and they lose the money?

Benjamin Mena [00:24:33]:
Yeah.

Noelle Federico [00:24:34]:
You know? The lot like, a great percentage of people that have won the lottery, they lose the money. And this is the same reason why you have a biller, fat, hairy goal and you meet it and then you backslide because you haven't done so you have to bring up your worthiness And you're kind of elite your self worth. Right? You have to bring that up along with you as you're achieving you know, as you're going after, as you're Leveling up your income as you're becoming a different person, you have to elevate your self worth. One of the ways that you can do that is by being consistent. Right? Because if we are consistently doing if we if we wanna make a new habit And then we say to ourselves, oh, I want to do this, and then we do it consistently day after day, day after day, day after day. And we're saying to ourselves, oh, I can do this. I'm a I'm a kind of a person that can make a new habit and make it work for me. Then maybe after I have success with that for a month or two, I'm like, I'll add another new habit.

Noelle Federico [00:25:30]:
I'll do this. I'll start doing this. I'll you know? And as you are consistent with that, You think more of yourself, right, because you're proving to yourself that you're a consistent person and you can do something over and over again. And as you get more consistent, your self worth elevates, and then you actually believe that you deserve the goal that you got or The weight that you wanna be or the salary that you wanna have. Because sometimes we forget the self worth part. We set our eye on the prize. We might be a very driven person. We can go get that prize.

Noelle Federico [00:26:03]:
We were making $50,000. Now we're making $100,000, but we're still the $50,000 person Making $100,000, I won't keep that $100,000 salary. I'll find a way to sabotage or I'll lose it because Because my mindset is at 50,000. I didn't do the steps to elevate my self worth along the way So that I believe that I deserve the 100,000 or that I deserve the position that I got or the client that I won or whatever the case may be. So it's like you can't you you can't avoid the work. The work is the work. Right? You've got to do that work, And you've gotta do it consistently. And the other thing that happens is when people reach a huge goal, they're like, oh, I caught momentum.

Noelle Federico [00:26:48]:
Yay. Then they take their foot off the gas, and that's another reason that they backslide. Because they have worked and worked. Right? They've plotted along. They've done the thing. They've done the thing. They've done the thing. They've Done the thing, and they hit it.

Noelle Federico [00:27:00]:
And then they go, oh, I made it. Boom. Now I can sit on my butt and watch Lifetime and, you know, eat Double dogs, and forget the 50 calls a day because I already I made it. I got it. I won it. You won't keep it.

Benjamin Mena [00:27:15]:
So it's you gotta get back to work. Okay? You celebrate the success

Noelle Federico [00:27:18]:
There's no

Benjamin Mena [00:27:19]:
but at the end of the day

Noelle Federico [00:27:20]:
celebrate the success. Yes. For sure. But this is why if you have a growth plan, Right? So you have a goal and you and then you have another one, and then you have an and and if every 30 days or 60 days, you're at that saying, is this still the goal that I want? Do I still want this salary? Do I want a bigger salary? Do I wanna add anything? Do I wanna take anything away? Do I want to learn a new skill? Am I seeing that I could develop myself in this way? Should I be getting to the gym more? Do I wanna add that? Should I eat less sugar? Maybe I shouldn't drink so much after work. Maybe it's not good for my productivity. Like, ask yourself you know, people don't Ask themselves these questions. Right? They just hope it all turns out. And then they wonder why is my life not the way I want it to be? Why don't I have the salary that I want? Why can't I get the clients that I want? It's really not a mystery when you start to dig into their life and their habits.

Benjamin Mena [00:28:12]:
It's amazing how 5 years can disappear just like that.

Noelle Federico [00:28:16]:
Uh-huh.

Benjamin Mena [00:28:17]:
Alright. So is there any other things that you you should really be doing to set yourself up for Success with your mindset.

Noelle Federico [00:28:24]:
I really would encourage people to look at their personal development plan. This is something I feel elite that gets lost, And it's something that we are really adamant about with our staff and and helping them to make one and discover what that might be. And that, lots of times, isn't related to anything to do with staff agency. Right? It's related to their lives. So it's like if you're If you are not developing yourself in some way, learning a new skill, working on your health, whatever it is for you, everybody has different things that they'd like to see happen in their life, spending more time with your spouse or your kids or whatever the case may be. If you are if you are not working on yourself in any way, You are really not gonna bring your best self to the game of work. Right? Because you're not taking care of yourself over here in your personal life. So These things are really married together.

Noelle Federico [00:29:14]:
You know? It used to be a very separate conversation. And now that we have all these generations in the work course, because the younger generations are more concerned with taking care of themselves and their self care and their emotions, you know, they're teaching the older generations, like that's coming more into the workplace. Right? You hear all I know you've all heard it about the self care and mental health and taking care of yourself and all that. That really ought to ought to have been part of the conversation all along. And so it's like the whole there's a whole human. Right? You might work for me, but you're a whole person. You have a whole life that isn't staff agency. If you're ignoring that life And not taking care of yourself, really, what version of you are you bringing to your desk every day? Not the best one.

Noelle Federico [00:30:03]:
So if people are really wanting to know how to change their mindset or or improve themselves at work, they first must look at, like, their own life and what do they really want to improve there, And how do they wanna grow? You know? What what do they what do they wanna see themselves doing in 5 years, in 10 years? What is their what legacy do they wanna leave for their children? You know, these are questions that people don't really ask themselves. You know? What do you really want? It's a great place to start with a question for yourself.

Benjamin Mena [00:30:32]:
What do you really want? Love that question. Well, let me just kind of, like, talk about this. Like, you're you're you've talked about building a growth plan for your people. If you're a leader listening to this podcast and you have a team, what should you be doing, or how do you build a growth plan for your members on your team?

Noelle Federico [00:30:50]:
So what we did is we have a coach, that con that is contracted to us, that we went out. And so Her name is Erin, and we brought her in from I'm a certified master coach as is Karen as a certified professional coach, but, obviously, we thought that us coaching First of all, I'm the CEO, so nobody wants to talk to me about anything because they're they're elite you know, it's weird. Right? So I kinda learned that too. You can't be the leader and try to have, like, you know, conversations because people are always holding you in a different place. So we had an outside coach, so that's a great way. You can hire an outside coach to help people, or you could work with an outside coach to develop maybe a template, you know, if you don't Have the economics to have coaching sessions for your team. We happen to offer a coaching session to each person. That's just part of what they get from working with us.

Noelle Federico [00:31:40]:
And so that's just something that we've been able to do. You could develop a template. Right? And and then have the HR could be you know, maybe there's someone on the HR department whose job it is to kinda go through the template with the employee and help them understand, you know, what are the things that you might wanna look at for a growth plan. And then, you know, there's gotta be some accountability there. So there has to be some kind of structure put into your culture that's supporting people With number 1, making a growth plan, understanding what that is, and then giving them support along the way, some accountability where there's a check-in. Like, hey. How's it going? How are you doing with that? You know, what kind of help do you need? And I I've seen a lot of things about, companies employing psychologists now because they're worried about the mental health of and well-being of people. So I think that, you know, a coach, it's right along with that.

Noelle Federico [00:32:31]:
Right? If if someone's really looking at their personal growth, They're probably, you know, be more mentally happy, right, by by working on themselves and looking at the group. So it's another not Like, either or, but elite an an kind of a I think as a company, you have to take more of a whole person strategy now. You have to really look at all of that and see what do you need to add to your HR program or your training, The way that you train or the way that you interact with your employees that wasn't there before, you know, that will ensure that people are getting taken care of. Because here's the truth, Benjamin. If if I'm if you're taking care of people, they're gonna stay engaged with you, and if your employees are engaged, then you're gonna have a healthy, prosperous company. When your employ employees start disengaging, that's leadership's fault. It means I'm not paying attention.

Benjamin Mena [00:33:23]:
In this, like, time and time again. Disengaged employees or disengaged team members aren't productive. Like, most of the time, they're on their way typically out the door and, You know, they're not making sales. They're not bringing revenue. Like, there's so many things that and it and it's always impacting them personally too. Like, oh, there goes, like, Our mortgage pay like, all sorts of stuff. So I love that you guys have hired coaches hired a coach for your team so that way your team can grow as a whole person And not just looking at the end of the day, like, what structure that you guys have or what, like, commission that they're making. So huge kudos kudos to that.

Noelle Federico [00:33:58]:
Thank you.

Benjamin Mena [00:33:59]:
So before we, head over to the next part of the podcast, is there anything else that you'd love to share about mindset?

Noelle Federico [00:34:07]:
I would just say that consistency is key. Find you know, Set yourself some make a little growth plan for yourself. Set yourself some goals. Start with a 3 month. Start with a 30 day goal or a 30 day plan. You know, in the next 30 days, I wanna see myself do this. And for the next 30 days, I'm gonna do these 3 things every day to get myself to that objective. Just start small.

Noelle Federico [00:34:33]:
Consistency. Be consistent. Most people can't hold the consistency day after day after day, And that's where, you know, everything kinda gets lost. So consistency is key. And if they wanted to read something, I would suggest going and grabbing a copy of the Compound effect, which really talks about how a small thing done day after day after day leads to a huge result in time.

Benjamin Mena [00:34:57]:
Oh, man. That book is great. Everything when it comes to, like, work, talking about extra 100 calories per day, walking an extra 5 minutes. Right.

Noelle Federico [00:35:06]:
Yep. I And it's

Benjamin Mena [00:35:07]:
great, but off? Well, awesome, Amanda. Real quick. If you're listening to this and you're not in the middle of your workout at the gym or in the middle of a run, like, hit the pause button And put together your 30 day goal. And then once you're done, hit play again. Alright. For the quick fire questions, if you're giving advice top recruiter that's just getting started off in our industry, brand new recruiter. What would you tell them that they need to do to in order to achieve success?

Noelle Federico [00:35:36]:
I would tell them that they need to understand from wherever their whoever their supervisor is or wherever, like, what are the metrics that I need to hit? So I would tell them, go and seek out people that are succeeding in the position that you have and ask them, What do you do every day consistently that has led you to the result that you want? Be that a number of Submissions or number of phone calls or number of emails or LinkedIn that whatever it is. Find out what is the, plan, right, that they follow that got them to where they are, and then follow that plan. Right. Go for someone that has the income, has the success that you want, understand from them what they've done to get there, And then follow that. And then once you follow that and understand it, then you can tweak it, you know, to suit you better. But when you are When you are new in an industry and you don't know how to be a success, find someone that is a success and ask for ask for their advice And ask for the steps to tell you what to do every day, and then do it consistently. Even on the days when you don't feel like it, do it anyway.

Benjamin Mena [00:36:47]:
Awesome. Great great great advice. Now what about the, people that have been in the space for a while? You know, what advice would you give to them to See more success or continued success? Because the world keeps on changing.

Noelle Federico [00:36:59]:
Add value. Be most concerned with adding value top your clients, candidates, anyone that you are anyone that you are interacting with. If your first concern is to add value to someone else In every conversation that you have, that's never gonna lead you to a bad place. So instead of getting on the phone And trying to talk to somebody about what you want, get on the phone, and talk to somebody about what they require or what you can do for them. You know, Dale Carnegie. I'm a Dale Carnegie graduate. Dale Carnegie says always lead with what you can do for them versus what you want from them or what they can do for you. If you become a person that just shows up and adds value, you are naturally gonna acquire more relationships, which are naturally gonna bring you, you know, More opportunities and likely more business.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:51]:
Fantabulous. Has there been a book that has had a huge impact On your own personal success. And I'm interested in this because I know that you've you've read a ton of books.

Noelle Federico [00:38:01]:
I read almost a book a week. I personally, this is an old, old book Called, it's by Florence Scoville Shin. And what is it called? She has several. If you just look her up, The words are my wand is one of them. I think keys to a successful life is another one. I can't think of the names off the top of my head, but Lawrence Goldblum Shin is the author. She wrote, like, 3 or 4 books back in the 1900, and they are just great. They are great, you know, mindset of positive, get your mind in the right place, Motivational prosperity and also Catherine Ponder's books have had a huge impact on my life.

Noelle Federico [00:38:43]:
Open Your Mind Prosperity was the one that I started with when I was, I 11, and I've studied, you know, all of her work and all of her books my whole life. So

Benjamin Mena [00:38:53]:
Out of curiosity, what book are you reading right now?

Noelle Federico [00:38:57]:
I'll show you. Adam Grant has a new one that literally was just published, like, 3 days ago. It's called Hidden Potential, the Science of Achieving Greater Things. And I just finished a book by Amy Edmonson, called The Right Kind of Wrong. She's a Harvard professor, and that was a fantastic book as well. Gotcha. And then yeah. I'm always I'm always I'm always trolling the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review for what are the ones that are you know, I order them before they even get published.

Noelle Federico [00:39:27]:
My husband opens the box and goes, It's another book.

Benjamin Mena [00:39:32]:
Oh, you should. Gotta love Amazon boxes. Right?

Noelle Federico [00:39:35]:
It's really sad when the UPS driver Knows your name, and your husband gives him something to drink when he comes to bring your pocket in.

Benjamin Mena [00:39:43]:
Well, you know, it is hot down in Florida, so kudos to your husband for doing that.

Noelle Federico [00:39:47]:
I'm in Vermont, actually. So

Benjamin Mena [00:39:48]:
That's right.

Noelle Federico [00:39:50]:
Yeah. No. That's okay. I'm in Vermont. But, in the summertime, they get cold drinks, and in the wintertime, they get water. That's awesome. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:39:58]:
Well, looking at, like, your own personal success

Noelle Federico [00:40:02]:
Mhmm.

Benjamin Mena [00:40:03]:
What do you think has been a personal Driver for that success.

Noelle Federico [00:40:07]:
I just won't give up. I was a single mom for 18 years with no child support, So, you know, I had to file bankruptcy when he was really little, when he was, like, not even 1. And my Grandfather had gotten sick with cancer, and I opted to leave work to take care of him before before Antonio was born so that he could pass away at home. And it just left me not in a great position with credit cards, and I was married, and that wasn't a good situation. So I left Antonio's dad, and I had to file bankruptcy, and I just wouldn't I wouldn't give up. I wouldn't give up. I was raised by a single mom. I refuse to give up.

Noelle Federico [00:40:45]:
Sometimes, you know, the failure is teaching you that it's not that. So it was like, okay. If it's not that, then We'll just find another way or another avenue or another opportunity. So it wasn't like there weren't projects that I didn't give up on or a situation that just It was enough, and it was time to walk away because sometimes that's true. It's just I just refuse to be run by circumstance. Right? So it's like whatever it is in the moment, That's not the way it has to stay. It's not the way that it has to turn out, and I was just brought up that top look for the good and everything. So I'm always just like, okay.

Noelle Federico [00:41:20]:
It's gonna turn out. I don't know how. I'm also a hugely faithful person. So, you know, pretty much God and I got it done, and here we are. So we did alright.

Benjamin Mena [00:41:32]:
That's awesome. So this is gonna be a a 2 for questions. So if you can go back at the very beginning of your career With it, you know, all the companies you've worked with, the companies that you helped grow, the recruiting company now, and you could sit down and have a cup of coffee with yourself, what advice would you give yourself?

Noelle Federico [00:41:50]:
I would say not to discount my self worth. As a woman, you know, way back when in business, It was very difficult to get, you know, a seat at the table, and it was difficult to get, you know, Heard for more than the way you look or, you know, the way that you show up, like, for anyone to really listen to, You know what you have to say or think that you had any value to add. So I would tell my younger self, like, You know, know that your know that your worth like, don't be afraid of Showing up and and elite in yourself and believe in your self worth. There were many years there early on. You know? It was much more difficult, especially because I was in the south growing a business. And so down there, it's kind of an old boys' network where it was, you know, 20 years ago. And, you know, it was it was elite, less difficult for me in some ways, but, you know, it's just difficult top Because women, you know, women weren't running lots of things 30 years ago, you know, when I was in my early twenties and just starting in the business arena. Right? It was a different world then.

Noelle Federico [00:43:05]:
So I would tell I would tell my younger self, don't give up, which I didn't. And I would tell I would tell her, you know, just Believe in yourself, believe in your value, and believe in your worth, and just be authentic. Like, don't tailor, you know, what you're saying because of what you think somebody thinks about you. Just speak your truth and be authentic.

Benjamin Mena [00:43:25]:
I absolutely love that. And it it's the exact same question, but fast forward to the beginning of Technically, your recruiting career. Mhmm. What advice if you're sitting down with yourself would you give Based on everything that you know now about recruiting.

Noelle Federico [00:43:43]:
About the industry, about my place in the company, or, like,

Benjamin Mena [00:43:47]:
Hey. It's About what I about the advice that you would give to yourself, like, as the leader of this organization.

Noelle Federico [00:43:53]:
Okay. I would say, Zip your mouth up and listen because, I will say that at the very beginning of of this endeavor as taking on being the CEO, I had been used to starting things that were very entrepreneurial, so much smaller not a smaller scale economically, but a smaller scale, like, in In who were the players, right, in the, you know, in kind of the management arena. And I was used to doing everything myself. I wore lots of hats in all the different companies for many years, and so I was used to pretty much doing all the things. And I was not so used to being, like, the person watching overall the things and then empowering the people, you know, to do the things. And so, foolishly, at the beginning, you know, I got schooled a couple times in, You know, I don't know the best way. I don't know what I don't know I don't know, and I I have to listen more. And, you know, it was never awful, and it was never catastrophic, but I definitely it was definitely an adjustment.

Noelle Federico [00:45:00]:
You know? So I would say to myself at the beginning, like, Be a novice and and be willing to be contributed to and be willing to Really listen to hear, not listen to wait for a pause so that you can say your piece, But actually, actually, listen to hear the people that know this industry far better than you do, because it was like, I would have what I thought was a brilliant idea. Right? Because I'm a marketing like, that's how my brain works. So I'd be like, guys, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and then they would shoot me down. Because they're like, Noelle, no. In this industry, it's this and that. And then I I'd be like, oh, okay. And lots of times, I would have already tried to push forward a few steps, right, within initiative. So then I was smart enough to make Managing directors.

Noelle Federico [00:45:52]:
So now there's 4 of them and me, and now we collaboratively make all decisions. And so I hear everyone's piece And understand everyone's perspective because they all bring something different to the table. You know, Karen, Josh, Steven, Matt, they all have Different industry experience and different life experience, and and now I just I listen. So I would tell myself, you know, Leaving you go at the door and put a piece of duct tape over your mouth for, like, the 1st 6 months and shut it and listen.

Benjamin Mena [00:46:24]:
I love that. Awesome. Well, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would love to share share with the listeners?

Noelle Federico [00:46:29]:
I would just want to tell them that there is nothing that can Keep you from who you wanna be in your life as a recruiter, as a salesperson, whatever industry you might be in. There's there's absolutely nothing That's impossible, and there's nothing that's stopping you from achieving what you wanna be in your life except for yourself. So just learn how to, Like Benjamin was saying, navigate your mindset. You know? Figure out how you can grow yourself as a person. Look at how you can be a better version of yourself every single day. Look to see how you can add value, and nothing is impossible.

Benjamin Mena [00:47:07]:
Awesome. Well, I just wanna say thank you so much for coming on, sharing with the listeners. Like I said earlier on, it's one of the biggest things that I've seen with The the top CEOs, the top leaders, the big billers is they all talk about how important their mindset is to have that success. So Definitely, thank you for sharing. And to the listeners, guys, crush it, and can't wait. Thank you guys so much for listening.