I have a Dream! For every woman to know her worth. To make 6 figures. And be fearless in going after she wants!
Life was so GOOD! The year was 2000. My husband (now divorced) and I were making $50K a month running a small brokerage and investment business. I had my sweet little boy who was around 6 months old crawling around the house.
We thought we were invincible, and the “rain” of money and success of the business would never stop. I thought we were set. He focused on investment and money management for his clients and providing wealth planning, and I ran the operations, client servicing and back office. It was a perfect fit. What could go wrong?
Everything.
It Always Seems Impossible Until It’s Done
– Nelson Mandela
Towards the end of that year, around September of 2000, the NASDAQ Tech Bubble happened, and the stock market crashed. Everything collapsed. Everything was destroyed. Our thriving business went from $50K a month to zero – overnight. It was not as bad as the Market Crash of 2008, but at the time it was just as bad. People lost 80% of their net worth overnight. All Tech Stocks that were overvalued just imploded. And so did our business.
We crashed and burned with the market.
We lost everything. Our clients lost everything. My husband went into a deep state of shock and depression and did not know what to do. I knew right away that this was a dire and desperate situation, and something had to happen quickly.
We had savings but our burn rate was high. With zero income coming in and the market all around us collapsing, things were bad. I figured we could push to around 8 months of living before we would go through our savings and be penniless and broke and possibly homeless.
I NEED A JOB!
I had to get a JOB! Fast! But where to even start?
My neighbor was a recruiter for a large recruitment firm and she always told me I would be great as a recruiter in Finance as I worked in the business and she said my personality would be great.
So perfect timing – I needed a job and Recruiter was the answer. Let’s go!
I applied to many recruiter job openings, with minimal bites here and there. I was not deterred and just kept at it.
Finally, a fancy Beverly Hills firm had posted a Job Opening on Monster.com looking to launch a new Finance and Accounting desk and were looking for entry-level Recruiters with a finance background. BINGO! This job was mine. I applied.
Within a few hours, the hiring manager called me. We spoke for an hour and the call went so well. She said I sounded perfect and invited me for an in-person the next day. YESSSS!
I never felt so good about a role in my life. I knew being a recruiter was my ticket out and my ticket to save my family from bankruptcy and financial ruin. There was no time to waste at all. And I had a small child to take care of as well, so I was unstoppable.
I went to the in-person interview the next day, dressed perfectly, fit to take on the world. The interviews were incredible. I was there for 4 amazing hours. It was the perfect fit. Every team member I met said I had the right personality and solid industry background to help launch the new desk. The job was mine.
The hiring manager said the only last person to meet was the CEO.
GULP!
The put me in the conference room. What a conference room! All glass windows from ceiling to floor. It seated 50 people on a gorgeous glass table. You could see the Hollywood sign and all I could visualize was me working as a recruiter for this firm and looking at that sign every day and taking care of my family and making 6 figures. I was ready to start tomorrow. They were going to love me!
The CEO finally walked in.
And the room went very cold and very still.
I knew in that one second, that this man did not like me. Period.
The energy went toxic. It was over. I was nauseous.
He was a scrawny, skinny, man that was obviously agitated to even having to take the two minutes to meet me.
He took my resume and threw it across the glass table. It glided like a paper airplane slowly landing in front of me. It was slow motion.
He then looked at me and said, “I am sorry, my team made a terrible mistake. You are not qualified to be a recruiter. You need to leave.”
I was in shock.
I replied, “Why? What makes you think I’m not qualified?”
His reply, “You have never worked as a Recruiter. They should’ve never pulled you in to begin with. We wasted our time meeting you today.”
My reply, “Yes, I know I have never worked as a Recruiter, but I have a finance and accounting background, so I can easily parlay that industry knowledge into recruitment”.
His reply, “No. It won’t work. You don’t know anything about being a Recruiter. And you will FAIL miserably. You’ve never handled sales. And you will not be able to handle rejection and the word NO. I will have someone escort you out.”
And with that – he was gone.
This “dialogue” lasted no more than 2 minutes.
I was in shock. I was devasted. This man was the CEO of a fancy-schmancy recruitment firm in the heart of Beverly Hills. His conference room faced the Hollywood Sign. He would know, right? He would be the EXPERT in seeing if I would be successful or not.
What was I thinking that I could be a recruiter when I had never worked in this field before? Why did I think I could be a recruiter and make it? Why was I so stupid and dumb to think I could transition into this type of work? He said I would fail. He was right. I was wrong. What an idiot I was. I felt so dumb having met everyone and was so embarrassed when they walked me out.
I left the building totally dejected.
BEING HOPELESS THAT ALL WAS IMPOSSIBLE
For two weeks I was at a loss. My husband and I walked around the house dazed and confused. We didn’t know what to do or where to go. I had to go back to the drawing board and come up with other ideas of what job to get. And the CEO was right. I would fail miserably as a recruiter. He was an expert. He would know. I never was in sales. I did not know the word no. He was right. I would not be able to handle the rejection. Game over. Now what…
Two weeks later a miracle happened. Perhaps an intervention from G-D. I believe so.
It was 2am. I was dreaming and then all of a sudden, I saw it. The name. And I woke up in a jolt. In a start. I sat up so fast and even though the room was dark I saw the name so vividly now with my eyes wide open, so clearly, that I knew, I knew, I KNEW exactly what I needed to do.
I sprinted to my computer in the other room and went straight to GoDaddy.com and I typed in the name WALL STREET PERSONNEL in the domain search word. That’s what I had dreamt. That’s what I saw when I woke up from the dream. This name – Wall Street Personnel – my future. My ticket out. A vision that was going to come to life.
My heart was racing. I pressed enter on GoDaddy.com domain search name and waited what seems like hours (but really was only seconds) to see if this name was available. Please, please, please let it be available.
And then there it was! AVAILABLE!!!!
I bought it – right there and then!
At 2am in October of 2000 I bought the domain name WALL STREET PERSONNEL and just like that I was in business for myself! OH YEAH!!!!
From a dream to reality – here we go!
I AM AN ENTREPRENEUR!
I became self-employed.
I became an entrepreneur.
I took control of MY life and MY future.
No one would tell me I would fail. No one would stop me.
Who was this “man” to tell ME that I would fail “miserably” at being a recruiter? Who the hell did he think he was to knock me down, to tell me I would not make it? How dare he speak to me like that – how dare he even say I would fail? He did not know me. He did not know my sense of urgency, he did not know my passion, my conviction and my unrelenting drive to make it – for me and for my family and most importantly for my little boy.
When I look back to this pivotal day, I realize that he gave me the fuel and the fire to prove to him what a big mistake he made. BIG.
Within two weeks of purchasing that domain name, I was up and running. Web site, brochure, business cards, job postings on Monster.com, business networking events, I was unstoppable. There was no messing around with a woman who had to take care of herself and her family. Do not mess with that!!
I told everyone in my circle I had launched Wall Street Personnel and within one month I got my first client. A friend of mine referred me to her manager who needed to hire someone. Within 2 weeks I closed my first deal and made $ 6K. Then a few weeks later I reached out to the brokerage firm where my husband and I had worked with (before our business collapsed) and they hired a compliance professional through my office! I made another $ 14k!
WHATTT????
MY MANTRA: MOVE OUT OF MY WAY OR I WILL KNOCK YOU DOWN
Still not convinced, as these two clients came from my circle of influence, I needed evidence of a total cold call, a complete “stranger” who never knew me, to work with me.
I cold-called, I networked, I went to every single business event out there. I showed up as a Recruiter. I lived and breathed as a Recruiter. I was the epitome of a successful thriving Recruitment firm that was the solution to all Financial Services firm who need to hire talent – I was their solution to help them find the best person to fill their job.
I believed in myself, and my honesty and my integrity to really make an impact as a recruiter, with both job seekers and employers. With this mindset, success was not an IF it was just a WHEN. Remember, I was starting from scratch. But in my mindset, I was the biggest competitor to Robert Half (and that awful recruitment firm in Beverly Hills). Move out of my way as I was unstoppable.
A month after that I got a call from Merrill Lynch in Century City (Los Angeles). There was a new manager there and she said that they were looking to hire a new Private Client Associate, would I be able to help them.
YES!!
That was the best evidence to me. Merrill Lynch? To me I had arrived. And I have never ever looked back.
I closed that deal and then another client and then another deal and another client and another deal.
The rain started to pour again. In 2001 I made around $ 100K. By 2002 and on I was at $ 200K plus. My six figures continued to grow and grow and grow.
Can’t handle rejection? Can’t handle the word NO? What a GIFT I got from that man. That CEO pushed me to invest in myself. He pushed me to take the chance on ME. He pushed me to believe in ME. Thank you for kicking me out of your office – if I would’ve worked for you instead of myself, I would have never made the millions I made over these last two decades, not to mention the sheer power and confidence it gave to me that I could count on myself. What a feeling of freedom and power that is! Priceless.
The New Decade: 2020 and The Fearless Woman is Born
It has been 20 years since that time that all things seemed at a loss. I STILL run my recruitment business!
I have over 14,000 followers on LinkedIN, I was quoted in US News, Chicago Tribune, NY Sun, Boston.com, Sun Sentinel, to name a few, and was even interviewed LIVE on Fox Business TV Channel. It is a great honor and privilege to serve top tier talent and connect them to my clients I developed great relationships with during all my years of recruitment.
I now offer not only full-time placement, but also staffing and temp work, as well as having launched an eCourse: Find a Job like a Pro where I share my insider knowledge of how to find a job with job seekers.
Here I am today – 2020 – twenty years later. That in itself is incredible! My sons are now 18 and 21 and I have been divorced for 5 years. The evolution and organic growth of the woman never stops, ladies!
I recently launched The Fearless Woman: A movement to educate, inspire and empower women from all over the world to know their worth, make 6 figures, and be fearless in going after what they want.
At this point in my life, my passion and commitment is to all women all over the world to show you that you CAN do it. To show you that anything is possible. Anything! Have faith and trust your inner intuition. As long as you believe in yourself, so will everyone else.
And remember, don’t listen to what ANYONE says – only listen to your gut and your intuition and GO FOR IT!
