It’s so much fun for me to introduce you to my guest this week, recruiting + hiring expert, Rikka Brandon. Rikka is the kind of person who adds a spark of inspiration, energy, and fun to every situation she encounters. If she happens to walk into the room you’re in, you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy because the party is about to begin. Rikka is a client whose become a valued friend–and my go to for all things hiring + personnel in business (plus a lot more)–but on top of that, Rikka’s a champion for entrepreneurs. She recently launched her new website, www.rikkabrandon.com specifically to help small business entrepreneurs navigate the daunting task of finding great people to hire. Rikka founded her wildly successful recruiting business, Building Gurus, to recruit for her clients exclusively in the building materials industry. But RikkaBrandon.com is a personal passion of Rikka’s.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a solopreneur trying to figure out how to hire one part-time contractor, or company trying to find the right fit for numerous openings, Rikka can help. Her ability to solve problems swiftly and creatively isn’t the only reason I want you to know her. Your life will be better once you’ve met her. It’s that simple. So enjoy, and be sure to ask Rikka your own questions in the comments!
Rikka, help us get to know you better. Tell us where you grew up, where you live now, and for good measure, your favorite thing to eat for breakfast:
I grew up on a farm in rural North Dakota, my Dad was a farmer and my Mom a teacher. We even had the big red barn! Now, I live in Moorhead, MN with my husband and our 2 kids. My favorite thing for breakfast is Coffee. But, I’m about to start doing Bulletproof Coffee – so that is pretty exciting!
What’s one thing we should know about you, but wouldn’t think to ask.
If you ever want someone to watch Batman Brave and the Bold, Justice League Unlimited, or Young Justice – I’m your girl. I may be the only 37 year old woman who DVR’d Justice League Unlimited. So, if you have questions about superheroes I may surprise you with my vast knowledge!
You decided to live abroad last year–with two little ones in tow and a thriving business in full-swing. What were you thinking? 
I’d always wanted to live in a different country. I’ve visited a dozen or so, but I wanted to challenge myself, exposure our kids to a different culture (and a different winter–the Upper Midwest can be brutal from November-April). We thought we were going to move to Belize, but after we visited we decided it was still a bit too “developing” for our taste. So, we ended up moving to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. It is about an hour south of Cancun and right on the Caribbean Sea. It was amazing. If you have any Wonderlust or desire to live in a different country, I strongly encourage you to do it (it’s easier if you business is phone and internet based like mine ;-). The kids adapted quickly and loved it, but we ultimately moved home to be closer to our family. However, both Chris (my husband) and I still have the itch and may do it again.
What are book(s) are you reading right now?
I’m just about to start the 2 you gave me, Michelle Tillis Lederman’s 11 Laws of Likability, and Sarah Granger’s Digital Mystique. As far as fiction goes, I am a Sword and Sorcery Fantasy girl. I loved Game of Thrones when it was “just” an epic book series, and have anxiously awaited the release of the next one several times.
So on to business, tell us how you came to found Building Gurus.
In a nutshell, the arrogance of youth. I had been working at a 3rd party recruiting firm and recruited for a national window and door company and I just loved it. The company I was working for got into financial trouble and made some shady choices. When I realized what was going on I thought, “Oh, No. I have a weird name and I plan on doing this for a long time, so I am not going to let you screw it up.” So, I started to look for a job and the company that placed me at the Search Firm I was leaving was recruiting me to start a construction recruiting division for them. My boyfriend (now husband) is very risk adverse, so when he said, “If they want you to do it for them, why don’t you just do it for yourself?” Hmm…so, I decided to start my first business at the age of 26. We grew it to a million in sales in 3 years (thanks to an awesome Director of Business Development). We had to do a major re-group when the housing market crashed, which turned out to be amazing since it allowed me to create a business that enables me to move to Mexico for almost a year.
What made you decide to found RikkaBrandon.com this year? How is it different from what you’ve been doing?
RikkaBrandon.com is focused on my 2 professional loves Entrepreneurship and Recruiting. I often say I was born to be an Entrepreneur (I’m not so good at having a boss!) and I am wired to recruit. I have a lot of friends who are entrepreneurs and they’ve struggled with recruiting and hiring so it really became clear to me that some actionable advice related to recruiting and hiring could change a lot of lives. So, I decided to do it!
Building Gurus is a third party search firm that primarily does full service searches (contingency and engaged) these searches are quite expensive, ranging from $15,000-$50,000+. Most of my clients have over 1000 employees, and when they hire me it’s to find people they can’t find with their (extensive) internal resources.
RikkaBrandon.com teaches you how to use the tools and techniques headhunters use to attract or find top talent. There are tons of resources on the blog (many with video), but if you want custom advice you can work directly with me with our Game Changer Call and with our Recruiting Blueprint service.
What’s the one problem you see coming up again and again for small business entrepreneurs when it comes to hiring to right people?
Settling. They often post their ad on one site and settle for the “close enough’s” that apply. There are a lot of inexpensive places you can post your job ad online and connect with qualified people. It is much better NOT to hire, than it is to have to fire them in a few weeks or months. This post gives you ideas on what to do if you didn’t get a very good response from your job posting.
Another common issue is being clear about what they need (not want, or should do/could do). This article gives you 4 questions to answer the next time you are going to hire.
If you could give one sentence of advice to help them solve this problem, what would it be?
I am not a one sentence kind of girl. But…I’ll do my best.
Write a great job ad, include a tell and sell about the company and the opportunity, and post it on at least 3 different places that your target market will visit.
You’ve launched a new product offering called the Recruiting Blueprint. Tell us about it and how we can learn more.
The Recruiting Blueprint is a custom recruiting strategy developed by me, for you. That you can use time and time again to find qualified and talented employees. This video I made will give you a quick overview.
I would most definitely describe you as fearless. Do you think this is an essential quality for entrepreneurs? Why or why not?
Ha, I am not fearless. But, I do think that understanding or mastering your fear is a huge part of living a full and wonderful life. When I’m afraid about something, I often try to dig deep and ask the questions that will help me understand what the fear is “really” about. I find that my analyzed fears lose most of their power over me.
What else do we need to know about working with you? How can we find you (I can add that in of course).
Let’s see, if you are new to working with me, you should know these things:
- I talk fast. I think fast. I eat fast. But, I do not run fast.
- I have been recruiting for people all over the US since 2001. I’m just as effective from 2000 miles away as I am next door.
- I really love recruiting and figuring out how to connect companies with the talent that will be amazing. I really want to help you build an amazing team + business + life.
You can learn more about Rikka at RikkaBrandon.com (tell her I sent you!) and you’ll thank yourself if you subscribe to her blog so you don’t miss a bit of her wisdom when it comes to finding the right people to hire for your business. Questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments below and Rikka will answer.
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to connect, so drop me a line here or shoot me an email at norma [at] connectinteractivellc [dot] com. If you like what you’re reading, be sure and subscribe or sign-up just below for email updates so you don’t miss a thing!
The post How to Add Talented, Dynamic People to Your Small Business Team with Rikka Brandon appeared first on Connect Interactive.