Blog post May 2022
II love to fail! Why? It means I am learning.
They say you must know someone to trust them. I want you to trust me, I want you to trust Ringo. Today my blog is about failing, sounds backward, right?
First a little bit about me so you know who I am (for the foundation of our trust.) I have been in the staffing industry for 25 years holding many roles that range from pounding the pavement in sales, to lead generation to recruitment. I started out in a branch office in South Dakota and when I sold the first on-site program in the history of our branch, we had to immediately ramp up contract staffing to support and keep up with client demand. It was a multi-site mail order pharmacy, now owed by a Fortune 500 giant.
When we took on that mega project, failing looked eminent and as the meme shows we experienced a F.A.I.L. (First Attempt In Learning), but we put our heart into E.N.D. (Effort Never Dies). and the N.O. (Next Opportunity) led the way. After the infant year, I was asked by my leadership to take the account over and “fix it.” Back then all I knew was “fixing it” was making sure the client was happy. I was there for six years.
Life changed and I moved to Ohio to start a new adventure, stayed working for the same company in a larger market. I got busy and went to work on building the next chapter of my career. I had to begin again. In the first 3 years I was a desk recruiter, on-site support and fixer in operations and eventually promoted to Branch Manager. I had no idea how to be a Branch Manager, but there I was, so I simply figured it out. I moved onto Business Development manager and thankfully I had a lot of great mentors in my circle who wanted to see me succeed. I am competitive, so try #3 is fast approaching with lessons learned.
My first N.O. (New Opportunity). I was asked to be an interim District Manager and thought I was destined to become the new District Manager. I worked hard in this role while doing my primary. Imagine my disappointment when I was literally told a couple of months in – “Hey Shani great news, your new boss will arrive on Monday morning.” I had applied for this role myself and was certain I would become the next District Manager.
In that moment I had choices…. I could have been upset about it, I could have left the company since I didn’t get the role, but simply I asked “Why?” The answer, as I look back now 16 years later, was that it was the best thing in my career life that could have happened to me. Because that answer was that I was “not ready yet.” In the moments to come, it allowed me to be mentored by the best in the business and to understand how to be ready. I am thankful for that failure every day. It was the driver to succeed, to do more, to be more and to pursue a career life worth living.
Fast forward and I am here leading Ringo asking you to trust me and our solution.
Ringo – The People Technology – is a Technology Company. We fully understand the staffing industry because our core technology function connects the client and their vendor management through our newly updated technology solution with new features as of 2022. Myself or one of my team would welcome walking you through our platform – it’s not new to the industry, but it is always changing, growing, adapting and improving – just like we all do.
Reflecting on my own career: Sales “bird dogger” in lead generation to COO/Managing Director. Opportunities surround us; all you must do is be open to possibilities! Failing is proof positive that you are willing to move forward and that’s what matter.
#roamhappy
Shani Underwood