TalentSENSE Celebrates 10 Years
I've shared the story of how I started my business many times with people, but I thought TalentSENSE's 10-year anniversary is an excellent time to write a blog about it.
My goal in college was to start my own consulting business at some point, but the goal became lost in the shuffle during my 12 years in corporate America. During a meeting with an entrepreneur, I was reminded of the goal and inspired to achieve it. I incorporated TalentSENSE ten days later. It was the best decision of my career.
I started TalentSENSE with almost nothing - no credit cards, no loans, no savings, no significant other's income, etc. Instead, I forged ahead using my optimism, determination, and confidence.
A few months in, I was making enough money to get by, but barely. I finagled my way through those lean months knowing that this one 'big' client would be paying soon and everything would be ok. I remember getting down to about $17 to my name, so I checked my mailbox for that payment multiple times each day. It finally arrived and I felt relieved and RICH! (Little did I know then how much money you really need to run a business...) I raced the check to deposit at the bank only to find out there was a 14-day hold on it because it was a new business checking account.
This is where the optimism, determination, and confidence really helped. 😆
The check finally cleared and I survived! A friend told me that it actually takes 3 years to survive starting your own business and 5 years to thrive, and I couldn't agree more. And here we are at 10 years! I now have a wonderful team of people who provide obsessive and competent HR and Recruiting services to our clients such as fractional HR services, projects like an employee handbook refresh or job description cleanup, and recruiting for tough-to-fill professional roles.
Overall, my business has grown year over year, but not without hiccups. The more TalentSENSE grows, the more challenges I face. I still make mistakes, but never the same ones twice and I always learn from them to continue improving the business. I have a great network of mentors, colleagues, and even clients who help me navigate through this journey, and am forever grateful for them.
Thank you to my clients all along the way who chose to support a small business and trusted us to help grow their own businesses. Cheers to another 10!
-Jennifer Osborn, President - TalentSENSE
