Tag: Artisan Spotlight | Artisan Creative

Creating Trusted Relationships

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019|

Trust….what does the word mean to you and how does it influence your business and personal life?

All relationships, whether interacting with a partner, co-worker, vendor, or family member rely on trust and will grow because of it, or falter due to a lack of it. As leaders, it’s important to earn and to give trust. Many people work hard to make sure they can be trusted, reliable and someone others can count on. For some, trust is given freely and blindly, until it’s broken. If that happens, they suddenly do an about-face and stop trusting. For others, they start from a place of distrust and work their way to trust over time.

In his book, The Speed of Trust Steven Covey says that trust is a function of two things: character and competence.

Character is one’s integrity, intent, and motives. Competence is one’s skills, knowledge, track record, and results.

Both are needed to create and maintain trusted relationships. Covey attributes 4 core principles to building trust – both with ourselves (self-trust) as well as with others. The first two principles have to do with character and the latter two with competence.

Integrity

Do we say and do what we said we were going to do? Do we stick to our core values? Do we have integrity with ourselves? Are our morals and ethics aligned with our core?

Intent

What are our motives? Do we work towards a win-win outcome with ourselves, with our employees and vendors, with our family and friends?

Capability

Do we know how to do what we said we were going to do? Do we have the qualities needed to inspire confidence? Are our skills, attitude, and knowledge aligned so we can grow and establish trust as leaders in our company, family, and community?

Results

This is all about getting things done – our performance and track record. If we don’t deliver on our promises, or never do what we say we are going to do, we lose trust.

The next time a situation arises where you get a distrusting feeling about someone or a situation, ask yourself whether it’s a matter of their character or competence?

If it’s a matter of competence, you can ask for data, for certifications, ROI, KPI, you can run assessments. From an on-going leadership and training perspective, it’s important to ask if someone has been given the proper training and onboarding to do their job well. Also, it’s good to make certain our expectations are clear, so they can do what is asked and expected.

If it’s a matter of character, you can check references, and conduct background checks. Julio Olalla of the Newfield Network speaks about the importance of not assuming all breaches of trust are betrayals—be able to distinguish between sincerity, competence, and reliability.

The first step in building trusted relationships is to lead by example, be authentic, vulnerable, and learn to trust. At Artisan Creative, building trusted relationships is one of our central core values. We look forward to connecting with you to build a new relationship.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the 519th issue of the a.blog.

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Daniel’s Ice Cream Adventure

Wednesday, March 13th, 2019|

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream. But few people are willing to give up a high-profile career in digital marketing in search of the perfect pint. But Daniel did just that, ending his travels working at an ice cream shop in rural Maine. Now he’s back in Los Angeles, looking for work, armed with the knowledge of the power of pursuing your passions above all else.

What prompted your 50-state adventure in search of the world’s best ice cream?

It was the perfect storm, really. I had the dream, a little money saved up, no mortgage, no kids, no debt. I’ve always been able to eat a lot without gaining weight. I loved my job, but I got a yen to travel and experience some soul fulfillment. Part of me just wanted to see if I could do it without quitting.

What was the best part of your journey?

The people, without question. I knew what to expect in terms of geography and even ice cream. But my interactions with people blew me away. I met amazing people with fascinating life stories. It’s not an understatement to say that this journey restored my faith in humanity. I forged new, lifelong friendships. I would never have had the opportunity to do that if I had just stayed in my comfort zone.

How did your professional skill-set help you along the way?

Three aspects of my career helped me along my journey: content creation, analytics, and social media management. While traveling, I updated my personal blog, The King of Ice Cream, talking about fun ice cream flavors and whatnot. I also curated a little following on Instagram (@_kingoficecream). These had the unintended consequence of ice cream businesses reaching out to me and requesting I stop by when I was in town to try their ice creams. With a little bit of traffic analysis from my following, I managed to create proposals for sponsored content, and the funds from said content helped prolong my journey even further. I was now able to try more ice creams and travel to more places than what I initially had planned in the outset.

Why ice cream?

Ice cream has always had a special place in my heart. From ages 4 to 14 I probably ate ice cream every single day of my life, rain or shine. All throughout and after college, during national ice cream month (July), I made it my mission to try a different flavor of ice cream during every single day of the month. Over the years, my ice creams flavors became more daring and intense, until one year, I ended National Ice Cream Month in an Ice Cream Cleanse — a three-day dietary cleanse where you eat no solid foods aside from five pints of ice cream each day for three days straight. It was a special vegan ice cream found in Venice, CA, and the whole experience was more difficult than I’d thought. At that point, people started sending me recommendations of other crazy ice cream challenges all around the country that seemed pretty interesting, and ones that I hoped to attempt one day.

What motivated you to take such a big chance?

While I’d like to say it was purely love of dessert, if I’m being honest, there’s a part of me that says it was definitely out of fear too. Fear of regret later on in life if I didn’t go out and do this. All the what if’s and what could’ve been moments were terrifying to me. Even more so than playing it safe and staying within my comfort zone. And as I said before, a quick metabolism will only last for so long, so it was best to do this in my youth as opposed to in my retirement.

Can you share some info on your book?

It’s still in the works, but I do have the title picked out already. It’ll be called The Cream of the Couch, and it’s about the people I met during my journey. These people were complete strangers to me, and we only met through happenstance. But they willingly let me sleep on their couches, free of charge while I tried ice cream in their city, and I learned a lot about myself and other ways of living through these strange encounters.

What advice would you share with anyone thinking of taking a sabbatical or pursuing a life-long dream?

It’s hard for me to tell others what to do when I don’t know their circumstances or goals. If you have medical bills, loan debts, or other responsibilities, it would be pretty foolish for me to say drop all of that to pursue a passing desire.

However, what I can say for me though is that I have no regrets. Even as my bank accounts have dropped, or I now am back on the grind to look for steady employment again, I’m still extremely glad I went. There’s a special kind of pride and peace of mind that comes from not only accomplishing what I set out to do but from growing in new ways I hadn’t conceived of before. Leaving is a feeling that can hardly be put into so few words.

At Artisan Creative we work with some amazing creatives, artists and creators. We love featuring their stories when we can and hope you’ve enjoyed our 512th a.blog and Daniel’s Ice Cream Adventure.

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International Women’s Day 2019

Wednesday, March 6th, 2019|

It is an important time in our history to do everything possible to help forge a more gender-balanced world. Women have come a long way, yet there’s still much more to be achieved.

Many larger corporations, as well as local government agencies have diversity programs to work with women-owned companies in order to foster this balance. Some may require a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certification in order to apply for certain diversity programs.

At Artisan Creative, we decided to apply and be recognized as a certified Women Business Enterprise a few years ago. I was fortunate that a friend and fellow member from the Entrepreneurs‘ Organization had recently gone through the process and shared her wisdom with me.

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2019 on March 8^th, I wanted to share some of the steps we took to de-mystify this process.

In order to qualify as WBE, a company must be a majority women-owned enterprise with at least a 51% ownership. As the female owner you must be the majority owner and you must also hold the highest role in the organization, set the strategic direction of the organization and be active in the company’s daily management, and be a US citizen.

As part of the certification process, ensure you have the proven documentation needed to establish ownership, and the decision making power such as having signatory responsibilities as well as hiring and terminating staff. Having these key documents ready will help facilitate the process.You can apply for WBE certification after 6 months of being in business.

Even if you decide not to go through the certification process, it is a best practice to have your incorporation papers, licenses, leases, resumes, stocks etc. in order and easy to access. It’s also a good idea to have all your information in one place, and make copies for future needs.

The certification process is lengthy and requires time and energy to complete. Most business owners are too busy running their business to be able to devote the time needed to gather all the necessary information, and complete the application process so it’s a good idea to rely on a trusted team member or accountant to help with the procedure.

If you are a solopreneur or a small company without any available internal support you can hire an outside consultant to guide you.

The National Women Business Owner’s Council has created a certification kit, to serve as a step-by-step tool for the application process.

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), also provides a list of required documentation.

If you work with national and/or the federal government, your needs will differ from someone who works with local municipalities, or provides localized services. For example, the Los Angeles World Airports, and the Metropolitan Water District have their own criteria to abide by. Many cities and municipalities also have quotas for working with minority, disabled, veteran- or women-owned businesses, so having a local certification may be beneficial if your company is focused on working with the local government.

National certifications such as WBENC are great for those who work primarily with the private sector, or as sub-contractors for the larger entities who work with government entities.

It’s important to note that having a certification or being women-owned is not a guarantee for winning more business. As a firm, you must excel in your field, and have stellar products and services.

Once you’ve completed the application process and paid the necessary submission fees, you will be contacted within 90 days for an interview and an office visit.

Ideally it’s up to you whether or not to seek certification, or what kind is best for you. The services you provide, and who your ideal client is will help you determine what kind of certification you need.

At Artisan Creative, we have found this certification to be valuable. Please connect if we can be of any help.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the 511^th issue of our a.blog.

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Why We Love What We Do

Wednesday, February 13th, 2019|

This February we celebrate 23 years of being Artisan Creative. Twenty-three fabulous years of creating relationships based on trust and teamwork, collaboration, and support.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. We couldn’t have done it without you.

To celebrate and in recognition of Valentine’s day, we asked our Artisan Creative a.team to share 23 things they love about what they do every day and why they love working at Artisan Creative.

The Artisan a.team
The impact we create every day in people’s lives
Our core values
Our life/work integration mindset
Flexibility – working to live and not living to work
Seeing life-changing opportunities through the work we do
The amazing people we work with
Ability to work from anywhere. Remote/Virtual office
Building impactful relationships
Connecting people to opportunities
Supportive team
Working for a company that finds jobs for artists
Use of relevant and current technologies
Being organized and efficient
Interesting team-building exercises
Employee ideas are heard, considered, and acted upon
Learning from a dynamic and supportive team
Connecting with great people and changing lives
Building long-lasting client & talent relationships
Integrity, respect, and honesty of the team
Making a difference
Focus on personal and professional development
Being a woman-owned business

Our core values were created by the a.team. To learn more about how we create impact, please connect.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 509th a.blog. Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Selecting Your Recruitment Partner

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019|

Challenges around staffing, hiring, and human resources are ever-changing. They take time, money, know-how, and people power. Sometimes they can distract from other priorities your team needs to be focusing on. That’s why many businesses work with recruiting partners, outside agents with specific experience in finding, vetting and placing talented job-seekers.

As a business decision-maker, you have a range of recruiting partners to choose from. When evaluating your options, it’s crucial to ask the right questions in order to find the recruiters and agencies that best suit your needs.

Specific Industry Focus

To get the best results for your search and to fill the roles you need to fill, specificity is your friend. For every industry, there are recruiters who exclusively focus on that area. For example, if you are focused on creative work, your most effective partner is one who lives in the creative space, who knows how that world works and thrives in the creative culture and lifestyle. This holds true for whatever business you’re in. You may decide to work with a generalist agency with different areas of focus, make sure the people you engage with directly have an intimate understanding of your work and the people who do it.

Track Record of Success

Good recruiting partners take pride in the work they’ve done for other clients. When gauging potential partners, check out testimonials on the web or ask your peers and colleagues for advice and referrals. If you’re unsure, schedule a call or meeting and ask for years of experience, case studies, processes and results for roles similar to yours.

The Candidate’s Perspective

When evaluating how a recruiting partner picks and matches their talent, consider the candidate’s point of view. Are the recruiter’s processes optimized to bring on board and successfully vet that specific skillset? Does the recruiting firm’s core values, culture, marketing, and mission fit with the attitudes of the talent you want to attract? If you need candidates with particular skills, or who can pass a particular background check, can you rely on this agency’s expertise to bring you those candidates? Connect with someone who is an expert in searching for candidates you’ll love to hire.

Harmony of Process

When considering a recruiting partner, find one with a rich talent pool of readily available candidates, as that’s only half the battle. You’ll also want to ensure that the recruiters understand the rhythms of your hiring process and can work smoothly on your terms. Will you need to staff up quickly on short notice? Your recruiting partner should be able to find and vet appropriate talent on tight turnarounds. Do you favor a slower, more thorough hiring process, with multiple rounds of interviews? Look for a recruiting partner who will work with you diligently to find the exact talent you need. Would you rather outsource an entire project to an external team? Make sure your recruiters have the connections in place to make that happen.

Get It in Writing

Feel free to ask tough questions of your potential partners, and make sure you’re both clear and concrete on all details and machinations of your agreement. How does the process work? How is communication handled between you, your recruiting partner, and the people they place with you? If difficulties arise, who takes responsibility for what? Business relationships go best when everyone is in sync from the start. Good recruiting partners will align with your values, answer all your questions in the spirit of full transparency.

At Artisan Creative, we have 23+ years of experience in creative and marketing talent, a strong network of a.players, and a passion for exceeding client expectations. Contact us today to start the conversation.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 506th a.blog.

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Happy Holidays

Monday, December 24th, 2018|

Wishing you the very best this holiday season.

Thank you for a busy, productive and connected 2018.

Here’s to more of the same in 2019.

The Artisan Creative a.team

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Our Top 25 Blogs

Wednesday, December 12th, 2018|

We are thrilled to publish our 500^th blog today. As we approach the end of the year, we’d like to share some of our a.team’s favorite blogs.

These cover a range of topics from self-development and time-management to job search, hiring, and much more.

We hope you enjoy this top 25 greatest hits compilation.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 500th post. You can find plenty of other tips, inspirations, best practices, and advice on our a.blog.

We look forward to connecting.

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With Gratitude

Wednesday, November 21st, 2018|

“Start with gratitude. Then get to work.”

–Beth Lapides

During this Thanksgiving holiday season, we at Artisan Creative celebrate our clients and talent whom we work with all year. By working with the finest people and organizations, we always find ourselves amazed by the skills of our talent and the openness of our clients that facilitate the making of great matches. This gives us pride in the part we play in impacting careers.

This would not be possible without the courage and selflessness of those who hold up our communities from behind the scenes. We share our immense gratitude for the people who do so much to keep our society functioning at the hardest of times.

In the last few weeks, the Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire have posed unprecedented challenges for our home state of California. In response, Californians have come together to rally behind deeply affected families and businesses, and to support charities and emergency workers who are saving lives and helping communities prepare for rebuilding and recovery. We encourage joining these efforts and giving in the ways that are most effective, using wise-giving guidelines to make sure our dollars do the greatest possible good. Volunteering at your local shelter, donating clothes and essentials, supporting our firefighters are all ways we can help.

The people we work with have taught us much about strengthening our networks, bringing out the best in each other, and banding together to accomplish seemingly impossible breakthroughs. We enter this season in optimistic spirits, and we could never thank you all enough!

Our Artisan a.team is grateful for so much this year, our collective thanks are outlined below:

We are thankful for our health, loving spouse/partners, our children, our fur babies, our families, our A.team co-workers, our home, our company, our personal freedom, our friends and support system, our breath, our opportunity to travel, our ability to have life/work integration, the opportunity to work remotely, and our California.

We wish you and yours a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

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America’s Best Recruiting Firms 2018

Wednesday, June 20th, 2018|

We are delighted to have made the Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Recruiting Firms 2018.”

At Artisan Creative, we believe that successful placements change lives. They provide our talent with opportunities for personal and professional growth, and our clients with the right team members to make a difference in their businesses.

We have loved every minute of our 22+ years in the creative staffing and recruitment space. A special thank you to our clients and talent who have shared this journey with us.

This couldn’t have been accomplished without our amazing a.team, who over the years have demonstrated heart, grit, passion, commitment, tenacity, and dedication to create trusted relationships.

Here’s to continuing to build a more creative world together.

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20 Years in the Making: Why Stay With a Company for 20 Years?

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015|

Why stay with a company for 20 years?

Last month we celebrated a rare milestone with one of our employees: 20 years! I asked Margaret Jung (on the far left of the picture) why she’s stayed with Artisan Creative for 2 decades, through growth and success, as well as through trying times and cutbacks. We thought it would be interesting to share some of her thoughts, as this one question brought forth so many answers:

Artisan fosters a rewarding environment where I feel appreciated, recognized and supported. The people you work with must have chemistry and each other’s backs. Over time, this builds friendships & relationships that last even as people move on.

The versatility of my business development role offers flexibility, autonomy and no bureaucracy. Plus, I have the opportunity to create success, for our clients and talent, our team and my family.

I believe in being consistent and loving what you do.

I do not watch the clock.

I believe in relationships based on trust, and that honesty and integrity are essential within a company.

I enjoy working with strong personalities that come with being in the creative field. I find the dynamics of the creative mindset engaging as we are always learning and growing from this ever evolving field we work in.

I am driven by the search to find the best solution for my clients and talent.

We share and believe in common values, that set the foundation for a good business model. Compensation is in alignment with results delivered.

The president has ability to listen and make change for the better. I’m kept in the loop and frequently communicated with. I feel valued and understood, with a lot of trust in my abilities to deliver.

The entrepreneurial environment at Artisan suits my personality. An open door is truly open to share the good and the bad, in a genuine environment that cares.

I hold myself accountable to my commitments.

I have a passion for selling and a desire to perform.

I enjoy the constant learning from being in a dynamic industry and working with really smart people.

I have mentorship from the president along with a leadership responsibility to create success for the team.

I’ve learned how to manage growing pains and make tough choices.

In a lifetime you only really find a few leaders that you truly trust and respect, and know that they are there for you.

The tougher periods are handled by not listening to the negative for too long and by focusing on the positive. Always believing that more good than bad is around the corner, and never, ever, giving up!

For me, this is the difference between a career and a job. And over the past 20 years everything I gave the company, I got back and more.

How long have you been at your career, and what keeps you engaged and coming back for more year over year?

Jamie Douraghy – Artisan Founder

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