IAM412- CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Matches Qualified Workers With Companies

Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I've Carisa Miklusak of Tilr. Carisa, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Carisa Miklusak 0:38

Thank you so much. It's such an honour to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

No problem super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Carisa so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Carisa is the CEO of tilr, a company that uses an algorithm to blindly match qualified workers with companies to fill their immediate placement needs. She drives tilr’s strategic vision and day-to-day execution with a relentless passion for the new workforce marketplace and providing it with innovative, sustainable solutions. In her role, Carisa works closely with the board, internal team, strategic partners and clients as part of her efforts to ensure aggressive scale and success. She's a serial entrepreneur who honed her digital recruitment skills at Careerbuilder.com, where she spent over seven years building multi-million-dollar business units. Carisa, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

Carisa Miklusak 1:26

I am ready. Thanks for the overly kind introduction.

Gresham Harkless 1:29

No problem, you're doing awesome things. So I get to give overly kind introductions to people that are doing awesome things. So I appreciate that. So I wanted to kick everything off to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. What led you get started with your business?

Carisa Miklusak 1:42

Absolutely. What really helped me to get started with Tilr was a career long passion. I won't say lifelong passion, but clear, long passion for believing that recruitment could be much more if we replaced titles, which tend to be the foundational building blocks that we've used in recruitment, since like Ford built its first car with skills. What happens when you match on skills is that you reallocate talent differently. So I had this passion and idea working in different companies building different startups for a long time. And I was actually working at my past startup team media when I received a cold call from a very aggressive. Now, one of my core investors, but very aggressive investor, who had an idea to take a totally different type of tool to market. It was very specific to let's just say, agriculture, and making matches in agriculture. But through a collaborative conversation with myself, this core investor that I mentioned, one of his partners, who's become our third dear partner, and my co founding team, we came to light with tiller, we certainly didn't have a name at that time. And what really propelled me to move away from my past business and focus on Tilr were two core things that were going on. One, despite how hard we try, we still have conscious and unconscious bias in recruitment. And with this business plan, we saw a real way to make an impact there. And the other thing is the skill gap. We see companies struggling to find great people, people struggling to find great work. But again, if we reallocate differently, and you've some new type of workforce employees, like gig workers and contractors, we can really start to make an impact on that skill gap, too. So we just thought it was the right time, and we jumped ship to make it a reality. And little did that aggressive cold collar investor know that he would be investing in Tilr. So here we are.

Gresham Harkless 3:36

That's awesome to hear. And I love that unique perspective, because I think like you mentioned, we've been so locked in on, this is my name, this is what I do. This is what my title is, but I love how that different perspective of looking at everyone and what they do as far as skills, and then also to having a way by which to find those people that can fulfil those skills that you guys have created as well.

Carisa Miklusak 3:59

That's it. And you'd be so amazed when you look at someone it's an amalgamation of their skills, and not the one two or even 10 titles they've had, how elegant and applicable and skilled they are for so many different types of roles. So it helps employers have such a larger audience. And then at the same time that helps workers to have so many different types of opportunities.

Gresham Harkless 4:18

Absolutely. And you start to look at the things that you need to fulfil the gaps within organisations in a completely different way to I imagine so could you talk a little bit more about Tilr, tell us exactly how it works and what it is that you do?

Carisa Miklusak 4:31

Absolutely. We have two core products and an amazing team that make those products for us. The first is our marketplace product. It's an app based product and anyone can download Tilr and put in their skills. We don't ask for resumes. We help you to background check. And then we do one interview at Tilr. What's really interesting about Tilr, we do match on skills but also we are the only entity that interviews our workers. Our clients are the employers that Tilr workers trust Tilr algorithm Tilr team and Tilr due diligence before the worker gets to them, and they don't actually conduct any interviews. So we've somewhat reversed the decision making process. Much like Uber because most people are familiar with Uber or Lyft. When there's a job that's posted by an employer that matches, we call our Tilr workers to our community members matches one of our community members skills, times that they want to work distance that they want to travel, we push the job to them. And if they want it, they hit accept. Next thing is they get information on how and when to go to work, we then flip into a work management app for both the employer and the worker where you could check in and out on Tilr, track your hours on Tilr, helped to be connected with some of our partners like anthem insurance or honest dollar if you want to start a savings account. But more importantly, get paid through Tilr also, and then check out and help to be set up for your next role. So if there are I know the word gig workers very popular, I think it's really just a part of the new workforce. But new workforce workers that want to work differently, it can be a really neat tool to stack projects, and we focus on a variety of industries. And really, the only thing that makes every job common is that they all have a start and end date. Now sometimes employers fall in love with their Tilr workers, Tilr community members fall in love with their employers, and we'd love those relationships too, and help to make that match. The other product we have, I won't take nearly as long talking about it. But it's essentially a white label of Tilr. That works for companies like staffing firms. It's called talent compass. And it just uses all of our matching and smart learning to help automate the back end system, let's say of a staffing firm, or even an organisation that's constantly making new teams and wants to help to look at that skill based talent labour. So that's really what we focus on with the marketplace. And helping workers have such different opportunities be the core focus of our business. Yeah, I love that. I love everything you guys are building because it creates so many like wins on so many different levels. And I really liked the fact too, because and I was actually going to ask you this, like, how do you feel this plays into the changes in the workforce, but it kind of speaks to that, where you know, there are those gig workers now, those people that are potentially looking to develop certain skills rather than have different types of jobs, so to speak. So it speaks to that. But then also sounds like the employers are able to fulfil those projects based off those skills and they don't have to worry about going through all the interviews and making sure there's somebody qualified and in doing all of that can sometimes happen. That's it, you've got it perfectly. I think we'll probably recruit you for our sales team extra moments and you're already very full life.

Gresham Harkless 7:47

Yes, definitely let me know. So I'm all for it. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you personally, or it could be for your organisation. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Carisa Miklusak 8:01

So I learned early on one thing that I'm not great naturally in being super efficient, I am passionate, and I love to learn, and teach and spend whatever time it takes to really get things done properly. And when you're building businesses and scaling quickly, you really don't have time for that all the time, you need to make time for it where it's appropriate. But something I was taught by a much wiser CEO when I was a young struggling CEO was to do the heavy lifting first. So I stack rank priorities, where I put the things that are either most critical or even just the things I really don't like and don't want to do. At the top of my list, I tried to get them done by 10am unless it's a really heavy lifting thing. And it's going to be a couple of days whacking away at it or whatever it may be. And it's hard to get in the habit of doing that. But I learned when I do, not only am I attacking it right when I get into the office or if I'm working from home or working from a plane, but also the rest of my day is so much lighter and enjoyable. Like one cheesy, I'm proud on myself like I did it, it's out of the way. But also just that feeling of like I faced what was really keeping me up last night first thing, you start to get into a habit where you know you can do it and after a while maybe it's just from pure exhaustion or maybe it's from getting wise nothing really keeps you up at night because you're going to take a whack at it first thing so it's like heavy lifting first after a nice morning warm up, of course, but when you're ready to start going at it that's really helped me to drive efficiency and also just like increase my mood and happiness and enjoyment as a business person.

Gresham Harkless 9:37

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I think sometimes when you have that awareness of yourself and understand how best to combat that. The best mastery is mastery of self. So to be able to master yourself and understand yourself and understand how things work and how you can work around that is great. So do you find that also when you accomplish those tasks before that 10am deadline? Do you feel like you get momentum throughout the day where everything just starts to move forward as well?

Carisa Miklusak 10:07

Absolutely, because everything else is like so much faster. One, it's not as tough weather really isn't your perception is what defines your reality. So that's not those things that you perceive as tapas off. So the next thing is there going to be just easier on your heart, on your mind. So you can move faster. The other thing is, you want to have a reasonable list every day. Like I remember having literally 98 things on the list. Every morning as an early CEO, or as a sales manager, in my early career builder days, I now really, truly like on a really heavy day, we'll have 11 or 12 things, hoping that I'm going to get all of them done. But I really do try to limit myself at like 10 and put those heaviest things first, but I do find that momentum, I am not a weightlifter, I've done very little toning in my life. But what I do know about weightlifting is like if you're doing repetitions and sets that first set of 10 or 20, like you're moving so slow, but then your muscles warm up a little bit. Next time isn't so bad. And then interestingly enough, the last where you feel you shouldn't be dead is the one where you've actually got some momentum.

Gresham Harkless 11:07

Yeah, absolutely. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine, what would you tell your younger business?

Carisa Miklusak 11:17

So I would tell my younger self and anybody that hasn't come to this realisation on their own or been taught this by a good coach that winning in business. Being a CEO and business is really about resiliency over rigidity. And I think that there's oftentimes this assumption that when you're in a CEO role, you know what to do, I'm gonna even just talked about this a little bit sometimes people working for getting things better. So if you ask them, what you're listening for, they'll teach you to listen for something you didn't even realise was something you could listen for. So realising that resiliency is more important over rigidity is really critical.

Gresham Harkless 11:57

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favourite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote, unquote, CEOs on the show. So Carisa, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Carisa Miklusak 12:09

To me, it means having the honour and influence to really impact change. And hopefully, that change is with people, not just with technology. So I think that there again, is a myth that you become more autonomous, as you rise in rank or title. And the ultimate autonomy is founding or owning or running your own business. And I think it's really the opposite. If autonomy is important to you, as a CEO, you belong to everyone and really serve your team. And in our case, our Tilr community members, and our investors and stakeholders in the way sometimes that you serve your family. And so, to me, it means being able to have a larger impact, I believe that I have thoughts that can help people have more opportunity. And this is just an incredible honour to be partnered with a team that wants to drive toward that same goal and spend their time and their discretionary energy on building but it's also a lot of responsibility. Again, like building a family, it's a big responsibility. And so you want to make sure that you're constantly working from good intentions, oftentimes with yourself as the last person in mind. So to me it's an honour and it means a large opportunity to hopefully, impact social good.

Gresham Harkless 13:31

Yeah, absolutely. And I think you guys are definitely doing that and go back to the book The eaters, eaters eat last. A lot of times you have to make sure the whole family eats before sometimes you eat, but at the same time, it's such a rewarding opportunity. So I appreciate that definition. And I definitely appreciate your time even more Carisa, what I wanted to do was pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a whole view and find out about all the awesome things you guys are building.

Carisa Miklusak 14:00

Well, first of all, thank you so much for your time. And for the lovely dialogue. It's been an absolute honour and a pleasure. The last thing that I would share is business takes a lot of our life, especially if you're a CEO, or building companies have fun. Again, you're building a lot of the processes are defining how things work. So make sure to build an enjoyment, do things as long as it's effective, and drives results in the way that you'd like to do them. Make sure since you're going to spend so much of your life doing this, that you're carving out a little bit of fun, time for a good time, sorry to be redundant there. And one way to do that is to of course, not only surround yourself with a great team, but surround yourself with a great group of either other CEOs or business leaders or innovators or maybe it's poets that does it for you that you can keep time with and share notes with and laugh about the things that are tapas, those things you do before 10am I would really encourage you to do that and if you are wanting to oldest startup and a new CEO, please build something that you're passionate about because passion breeds energy. And this takes a lot of energy. And energy is definitely, I think, part of that equation to success.

Gresham Harkless 15:15

Yes, absolutely. I definitely appreciate that and appreciate you giving us that that reminder. Because a lot of times, you got to remember your why when when you're doing all those things. And when the ups and downs of the roller coaster often come. So people that want to find out more about Tilr, what's the best way for them to do that.

Carisa Miklusak 15:31

Of course, you can go to www.tilr.com, because the website was a lot more affordable. And also, if you want to find me, my name is tough. But it's Carisa Miklusak. And I am everywhere at that handle. So facebook.com/Carisa in the blue sack. Same on LinkedIn, same on Twitter, everywhere I'm available, and I do enjoy it, as you know over communicating and connecting so I'll be happy to continue the conversation.

Gresham Harkless 16:08

Well, thank you so much, Carisa communicating with us and giving us so much words of wisdom and knowledge. And well, we will definitely have those links in the show notes as well so that everybody can follow up with you. But I appreciate you. I appreciate what you're building and all the impact you're having. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:23

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai