Anniversary Reflection: Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork!

Hello LinkedIn Land,

I am writing this on my anniversary. One year. And what a year 2020 was.

When I started at Talking Rain a year ago, the little HR team had big People Team plans. The Attract, Retain, and Develop teams were formed and we ran at full pace right out of the gates.

We did a hard pivot when Covid-19 hit. Our business model had to change overnight, and we all had to change with it. The good news is, I had joined a company that was already setting records with 81% of its employees actively engaged! You could feel it! We are constantly innovating. We fail fast and use what we learn to produce incredible results. All of this is possible because of our Rain Makers. 

We had to run at a pace like never before (we have at least doubled our hires year over year), we were able to set records thanks to a highly focused and engaged team! Colleen Molloy, our Employer Brand Manager did double duty as a recruiter, all while making great strides to up our branding game across a multitude of platforms. Her precision, speed, instincts, and sense of humor helped propel us to new heights.

And then there is the amazing KG! She joined our team in February (after working in other Talking Rain departments) with full knowledge that we have an ambitious workload and pivot quickly to adapt to business changes. None of us could have predicted the pandemic. Within weeks of her start, we were tasked with hiring nearly half of the number of people Talking Rain hired in all of last year – but we had to do so in less than two months! People were hoarding our products, so we were all drinking from a fire hose filled with delicious Sparkling Ice while we solved the problem together!

Our company continued to set records at breakneck speed with the number one sparkling water in the USA, Sparkling Ice while launching new products left and right! So, we were thrilled to invite a beverage recruiting veteran to the team, Monique Carroll! In the short time that she has been here, she has already added so much value, and her warmth, curiosity, and sense of fun have rounded out our team beautifully. But we weren’t done adding to the team!

I was thrilled to invite a veteran recruiter Delia Dawson, to join us as a contractor in a hiring burst when we suddenly had the approval to open 50+ jobs to fill from October to January! Having worked with Delia for years, I knew she could hit the ground running and help us knock these out of the park! 

And finally – with so many exciting changes in the air, our team also welcome recruiting industry veteran Mindy Parish to join us for 6 months as a Temporary Recruiting Coordinator as we reengineer our onboarding processes and amp up our ability to hire even more Rain Makers next year! Her previous experience made her a shoo-in for the role!

So here we are – a hardworking group of recruiting veterans empowered to do what we love, with people we genuinely enjoy. And that includes the amazing Retention and Learning & Development teams as well as every single Rain Maker we work with! It is a pleasure to serve you!

I must absolutely give a shout out to my supervisor, Veronica Blankenship. She offers everything one wants in a leader! I’m set up for success, I feel appreciated for what I do, I’m continuously learning, growing, and encouraged. What else could you want? And a tip of the hat to our CEO Chris Hall, who transformed the Talking Rain culture in so many ways when he was promoted to his role. He has created a remarkably progressive and sustainable culture that I’m proud to be a part of!

At Talking Rain, we’re all about creating connections at every sip. Recruiters love creating connections. I couldn’t imagine a better place to be. Thanks for everything. It has been a year of Remarkable Results!

Today I raise my glass of Cherry Limeade Sparkling Ice to Every Rain Maker! Cheers! And Thank you!

#TalkingRainMaker #BestPlaceToWork #WeAreHiring #Thankful #NowHiring #DreamTeam #CPG