Creating New Space

A Year in Review -

 The name Poured - we get the question, “Why the name POURED?” We wanted something that felt like action, like continuous action. We wanted more heart, less catchiness. One of the problems with our industry is the lack of authenticity. To us, Poured paints a picture of someone giving all they have to whatever they do. Doing it well, doing it with purpose and always giving more than taking. In every type of profession you can easily spot a “pourer” - someone who makes everyone around them step up their game and leave mediocrity behind. They may not be necessarily the most gifted but they give whatever they have. We believe that’s how many live life - so why not build a platform specifically for them.

 What it is… Over the course of the last nine months we realized we were essentially building the Good Human Platform - finding good people and allowing their gifts and talents to flow seamlessly across different opportunities. If you start with great humans - then maybe there is a way to cut out all the rules and antiquated regulations. I think in the end, we all want Good Humans on our team. I am willing to let down some red-tape to have them - are you? 

 Why build it? We see a future where good talent can be autonomous across multiple industries. I don’t believe we were ever meant to stay in one lane our entire life - why so limiting? We believe opportunity brings experiences and experiences help define character traits and character traits remodel a value system. Ok, I’ll step back… I’ve personally worked for leaders in this industry that transcend past just apparel - their type of skill-set, sensibility and awareness can operate anywhere. On the other hand, I have met hundreds of dissatisfied employees that wish they could go back and change their career; however, they believe they are trapped as their experience is singular. So… we are building a new venue for great talent to explore a variety of opportunities and experiences. This is only the beginning.

 What we’ve learned… Good people are hard to find and even more difficult to keep engaged. The current stats in retail are alarming with turnover rates at 67% - creating enormous opex pressure. This isn’t just a retail problem. How can you expect to run a polished business when you’re constantly short on talent? With Poured, you have access to a constant stream of talented individuals who are excited about engaging with your brand. For the retail leaders out there, think of it this way - for every person you’re short on the sales floor, you’re dropping about four percentage points on conversion. If you see 100 footsteps @ a healthy 20% conversion @ 300 ATS you’ve lost $1,200 in one day. Add that over a year plus the headache of turnover. I’m not being negative here - just putting some numbers behind it.

 Good People are still out there and hungry for experiences. The common misconception is that millennials aren’t interested in working hard for money. The truth is they are very interested - just not in the antiquated format. Millennials view wealth in a much different way than previous generations. To the millennial, wealth is flexibility, freedom and variety. People are choosing to literally customize their work/life balance. I’ve attached a survey from our talent - if you’ll notice, money is last. Shifting values.

 Accountability in real time... With Poured, this is a reality and how we can establish incredibly high standards. Every freelancer gets rated at the end of every shift. It’s a must. They love it and we love it.

Our vetting process isn’t perfect, but we’re getting better. We’ve learned less is more. We have an extremely tight vetting process - typically allowing 8 out of 100 applicants on the platform. Even at this % we still can do better and will. We have also made some mistakes in terms of measuring supply and demand. It was painful but in the end allowed us to get smarter with our timing. Fall fast - Get up Faster.

 Hiring smarter is the future. While most brands use our services to build a flexible workforce, others have started taking advantage of our very disruptive conversion process to bring on fresh talent. They are hiring based on reality vs. perception. Before you make a long-term commitment, make sure there’s a match on both sides. 

It’s up to you how you use our services, but the one clear point I want to make is….you never have to be short-staffed again. This is new and sometimes new feels uncomfortable - like that first uber experience :) Step out and try something new - if there was ever a time, it’s now.

 Joe