How Reyna Martinez Earns More While Working Less In Her Recruitment Agency

Yeah. So that's when I decided to try your program out. And everything sounded like a little bit too good to be true, to be honest. But obviously now, knowing what I know and being through your program this long too, I've definitely learned a ton that I don't think, I don't know where we would be if I hadn't put together some of these processes. If they're serious about growing the business and understanding what processes could be put in place to make your life easier, this is what you need to do.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, James Blackwell here. And today we have a very special guest, Rayna Martinez. Now, Reyna has been in recruiter accelerator program and in the agency blueprint for I think over a year now. And Rayna was just going to basically share her story and everything really around like being a recruitment business owner, her struggles, her journey and her successes. And hopefully you'll find some golden nuggets from Rena. So welcome, Rena, and thanks for coming on.

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate that.

Cool. So if you could just tell the audience a little bit about your business and your background and what your agency specializes in, that would be great, Reina.

Sure, no problem. So my agency specializes in HR recruitment and we're based here in Southern California, primarily in the Orange county market and San Diego. And we are of an agency really that focuses all across the HR space. So anything from administrative assistance within human resources all the way up to human resources directors or executives. And a lot of the times recruitment, especially now with a lot of companies looking for talent acquisition folks and expanding their teams within that. So our search is definitely diving into recruiters, talent acquisition, and then all levels of HR as well.

Brilliant. So I suppose let's reverse things back to the right at the start and when you first started out, Reina. So when was that and what was like why did you actually start your own business?

Yeah, so we or I, I started the organization because I wanted to really begin or to have an offer out to our clients with recruitment services for there wasn't really a agency that I had known of that specialized in HR. And we were actually, this is like end of 2019 when I had the idea and was inspired to just try to do this on my own. I had never really thought about running my own business or really starting an organization like this. I had been in staffing for over 10 years and had been with various companies and doing very much the same thing, helping clients find people and people finding opportunities. But it was really driven by just the Field of hr. And I enjoyed working with those folks and really helping the entire organization. And starting from the HR department where it trickles down to the rest of the workforce, I just had a special connection to the department that really handles the workforce of the organization. So that's why I chose the that field. And I love the people business. I've always been really intrigued by recruitment and actually the, the first time I even kind of was introduced to recruiting or to staffing in that sense was as a temporary employee myself. I went to an agency looking for work and I was just blown away by the idea of helping clients find people for their organization. But also in my case back then, I was just an employee looking for an opportunity. So I didn't really know where to go or where to start. So I like that interaction with someone that's going to help you and guide you. And so just the recruiter hat for me was, was natural. I really like helping people, obviously, and I feel it's the most rewarding type of career to help somebody find a career or also, you know, just excel in their professional careers. So yeah, that's kind of why. Why I started and where I am, where I started from the beginning.

Yeah. Cool. So. So what was your first like? Like, yeah, owning the business. And what was that like in terms of like winning your first clients? What was your processes back then and what was the performance like in the first year and experience?

Sure. So this was end of 2019 is when it actually when I went live and it all happened. But then, as you know, pandemic was right around the corner in February, in 2022 or 2020, and so had no idea where we were going to go from that sense. And so the first year was just a ball of question marks, better way to put it. I had been doing staffing for many years, so I had an idea of, you know, the actual service is helping clients find people and I knew how to do that really well. But the business side I was brand new to. I had never, as I mentioned, ran a business before. I wasn't even really hoping one day to do that. I. It kind of was an idea that got sprung onto me and I just had it in my heart to try it out and knowing that it was an opportunity for me to grow professionally. So. So yeah, the first year was definitely a lot of ups and downs just with not knowing, like, okay, well, are these orders that I'm getting going actually get filled? Because a lot of clients were providing us with orders and then canceling because of you know, shutdowns and that kind of thing. So it was really challenging to define which ones should we work on and which ones shouldn't. The beautiful thing though is I did find success with just knowing that I had a really core client base that wanted to provide us with business, but just from, you know, not knowing will they be able to work from home or will they be remote or whatever the case. So it was challenging. And I also think, um, that's kind of where I met you and I saw a YouTube video of yours that I was like, oh, well, that sounds really interesting. I'd like to. Cause for me, I'm an avid learner. I am addicted to learning. I like the idea of not knowing something and then mastering it. So that's kind of how my first year went. But ultimately we did, we did well, we did fine. And now we're going on year two.

Yeah. Awesome. So when did we. When did you like, start working with myself, Rainer? Like, how many months was it?

Sure. So I, I want to say I was in business already for at least six months, maybe a little bit more. And, and that's when I started dabbling in the idea of like, okay, well, now that I got my feet wet and I, and I have an idea of how I'm actually acquiring business and acquiring my clients, which was the old fashioned way of just having contacts and knowing, you know, how to use my people skills to, to identify needs of a client and then bring them in. But driven by how do I make this a system, how do I make it duplicatable and also be something that it will be easy to follow for the team members that I will be bringing on and that kind of thing. So magically, or call it the Universe. But your YouTube clip came in and I was like, oh my God. I was just thinking about how am I going to do this? And so, yeah, so that's when I decided to try your program out. And everything sounded like a little bit too good to be true, to be honest. But obviously now, knowing what I know and being through your program this long too, I've. I've definitely learned a ton that I don't think. I don't know where we would be if I hadn't put together some of these processes.

Yeah, that's good to hear. So, like, why did you like, choose to, to work with me then, Rena?

I think one of the key things that really caught my attention was understanding that within a business model, obviously you need it to be something that was going to be easy to Follow and duplicatable as I mentioned. But also I am a fan of systems. I consider myself very efficient and productive with my time or I try to be most of the time. But I knew too that if I was going to run my own business, I didn't want it to just be about being a business owner. I have no kids now I'm married, been married for many years. But I have a personal life with dance. I think I mentioned this a long time ago when we first connected, but I have a passion for dance. I also wanted to do something that would allow me to continue that and do it as a hobby or on the side until I can make something of it from a business standpoint. But I wanted flexibility. So that was another thing that you talked about a lot within your. Your description of your program was being. Being able to gain flexibility of our time while still running a successful business. So that was another reason why I was really driven to. Okay, well I'm going to try this and see if it works.

So you wanted like freedom, I think and a good lifestyle. Yeah.

Which is what most style freedom. And also feel comfortable with the services that I'm providing to my clients, knowing that I am providing something that can't really be found elsewhere. That we have a dynamic and unique approach to the way that we do business because there is a dime a dozen of recruitment companies and staffing organizations. And I know that we're already different in the sense that we only focus on human resources recruitment. But on top of that, I wanted to offer something different on top of that that would make them feel like, okay, well they're not just about making another placement. They're not just about, you know, closing a deal and then going and partying. Like I wanted it to be a closer knit partnership. Which is also why I decided to incorporate emotional intelligence or just the. Create the awareness around emotional intelligence within our sourcing and our screening processes. Because as you know, also within hr, like it's important. That's one of the departments where it can trickle down the most. And having leaders at the top in organizations really focusing on that and, and paying more attention to it and giving it, giving it the value it deserves, I think will really do wonders for everyone within the organization and help with retention and help people just understand each other. It is just human, human n to go based on what we feel and sometimes that gets in the way of business. So that's also a thing that I wanted to put across to my clients when describing who we are and what we do.

Yeah. That's awesome. And how many clients do you work with actively now that you've got signed terms with and doing business with?

Yeah, so I want to say we have closer to like 30 or 40 right now. I can say that we've had quite a few. An influx of orders and returning business, which is really nice over the last quarter or so. The last couple months are our biggest months that we've had. So it's been really exciting to see just all of the work that we've put in and again, these processes that are now in place that are allowing us to kind of go away with the old mentality of like always selling, always closing, always reaching out and finding new business. Yes, that's always going to be needed. But I think knowing that business will come if you have a service or a product that is valuable and that people need is a better option. So I've been really fortunate and blessed to know that fortunately, the clients that we have, yes, in the beginning we did a lot of outreach and a lot of like one to one and building those relationships and now it's, it's still building the relationships, but it's not the, you know, the, the chase of follow up and getting someone's attention and bugging them and maybe knowing that they don't need you right now, but still going after it. I don't like that approach myself. I don't like when I have people that are selling to me like that. So I like that our approach is lighter and it's definitely more like, here's what we have to offer, this is the value we bring and if you need it, we'd love to help you.

Yeah, cool. So in terms of like, I suppose, like how things have been the last quarter, I think you were saying that you've probably had your best quarter yet.

Yeah, yeah, we have. I can say I was just counting yesterday actually to see where we're at. But we've had eight offers, I think in the last two months or so. That's been, it's even scary for me to say that because it is still a small team. Honestly. We have three right now, three team members and then two that are a little bit more part time. So a total of five if we count everybody. But yeah, it's been, it's been really busy, it's been really exciting and honestly a lot of the roles that we have, we've, we've built a great database of HR professionals that we've learned to also build relationships with so we know what our candidates are looking for which has been really nice. So when we get these orders that are ultra specific and niche, like we have somebody for that and that's really the most rewarding piece is just knowing that we found a client that has a need for this candidate that also equally wants this type of opportunity. So it's been great.

Yeah. And that's the thing like working on building like a candidate acquisition system where you've got a process where you can engage in passive talent is quite important because a lot of people are struggling for candidates nowadays and what they forget about is like not just being relying on LinkedIn manual sourcing, like having a different way of like actually engaging with the passive talent so you can actually get candidates coming inbound to you, which has been a good experience for you.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think two people realize, you know, as a candidate, myself or anyone really on the market, they don't want to work with just any recruiter or any recruitment company because we know, especially within hr, like there are unfortunately good recruiters and bad recruiters and ultimately it all goes down to the relationship that you build in the trust. Because not everybody, especially if you're passive, you don't want to people to know that you're looking or let your employer know that you're looking. So it's important to have that relationship where they understand that we are here definitely for. For to allow them to meet their next opportunity but have it be the right one, not just sling the resume to any hiring manager that would be interested in seeing them because it's not really the way that people want to be treated. So yeah.

And how's things for you now? Do you feel like you've got a defined plan and roadmap of exactly where you're taking the agency to and the steps as opposed to like sort of maybe when we sort of weren't working together and like I'd imagine you were a little bit in wilderness stage on how do you join all the dots together and how the business looks?

Oh, absolutely. I can say that even with my career in recruitment before with the companies I worked with, you know, every company has their own process or somewhat of a process or step by step, you know, solution. But I was really trying to pull what I knew was going to be effective and then using your system and your philosophies on the steps that could be condensed and then also the tools. I could not have done it without the tools. I love technology. I love using technology for what it is supposed to be used for and before even connecting with you I had already started using Trello, one of the project management apps, and I, before I had my own ats, I actually built one, somewhat of one within Trello. When I, you know, was first starting out and just having candidates, people knew that or I knew that they were looking for work, and then I would just put them in there as a. As a candidate and go from there.

So.

Sorry, going back on your question, I just lost it.

No, it's okay. I think it was more just knowing that you've got a direction to go as opposed to step by step. Yeah.

Yes, now we definitely do. In fact, we built our standard operating procedures around, you know, three basic things. I have the talent count process, like, what we do, and went from, like, lead all the way to follow up to getting the order to recruitment for the order and then placing the candidate. And then I have two separate ones for the client acquisition system, and then also the recruiting or client or candidate acquisition system. So everything has a step. And I know if I was to pull somebody in, in, you know, step four, step five, that person knows how to get to step 10. So it's. It's definitely a clear process that I'm very proud of and I appreciate you so much for showing us the different tools that can help us make the actual. The work of creating the process easier with the tools that are available to us.

Yeah, you're welcome. So how have you changed yourself then, Rena? Do you feel that you've. Your mindset's changed at all, like, since, like the last 12 months and if and how that has affected other things in your life?

Yeah, definitely has. I can truthfully say that before I wasn't necessarily an avid reader. I. As you know, I'm involved in dance, so any extra time that I had, I would be spending on YouTube or on, you know, dance videos or actually going to class and things like that. Now I'm still staying active and going to class, but now a lot of my other time that I'm working on myself and personal development has been in reading. One of my favorite books is the E. Myth, which you recommended, and it's about processes. And I really like to dive into the way other people do things and how it works for other types of businesses and how I can pull things to become more creative in. In the way that I. That I make my process and on other, you know, from our Facebook group and just being around other individuals that are in the same. Same kind of ballpark as I am is building a recruitment company and going through all the challenges that come with it. And also being a business owner and trying to figure out those things and the operation side of things and learning the difference between working in the business and working on the business and understanding the importance of both. So certainly I've changed in that sense in my professional acumen because I certainly wasn't, as I mentioned, like planning to be a business owner. It wasn't something that was a dream of mine or something that I hadn't mentioned all the time when I was growing up or anything like that. But now being here and knowing that I'm, I'm doing it, I'm successful at it and I enjoy it, not really sure where we're, you know, where I'll grow in terms of like how big I'd like to be. Right now I'm feeling like I want to run a successful mid sized business where I'm creating value for my clients, but also I'm empowering my team members and the people that work for me and with me to also reach for their dreams and do the things that they love to do outside of work too and have the means to do it. And the time I think will remain a remote organization, which is another thing that is important, I know for myself and also for the people that work with me now. But yeah, the. I have changed from my mentality and just knowing to think. I've always been a big dreamer. I've always had that gene that I'm super optimistic and I look at the bright side of things all the time and that's just something that comes natural. But I think having that and knowing that you started a business in the middle of a pandemic is super scary and probably would have turned a lot of people away or just remained a little bit in, in pause mode because you don't know what's going to happen. But I remained positive and I think being involved with your program too helped a lot because it was consistent Q and A's and consistent learning and consistent, okay, what questions do you have today? Type of thing. So it kept me, kept me going and moving so that I wouldn't fall in a funk. And I've also picked up other things like meditation, which has been a big part of my life too, and changing in that sense and learning how to organize my thoughts and throw away the ones that don't, don't serve me and move from that sense.

Yeah, that's awesome. So again, you mentioned the Q and A as the community of having a mentor, someone that's been there, done that, and then Having a group community of other people that are sharing win successes and challenges, how did you find that experience and do you feel that it's helped you get to the next level of having accountability every week?

Oh, 100%. I think a lot of programs that I've heard of too are, you know, they're great because you get the, you get the material. You get the material and you understand when you're there what you're supposed to do. But that follow up and understanding, like human nature is to be lazy and not follow up on things, especially if you don't fully understand things. So I think the consistent Q&As and having that group and the community of like minded individuals that are going through the same thing and then just kind of the wins mentally when you're going, you're on a call and people are asking questions that you were asking before and you're like, oh my gosh, now I feel like I know, I know the, what am I saying? Like the material, you understand all the steps that were big questions for you before that were like what was, what did that mean? And how did you even put that together? So it feels nice to know that you're kind of graduating, if you will, from, from the courses and, and knowing that you can offer other people to support. I've had people reach out to me from the program like Brenda, that it's just nice to know that we have other people that are going through the same type of growth or some level.

Yeah. As Jim Rohn used to say, like you are who you surround yourself with. So the average of the five people you surround yourself with. So having a community like we've tried to build is very strong now. And I suppose like accessing the Facebook group where we've got I think like over one hundred and sixty business owners in there now. So like you've got that reached where you've got a question, you can get it answered quite quickly and be on the pulse with what's new, what's hot, what strategies are working, what's not.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's great too because sometimes we just have questions that are random and maybe you know, somebody can quickly respond to, oh yeah, this is how you do that or check out how I did it and see if it works for you. And also I'm a big believer too of, you know, even though we're all in the same business and technically we're competitors, but we're really not like there's enough business to go around and that's obviously Something you've been saying all throughout this course too. I wholeheartedly believe in if even if there was another company here locally that was an HR company, like I would know that it would behoove us to not collaborate and share like our ideas, I suppose just because it is going to allow both of us to grow. And that's my mentality in total with just helping other people succeed versus thinking that we need to compete. I'm a big competitor, I love to compete, I've always been competitive. But not to the point where I will disagree or what's the word I'm looking for, where I would not appreciate someone else's input that will help me or will help them.

Yeah, like what we say is it's an abundance, there's billions of, it's a billion pound industry plus. So like there's opportunities for everyone. And I think like that's the key thing of like coming into a group as well. Everyone's different, unique. We've got different service offerings, different unfair advantages that we create and there's so much different niches and you only need a handful of clients, as you've seen Raina, to get to six figures and beyond and get to 30, 40, 50k months quite easily. Just with a handful of like good, exclusive, over 10 clients as well.

Yeah, yeah. And I think ultimately I can honestly say I love what I do, I love every aspect of the business, even things that I don't understand yet, which would have to be like the financials, but every aspect of the business from, you know, creating a new list of leads of companies that I'm very interested in and have my specific reasons why, and then going to them and offering what we do and going through the process of just gaining them as a client and then making these relationships flourish with our candidates that maybe we don't have the right fit for them now, but they still refer us to other people because they had a great experience with us or whatever. Whatever the case, it's just all been a part of this big idea to build an organization surrounding bringing value and offering support and allowing us to live a lifestyle that is comfortable and that we work hard and play hard and be able to enjoy it while we're here. Might as well.

Yeah. So it sounds like you've got a good balance between like making good income, getting a good lifestyle, having the systems because you've got your virtual team now set up in terms of your BAs and your virtual recruiters and like your systems automation. So do you feel like it's give you a little bit more freedom where you're not having to work 50, 60, 70 hours a week.

Oh, absolutely. I think the combo of just being ultra or trying to be ultra organized, whenever I do have a thought that it's an assignment or a task that I know my virtual team can handle and they're happy to. It's just a relief because I know that things will get done and I don't need to. To be the one doing it, because I know my process takes longer than the way their skill set or whatever the case is. And just knowing that if we organize everyone's strengths and we understand, like, where everybody's roles lie and how it all comes together at the end, it really allows me to do the things that I love to do and allow them to kind of focus on the work that they need to do and then go do off, go do what they need to do. So everyone gets to win in that sense. But, yes, it's definitely freed a lot of my time. And I've, you know, I'm flying out today to Vegas on a trip. And I know before I would be super hesitant to take time off or to even. I've. It's been great too, because I've been working from, like, multiple locations. Like, I'll work in San Diego or I'll work in la, or I'll work at my mom's house, which is all the way in Yucca Valley, which is kind of far. So I'll just. I'm always on the on the go. And that's always been nice because it's. I'm not tied to. To needing to feel like I am glued to the business or my laptop or whatever. I feel the flexibility knowing that I have a virtual team that's allowing me to live this way and work this way. But everyone, everyone has their strengths that we're pulling from.

Cool. So what's your plans, like, for the next, like, 12 months? Like, where do you see your business? Like, what aspects are you going to grow? Like, what does that look like?

Yeah, honestly, for me, in my dreamtime, I certainly see our business growing. I want to say maybe by next year, have eight to 10 people working with us. Maybe next year is aggressive, but I would rather shoot high and see where we land. But I definitely feel I want to continue, as I mentioned, like a remote team, but have recruiters across the globe that are doing the HR staffing that we do. And that way, I really want to build a diverse team and have those different experiences from all over the place that we're all coming together and working super far away, but collectively in a way, and then also have time to. We work with. We work. So work with them either, whatever location we go to. So I want to grow from that perspective. And also, of course, financially, I want to be able to do a lot of different things and projects and buy a house wherever it is that we end up. We probably are looking at doing that soon. And. Yeah.

Just where do you want to get, revenue wise, the next 12 months?

Good question. I think for us, revenue wise, I certainly want to be in the 300k range at some point, sooner than later. I know that it's doable. It's just a matter of, you know, allowing all the positions that are coming in to get filled. So that's my. That's my next target.

Awesome. Great. Well, I suppose, like, just if anyone was like, on the fence, like about joining the program and getting into the mentorship program, like, what would you say to someone that was like, sort of like on the fence?

I would say that you won't be as on the fence as maybe you would have been if you started the business during a pandemic. I think now knowing that, you know, businesses are hiring again and hopefully things are turning the corner, starting a program like Jane's and having the support that is involved with knowing that everyone that's in the. In the program themselves has already made the decision themselves to and is equally as scared and equally as, you know, skeptical of, like, okay, well, am I really going to get value out of this? What's my return on investment? All those things, like what you learn, especially in the first few weeks and some of the phases that you have are definitely going to change the way that you operate your business. And you, if you were in a race between somebody who is and isn't in the business, you or with you not in it, and the other person in it and you're at the same level in your careers in your business, that other person will certainly excel. And I don't know anyone that would want to be staying behind. So I would say for sure they should try it out. Really know that if they're serious about growing the business and understanding what processes could be put in place to make your life easier, this is what you need to do.

Yeah. Awesome. Because that's the thing I think most people don't invest in themselves right now. So you tend to find like, the people that come in the program, you know, the page, they pay for the ticket entry to the committed and they're all in. And it makes you take action, gets better results. And like a lot of other people are trying to do research, research, like go on YouTube, go on, try and Google it. And you know how far behind you'd probably be like 12, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years trying to figure all of those things out by yourself without any help. Because I still have mentors, I sell paper programs. I even did one last week. Because once you start making money and you do better in business, you've always got to keep improving. You've always got to keep investing in yourself because the biggest investment in yourself because you have that asset and knowledge for life that you can use to make more money, give you the better lifestyle and better freedom.

Absolutely. I 100% agree. And I think too, just making this decision to start your program and knowing the outcome and understanding like, okay, it is something you're going to invest in, but it's something that is going to give you so much more value and also allow you to open the gates to other things that could do the same for you later. Like little things that you're like, oh, well, that's. I don't know if I want to invest in that now. My mentality is like, I want to invest in that because I see that I know and I believe in myself that I can get the value out of it if I put the time in too. So from that sense, I think it is a little bit of a training wheel to allow yourself to grow. Just, just do it, try it. And I think the other thing too is trust yourself. Trust that you will be able to succeed and to take in, you know, what you need to follow whatever next path you have into your next goal.

So awesome. Well, thanks for that session, Mena. I hope the ladies and gentlemen on the show managed to get some golden nuggets out of there. Do you have a final little bit of advice for anyone that's in the recruitment business now, or let me get. Or anything like that? Any tips?

Yeah, I would say maybe not a tip necessarily, but more of a kudos. This is certainly an industry that I think is the best one. I mean, obviously we're in it. We might be biased, but I think it's certainly an industry where we're really giving, giving value back and also, or providing value to our clients and to our candidates. But also this business can really, I think, change the way that we look at other aspects of our life and knowing that you've done it and you've created something from scratch and we don't have a product that we're selling. We don't have something physical that can break or that people can write a review about necessarily from that sense, like you are your business, people is your business. So I commend us for taking the leap and trying it out and pushing through to make sure that you follow what you'd like to do, which is the people business. I always say that like the people business is the best business to be in and I am ecstatic when I talk about it. So yeah, just a kudos to everyone that's thinking about it or contemplating it. I certainly think you should and just pick a niche that you really enjoy and you connect with.

Awesome. Thanks so much Raina for sharing your advice and your journey so far. I'm looking forward to continuing to work with you in the future. I know you've obviously joined the workshop and I think eventually get an elite mastermind. So yeah, for everyone listening, I hope you found that useful. If you are interested to see how the mentorship program could work for you and recruit an accelerator, just check out in the link below theagencyblueprint.com and you can fill out a quick questionnaire survey and we're going to call myself. But thanks again Rayna and I'll see all your viewers soon and enjoy your trip to Vegas.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Take care. I appreciate it. Bye bye.

Cheers.