Josh Mangum: Search Solution Group | The Business Blast Podcast #224

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Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Josh Mangum. He is the Director of Strategy for Search Solution Group, which is one of the largest recruitment firms in the country. So welcome to the show, Josh.

Thanks, Tyler. Good to be here.

Of course, thanks for joining us. And we'll dive right into the first question. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

For me, back in the lovely recession back in 2008, I had to leave school for financial reasons, and I wasn't sure if going back to finish was the right move. A couple years later, I was in a position to go back, and I wasn't sure if I needed to or should. To do so, I ended up having to quit a good job, dramatically change career paths, spend a lot of time and money I didn't have at the time. Short term, definitely a struggle. But now almost 10 years later, I'm so thankful that I made a good long-term decision. If I hadn't sacrificed in my early 20s, I wouldn't be enjoying my 30s as much as I am right now. So I guess the valuable message would be just always be willing to invest in yourself long term.

And what's the most valuable piece of information that we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

So something valuable is, is just to understand that most marketers do a really good job of building brand awareness, leveraging social media, things like that. But the difference between what I would say is a decent marketer and somebody who can dramatically impact the business's bottom line is the ability to think strategically and develop a marketing mix that's most appropriately aligned with the objectives of the company. Which is more often than not is business development and growth. That's what companies are trying to do. So company leaders can sometimes focus on what they see, videos, social media, blogs, things like that, instead of realizing the real potential for strategic marketing to drive real measurable ROI for their company. If you're working with an internal team or outsourcing your marketing efforts to an agency, My advice to business owners and entrepreneurs is to encourage results-driven marketing campaigns along with embracing automation and AI and being able to quantify marketing efforts. It's imperative, but it's rarely ever actually accomplished.

And what is your best piece of overall business advice? Not necessarily industry-specific.

Yeah, just don't be afraid to put in the work. Everybody can do good work 9 to 5, and everybody can work in a safe way and be all right. But the people that truly excel and succeed in business, at least from what I see, are the ones who aren't afraid to put in the extra work, to work a little bit harder, just a little bit longer, to take on more challenging, possibly even more risky work. That's the only way you're going to separate yourself from the crowd, your competition. And just truly get ahead of others in the race.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Uh, just, just to put your head down, work hard, and be responsible. It'll pay off in the long run.

And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

First of all, I mean, for me, happiness comes from God and family, but in general, I think people are too apt to search for happiness in material things. You know, the new car, the fancy clothes, or the improved social standing, or— they're all temporary and external. Being happy means that a person is true to their inner self, their inner desires, and isn't distracted by other people's opinions of themselves. Happiness doesn't really come from what's easy or expected. It comes from striving for and reaching goals. Doing what's hard and coming out on top and being productive. People talk about the work-life balance, but when you're going to spend half of your life at work, a big key to happiness is being driven and being great at whatever it is you do for a living.

And what's the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

Business books or just for fun?

Uh, whatever you think that you learned the most from, I guess. I'm open to both.

This is a tough one to me. I'm a big reader, but I guess if I was going to stay kind of more geared to business, I would have to go with the classic How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. And it just, it affected me because I had never really, before reading that book, fully dove into perception and how to Build relationships with people more effectively. And since reading that book, it's really helped me to build relationships with other employees, vendors, partners, and just other people in the business community.

And what's your favorite quote and why?

I'm a huge Steve Jobs fan. So one of the quotes that's hanging up on my wall right now is, "Details matter." it's worth waiting to get it right.

Thank you so much for coming on, Josh. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?

Well, I'm pretty easily Googleable, but also being— seeing as I work for a company that's in talent acquisition, I'm pretty much always on LinkedIn. So if they want to reach out on LinkedIn, I'm always happy to speak with people So people can just connect.

Perfect. Thanks again, Josh. We really appreciate you coming on.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

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