April 6, 2020

I am Grateful to Be Alive and Joyful

I am Grateful to Be Alive and Joyful

In 2008, after the economic meltdown…my life was filled with sadness, unable to help and be of service to people I love most. Candidates I placed…lost their jobs and would call and beg for my help. I took the calls, listened, and talked…after 2 months…the experience and reality…literally sucked my soul…I was bed ridden, depressed, and empty.

I stayed at Alison’s house my best friend at the time and business partner, in 2007 we launched Talentgem with George Hayes, one of my former candidates. Our idea was to create a platform to share proceeds from recruiting placements with everyone…we worked weekends, nights for the entire 2007 year. This wasn’t my first try at doing something uniquely different with recruiting (in 2000 I worked with two former candidates to create Workerbuzz).

Bedridden for weeks, and sleeping hours at a time…I decided I needed to change my life, stop feeling sorry for my life, feeling responsible for the economy, or anything that brought me down. I made a deal with myself…to transform my life, to learn what it really means to be of service, to be productive, to be creative, to think and live differently. And chose to do whatever it takes to be the man I want to be.

I was reading a book a week (and did it for 3 years), I was writing every day in a journal for an hour and continued doing so for 10 years, and every time I had a chance to learn a new modality of thought and feeling, I embraced it. Did a lot of self-improvement training, but also created many different websites, and concepts for how to use recruiting for good. Along the way, I was fortunate to find MDI (Mentor Discover Inspire), and learned the most essential skills to lead my life, my relationships, and my community. I love to learn from failure, I embrace risking the opportunity to connect genuinely with people and care for them. I am also grateful for Mary Jacobs, who chose me to be her mentor…one of the most rewarding relationships of my life.

Yes I Am Grateful to Lead Joyfully

I am grateful for life experiences, failures, and disappointments that have prepared me to lead Love to Feed LA Doctors, Nurses, and Teachers Too. I am transforming my recruiting agency (Recruiting for Good) to fund my cause (Love to Feed LA); having learned from working with so many nonprofits, sponsoring creative writing contests, sponsoring rockstars, and throwing the best food related parties…I am making life fun and rewarding in LA.

Food is joy, relationship, and love. Love to feed those who use their talent for good…day in and out. You can help me transform and inspire LA. Everyone can do their part (just like a Kibbutz, I lived on a couple btw). If you love life, making a difference, and food for good…you are ready to participate and spread hope and joy to your family, friends, and community.

Love to Feed LA…has something for everyone…Thank You for Saving LA…weekly food award celebrating kickass nurses, Join the Mitzvah Club to help feed teachers in need (and their kids) to enjoy good food saving rewards that you can forgo and donate to a family in need. And help fund Feed the ER (delivered dining to staff in Santa Monica and Westwood, created by Gordon Lee) to Enjoy LA’s Best Food in the Hood.

We’re using recruiting placements at companies to help fund Love to Feed LA, food awards, and food programs that will transform life in LA. Companies can participate by retaining Recruiting for Good to find talented professionals for both contract, fulltime, and consulting positions in Accounting/Finance, Engineering, and IT (any position from your PC tech to CIO). Participate in 2020 to enjoy flat fee recruiting for good, save money on staffing, and make a difference too.

If you know a company executive who shares our values (it could be you, or your BFF, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, or grandma too), introduce us to make a greater difference (carlos@retainsourcing.com), we love helping companies find and hire talented professionals to use their talent for good, and with your help we Feed LA too.