What is your name?

Danielle Blizzard

Tell us about your company and why you founded it?

talentX is a people & talent advisory for high-growth tech companies. I founded talentX because every company I work with faces people issues. I have felt that pain, as a founder, leader, and employee, and I believe that companies need help in improving their people and talent functions so that they can attract better talent, quicker, and then retain then. People are at the core of every business and they can be your competitive advantage. Imagine what possibilities there are if you have the right team in place 🚀

What is your role?

Founder, builder, planner, leader, fixer, trusted advisor, and coach.

Please tell us a bit more about you and your background. What was your first job? Share some fun facts 🎉 and let us get to know you ❤️

I am a founder and people & talent leader with 12 years of experience working with high-growth tech companies. My very first job was as a waitress at a hotel for weddings and events. I once dropped 10 coffee cups over a bride who was sat at the top table (luckily there was no coffee in the cups)! 👰🏼 😱 I studied Medical Microbiology & Immunology and my 10-week lab dissertation project was focused on Candida albicans, also known as thrush 🧫 It was at this point that I realised that I was a people person and working in a lab was not for me!! I fell into recruitment (like most people) by landing a job at a scientific recruitment firm. And the rest they say is history....

I love sport. I play netball 🏐 three times a week and I've set a goal of completing a sprint triathlon this year 🏊🏻🚴🏻‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

When did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

It was when I was at Digital Gurus. I knew I wanted to change things up and do 'recruitment' and 'talent' differently, being an entrepreneur allows me the freedom and autonomy to be able to do that and I am truly passionate about what I am building.

What is your biggest challenge as a founder? What keeps you awake at night? 😴

My biggest challenge right now is making sure that I have structure and routine to be on my A-game. Being a founder can be lonely, scary, and exciting. That's a lot of emotions to deal with and it's important that you have the right support system around you.

How would you describe your company culture?

We care. We care about each other, our growth, our clients, and the work that we do. It's an extremely open environment, encouraging continuous feedback and pushing everyone we work with to become the best versions of themselves. Improving 1% every day.

How would you describe your leadership style?

Leadership Style: Coach

I am a passionate leader who genuinely cares about the growth and development of each person in my team. I’m a coach and listener. We have our own standard of performance and it is my responsibility to help the team to get past any challenges or unlock any problems that they are facing to allow them to perform at their best and grow. I like to inspire and help them to deliver outcomes and impact that they never thought they could do.

How important is it to you to build the right team around you and how did you go about building your team?

Extremely important. My team are the heart and backbone of what we do. Not only do I need them to achieve our ambitions but I also want to have fun at the same time!! A the moment I have a strong talent bench of freelancers to work with! I found them by reaching out to all the best people I know in their relative fields and got them on board!

What does talent really mean to you?

Talent for me is the combination of skill, drive, and the growth mindset of a person. That's the killer combination.

What are the needs of your employees?

Stability and psychological safety, feeling valued, growth development and learning opportunities, a feeling of community and sense of purpose, coaching and finally, knowing that we care ❤️

What are some of the most difficult people issues you have faced?

- struggling to find the right talent, quickly, so that it doesn't impact business objectives and growth ambitions

- growing and developing talent for them to only be poached by clients. It's a compliment but it hurts after investing so much time and care into their growth journey

- having a remote team who are going through political issues in their country

What is your number one challenge in hiring? How have you worked to overcome this?

Time spent on interviewing and pitching the opportunity. At AstroLabs, I found that during the first interview stage, I was spending a lot of time explaining about who we were, our mission, and vision during the first interview. To solve this, I created a notion page explaining everything including our AstroLabs Talent values, what success looks like in the role, working with us, introductions to the team etc. I shared this with candidates before, it not only got them more excited but allowed me to spend more time on assessing them during the first interview.

What are the most important skills you look for in a new hire?

Outcome driven, great active listening skills, ability to take and give feedback, a growth mindset and curiosity for learning!

What has been your biggest hiring mistake?

I hired someone who I thought had potential but they didn't end up having the right behavioural traits. I left it longer than I should have before calling it quits and during that time other team members started to get frustrated, which impacted their own performance.

What are your top interviewing tips?

1. Make sure you have a structured plan. Set time aside to do this
2. What are the objectives of the role and what does success look like? Work backwards to understand the competencies you need to assess for
3. Create a scorecard so that you can compare candidates and rule out any bias
4. Don't forget, it's a two-way interview. Don't interrogate candidates, get them to know you too. People want to work with people they like!

How do you keep your employees excited and motivated?

With having distributed teams, it's important to have regular touch points. We put in daily huddles, weekly role plays and a lunch & learn session. The lunch & learn sessions are a great opportunity for members of the team to take to the stage and share knowledge on anything they are passionate about, it could be work related or the latest book they have read! 📚

How has your experience with hiring and retaining talent changed over the years?

I've got to understand more about the values and drivers that I am looking for. That's come from understanding more about myself!

Do you feel like the people problems have gotten better or worse over the last 12 months?

It's been a crazy couple of years but I think the war for talent is at an all time high! It's a candidate driven market, which means that every company needs to up their game to give them the competitive advantage, and win!

What have you learned through your time as a founder and growing a company?

I've actually learned more about myself. Having to be on your A game, every day, and pushing yourself to be the best version of yourself requires you to look deep within and work on areas of yourself that might not be serving you in the best way. I've grown more over the past few years than I thought possible!

What is the one thing you wish someone would have told you when you started your company?

That when things are going well, prepare for a challenge to pop up! That's your time to look at how you can improve things even more, don't stop just because things are going well. It will end up biting you in the ass!

What are the top 3 things a founder needs to be successful and why?

1. Passion for what you are building. Passion is infectious and it also helps you to be resilient when faced with challenges.
2. A plan. I'm a big fan of planning and it's so important that you break everything down into long term goals, short term goals and how you are going to get there. OKR's are my good friend.
3. A strong support system to be on this journey with you to help you celebrate your wins and pick you up when times aren't great 🎢 🌊

Being a founder is a tough gig. What advice would you give others to help them with their own wellness and mental health?

Make sure you set aside time each day to do something you enjoy outside of work. I do netball, swimming, candle-making, cooking, reading, and meditation 🕯 🧘🏼‍♀️

When you think of a person who has influenced your career and life, who comes to mind? ❤️

Roland Daher, CEO at AstroLabs, is the best coach I've ever had. He challenged me and pushed me to be the best version of myself. Roland helped me to become a better coach, to understand myself more, and to know what really gives me energy. One important question he taught me to always ask when facing any challenge is, "What problem are we trying to solve?" This all brings me here today and why I founded talentX!

And finally, if you had to recommend one leadership book/podcast/article, what would it be? 📚

I'm an avid reader but my absolute favourite leadership book is "The Score Takes Care of Itself" by Bill Walsh. I love sport so I really resonated with his philosophy and I'm a big believer that sports performance methodologies and coaching can be used in exactly the same way in business. I read it once a year and you'll notice that some of my leadership style is inspired by him.