I thought long and hard about what entrepreneur I wanted to tell you about this week, and the answer became clear when I heard from Rebecca Cenni, owner of Atrium Staffing, who is in a positive state of mind these days — “I am excited, energetic and upbeat, very different from a few months ago.” In particular, it’s how she’s managed to turn things around that I find so compelling – “I’ve decided to take advantage of this recession to revolutionize my industry.”
Rebecca’s changing her model of temp staffing – tapping into her core expertise of recruiting individuals, matching candidates that fit well with her corporate clients, training them, and putting them to work so they seamlessly adapt to new corporate cultures. She’s essentially now running departments for clients for whom just 5 months ago she only provided temp placements. “I recognized I had two choices given the changes around me: 1) put my head in the sand until the ‘change’ period is over and then adapt to the new world, or 2) lift my head up now, get into the flow of the change, and find ways to ride it out effectively it so that I’m out front when it finally settles down.” And it will! She’s made up her mind to pursue the second option, and it’s already paying off – in dollars as well as drive.
Guy Kawasaki, Anita Campbell, John Battelle and others late last year. And why we launched the Today’s Economy section of OPEN Forum on October 1, 2008. We recognized that OPEN could bring together resources to help business owners navigate the historically challenging economic environment.
Your stories of courage and resilience in the face of this economy inspire us at American Express OPEN. We are a group of individuals who are deeply passionate about our customers, and are committed to the small business community. If you have a story like Rebecca’s – of resilience, or of how OPEN Forum may have helped you in some way – please email me (Marcy@openforum.com).
