Sweet Caroline—Good Times Never Seemed so Good!

Sweet Caroline: “Good times never seemed so good!” That's the tune that comes to mind when you hear a success story like Caroline's. I met Caroline very recently when I went on a trip to the Hill Country for the 4th of July. My sons' and I stayed at a resort, and while the boys went fishing, the girls went to a local Cafe for breakfast. My son's girlfriend was facing Caroline at a nearby table, and couldn't take her eyes off this whopper of a diamond ring she was wearing. She mentioned that she loved her ring and apologized for staring at it. That started a conversation that went on for quite some time. We found out that Caroline had recently married, and her husband was commuting back and forth from Baltimore to be able to be with her and still do his job back up north. She told us he was trying to get a job in Texas, and my son's girlfriend told her I was an executive recruiter. She then invited us over to see the new house they were building in the hill country. When we went over to see this great house, she informed me that her husband was going to be in town the next day, and could I possibly interview him. I agreed to do that, and we decided to go and have dinner at a nearby restaurant. We all went to dinner the following night and although her husband was a solid prospect to place, her own story was amazing. She had been a very successful Business Development representative for a Title company and had gotten her start in a very interesting manner. Caroline's only formal training was as a hair dresser. She had worked at a salon in her hometown for a few years and had many steady customers. One of her customers happened to be a very successful owner of a Title company as well as the owner of a very famous sports team. He really liked Caroline and was impressed with her personality, intelligence and the person that she was. He asked her if she might consider working for him a few days a week to learn the title business. She was reluctant to do it, but when he told her how lucrative it could be, and how he thought she would be very successful, she agreed to give it a try. This man had the keen ability to assess a person's skillset and align those skills to a successful position. 

Caroline started working for this man part time, and still continued to do hair two days a week. The owner of this Title company saw that she was a natural at this job, and sent her to formalized training for this industry. She said after only 2 months, she started closing deals left and right. She told us that she would come home at night and study all the material she had been given in the formalized training program. She, had a passion about this job and really enjoyed working with the people in this field. After Caroline demonstrated much success in this job and became a top producer, she moved up the ladder in the company and became one of the managers. After only one year, the owner put her in charge to start opening up other offices all over the country. At the end of 4 years, she had opened 60 offices and had a staff of over l00 people under her. The company was awarded the most successful title company in Baltimore. After less than 7 years, the company was sold at an enormous profit for the owner, and Caroline went on to take a senior level position with a competitor. Her service orientation and her ability to understand the customer and his particular needs obviously transferred over into another industry. Had this Title company owner not been willing to take a risk and shape her raw talent, he might have not landed such a good employee and have the successful business he did. Also, it's interesting to note that this hairdresser turned Title executive ended up building 3 homes and raising 2 very successful children as a single parent. It's interesting to see the wonderful results that can happen when a person is able to use their skillset, and with the proper training bloom and prosper. Good times can never seem so good when we are in our element and able to utilize the talents and abilities we have.