I got you!
My First Hire
Are you a solopreneur who is. . .
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feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work on your plate?
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struggling to manage your business effectively and wishing that you could find someone to help?
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not quite sure what that person would do, how you would find them or if you could even pay them?
You're ready to take it to the next level. But what does that look like? How do you bring in more support for you and your business in a way that will help you thrive?
My First Hire, was designed to help you DIY your way to hiring your first independent contractor or employee.
As Seen In
Kat HoSoo Lee's
Quinn Tempest's
Kaye Putnam's
After finishing this course you will:
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know exactly what responsibilities you’re going to hand off and what to call the job
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know how you’re going to find them, vet them, and integrate them into your work
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have a clear idea of your financial capacity and how this new person can help you earn more than you can alone
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be prepared to end the relationship if it’s not working out
After working with Candice I feel inspired, like I don’t have to keep doing what isn’t working; like there’s hope for the future.
Ariel Stirm, Owner, Botanic and Luxe
My First Hire DIY Course Breakdown
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Orientation: Nuts and bolts of the course, a discussion of the Why, How and Future of your business, an explanation of how the nervous system can get activated by the hiring process and ways to support yourself through that activation
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Deconstructing Your Workload: Defining your work capacity in terms of time, energy and actions, understanding how you currently spend your time, prioritizing the actions that create the most value for your clients and the impact that you want to have in the world.
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Developing the Workplan: Aligning your actions with the actions of your team, letting go of the things that are not in alignment, listing the skills that will help save you time and energy and increase value & impact, creating a job ad
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Figuring Out the $$: Building your business in a regenerative and reciprocal way, developing a supportive pricing model, understanding what people charge for their skills, knowing what is affordable for you and making a plan for the future.
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Recruiting & Hiring: Refining your job ad, creating an advertising plan, knowing how to choose which people to interview & how you'll interview them, reviewing proposals and making job offers.
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Passing the Baton: Planning head for communication with your team, using automation to help you and your team, developing a sustainable way to transition your responsibilities to other people
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Being a Transformational Leader: Giving clear and consistent feedback to your team, revising your original agreements, when and how to say goodbye
Interested in a sneak peak?
Check out the whole Developing the Workplan Lesson available here.
I love how you talk about hiring. You make it more relevant and relatable.
Darrie Ganzhorn, Executive Director, The Homeless Garden Project
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Won't it be expensive to hire someone to help me?
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What would I even have them do?
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How do I know they'll do things the way I want them to be done?
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When would I have the time to figure all that out?
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Even if I figure it out, how do I find someone who is the right fit?
I know it's tough. I've been there. I have 10 years of experience as an HR Strategist, and still struggled to bring on my first virtual assistant. That's why we work through each of these questions in the program.
When it comes to finances. . .I show you a few different ways to bring on help that will both align with your values and not overextend your resources.
When it comes to what they'll do. . . before we even get into how to find someone we look at everything that you do in your business, and how that work fits into your time, your energy, the value you are creating for your clients, and the impact that you are bringing to the world. We use the filter of time, energy, values and impact to decide what makes the most sense for you to hire someone to help with.
When it comes to knowing it'll be done the right way. . . I'm not going to tell you that the person you hire will make no mistakes. Mistakes are an important part of the growth and learning process. What we do work on is your communication plan, your capacity for giving feedback, and your ability to create step-by-step instructions that will help your hire do things the way you want them to be done.
When it comes to time. . . that's why this course is here to help. I want to give you all the information and all the shortcuts to save you as much time as possible. In the course I cover ways to block your time so that you can interview and train your hire. Also, when you enroll in the program, if you find that you get stuck along the way, you can book a Get Unstuck session with me. We'll get you over the hurdle that's in your path an on to the next step in your journey.
When it comes to finding the right fit. . . there's a whole lesson that's dedicated just to this. I share some of the tricks that I have learned through 10 years of interviewing to help you find the right person. This starts with crafting a job ad that speaks to your ideal candidate. In includes getting that ad out there in your community where those people are spending their time so that they see it. And also, limiting the number of people that you actually interview so that you don't burn yourself out and have decision fatigue.
Interested but. . .
And, here are some good things that happen
with a supportive person working with you:
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Focus on your Zone of Genius. Focusing on the work that only you can do helps you create a more aligned and more profitable business. How much are you losing by being dragged down by the things that aren’t really in your zone of genius?
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Different Perspectives. When you bring others into the fold, you’re all working together toward the same goals. This is an amazing opportunity to get different perspectives on your business. How great would it be to share challenges and victories with others who have been with you on the same path?
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Work / Life Alignment. This isn't about working yourself as much as possible and burning out. This is about creating regenerative systems the support you, your clients and your team in reciprocity. This way you're not overextending and you're able get to all the things on your list with the supoort of others.
Meet Your Guide
Candice Elliott is a Business Strategist and HR Mentor. She helps leaders cultivate empowered teams by aligning workflow and communication with the values of sustainability, equity and belonging. She also loves to work with solopreneurs to help them hire their first team member.
Candice Elliott works with leaders to co-create organizations where people thrive. She helps establish regenerative work ecosystems by aligning workflow and communication with the values of sustainability, equity and belonging. This model empowers leaders to choose both people and profit, and their teams to feel safety and a sense of meaning.
Her educational background is in HR, Philosophy and Anthropology. She has a Masters in HR from Penn State, the SPHR certification. She loves to give back to her community, and during the pandemic she has supported small businesses and non-profits with 100s of hours of donated consulting support to meet the challenges of the changing world of work.
Candice lives and works on the unceded land of Popeloutchom, home to the Awaswas speaking Uypi Ohlone, recently called Santa Cruz, California.
My First Hire Investment
The course includes:
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6 video lessons to help you plan for and hire your first independent contractor or employee
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Guides and prompts that will help you apply the lessons to your unique situation
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Template documentation that you can adapt to your needs
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Lifetime access
Get Unstuck Intensive
with Candice Elliott
$300
Your situation is unique, and might need a little more 1 on 1 attention than a DIY program can offer. I’m here to help you through the roadblocks that are keeping you from being able to bring on the support you need. In this 1- hour virtual intensive, we’ll identify what is getting in the way and create a clear path for you to move forward.
Candice’s experience and expertise is incredibly valuable. She is empowering, trustworthy and genuine.
Logan Huecker Robertson, Executive Director, Sequoia Riverlands Trust
My Hiring Journey
I’ve been hiring for more than 10 years now. I was a recruiter for 10 years and filled over 100 positions a year. That means that I was interviewing over 1000 people every single year. I got really good at doing that for other companies, but when it came time to hire help for myself, it all fell apart. I didn’t have a good idea of what my company really needed in order to grow sustainability, and I honestly hired the first person I talked to and didn’t interview anyone else, which I NEVER would have done for another company. I was so buried in the work that I didn’t have the time to dedicate to figuring out the best way to transition responsibilities.
After my son Algernon was born I literally couldn’t do everything anymore. I only had the time and capacity to work on a few limited things, so everything else had to go to someone else if it was going to get done. I went through a period of intensive decision making to determine what would and wouldn’t keep happening, and what I would hire people to help with. In my company that included hiring a nanny, a virtual assistant, a copywriter, a data analyst and a bookkeeper who all work part-time. I added all of these people to my team within a matter of months. And this time it’s working out great.
So what changed?
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I got very clear on what my company needed, both on an ongoing basis and for special projects.
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I created internal processes for the work that I wanted to pass on that included tight controls in the beginning and more freedom as time went on.
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I stopped making decisions based on fear of failure, and started making them based on creating reciprocal relationships that further the work of my team, my company and myself.
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I created individual agreements with each member of my team that were tailored to their needs and mine.
Candice is a miracle worker. I cannot thank her enough.
Emily Ham, Executive Director, Santa Cruz County Business Council
Frequently Asked Questions
Even with this course, it still seems like a lot of work. Any advice on how to tackle it?
As with all things, I recommend easing yourself into it as you're ready. That's one of the great things about a DIY course, you can do it at your own pace. Each week I try to spend 1/3 of my time working with clients, 1/3 of my time working on growing my business and 1/3 of my time working on my business. I know that breakdown might sound daunting at first, but if you can start with just a dedicated half-hour or hour each week, you'll start to see progress. Also, if you're getting stuck and need some help, you can book a Get Unstuck session with me here.
I already have some independent contractors or employees, will this course help me?
This course was designed specifically for the challenges that come with hiring (or re-hiring) your first few independent contractors or employees. The challenges that come with having more than 3 people working for you are a bit different from what I cover in this course. So, if you’ve just got a few people working for you on a very part-time basis, then this course could still be a good fit, but if you have more than 3 people working for you, and if most of them work more than 10 hours a week, you probably need more support than this course will provide. I’d be happy to talk with you about your challenges and see if there’s a way I can help. You can book a virtual coffee chat with me here.
Is this a group course?
This is not a group course. It is a DIY course with an option to add 1:1 support with me. I fully understand the value of group courses, since I have done many of them myself. If I find that there is a desire to bring everyone together for group sessions, then I’ll reach out to you through email and let you know about upcoming workshops.