#180: Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) — Talent, Reindustrialization, and Manufacturing Recruiting

-- AI-Generated Transcript --

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:00:00]:
It's extremely rewarding to know the impact that we are able to have on companies, despite our size. Right? So small business makes the world go around and, you know, is is truly in the fabric of the American dream that so many people talk about. And I think that's really important to celebrate is these businesses that get up every single day and do what they do and make what they make, that is what makes our country so great. It's the opportunity to, work in and around these types of businesses.

Jeffrey Stern [00:00:43]:
Let's discover what people are building in the Greater Cleveland community. We are telling the stories of Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurs, builders, and those supporting them. Welcome to the Lay of the Land podcast, where we are exploring what people are building in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. I am your host, Jeffrey Stern. And today, I had the real pleasure of speaking with Taylor Evans, founder and president of Rust Belt Recruiting, a leading and local manufacturing recruiting agency which also hosts a kindred spirit podcast to lave the land called Rust Belt Rundowns, where they are amplifying the stories of local manufacturing executives and leaders across Northeast Ohio. In our conversation today, we explore Taylor's path to entrepreneurship, grounded in his passion for economic and social impact, workforce development, and community revitalization. We'll impact the rich industries history of the Rust Belt and Northeast Ohio, the 20th century hollowing out of that capacity, and the current signs of a manufacturing renaissance and return to skilled trades across manufacturing and light industrials. We talk about the difference between staffing and recruiting, the importance of brand, the power of business operating systems, like the entrepreneurial operating system, and other macro topics like upskilling and reshoring.

Jeffrey Stern [00:02:04]:
All through the lens of building Rust Belt recruiting and the lessons Taylor has acquired along the way. Outside of his work as a founder, Taylor is actively plugged in civically via the Council of Smaller Enterprises, the small business group of Greater Cleveland Partnership, as the chair of Cozy Small Business Caucus and vice chair of Cozy's Board of Advisors, in addition to his work on the Talent Development Council of Team Neo. I personally really enjoyed hearing Taylor's perspective on the future of manufacturing in Ohio and Rust Belt Recruiting's role to play within it. So please enjoy our conversation after a brief message from our sponsor. Lay of the Land is brought to you by Impact Architects and by 90. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio, Impact Architects has helped 100 of those leaders, many of whom we have heard from as guests on this very podcast, realize their own visions and build these great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love. If you 2 are trying to build great, Impact Architects is offering to sit down with you for a free consultation or provide a free trial through 90, the software platform that helps teams build great companies.

Jeffrey Stern [00:03:26]:
If you're interested in learning more about partnering with Impact Architects or by leveraging 90 to power your own business, please go to ia.layoftheland.fm. The link will also be in our show notes. When when was the moment you knew you wanted to become an entrepreneur?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:03:50]:
So there there was, like, the young me and then the adult me. Right? So when I was a kid, I went to I was maybe 14 or 15 and wanted to go to Chicago to visit my aunt. Yeah. Live in Southeast PA, grew up there, and my parents were like, we'll get a job to pay for your flight out there. And my best friend and I looked at each other and said, well, no. We're gonna start a mowing business. Right? We're not gonna get a job. We're gonna start a business.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:04:26]:
So his name, Gregory Lord, my name being Taylor. We started Lord and Taylor Lawn Care, and had a lot of fun doing that, right, for a couple years. And I don't know how many accounts we got up to, 12 or 15 enough to make the summer money that we needed to. Yeah. But that was kind of my first foray into, starting something and really tried to run it like a business. Had 2 of our friends working for us, had shirts, you know, like, really You

Jeffrey Stern [00:04:53]:
took it serious.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:04:54]:
Yeah. Trying to professionalize it a little bit. And then, you know, when I was an adult, after going through a couple different jobs and realizing that I'm borderline unemployable, because, I you know, it does not play well with others or whatever. It does not work well for others is maybe it for me. I needed the freedom to be, an entrepreneur. And so my at some point in 2017, and even leading up to that, I knew I was getting the itch. And we, in October of 2017, found out on a Thursday night that my wife was pregnant. And an hour later, she said to me, I was sitting there complaining about my job, you know, really mature of me after she just found out she's carrying a baby.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:05:52]:
She was like, just quit your job. Let's do it. Let's start a business. And I was like, woah, really? And so the next day, I went in, put in my 2 weeks notice, and, often running since then. And, Rust Belt Recruiting is what came out of that.

Jeffrey Stern [00:06:08]:
Did you have And the baby.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:06:09]:
Yeah. And the baby. So Mila.

Jeffrey Stern [00:06:12]:
Mila. Wow. Did did you have a a sense of directionally where you were running when you set off running?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:06:21]:
Yeah. You know, to show how clear the vision was, I was either gonna start a coffee shop was what I was originally thinking. But when I did the math on what it is to build out and stand up a coffee shop and sell a lot of 3, 4, $5 cups of coffee compared to, starting my own recruiting business. Made a lot more sense to, go the other route and, you know, get a hold of a used laptop and a LinkedIn account and a cell phone, and you're off and running as a recruiter, which isn't to diminish what recruiters do, but, in terms of operational costs. Right.

Jeffrey Stern [00:06:59]:
Yeah. You gotta sell a lot of cups of coffee.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:07:02]:
You gotta sell a lot of cups of coffee, and kudos to all of the people out there. I I had done my, diligence. I felt I went to the, like, NASH the Specialty Coffee Association of America or whatever had their show in Atlanta, which was awesome, by the way. I don't know if you'll ever find yourself in the town where they are, like, hosting it, but I drank, like, 10 shots of espresso because everyone's and it's, like, the best espresso you're gonna ever have because it's like the Super Bowl of coffee.

Jeffrey Stern [00:07:33]:
Right. Right.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:07:34]:
So it was an awesome experience. But, again, did my diligence. And once the caffeine wore off, I realized probably needed to go more the route of, you know, something that could actually sustain this growing family that I had.

Jeffrey Stern [00:07:47]:
Sure. Sure. But even recruiting in and of itself can be quite broad in in scope. Yeah. How do you begin to narrow the the aperture?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:07:57]:
Yeah. So, you know, originally, the Evans Group of Ohio was the name, of the business, which sounds like an insurance agency. And, you know, I remember one day I was sitting, you know, it's visceral. I can feel myself sitting at our coffee table, with a notepad next to me. I'm, like, 2 or 3 weeks into this and just figuring out how to get a client, to get the business going.

Jeffrey Stern [00:08:24]:
Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:08:24]:
Yeah. And I wrote down something came into my head, and I wrote down the word Rust Belt Recruiting. And I just looked over at that a couple of times, and I and I just kept looking at it. And I was like, oh, that's really good. Right? That's a good name. Like, I like that. I can I can build something around that? And before I, you know, I was at a recruiting agency for a year and a half before I started my own, and before that, I was actually at a manufacturer. And so I knew, when you're starting out in business, unless you have an ingenious idea, I I, you know, I just wanted to make sure that I could at least put, my part of the pie on the table first, again, supporting our family.

Jeffrey Stern [00:09:06]:
Yep.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:09:06]:
So, you know, if if you read any publication, if you know anything about industry here in Northeast Ohio, you know, manufacturing's integral to that, and that skilled workforce is a tremendous shortage. So I said, well, I can probably create a nice white glove experience, for recruiting and attracting skilled workforce for regional manufacturers. And so I set out to do it. And that was the impetus of it. Right? Is, like, I just wanted to start something that mattered and did impact driven work, like, really mission based work. And I really do believe that, like, a strong manufacturing economy in Northeast Ohio is integral to, like, the overall region's viability and stability and, you know, hopefully, continued renaissance. And so, I have 4 kids now. And, for those 4 kids to stick around, like, I hope they wanna be around here, you know, at least some of them in the long run, I want, you know, I wanna feel like I played my part in helping regional manufacturers to be better, which creates better lives, families, communities, so on and so forth.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:10:21]:
And again, hopefully, selfishly, my kids stick around as well.

Jeffrey Stern [00:10:25]:
Right. Right. I mean, that that industrial heritage, it's it's it's deep rooted within the the history of of this place. I I don't know how top of mind it is, you know, if you just even rewind a 100 years that Northeast Ohio is is accounting for half of the world's rubber production. A majority of steel, oil, just the the building of things is is in this place. It's in the bones.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:10:55]:
Yeah. You know, people sometimes say, if you could go back in history Yeah. When would you go to? And I would I always say the industrial revolution.

Jeffrey Stern [00:11:05]:
I

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:11:05]:
just think it has to be such a fascinating time period to observe in our country as we, you know, grew and, you know, just astronomical growth, you know, over that time period. And, Cleveland was in the center of that. Obviously, Rockefeller is probably the the biggest name that came out of here, and, you know, you got Carnegie, 2 hours west, and so many of these other big names in the region, but I just I I think that's cool. You know, I think that and and I'm not advocate. I, you know, I don't know if they were the best employers, but I will say that they laid the foundation for, you know, the growth and development of our country, really. I mean, they were they were integral to that. And at one point, I think around 1930, I I think Cleveland was the wealthiest city in the country. Right? And we had Millionaire's Row along Euclid and and so many things.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:12:00]:
So, yeah, you know, I I I wanna be part of we always say with Rust Belt recruiting, putting the shine back on the region. Right? And we really do want that. We want this region to thrive. This is a good, you know, good area, and a lot of good communities make up Northeast Ohio, and, we really believe in the impact of our work. And so, at this point, I'm I'm grateful that I wrote down that name on that notepad, Rust Belt Recruiting, and it led us into that really just pure manufacturing focus because I really believe in the importance of the work that we do. It's not just, you know, how how big of a built business can I build to make lots of money for myself and my colleagues? It's like, how much impact can we make? Right? How much of a difference can we make for the companies that we support, and the rest, you know, all the fruits of your labor tend to follow if you do good work.

Jeffrey Stern [00:12:56]:
How did you find your first big break?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:13:00]:
Yeah. In I I've been very open with my story. Right? So in late January of 2018, I stopped drinking. I had a bad relationship with alcohol. And for those first three months of the business was also my last 3 months, drinking. And I, when when you've just stopped drinking, you start to focus your energy and efforts on something positive and productive. And so I had this client in Northwest Ohio who was maybe my 2nd or third account and just needed welders and general laborers and started working on those roles for them. Probably filled maybe 6 of them over a couple months, which, is nothing to phone home about, but they were seeing the quality of my work.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:13:59]:
And, that that child that was the impetus of starting the business, Mila, She was born on Father's Day 2018 on a Sunday night, and there's no paternity leave when you're self employed. I I think I was on the phone, like, in the lobby the next morning, you know, just gotta pay for this stuff. And so I think by that Thursday so, you know, probably came home from the hospital Tuesday or Wednesday, probably Tuesday. Wednesday, being the bouncy person that I am, I was probably sitting on my hands like, okay. This is my paternity leaving by Thursday. I was out at a lunch meeting again. And I got a call from Dave, the HR leader there, and, he said, you know, you've been doing great work for us. We really like you.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:14:47]:
And because of the steel tariffs that president Trump has put in at this point, our products are going through the roof. And so we are, you know, experiencing just exorbitant order volume and growth. Please help us build a 3rd shift. And so it was probably 86 job openings. And for from, you know, Dave was like, I think, you know, we'd like to have your agency help us with this. I was like, well, you got the whole agency on the phone. And so, you know, built a team up pretty quickly, as quickly as I could, and tackled that project. And it was kind of the launching point for, you know, being able to attract and hire team members and and and grow our business.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:15:36]:
And, I'm really grateful. For me, that was a God moment, right, that we took the, took the leap and started a business, not knowing what the road ahead was gonna be. And then, we we kinda told ourselves, hey, we've got 7, 8 months to to get this figured out. And 1st day back to work after she was born, I got my breakthrough moment. And for me, it's a personal faith. Like, that really is a God moment where it was like, you know, you did it. You know, well done. Way to way to trust the process and, you know, a lot of lot of life happened in those 7, 8 months.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:16:14]:
A lot of life change, a lot of, you know, getting better with myself and, changing who and what I am, and that was foundational moment in my life and, you know, a foundational season to what changed the trajectory of our lives, which was, you know, I'm beyond grateful for that.

Jeffrey Stern [00:16:31]:
Yeah. That's that's powerful. Yeah. Yeah. Without knowing at the time the precise path ahead of you, I know today from a place of retrospect, you you've made a a pretty clear distinction between recruiting and staffing.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:16:46]:
Yeah.

Jeffrey Stern [00:16:47]:
And I'd love to understand your evolution of, you know, thinking on that and and, ultimately, you know, how you've positioned Rust Belt Recruiting to focus on the recruiting side.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:16:59]:
Yeah. Yeah. So in outside agency recruiting, 3rd party recruiting, however you wanna characterize it, there's really 3 arenas. Right? You got temporary staffing for generally lower skilled roles. You've got there there's also contract staffing for more professional roles. But, you know, you've got your kind of temporary jobs. You've got professional recruiting and you've got executive search. Right? Which is like retained VP, and c level c suite.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:17:30]:
Professional recruiting is usually just in time recruiting, like, hey. We got someone leaving or someone left. We need this job filled and now. Yep. So without kind of unpacking all three of those buckets, really what I saw as a gap in the market when I started my business was a lot of these, we call them blue collar, but these are these are skilled professionals. They have just as much skill as you and me. Right? Like a CNC programmer run like, they're running quarter to half $1,000,000 machines. Like, I would break that thing if they let me push the buttons on it.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:18:06]:
Yep. That person is a skilled and trained professional at what they do, just like I am as a salesman or a business owner. Right? Just what whatever you're but we've neglected that population. And we've pushed those roles over to the temporary staffing bucket where it's like, hey, do you want to leave your full time job to come and be tried out over here over 90 days? We might might hire you. They're like, no. Like, I'm I'm very good at what I do. I'm not you know, even if I bet on myself and can be tried out by you, like, no. I'm beyond that.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:18:44]:
Right? And so we've just commoditized the way we treat the skilled workforce of our region, and that was a gap in the market that I saw. So again, I, you know, I was like, okay, we're gonna we're gonna provide professional recruiting services, more high end consultative premium mindset, like how we work and interface with a client and provide constructive and quality feedback on the roles that we are working on for them. We really wanna be, like, more of an engaged partner. We don't wanna just be a resume mail. We don't wanna play this as a race to the bottom. You know, my my value proposition when I talk to a client Yep. Is not, I will have you 3 resumes in 3 days, which some companies try to do, which if you hear that as a manufacturer, run. Right? Like, just run.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:19:36]:
Because unlike unless they're, like, super niche to do exactly the type of role that you're asking them to work on for you, They're just they're they're they're not gonna understand and vet and qualify people the way that you want it to be done. What we promise is a good quality consultative search where we're gonna provide you feedback on exactly what we're seeing and hearing from the candidates. Because sometimes some of these roles even run stale. Mhmm. Someone has been in this role for 25 years. You know, you know, Jerry, our maintenance manager, is just loyal to the bone, to our owner, and he, you know, he's finally leaving, and there's all this institutional knowledge. But through no fault of anyone's, also wage stagnation might have caught up, and what Jerry was getting paid might not be market rate for what you need this person to be now. And we need clients who are willing to, like, hear and at least, you know, process that feedback internally.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:20:35]:
Like, you know, we can't we can't make magic happen with someone else's livelihood just because we want them to. But when we have a partner that really wants to, you know, trust us to provide that feedback and hear it and work with us on it, we're able to get meaningful traction on the role. Right? And, one of the more impactful things I've heard in six and a half years since starting Rust Belt is, you know, manufacturers, one of their foundational elements is continuous improvement, CI. Right? Yet most manufacturers haven't applied principles of continuous improvement to their talent acquisition processes. So how can we come in and help you, like, take a look at what you're doing? If you're doing, like, 7 interviews for a production level role, I don't care what the role I I don't I don't think you should be doing 7 for an executive role. Put putting that aside, if if you think that is right, then we're not gonna be right. But if you're open to hearing how maybe we could streamline this to 2 and, you know, rework the process and still get a lot of the same information and whatever it is you need out of that, we can work and be your partner. So we really wanna almost air more towards consultants than resume mill, at the end of the day.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:21:54]:
We're we're not the agency who comes in and promises you, you know, exorbitant resumes or wants to just get that 80% resume in front of you, hoping they don't notice the 20% that's missing. Like, we really wanna hit the, target with just a few select candidates. And I think, generally, our clients find that refreshing. Right? That we don't come in and masquerade as something that we're not.

Jeffrey Stern [00:22:19]:
Right.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:22:19]:
We'd rather tell you no about taking the work than yes and hope it works out, if that makes sense.

Jeffrey Stern [00:22:27]:
Sure. Sure. Well, a lot of lot of threads to to pull on. Yeah. I well, what one of the, kind of more in the the backdrop to the work you're doing, you mentioned this tension at the beginning of what what you were talking about there between just the nomenclature of blue collar and skilled workers. And I I think that kind of falls within this narrative we've we've begun to hear of the challenge manufacturers face with regards to talent generally, and how many workers maybe many young workers don't have the best opinion of working or coming into work in skilled trades manufacturing and, you know, maybe parents' perception of going to vocational, you know, kind of schooling work as less desirable. At least, I there's a narrative around that.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:23:18]:
Absolutely.

Jeffrey Stern [00:23:19]:
At the same time, I've heard, folks begin to use, you know, the term tool belt generation and kind of resurgence of interest in this kind of work. How do you reconcile these things? Like, what what's actually going on?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:23:30]:
Yeah. So, you know, Morning Brew had a data point, a few weeks ago that said, you know, the overall, movement towards the trades and, trades education is up 16%, so it's fantastic. The the the drum has to continue to be beat. Right? And we have to make sure that the, you know, high school guidance counselor in these school districts all across the country aren't just measuring themselves on, did my kid go to did one of our kids go to college or not? If they didn't go to college, it was failure. Right? Did our did our students have a next step out of a high school lineup? That's success. Right? You know, as long as they're not going to, like, jail. You know, but if the next step is, like, the military, that's cool. If the next step is a career, that's cool.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:24:26]:
If the next step is, college, that's cool, but treat them equally. Don't treat college as the end all, be all. So the overall sentiment, I do think, is shifting. And I do think the pressures of the world today, I think what we're gonna see from some generations that are coming up is they might not embrace them the same way, that we've been conditioned to. And I think that will lead people to saying, I, for example, not to say there's not pressure in, you know, a a job, you know, being on a production floor. But at the end of the day, if you're able to go in, clock in your 8, 9 hours and then go home and you don't have an email address with it's dinging your phone or you're just able to leave it behind and you're able to provide a quality life for your family and manufacturing, as I say this out loud, might almost become the source of work life balance that everyone's looking for. You know? Like, hey. I, you know, I can do my job clock in, clock out, and a lot of manufacturers are having to make some adjustments, to make their workplace more attractive.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:25:37]:
So I've seen many different iterations. Most manufacturers offer overtime at some level. They need the work done. They need the throughput. But, you know, if manufacturers are willing to say, once you hit your 40 hours in the week, if you don't wanna work any more than that, that's your choice. You know, over time you know, if you have to work 6 and a half days a week at 12 hours a pop, yeah, manufacturing is gonna struggle to attract people. But, again, I've actually seen some shifts in how, companies are approaching over time and in the overall day to day, involvement in their jobs.

Jeffrey Stern [00:26:14]:
Yeah. Yeah. Really interesting. So so take us through the the evolution of Rust Belt Recruiting. You know, what what are the chapters in that story?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:26:23]:
Yeah. So, you know, I I kinda told you the first chapter. Right? And, that was, you know, 2018 and, riding high and really growing. You know, over the years, we've had multiple different iterations of the business. We actually did offer temporary staffing for about 2 years in there. We we offer temporary staffing for about 2 years in there. We we gave it a shot, wanted to see if maybe it opened doors to clients where we could climb the ladder, so to say, within the organization and then work on other roles than just the, you know, true entry level. But again, was kinda trying to run 2 business models at once.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:27:03]:
Yep. And eventually it just stopped, after a board meeting. And so I'll I'll always remember that. It just says a quick rabbit hole. I'll always remember that, board meeting. There's a an accomplished entrepreneur here in Cleveland who was on my board at the time, Dan Rose. He's an EOS coach now, and was our implementer. But Dan was on the board, and he said, how do you make money? And I'm looking at him like, you know.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:27:36]:
Like, you you you're smart enough. This is not a complex business model. He was like, well, no. Where where within your businesses do do you actually make money? Once we unpack that and I got honest with myself that temporary staffing, was not making us money. Yeah. I walked back into the office, the team's sitting there. You know, we were in a hallway conference room. I walked in.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:27:58]:
I was like, hey. Effective immediately, we no longer offer temporary staffing. And someone's, like, on the phone with a candidate. Like, what should I say to this person? I was like, ask them if they want a full time job. You know? I don't know. But, you know, we we quickly unraveled it. 2 or 3 months, you gotta get people off the books or whatever. But, yeah, that that world so I'm very entrepreneurial.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:28:20]:
In fact, sometimes, fall victim to the shiny objects as many visionaries do. But at the end of the day, we've had different iterations, different seasons, and, you know, I'm really excited about the 2024 version of the team. That's been a good one, but we've gone through, again, just many different seasons. And COVID was certainly a wild ride, especially, you know, from 20 call it mid 2021 through mid 2022. Like, things were hot then. It was kinda wild. And, that was kind of the restocking of the cupboards for businesses, industrial businesses, and, you know, many other industries as well. The last year, you know, for the last even year and a half, the market's been a little more it just hasn't been as hot.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:29:15]:
And so, you know, your your companies are being a little bit more, diligent with their hiring, which I'm all for, but, you know, that that was a wild season as well. So we've seen a lot of different things. Right? Even in six and a half years in business, we saw, without making it a political thing. Right? We saw Trump's economy. We saw Biden's economy. We saw COVID, right, spanning across both of them. And now we're in an election year again. Right? And, I do think one thing that continues to hold manufacturing together right now for all the economic turbulence is the emphasis on reshoring and just the overall awareness of manufacturers, how hard it is to reassemble a quality workforce that manufacturing leaders, CFOs and owners and CEOs are looking at their p and l and saying, we're willing to give up margin right now before we give up the ship.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:30:25]:
And in this case, the ship meeting the team. Right? Like, we're not gonna, we're we're not gonna just offload people, to try to rebuild it in 2 years because it's so hard to do that. Right? So that's been a huge factor as well.

Jeffrey Stern [00:30:41]:
To to the degree that, you know, most businesses are are influenced by these external forces, you know, political cycles, ebbs and flows in the economy. How have you thought about the positioning of Rust Belt Recruiting to be resilient, you know, in the face of these different hot, cold, however you might describe them, cycles?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:31:06]:
Well, the beauty of being a small business and, again, I have, every time we have a board meeting, my wife and I look at each other and say, like, how are we so lucky to have the board that we do and the people that choose to pour into us? And we had this conversation, I don't know, sometime in the last year, year and a half, but there's a local business leader, Jason Therian, who owns Thunder Tech, started and built that, said, you gotta create your own economy. You get to create your own economy. We're not Amazon. This isn't like, you know, the big container ship barreling down the Suez Canal. Like, we can turn on not a dime, but we can turn pretty quickly. Yeah. Not as close to turning on a dime as you could get.

Jeffrey Stern [00:31:57]:
You gotta trim down.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:31:58]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just, like, you know, make the changes. And so we are we were absolutely a 100 10 percent invested in manufacturing, but there's room to pivot within or or pursue, manufacturers that, you know, are growing. Because even when an economy is, you know, stagnant or contracting or whatever it is, we aren't, there there's always gonna be markets that are growing, and there's always gonna be things that are emerging and on the uptick. So we just have to pivot to those areas, you know, and being smaller and more nimble allows us to do so. So resilience is simply a mindset.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:32:42]:
You know, how how are we gonna be resilient? How are we gonna survive and hopefully thrive, through the ups and downs? And for us, we, again, benefit from being a smaller business.

Jeffrey Stern [00:32:56]:
As you've gone through these seasons, you know, Colm, one thing I know you've also been quite intentional about going all the way back to the name itself is the whole idea of brand. Mhmm. So I'd love to understand how you think about brand. Yeah. And then I'd love to, you know, kind of run the parallels of of the podcast. Yeah. Yeah. Rundown that that you operate and and kind of how that plays into the fold.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:33:22]:
Yeah. So I am a sales and marketing guy. Like, that is who and what I am through and through. And so I always wanted, you know, to build a really strong brand. A brand that a brand can also when we go back to resilience Yeah. A brand can weather the storm. A brand can go through seasons if the brand is strong and you have the right, you know, reputation, and you do things the right way and still, get the respect of the people that you work with, and we strive daily for that to do things the right way and, earn our customers' respect and be whether the customer is a candidate or a client. So, you know, I I really set out from day 1 to build awareness with our brand.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:34:23]:
And so when we were doing that, I mean, unless you're in the manufacturing industry, no one wants to follow a manufacturing recruiting company on LinkedIn or social channels just to see what jobs we post. Right? So we try to create a brand that is engaging to the people that we, you know, choose to follow us regardless of why they follow us. Like, you know, I I would wanna create a brand where you follow us even if you're not in manufacturing, but you're like, I love what these guys put out. I always am learning something or enjoying what they put up. So we love to show the positive culture that we try to run, 1st and foremost. We are champions of the industry that we serve rather than just ourselves. Right? So we we are talking about manufacturing. We're celebrating Northeast Ohio.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:35:18]:
Like, we have pillars that are important to us, and we really champion those. Like, yes, you know, occasionally you'll see us promote a job opening that we have. Might just be a good fit and wanna get it out there, but our our channels are not designed, other than our website, the job openings page. Our channels are about revitalization and growth in the region and manufacturing in the economy. And so at the end of the day, we created something that's worth following for, you know, a number of different people. And, that's, you know, that's awesome. And we've tried some fun stuff with it too. You know, one of my one that I always think back on is for, like, a short period of time, I would always send out, a riddle to my clients.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:36:10]:
Like, if I was if we had a touch base call the next day, like a standing one, I would always send them a riddle the night before almost to make sure they would show up for the call the next day to get the answer to the riddle. And eventually we started using that as social content. It has nothing to do with what we do, but people loved it. Right? Even my one aunt, the aunt in Chicago that I went to visit when I was 14. She was like, I love following your company for the you know, of course, because it's mine, but, you know, I wanna see that weekly riddle, you know, whatever it is. So, you know, making the brand fun, engaging, and, more than just the product is important. And so when it comes to our podcast, we had an intern in the summer of 2020 who was like, I wanna start a podcast for here. Said, okay.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:37:02]:
Like, let's give it a shot. Let's see where it goes. And, I think we've done 73 or 74 episodes now. We release about 2 a month, and it's really a great way to promote people doing things in Northeast Ohio that are worth knowing about.

Jeffrey Stern [00:37:20]:
Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:37:21]:
And so, you know, we've brought clients on before we brought prospects, but we've brought on, you know, interesting local and regional leaders who have nothing to do with what we do. Right? But it's also a great way to celebrate, these individuals who are making a difference in the region, get them involved with the Rust Belt family, get them, kinda connected to our work even if they're not. So, one of the more fun ones was, I think you've had him on yours, but mayor Bibb, you know, we were in, Playhouse Square a couple months ago, and he walks by and he's like, hey. How are you doing? Good to see you. I'm still keeping up on the podcast. Right? And whether he was just using flattery or not, you know, it's fun to have that connection with him. Right? And there's examples like that where we've been able to bring in, again, leaders who are able to share their perspective. And, you know, again, one of the more fun ones is at the end of every episode, we also ask what's your favorite restaurant.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:38:20]:
And so, you know, also get a bunch of good spots

Jeffrey Stern [00:38:23]:
to go

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:38:23]:
try out. But my best friend is our host, Paul O'Connor, and, it's also really something fun to do with him. And, you know, he's down in Columbus, but he does this for us twice a month. And it's, he's really good at what he does, and it's really a good, representation, of our company. And, you know, last thing I'll say, you know, when it comes to Paul, Paul, that's a perfect example where I didn't wanna create the Taylor Evans brand. Right? It's called Rust Belt Recruiting. It's not called Taylor Evans Recruiting. And I didn't wanna be the face of the podcast because I didn't want it to be the Taylor Evans show.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:39:05]:
You know, I wanted to be the Rust Belt Rundown. And so there's been little intentional steps to curate something that is bigger and more than just me and my business. And, you know, I've had to come to terms along the way, especially with how avid of a networker I am, that, myself and Russell are gonna be inextricably linked, but I don't want myself to just purely be the end all be all. We're onboarding a new business development guy right now, and I said, I want people to think of you when they think of Rust Belt when things happen. Right? They you're their guy, that you're their solution. It's not about me. So I've I've always wanted to curate something that was beyond just myself.

Jeffrey Stern [00:39:45]:
Yeah. If if there does exist a Kindred, Fraternal storytelling exercise to lay of the land, it is Rust Belt Rundown. I have loved following what you guys are doing, and I think, we we just need to tell more of those stories because there there are not enough people who know about them.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:40:08]:
Yeah. Like, you know, I just he just popped into my head. 1 of our shared guests, Brian Crews with Sergeant Kleen Car Wash. Like, Brian's an awesome story. He's an awesome human being. He is Sergeant Kleen. And, you know, the way his business has grown and exploded, is strategic, but it's also a representation of him and his, mindset for the community. You know, no one thinks, like, a car wash is gonna be a cornerstone to our community.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:40:40]:
But I'll tell you what, like, during COVID, ironically, my daily loop just to get out of the house with my daughter that we talked about was, we would just drive, go through the car wash, got a friendly wave from the people that were there, go grab a coffee from the coffee shop and go home. It just got us out of the house for 15 or 30 minutes. That friendly wave that you get every time you go to sergeant clean and the way they've kind of embraced that Chick Fil A mindset of, like, customer service and friendliness, and it's awesome. So, you know, again, where like, a guy like Brian is someone that we should be celebrating in this region who is a good business leader. He's giving back. He's doing a good thing and creates a good product. That's what we wanna celebrate, and I think you're the exact same way. So the respect for our podcast is mutual.

Jeffrey Stern [00:41:33]:
Well, I appreciate that. Yeah. But enough about it. Yeah. Enough about that.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:41:37]:
Yeah.

Jeffrey Stern [00:41:40]:
Lay of the Land is brought to you by John Carroll University's Boulder College of Business, widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the region. As we've heard time and time again from entrepreneurs here on Lay of the Land, many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University, success in this ever changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technologies and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen, all qualities nurtured through the Buhler College of Business. With 4 different MBA programs of study spanning professional, online, hybrid, and 1 year flexible, the Bohler College of Business provides flexible timelines in various class structures for each MBA track including online, in person, hybrid, and asynchronous. All to offer the most effective options for hybrid, and asynchronous. All to offer the most effective options for you, including the ability to participate in an elective international study tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture. The career impact of a Bowler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University's Bowler MBA programs, please go to business dotjcu.edu. The Bohler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a college of business can have.

Jeffrey Stern [00:43:09]:
Well, let's see. When you when you turn an eye more towards the future, what what has you most excited?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:43:15]:
Well, I'm excited that we're getting traction on talking about manufacturing Yeah. Being a thing again.

Jeffrey Stern [00:43:21]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:43:22]:
I have a 12 year old son, Cam, and I hope that Cam knows that a career in manufacturing would be awesome if he chooses to do it. I'm hearing rumblings of architect right now, but cool. Right? Still work work around something where you build something that matters. Right? So if you're gonna be an architect, that's really cool. Right? And and you're gonna design some beautiful structures, and those will be homes or businesses or whatever. My hope for the future is that we don't just become a nation of zombies. Right? That we keep that interpersonal connection, and I do believe workplaces are integral to that. Right? Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:44:09]:
I I do believe going and interfacing just like we're recording this podcast together in in person, and we talked about it, like, you know, feeding off each other, reading body language, creating that connection. Yeah. We could do this via Zoom. It would have been easier to do it that way. That's not what makes the world go around. It's community and it's connection and it's, you know, living in service for others. And my hope is, you know, as silly as this sounds, if if we get traction with people going to industrial settings and workplaces and they feel that fulfillment of making something every day and they get to connect with coworkers and collaborate and support one another, that's a good thing. So, you know, I I don't wanna I don't wanna upset the remote work crowd too much with this.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:45:02]:
Right? But, you know, in in the world that I live in, which again is manufacturing, it goes beyond the work they do. It's the connections they create, the relationships that they have. Our world needs that. Otherwise, you get in your own little silos and echo chambers, and it can be a very lonely place without connection. And so the next generation loves their screens. I think we're even ours does too. We're already trapped by them. But if you can get away from those screens and get in person with someone for, you know, throughout the course of the day, I think that's my hope for the next generation.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:45:41]:
And, again, I I also going a bit of a different direction. I have a lot of hope for Northeast Ohio. Yeah. Right? I think we're seeing more regional collaboration. I think we are a valuable region. I think our region is going to become progressively more attractive as, you know, the look at the winner we just had. It really wasn't that harsh. And, whatever you wanna say about it, like, there there are evolutions happening to our climate.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:46:09]:
And so Cleveland could actually be very well positioned, in 50 years from now and Northeast Ohio and the Great Lakes, as an attractive destination, and people will start coming back here and revitalize this area. So, and and the investments are being made right now. Right? It's happening. The wheels are starting to turn. We gotta get some of our communities elevated, and the work that they're looking to do downtown along the river and the lakefront are, you know, generational changes to our communities, but they're good. They will continue to, attract people here in, hopefully, industry. Right? Chicken and the egg type thing, but, more and more industry will come here, when the population's here and we can provide, a reliable workforce.

Jeffrey Stern [00:47:03]:
While there is this boon to industry coming back here, and I think we both agree major net positive for this region, for the whole Midwest, at the same time, the whole industrial workforce is undergoing some significant changes Mhmm. At the same time, you know, even even separate from the perception people have of this kind of work, with all the technological advancements and automation that that are are making their way into into the space. How have you guys thought about that and the the consequences for people who can actually work in this industry?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:47:46]:
Yeah. So couple things to that. Right? Lot of lot of different ways to go with it, but I am one of the recruiters that, is a big fan of robots. Yep. And, those robots that can replace roles, that otherwise, may be hard for a company to fill. Robots don't get hangovers. Robots can run 247.

Jeffrey Stern [00:48:15]:
I don't I don't love the terminology, but, Buckminster Fuller call it, you know, energy slaves.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:48:20]:
Yeah. Yeah. So they can do the job with consistent quality over and over and over again. And the reason I'm a champion for these is if people aren't gonna you know, the same people who complain about the robots are the same people that are probably not taking the jobs in front of them. Right? The robots can make the product and do the work that others won't. And so at the end of the day, I don't wanna become a nation dependent on robots, but someone's gotta service that robot. Someone's gotta take care of that thing. And these are the advanced manufacturing jobs that we create, with innovation.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:49:01]:
Right? The these innovations will come, and then the jobs to serve them will, will follow. And so we continue to track unemployment rate as if it matters anymore. Like, my my viewpoint is that is a moot data point from here on out. It's gonna stay low. 2a half to 4% here on out. Regardless, it's low. What we're gonna start to see is, you know, the labor force participation rate as a more meaningful indicator. How many people are opting into work? And so that number usually, fluctuates.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:49:40]:
It doesn't fluctuate this much, but the the the peak was around 67%. We tend to run at this point around 62, in some decimal. Yep. And so as the gig economy and fractional work and all of these things and people's ability to create their own, you know, path continues to grow, we are going to see that number probably stay a little lower. So, you know, the the the the involvement with our workforce or getting continuing to get people involved in roles Yeah. Is gonna be huge, but also making sure that we adjust to the realities of what is coming. And, you know, hopefully, companies are in a position to make the investments that they need to, into, let's call it alternate rather than energy slaves, let's call it alternative workforce. Yep.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:50:36]:
Which is, you know, again, those those automations in those robots. There's nothing wrong with, you know, these machines being out there as long as they're creating a job with it that services and maintains this equipment, also creates jobs to make said machines. There's a lot of you know, a lot to go with it as well.

Jeffrey Stern [00:51:00]:
Yeah. I wanna, you know, ground this back in in the business. Yeah. Yeah. It's fascinating. I we can talk about that for forever. One one of the things you mentioned earlier on, is EOS, the entrepreneurial operating system for for those tuning in. Are you familiar with the, Baader Meinhof effect by chance?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:51:19]:
I am not. So I'm I'm about to learn something.

Jeffrey Stern [00:51:22]:
Well, also known as the frequency illusion.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:51:25]:
Okay.

Jeffrey Stern [00:51:25]:
And it refers to the idea that once you are aware of something, you just see it everywhere. Sure. And EOS to me is is this thing. Yes. I didn't know about it until a few years ago when I actually met Chris Snyder who came on the podcast here through Impact Architects, I think episode 98. But then it became astonishing to me the degree to which it just appeared everywhere. And I I'll I'll run through just founders from lay of the land that I can think of. I made a note here.

Jeffrey Stern [00:51:55]:
Gordon Daley from BoxCast, Nick Dadas from University Tease and Sisu Lifestyle, Mary Cohen from NCS Credit, Azade Hardiman from Level 20, Jim Pishak from Bravo Wellness, which is acquired by Medical Mutual, TJ Gliha from Journey Wealth, Brandon Anderson from Scaleco. The the list genuinely goes on. Why has it resonated so broadly and then deeply with what it is that you were doing?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:52:22]:
Yeah. And, before we jump into that, you left off Acton Academy for Nick Daddus

Jeffrey Stern [00:52:27]:
Oh, absolutely.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:52:28]:
Which ironically, we are now sending our kids to next year. Wow. So, yeah, we're we're moving them into the Daddus' school and hopefully fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in our kids. But that aside, EOS is a powerful tool. It it needs to be a priority. And, even in my own business, I've, seen us let it fall, to the background at times. So, 2021, we used Dan Rose, who I mentioned earlier, as our implementer and decided to put this in. Created 2 or 3 jobs almost immediately from it.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:53:08]:
We realized, you know, we were building our accountability chart and realized, we had too many people doing 2 or 3 jobs, which is the nature of a small business. And so we made those investments and, we grew and we ran it really well for a little while, and then I would say we got off track. And we've made a renewed focus since the fall to get it going again. And, you know, we now have a, in internal team member who we're like, we got our person for that integrator seat. And, I was actually just talking to our podcast host, Paul O'Connor, yesterday. His company, his day job down in Columbus, they're putting in EOS. And I was just saying to him how important a good integrator is to the business. So EOS is a, it's a powerful tool that lets you address issues in real time and really think through how you want to, grow your business.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:54:13]:
But when done right, I know EOS and the EOS community has raving fans. Raving would be an understatement, about the impact that EOS has had on them and their business.

Jeffrey Stern [00:54:28]:
Let's kinda, like, paint a picture of of what this looks like in practice. So talk us through just some of the the client relationships that you've had, and what what are the impacts of a placement, how you think about the outcomes long term, and and more like the tactics of soup to nuts. What is this how does this actually work? What does this look like?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:54:51]:
Yeah. So Rust Belt as a whole. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, when we're able to kind of bring on a client in the right way, we are really, trying to enmesh into you know, be an extension of their team from day 1. We are getting to know not only the HR person or the owner or whoever walked us through the door, but, honestly, the hiring managers in a meaningful way, really understand who and what they are as an employer and what they value in an individual because it's our job to be able to communicate that just because, for example, someone's resume says on it, welder. Well, that's a huge spectrum of skill and capability. Yep.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:55:37]:
So we need to understand. We need to be able to say this is what the culture there is like. This is exactly what type of welding you're doing. This is like the certs you might need, certifications or the the ability level, MIG, TIG, Flux, whatever. So at the end of the day, we have to really be able to operate as, as an extension of them. And, frankly, you know, while we don't misrepresent ourselves, and maybe the people just aren't paying attention, we almost take it as a compliment when, you know, our clients, you know, hear from the candidates. Oh, I didn't know that person didn't work here. I actually thought that the person recruiting me was a member of your team.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:56:21]:
And it's like, well, no. They're they're outsourced, but they know our business

Jeffrey Stern [00:56:24]:
Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:56:25]:
Yeah. So well, and they are so reliable and trusted that, you know, it it feels that way to the candidate. So, you know, we wanna build long lasting relationships. We wanna we wanna only fill jobs that really feel like we're adding value for you. We're solution oriented is one of our 5 core values. That's super important to us. So we wanna always be kinda coming in with big eyes when we're talking to a company and saying, like, this is some best practices we've seen. This is how we can do things better.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:57:04]:
So, again, kinda like what we were talking about earlier in the conversation. We come in and add value from day 1. And, again, also just figuring out other ways to add value, listening, like, where they're having pain points, just like any service provider should be. How can I add more value or more connections? So, you know, just a few weeks ago, was onboarding a new client, heard what they do, said, hey, I got a guy about an hour and a half from here that I think you should meet. He'll be going there in like a week, and they're just gonna figure out, can we work together? And I have no you know, I have nothing to gain other than positive sentiment from both parties that I put them together. Nothing more than that. Right? But at the end of the day, being able to provide value beyond just the roles that you fill or the searches that you do is, I think, integral to being good for the business. So whenever we brought in business development people in our organization, you know, I'm an avid networker.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:58:01]:
Blessed to know a lot of people in the area and in the region and specifically the business community. We're always saying to that person, hey. If you hear that your client is, like, struggling with something, unless you if you have a connection for them, great. Otherwise, bring it back to me. Like, let me help you be like, oh, my gosh. Yeah. You know, I need a b c. I just had this last night.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:58:21]:
Right? Like, you know, I was my wife's in Florida right now, and I was texting about an intro that I had made to me, and I was like, it it it would and for most people, the connection that I could make, they they wouldn't have had it or thought of it, and she just her response was like, of course, you do. Right? Like, of course, you have someone to introduce them to. And but that feels good. That feels like you can be valuable to people beyond just the day to day thing that you're doing for them. In this case, for us, it's recruiting. But, you know, being able to leave a conversation or meet, people and do something for them, that's a really good feeling. Yeah. So sorry.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:59:10]:
I took us down a little bit of a road wall there, but

Jeffrey Stern [00:59:12]:
It's all good. I mean, to to layer on to it, I mean, you've mentioned impact, value. I'd be curious what what success actually looks like, like, practically, and and what is the actual impact you hope to have?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:59:28]:
Yeah. So that's an easy one for me is Ralph Waldo Emerson usually gets the credit for the poem success, and look it up. It's it's short but good. And there's a line in there that says to know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. And that's it. Right? Like, to know that you made someone else's life just marginally better. And I try to do that in a way more than just one life.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [00:59:58]:
Right? Like my goal is lots of lives. LOL. Lots of lives. Lay out of the land. But, you know, at the end of the day, I want to positively impact as many lives as possible through my business and the platform that I'm blessed to have as a business owner. And and I recognize the value of that, and I try to leverage that through, the organizations that I'm a member of here in the Greater Cleveland, area and beyond. But if I can make someone's life a little easier or, you know, enrich it in some way, that's it for me. Right? And and usually, the universe inspires, if if you if you do good for others.

Jeffrey Stern [01:00:49]:
I think you've already mentioned some of the ways through which your personal growth has run parallel to the growth of of Rust Belt through fatherhood, the adversity of of relinquishing alcohol at the onset. How do you feel how do you reflect on your personal growth and journey, and what are what are some of the more salient lessons that that you carry with you?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:01:10]:
Yeah. At the end of the day, it's never too late to change, you know, and I'm really grateful that my relationship with alcohol, which I was having a lot of fun. Right? I for for a while, I was just stuck in that post college, still just kinda kept the party going a little bit, but, I I got off that merry-go-round at 29 years old. I've met people 59, 69, 79 years old who are just trying to address their relationship with that. So to that topic or that point, I'm grateful. I, you know, I did I I I got a full life ahead of me and and continue to. I think there's the opportunity to create the life you want and I recognize sometimes there's built in mechanisms to accelerate that for some versus others. But, you know, there's there's a quote from a civil war general.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:02:17]:
You may be whatever you resolve to be. Right? And my brother went to Virginia military where that quote, is is is in there. And there's truth to that. Right? Like, I I I sometimes laugh at myself, that one day I just started telling people I was a manufacturing recruiter because that's the truth of it. Like, one day, I just was like, hey. Yeah. I'm a manufacturing recruiter. And, eventually, someone was like, okay.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:02:46]:
Cool. Yeah. We'll give you a shot. And then I got lots of shots, and now we're where we are. And so you at that to that point, you can create your own destiny. And again, you gotta catch some breaks along the way, but I love sayings. I love quotes as you probably picked up through this so far. You know, the old one of luck is when opportunity and preparation collide.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:03:15]:
And so, I think I've created my own luck. I think I'm really lucky that I've had said luck, and I'm really grateful for it and to see how my life has evolved. Right? Sometimes when my wife and I are talking about it, some of the stress we experience now is because our life has evolved so hard or so so rapidly, managing these people and this business and this involvement and all these kids and, you know, your your life just goes, you know, it just grows rapidly. And so for us, that rapid change is almost overwhelming at times, but I don't know if I'd change anything about it. Right? I I love I love the ride. There's days it runs me down. There's days that it gives me tremendous life. And so either way, when I land in the middle, it's our lives are unbelievable.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:04:16]:
In this six and a half years since we started this business, I I can't wrap my head around it. What a what a season we've been going through of 6 and a half years of the season. You know? At least call it a decade. You know? But what what what what what we have encountered and what we have had happened to us is unbelievable.

Jeffrey Stern [01:04:40]:
That's that's special. Yeah. So I would imagine that a fair portion of of your thinking is devoted to helping the manufacturing companies that you get to work with and their people problems.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:04:54]:
Yeah.

Jeffrey Stern [01:04:55]:
I I'm curious, you know, getting to spend so much time thinking and helping others through their challenges with talent retention recruiting, what you have learned in in reflection of your own recruiting, hiring, people management, leadership within Rust Belt Recruiting?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:05:19]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think we certainly get a lot of exposure, and I have a big grin on my face because the hardest company to recruit for is is ourselves. And I think other recruiters would tell you that as well. Right? It's very easy for us as recruiters to sit there and tell you who you should hire and and why you should hire them. But for us, it's, you know, we we have to we have to be honest with ourselves. But seeing the way different companies do things and how they treat their people and what they offer to them, and it it definitely gives us a lot of perspective, and that's valuable. Right? And that's invaluable is is how much exposure we get.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:06:04]:
And, you know, I I love working in and on our company on a, you know, daily and weekly and, you know, full time basis. But I'm really grateful that our company gives me almost like a dual platform. Right? A, I get to go and see all these other businesses and meet their business leaders and develop those relationships and add value and so on and so forth. It also gives me the, ability to engage in the community just more broadly. So I'm super involved with, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and Cozy. I'm on the board of both and getting to involve myself with business leaders that aren't just recruiters or aren't just manufacturers, but all different kinds of businesses. I also get a forum there to, connect and learn from others, and and same with EO, Entrepreneurs Organization, which I'm a member of. These different entities are places where I can go and, connect with other business owners and leaders and get perspective from them, again, more than just knowing other recruiting and or manufacturing companies.

Jeffrey Stern [01:07:20]:
Of of all the things we've covered, what do you feel is most important that's left unsaid?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:07:27]:
Yeah. I'll I'll actually take what I just kind of mentioned there at the end. I just wanna I wanna celebrate GCP and Cozy

Jeffrey Stern [01:07:37]:
Yeah.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:07:37]:
And the difference that they make in our communities, you know, in Northeast Ohio as a whole. There's a lot of advocacy and a lot of community, developed within the business community, that we are able to connect and support each other and grow our economies. So GCP is the largest metro chamber in the United States, and Cozy's membership represents, the lion share of that membership. And so, small business is vibrant here in Northeast Ohio, and it's essential to the viability of the region as well. The big businesses are certainly important, but even as a small business owner myself, it's extremely rewarding to know the impact that we are able to have on companies, despite our size. Right? So small business makes the world go around and, you know, is is truly in the fabric of the American dream that so many people talk about. And I think that's really important to celebrate is these businesses that get up every single day and do what they do and, make what they make. That is what makes our country so great.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:09:03]:
It's the opportunity to, work in and around these types of businesses.

Jeffrey Stern [01:09:09]:
Well said.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:09:09]:
Thank you.

Jeffrey Stern [01:09:10]:
Alright. So I will now ask our emulated shared closing question here, and not not specifically for a restaurant, but for a, a hidden gem in Cleveland.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:09:20]:
Yeah. So, gosh, I you know, when I was preparing for this one, I I, you know, I don't have, a perfect answer. I live on the west side. I think Bay Village is a beautiful community where we are. Last weekend, my wife and I found ourselves, we sneak over to the east side. Sometimes we don't tell anyone because we don't wanna get in trouble. I know the whole east side west side rivalry here. But I love exploring the east side and the topography and just the beautiful, communities over there and, yet I value the, west side.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:09:59]:
So I'm gonna go ahead and say Cleveland, Ohio is the hidden gem. Right? Like, you know, we we need to tell people about ourselves more and in a positive manner and get people here because I've had countless people visit me here and, can curate a little little tour for them where they see all the good things happening. And, it's awesome and it's rewarding. So, yeah, I know that's not an exact answer, but I really, really love this area and, you know, have a have a couple spots that I like to just go hang out. You know, my wife said that I couldn't say, like, riding lime scooters is, like, the hidden gem, but, like, I will say, like, that's one of our favorite things to do for, like, a little day date is we'll get a sitter and we'll just go scooter around, like, Ohio City or downtown or whatever. And that's part of the fun too is you, you pop in and out these of these nooks and crannies of neighborhoods and you zip around and probably annoy a few people with your scooters zipping by. But at the end of the day, it's it's a really fun, thing to do. And so, speaking of Ohio City, I'll go ahead and pick 1.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:11:13]:
I will say it's not a hidden gem. It's it's it's a big one is Westside Market. I think the Westside Market is so fantastic for our region and what they have to offer, and, you know, you can wander off in a couple different directions after that. Go across the street to intro, to the coffee shop there or go down the block to a number of good restaurants, walk across the bridge right into downtown. So we've got a we've got actually a pretty great urban core in terms of accessibility and, what you can do with it. And I'm really excited about the developments that are starting to come in, around that area as

Jeffrey Stern [01:11:50]:
well. That's that's very exciting and all all resonates. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Taylor, I just wanna thank you Yeah. For coming on, sharing your story.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:12:00]:
Yeah. Well, thank you for the opportunity. You're doing great things and appreciate you telling these stories, and, I'm humbled by it. And I know, many of the other people who have been on here, I'm sure feel the same. So thank you for the work you do to celebrate the, entrepreneurial and, business leader community. It's awesome.

Jeffrey Stern [01:12:20]:
Wow. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. If if people had anything they wanted to follow-up with you about, what would be the the best way?

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:12:28]:
Yeah. So, LinkedIn, I'm very active on there. So you can find me. Taylor Evans, the guy with Rust Belt Recruiting. Email is taylor@rustbeltrecruiting.com. And so track me down. I'm responsive, and I, I love to connect. So anyone is welcome to reach out.

Jeffrey Stern [01:12:48]:
Awesome. Thank you again.

Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) [01:12:49]:
Thanks.

Jeffrey Stern [01:12:51]:
That's all for this week. Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's show. So if you have any feedback, please send over an email to jeffrey@layoftheland.fm, or find us on Twitter at podlayofthelandor@sternfa, j e f e. If you or someone you know would make a good guest for our show, please reach out as well and let us know. And if you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or on your preferred podcast player. Your support goes a long way to help us spread the word and continue to bring the Cleveland founders and builders we love having on the show. We'll be back here next week at the same time to map more of the land.

Jeffrey Stern [01:13:28]:
The Lay of the Land podcast was developed in collaboration with the UP Company, LLC. At the time of this recording, unless otherwise indicated, we do not own equity or other financial interests in the company which appear on the show. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own, and do not reflect the opinions of any entity which employs us. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next week.