Speaker 1 00:00:05 Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt in required, where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to up my influence comm and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Also, don't forget the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to up my influence. Com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you. With us right now it's Kathleen, Herbie's. Kathleen, you were the CEO and founder of Aloha Hospitality Professionals. You are found on the web at Aloha, H.P.. You're based in Hawaii.

Speaker 1 00:01:18 of which I had the opportunity to live there for three years when I was stationed in the Navy. So it is so great to have you. Aloha.

Speaker 2 00:01:27 Aloha. It's wonderful to be here. Josh, thank you so much. And it's a great place to live. Hawaii. Paradise indeed.

Speaker 1 00:01:35 Yeah. Well, give us an overview of of what you do and who you serve.

Speaker 2 00:01:39 Yep. So Aloha HP is a unique staffing agency that focuses on three verticals hospitality, light industrial and admin, entry level admin. And we are on all the islands across Hawaii. And we're there to really be the bridge between all of these people who do want work, who need work, and these companies that are looking for workers. It's an interesting combination that we have right now because we have a lot of companies that need workers, and then there's a lot of people that need work, and for some reason they're not finding themselves. And we find that we're getting good results as being a bridge, mainly because we're working with workforce development nonprofits and allowing people through those avenues to find work through us.

Speaker 1 00:02:27 Well, and so I want to make sure that this appeals to everybody, you know, particularly to our hospitality professionals that might have searched and found this episode. And so would is it accurate to say that you would be kind of a staffing service then for the hospitality industry? And then again, you've got this pool of people that are talented and then you can match them up then based on a kind of availability or opportunity, within the hospitality industry. Is that do I have that right?

Speaker 2 00:02:58 Absolutely. Yeah. We're in the hospitality up and down and we provide gig workers. So where someone needs someone immediately, or temp workers or temp to perm or permanent placement. And there's a huge hurt right now in the hospitality industry, where are all the people? And we're finding that we're able to find those people and put them into either gig work, temp work, or permanent placement.

Speaker 1 00:03:22 I live here in Orlando now, so obviously another really huge hospitality hub. In fact, it's number two on the planet for total number of hotel rooms in one city is Orlando.

Speaker 1 00:03:36 number one being Vegas. so, you know, I see recruiting fairs all of the time. I mean, there's this constant unquenchable thirst for the right people, for the right job. I mean, there's a lot of people out there. There's a lot of jobs. It's just, again, it's just you think about how much work goes into recruitment and hiring, and you think about the cost involved in that as well. I'm curious what your observations are of the broader hospitality industry. So if you were to, you know, for those of us who don't work in hospitality and we don't have a background, you've been doing this. You're it looks like your whole adult life, right? And especially like low HP for the past ten years. where do you see the current? Like what are your observations of trends around recruitment and staffing in hospitality?

Speaker 2 00:04:28 Yeah, sure. Well, one thing I want to mention is what we're doing uniquely is exposure ships. So exposure ships. And we just did this last weekend, here at the convention center, 70,000 people came into the convention center here in Hawaii for the maiden Hawaii Festival.

Speaker 2 00:04:44 And what we did, from a recruitment perspective, is we organize hundreds of seniors from high schools to volunteer at that event and to get exposed to businesses. There were over 700 small businesses there, but more importantly, there were sponsors. They're big companies in Hawaii where these people could show those companies how their work ethic was, how they're following directions, were so these companies could see them in real time, actually acting out. Because a lot of times, especially with the entry level positions that we are hiring for and placing for, it's really how you are being more than what you are doing, right. It's not that skill set, it's really the the beingness. And so as a result of that, hundreds of seniors are now going to go into a hiring blitz with these corporations that have seen them in real time work. And then those corporations can pick out people that they want to work with them in these entry level positions in hospitality. And what's unique about this is that seniors across the country, over 40% of our seniors in high school, do not go on to college.

Speaker 2 00:05:53 So where are they going into the work space? And we're finding very good results there. Many seniors who don't go into, say a two year or four year college. they end up finding a job in their local community. But through us, through a staffing agency, they're able to broaden their scope and see a lot more variety because we're attaching because we're attached to a lot of different companies. So exposure ships, I feel, is the future for better results than the job fair.

Speaker 1 00:06:24 You brought us something when you were talking about that, about, you know, beingness, right? I also kind of lump maybe soft skills in there, and, and that might feel a little, nebulous. I, I'd say I think employers generally know what that means, but I wonder if that is a little confusing or mystifying for potential employees, right, who say, listen, I'm very good at my job. You know, I show up on time, I'm reliable, you know, and they're kind of focused on that side of it.

Speaker 1 00:07:00 Can you expand on being this a bit more?

Speaker 2 00:07:05 Yeah, well, I'll step back and share how we onboard people. So we do the traditional onboarding in terms of all the tax forms, etc.. And then people need to go through the Aloha Academy. And the Aloha Academy has a section in there. In terms of whole person, we have ten golden rules of aloha. And there are ways of being in terms of like, yes, showing up on time, having integrity, being a team player. And as you said, these can be nebulous, though, when we are hiring and vetting people, if they don't resonate with these, kinds of ways of being, then they're not the right candidate for us. If you know, and you can get a sense from someone when you're doing an interview or vetting them. And so we weed out people prior to them coming on with us, if they are not, if they're just wanting to be a warm body for a company, companies are not looking for that.

Speaker 2 00:08:00 They're looking for someone to show up and care, even if it is a short gig or a temporary position, and that starts by showing up on time. I hear from many of our clients that what they want is someone to one show up on time and care about their work. That's a pretty low bar though. I'm saying we're missing the mark on that in general. I mean, arena and like we're doing a better job at getting people there on time and caring, and that's just allowing us to have a bit of a leg up.

Speaker 1 00:08:34 How can we as leaders and again, we're speaking to kind of a business owner leader audience right now that look they might be in, you know, Iowa. So they're likely not going to hire a low high HP. But you bring up some principles I think, that are pretty valuable. And I'm curious, like what you teach your staff, obviously what you're recruiting for. Can these skills be taught, and if so, how can we as leaders provide a better environment to to foster Fostered that both attract those values aligned team members, but also those that are in our world.

Speaker 1 00:09:13 How can we nurture that so that we can advance and promote those that that have that a little bit better, but then those who, you know, listen, they have a fighting chance here. Maybe they weren't taught those skills early on, but they have potential, right. And so as leaders, what can we do to facilitate that a little bit better?

Speaker 2 00:09:37 Yeah. One is expect that expectations right. We get what we tolerate. And if we're tolerating people just showing up and being warm bodies, then that's exactly what we're going to get. At my company. We expect people to show and deliver their very best selves, and that starts by showing up on time and showing up on time is 15 minutes early. I'm talking about entry level positions in the hospitality realm, and so that's a very fundamental place for us to start in terms of someone, putting their best foot forward. so having high expectations and holding people accountable to them so that if they don't show up, if they are late, then they're no longer working at, they're no longer working in my agency or company that we put them in.

Speaker 2 00:10:24 So expectation and high expectations, making sure that we follow through and letting people know what it is, what game it is that we're playing and we're, you know, when we have those high expectations, my experience has been that people will rise to that. If we don't, then they'll do, you know, then it's a bit of a crapshoot.

Speaker 1 00:10:47 Yeah. and so, you know, to those, that, may not be in market, right. Because the, the vast majority of folks listening to this right now, may not be in Hawaii. They necessarily can't hire you. but, you know, if they are keen on working with a partner to fulfill their staffing needs. and also, you know, again, it's they're looking at their cost of recruitment and they're, they're just trying to do this as efficiently as possible. what would you say to them in their recruiting efforts that that might help them kind of attract and retain some of those folks that, again, kind of have that, you know, what you describe, you know, in terms of like, you know, that that right, energy and, and so forth that, that you've managed to attract for Aloha HP.

Speaker 2 00:11:43 Yeah. Well, I would say, you know, the having something similar to like the ten Golden Rules of Aloha so that you have standards out there that you're giving to people. And then also we have a punctuality agreement. So everyone who comes into our company needs to understand that we take punctuality seriously and that they sign it. So something like that I think is very helpful to let people know that we're not just talking about expectations, but we, you know, have policies in place to make sure that people adhere to them. You know, there are a couple of other things I just want to mention is, once again, those seniors in high school, I think that there's there's a wonderful untapped potential there and referrals, you know, birds of a feather flock together. So making sure that we are asking our star players to refer other people into our, into, hospitality so that we can be working with additional strength.

Speaker 1 00:12:37 Yeah. Love it. okay. So Aloha, HP. And by the way, you've brought up punctuality a few times, having lived in Hawaii for a few years, now, I was in the military, so it wasn't full, you know, coin kind of Hawaiian culture, but certainly kind of when you go out and about, you know, there's, you know, ten, 15 minutes delay.

Speaker 1 00:13:00 That's what I think it's referred to as aloha time. Right? So, listen, this has been a great conversation. Kathleen. Your website is Aloha HP. you know, to, you know, again, mostly, you know, professionals or, you know, again, you know, HR leaders, hiring managers, you know, recruiting directors that so sort of thing. within the Hawaiian Islands, what do they do? What would you recommend they do when they go to Aloha? hp.com.

Speaker 2 00:13:34 Yeah. One reach out to us and, tell us where your needs are. and the other thing I want to mention is, yes, we're in Hawaii, and we do plan to expand in the beginning of 2025 into other markets. So if you're interested in what we're working on and having, Aloha HP in your market, please connect with me and let's have a conversation, because we're really interested in spreading this unique staffing agency model where we're really holding people accountable and doing unique ways and recruiting people. We'd love to be in your market.

Speaker 1 00:14:06 Yeah. All right. Again, Kathleen, Herbie's founder and CEO of Aloha Hospitality Professionals. Your website Aloha hp.com. Aloha, Kathleen. Thank you.

Speaker 2 00:14:20 Aloha. Josh, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Mahalo.

Speaker 1 00:14:30 Thanks for listening to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit up my influence. Com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt in or email required, where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales.

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