Overcoming Challenges in Career and Life w/ Tina Cella

[00:00:08] Hi, everyone, and welcome to Hire Her. We are a podcast put on by Talent Collective. I'm Krista Tan. I'm one of the co-founders of Talent Collective, and this is Nathalie. Hello. Nathalie, my co-founder. And today we have a very special guest today. Her name is Tina, and Tina has been in the world of TA, talent acquisition, and talent management for probably a good at least eight years or so. And now she runs her own company called Unicorn.

[00:00:37] Career Compass, and she's been doing that for the last couple of years. So we're really excited to have her on today and to be able to chat about all things Tina. So with that, Tina, I'm going to pass it over to you and would love to hear from you a little bit more about yourself and all the great things you're doing in the world today.

[00:00:55] Yeah. So I'm Tina Cella. I've coined myself the Unicorn Hunter. My main claim to fame in recruiting is I started out in staffing, and then I fell into one of the unicorns. Sixth Sense back in 2019, had the opportunity to be the second U.S. recruiter there and grow the company to over 1,300 people, of course, with a lot of help. My boss at the time, head of talent, Kylo Retino, and we hired a team of up to 60. So I had a lot of help.

[00:01:21] So I was able to go to President's Club with them because I hired a lot of the team. Then I was promoted to oversee customer success recruiting specifically, which was amazing. It was managing people. Great opportunity there. And then, of course, you know, the bubble burst a little bit. So I left and people just started asking me for help mostly. And that's kind of how it was very organic. Like I didn't I wasn't like I woke up one day and I'm going to start a business.

[00:01:45] It's more like people were asking, hey, like, I see that you are at Sixth Sense for a long time. You oversaw CS. Like, could you help me interview? Could you help me get through the process and land the job? Because we all know right now it's literally a nightmare. Like the job market is a nightmare for people. Right. So I just formed the company and I've had a lot of success helping people. I formed a kind of a process around it, creating an eternal advocate and then multi-threading the company, which basically means making multiple contacts at multiple levels.

[00:02:14] And my biggest joy is I help people get jobs that they're not just enhancing their career, but they're enhancing their life, you know, and it's for them. Like some of my clients, they want to stay remote because, you know, during COVID, they realized how much time they were losing with their families by commuting. And so we find them a remote job and it's not easy, but it is doable. The other side of what I'm doing now is I've also started partnering directly with startups again to find top talent. I'm doing that through a company called The Mural Group.

[00:02:43] My boss at Sixth Sense, Kyle Rupertino, formed that, partnered with a guy named Joe Walsh who helped scale Uber. And we have clients like Grok right now, like, and I'm sure you guys have heard of them. They just raised about $640 million and are competing, hopefully, with NVIDIA. So things are going really well there. But again, my biggest joy is helping someone realize that you don't have to dread Monday morning. Because I think so many people feel stuck, right? They're like, I can't, like, I need a job.

[00:03:12] The market's crazy. Like, I just need to. And so and then they'll say, I'll do anything for a job. And it's that is not the look that you want when you're when you're searching for a job. It's like dating. I say this all the time, but it is so true. You know, it's like if you go on a date and someone was like, I'll be whoever I want, whoever you want. Just like just like me. That's not a good look. Right. And so it's marketing yourself. The people that are getting jobs in this in this market are not the ones that are the smartest. They're not the top performers.

[00:03:39] They are the ones that know how to market themselves and navigate the crazy, basically. And I love helping people do that. Yeah. I mean, I would do it for free, to be quite honest with you, because it's the matchmate. Right. And I've seen how when you find the right person for the right role at the right company, how the magic just happens. I saw it at Sixth Sense. You know, I had the opportunity to hire so many different leaders that were just amazing and inspired the people that they managed. And it's good stuff. So my biggest message is I know it's hard right now.

[00:04:08] You can still have a job you love. Yeah. Love that. That's one of the reasons I got into the work we do is my mom told me very early on she loved her job. My dad hated his job. And she was like, just look at your parents. It's like if you go to work every day loving what you do, it's like you never have to work a day in your life. And I think you're saying something very similar.

[00:04:35] Whereas, you know, my dad just, I mean, hated what he did. And it was very painful. And, you know, I think led to just a lot of strife for him over the years. So love that you found your passion. I have as well. And I think that's part of the reason we started Talent Collective. We feel like this is our dream job and we're getting to live out our dream by doing it. So thank you. Thanks for sharing all of that.

[00:04:56] So I'm going to start off on kind of a more vulnerable foot here and would love to hear from you a challenge that you've had to overcome in your life. Maybe it's on the personal, on a personal note or even professionally. So if you wouldn't mind sharing a challenge with us that you've overcome and how you overcame it and maybe like what are some of those lessons learned that, you know, you've now taken away from that situation? Yeah. So I'm going to be very vulnerable here.

[00:05:23] Um, I had a pretty severe eating disorder as a teenager and into my 20s and it handicapped my life. Very, I was unhealthy. And so I couldn't, you know, work. I, everything was kind of put on hold. When I was around 30, I pulled myself out of it. I decided, hey, like life is, you know, I got to do this. And I went back to school, went to UCI, graduated 3.93, started my career in recruiting at Roth Staffing, and then, you know, fell into vault recruiting and then Sixth Sense.

[00:05:52] So basically I had to rewire my entire brain. Like, if that makes sense, like literally I had to rewire my entire brain at not a young age. And it was incredibly difficult. Like, I just didn't even feel, I felt lost. And like, then when I started at Sixth Sense, there was a lot of imposter syndrome too because I'm like, hey, like, how am I here? Like, look at what I was 10 years ago or whatever. I've come to realize it's a massive strength.

[00:06:17] The empathy that I have and the way I have am able to connect to people because I experienced that is something I would never have, wouldn't have otherwise because I wouldn't have been there, right? And it's just made me so, like, so much of a stronger person because I know at the end of the day that you can trust yourself if you just did deep. And it's hard. And this job search too, mindset is everything. Like, everything. Mindset is everything in life, right? And like, to be honest with you, I didn't have a great mindset, girl. You know? And now I'm a yogi.

[00:06:47] You know, I put myself through the yoga teacher training. That's a huge, massive part of my life. And it really integrates very well into what I do with Unicorn, right? Because I believe in people, you know, in the power of people and the power of just where there is a will, there is a way. I made a post about this a few weeks ago, actually. Because, like, a lot of people thought I wasn't going to come out of it. I'm like a story where people, I think some people hadn't given up. You know? Never my family, but some people had.

[00:07:15] And God, now I love my life so much. And I feel like it's so enriching. And long term, I'm going to actually help other girls that are struggling with the same thing as well. And yeah, it's just, you know, you've got to take care of yourself, right? Take care of yourself first. And I wasn't doing that for a lot of my life. And thus, my career suffered. And what I've learned is when you take care of yourself, when you are really at your peak level, like, you're going to be better at your job. You're going to be better at everything. It's kind of like what you said with your dad, right? Like, my dad's an attorney.

[00:07:44] He hated his job as well. Like, he did it. That's not what he wanted for me. He wanted something different. And I think through a lot of really personal struggle and hard times, I found an amazing, I guess, I found what I love doing. And I'm good at it. And I want to do it for a very, very long time to come because I truly, truly believe in giving people opportunities that are life-changing. Especially people that have worked, you know, like, gone through things.

[00:08:13] Like, I really, I know what it takes to come out of stuff. And I really admire that in people. And, you know, it's, we're here for a reason. There's a reason I survived. And there's a reason that I'm doing what I'm doing. And, yeah, and that was my, that's a very vulnerable story. I didn't always share about the eating disorder because I feared, you know, people thinking, whatever, you know, being judged. Um, however, it makes me who I am.

[00:08:43] And I, I know now I'm an incredible human being that has a lot to offer. So, and it comes from that, you know, like the, the strength comes from the struggle, you know. And so I just want people to know that wherever you are in your life, like, no matter what, how you're feeling, keep going. Keep going and keep reminding, you know, keep, keep doing the positive things. And you will see results long-term, even if you feel stuck, you know. So. Thank you for sharing.

[00:09:12] I'm curious. We both have daughters. I mean, this is something like I think about constantly, like food and just. Yeah. And all the things. You mentioned rewiring your brain. And I know that's a big part of any huge habit change or disorder change. How did you do that? What, what did you rewire? Did you go through any programs? Like how, how did you go about therapy? There was lots of therapy and me putting in the work is the biggest thing. Right.

[00:09:39] Because I was in therapy for years prior and I didn't want to get better. So I didn't. Right. It was the combination of finding and me and me just deciding that it was time. And then working with someone, you know, it's, it's, some of it sounds kind of silly. Like you get up in the morning and you do, you smile and you say, this is the happiest day of my life. And you do like five happy jumps and like, it seems silly, but it's literally, I was a psychology major. Right. So I understand you are literally tricking your brain. Right. Your brain. And also gratitude is a huge one. Right.

[00:10:09] Like your brain, you can't be worried and grateful at the same time. So if you focus on like every day, you know, I make a list of 10 things I'm grateful for at the end of the day. Yoga has been like a big, just breathing has been a big part of it. And realizing too, that your brain is telling you stories that are not accurate.

[00:10:28] And having the ability to step back from that and be like, okay, like this is not, I need to figure out how to rewire that so that it's not telling a story that's a lie. Because it is a lie, you know, and I think a lot of people like when you're eating disorder, when you have, when you're a teenager, it's all about what you look like and all of that. There's a lot of pressure. It can get confusing. And I think a lot of girls still, you know, think their main value is what they look like. And I want girls to know that's just, that is not true.

[00:10:59] You know, you are, you are so much more than that. You are magic, right? You have that in, you have that. There's a song by Rachel Platten that she sings called Daughters. And it talks, talks a lot about that. How like, you know, you, you have the world at your feet. You can do anything you want if you truly believe it. You have, you have the right to seat at any, any freaking table that you want. So, yeah, like it's, it wasn't easy.

[00:11:26] And it's like, I wish I could give a more like clear step-by-step analysis of how to do it. I wish I could give like, do this or do that this day. But it's not that simple because everyone's different. And so you have to find what works for you and work with someone. Like I had a therapist that like literally was working with me constantly, you know, like we have different things that we'll do. Like it's K-Pag or her name's Amy Koje.

[00:11:52] She's actually written a bunch of books on like happiness for humankind and all of that. And it's routines. Like bringing yourself back to the moment is huge too, right? Because like worry comes from thinking about something in the future or something in the past. If you are fully in the present moment, it's literally you, you're not going to worry. You, if you arrive in the present, you're just in the present, but it's hard. So it's like, it takes work and it takes commitment. I think the biggest thing that it takes is commitment to doing it over and over again.

[00:12:20] It's like when you're in yoga and your mind wanders and they say you have to bring it back over and over and over again. That's the work. Yeah. So thank you. One of my favorite sayings is don't believe everything you think. That's what you've been talking about. So exactly. Thanks for sharing. That's hugely impactful and you should be so proud of yourself and all the hard work you've done and to be giving back like this and be such an inspiration, I think for so many.

[00:12:49] So thanks for, thanks for sharing your story. Yeah. Well, I think it's a responsibility, to be honest. When you need to help when you've been through it, like you're, you're one of the people that can. Because I remember people trying to help me that hadn't been through it before. And I was like, what do you know? What are you talking about, lady? Like, you don't know what I'm going through. Right. And like, yeah, I know that my biggest mission in life is going to be to, even if it's just saving one person from going down that path. That's a win. Sure.

[00:13:17] Someone listening to this, you've made an impact on them. And if anyone ever needs like a, like honestly and eager anonymously, whatever, like I, I love to help and like help people figure this stuff out because we are stronger together. And that's something I've also realized through my career and through my personal life. Like we truly are stronger when we connect and utilize each other's strengths and win together.

[00:13:43] Outside of therapy, was there anyone in particular, female or male, that really empowered you or mentored you in your career or through this journey that you can share? I would say the biggest career mentor I've had so far in my career is Kyle Rubitino. He was my boss at Sixth Sense and he was one of those bosses that wanted me to shine. Right. Like he didn't go to President's Club. I went to President's Club.

[00:14:12] He, he elevated me. Right. And we found, you know, we killed it and we hired a team and we had so much fun. And just the way that I think the empathy with which I saw him manage and the, and just the relationship that we formed. Like he instilled a lot of confidence in me because he gave me the freedom to, to do what I did best, you know, and took the step back and let me, you know, be the star. And always been, that's why I'm working with him again.

[00:14:40] Right. Like you don't come across in my life, at least I feel like you don't truly come across people that are sincerely that good of human beings. And those are the kind of people I want to work with, you know, in general. And yeah, he just inspired me to believe in myself and to know that I could like he, he was always an advocate for me within the company. And then that's the kind of manager I was when I had the opportunity to manage people. And yeah, I think that honestly my career would be completely different.

[00:15:08] I mean, so I had joined a company called Vault Recruiting and it was RPO. Right. And it was a guy named Reese Keck who founded it. And he basically cold called Sixth Sense. Right. Kyle Urbichino pitched at the phone. He'd been like stalking him for a month or months probably. But finally Kyle's like, yeah, I need so much help. And so Reese had reached out to me. I met Kyle at the Salesforce tower. You know, I joined and the rest is history. And that's I believe that those kinds of relationships and those kinds of connections are meant are meant to happen.

[00:15:36] You know, and like now Kyle has introduced me to Joe Walsh and the mural group. And I'm having so much fun feeling which I'm so happy we have recruiter roles open. Lots of recruiter roles, which my favorite thing to work on because it's been it's been tough for my fellow talent partners. So. Yeah, it's amazing. We've been hearing that. Crazy. For a couple of weeks now, all these recruiter roles popping up. So. Yeah, it's a good sign. You know, it's a good sign.

[00:16:04] And I think that there's also just a lot of like hiring right now in general that's moving. I'm seeing more and more roles open up. So I'm really hoping that the job market is going to take a positive turn here. Yeah, exactly. Same here. Well, on the note of recruiting and hopefully more and more recruiters getting jobs. Talk to us about a topic, a controversial topic in recruiting that you think needs more attention. We'd love to hear from you.

[00:16:33] So this is so interesting with what's going on right now. I would say diversity and inclusion. And it's so interesting with the political like how it's happening. And I think a lot of those teams are being let go or disbanded at certain companies. I think that's a huge miss. Like, I think it's it's just. I'm not saying that, like, maybe like they hired over hired and that maybe that's the case. I don't know. But to completely dissemble like we know we have seen studies that demonstrate that diverse teams perform better long term.

[00:17:03] Right. So who's there's no one advocating for ensuring that that diversity continues. That to me is really scary. So I really hope that we can meet in the middle there somewhere, you know, like. Yeah, I mean, like I was talking on the podcast last night. Orlando was saying something about like he read an article about how like white men are not going into certain things. You don't have a choice like there aren't going to be enough white men like so you're going to you know. And I really just think that people. They've just gone too far in that direction.

[00:17:33] OK, we're just going to can the whole situation. Right. And I think it needs to be there like needs to be there. So we'll see what happens. But I intend to continue to ensure that I reach out to a diverse group of candidates as much as I can and do what I can to like. You know, like I worked with Fairy God Boss. I'm not sure if you guys have heard of them for a little bit at Sixth Sense. You know, they I love to help writing job descriptions to make sure because women are less likely to apply if they don't feel like they fit. 199 percent of the qualifications.

[00:18:01] They'll just pass where a guy most guys will be like 50 percent. Let's do it. You know, and so that's like but that doesn't but there but women are can be better. And that's the thing. It's just like they don't apply. They don't get the opportunity. Someone needs to advocate and make sure that they get that opportunity because long term, that's what's going to make companies great is those people from different backgrounds. You know, women, men, ways of thinking, you know, different cultural views, all these things long term that if you're building a global organization, that's what you want. You don't want culture fit.

[00:18:31] You want culture ad. You know, you want someone that's going to continue to enrich the way you think and bring fresh ideas and all of those things. And I think companies have gotten a little lost right now. You know, they're in this like plug and play world where like, OK, since the markets, there's so many people on the market, I can get exactly what I want down to the simplest little detail. And so then they're not hiring because they're like, oh, there must be something better. Right. And or they're adding they're changing the interview process. Oh, let's have them speak to one other person or five other people.

[00:19:01] And I'm like, they they're not trusting. They need to trust their own process. You know, they need to take the time to build a process. And that's part of what the mural group is actually helping companies do, because I think there's a gap in the market as well, where a lot of companies would love to hire a head of talent or recruiters, but they just fired them all. So, you know, they don't want to do it right this second. So they need they need that help. But we're also offering, hey, like build a department that is that is scalable and sustainable.

[00:19:28] And like this is the time like when you're not hiring as aggressive, that's the time to really build a strong talent department. You know, that's the time to dig in and really make sure because if you have like if you put together interviews and you have behavioral questions and you trust that process. Right. Then you can make decisions and you make a decision. You know, it's just. Yeah, it's getting it's I think it's a lot of stress in the market and it's kind of making people be very reactive rather than responsive.

[00:19:56] And they're not thinking long term. They're thinking very, very short. Thank you. Well, last question here as we wrap up. Just going back to your business. What does the future look like? What's on your roadmap? And can people get in touch with you if they're looking for some help? Yeah. I live on LinkedIn. So if you if you want to get in touch with me, you wouldn't ask me about LinkedIn. Why don't you even ask that question? I live on LinkedIn. My website is also unicorncareacompass.com. Pretty simple.

[00:20:26] Super helpful. Yeah. So the future, I mean, there are a lot of different things that I'm, you know, unicorncareacompass is doing really, really well. I have clients pouring in, which is great. You know, I partnered with other companies that are sending me people to which is really cool, you know, getting that opportunity as well. So I guess like long term, I would love to hire people, you know, and have like coaches and mentors like sitting under me as well.

[00:20:51] I'm talking, I'm considering other organizations that potentially might partner, maybe merge, something like that, because I'm very strong on the go to market side. Right. Like I can do all the go to market coaching, but I'm not as like coaching software engineers is not my wheelhouse. Right. And I would love for unicorn to be able to open up to both of those arenas. And so long term, I'd love to hire someone to kind of do that. But I'm at this point, I'm like. It's going I'm I'm kind of going with the flow because it's blowing up. I'm having fun. It's going well.

[00:21:22] And I'm continuing. And the biggest thing I do is network all the time, like all the time. And that's what I tell my clients, too. It's like the best time to network is when you have a job, by the way, guys, like I think people forget to network and then they're like, oh, crap, no job. Must go back to all these people and make friends again. Yeah. So I love and it's just for me, it's a joy. You know, I love to go to networking events in New York. Like I met a founder of a company at a New York networking event who I'm now partnering with and making courses on his. It's called Fast Learner AI.

[00:21:50] So it's like interactive AI courses around talent acquisition and recruiting and all that. Yeah. So the future is bright. Let's just say that the future is really bright. I'm excited. And like. It's just the wins. You know, I helped this one girl get a job at a company called Sensor Chowers and she had been at a smaller marketing agency for years and did not like her job. Was not happy with her life. Right. We did everything together. We got her the job. She invited me to her Halloween party and her mom gave me a hug.

[00:22:20] Her mom gave me a hug. That's sweet. She came up to me and said, thank you for changing my daughter's life. Hmm. So it's like it's just it's it's so impactful. Your job. Like you said, you know, 90 percent of your life. Maybe not that much, but a large, too large portion of your life is dedicated to work. So if you don't have meaning and purpose behind that, like. You're not going to be a very happy person and that trickles into all the other areas of your life. I talk a lot about work life integration rather than work life balance.

[00:22:48] Like what if you want to get up Monday morning and work? What if it's exciting? What if it's fun? You know, and of course, there's stress like always in life. Right. However, if you have that meaning and the purpose, you keep bringing yourself back to that over and over and over again. And it continues to drive you. And those are the people that I see perform really well. Those that have like understand what their values are and where they're trying to go and what their purpose is. Well, thank you, Tina. This is such a truly inspiring conversation. Thank you. I appreciate your very vulnerable story.

[00:23:17] I'm sure it really mean impact on somebody listening. We don't know who's listening out there, but keep on keeping on with your business. I'm sure you're continuing to make a very big impact on a lot of your clients that are out there and continued success with the business as this year starts to kick off. So we appreciate you spending some time with us and we'll see you throughout Talent Collective Community if you come to any of our events. I plan to. I plan to.

[00:23:47] I plan to. I'm coming to see that. That's right. And for those that are tuning in, thank you for joining us today. Be sure to like and subscribe and take a peek at this video on YouTube. And until next time, we'll see you soon. Thanks, everyone.