Building Your Queendom: Community, Conferences & Courageous Career Reinvention

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Evolve Talent and HR Show. I'm Anna Morgan, your career BFF known as the Rescuer of Dogs and Careers, but now the creator of the Evolve Talent and HR Experience. My career has been one big series of unexpected plot twists that now have landed me in the world of events for the recruitment and HR industry.

[00:00:23] Evolve was born from a desire to build heart-centered spaces for leaders to show up boldly and learn together. This show is for the modern day employee, a people first leader, individual contributors, managers, executives, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and fractional leaders who care deeply about humans and are not afraid to do work differently.

[00:00:48] If you influence how people are hired, developed, led, and supported, you belong here. On this show, you're going to hear conversations with talent acquisition leaders, HR business partners, event organizers, sponsors, speakers, and attendees who are passionate about building human-centered, connected, and creative worksplaces.

[00:01:10] So if you're ready for something a little bit different, community, fresh energy, and practical inspiration that you can use right away, you're in the right place. This is the Evolve Talent and HR Show. Let's dive in. Hey everybody, Anna Morgan here at Work Human Live with my new conference BFF. For those of us that don't know you well, tell us who you are and what you do, and then we'll do some rapid fire questions.

[00:01:39] Amazing. My name is Sarah McConnell. I am the co-founder and principal HR consultant for Gather Group. And don't you have fabulous hair, us gals with a little color and sash. Yeah. I'm just not ready to be fully gray yet, so this is how we're rocking it. So I help small and mid-sized teams that don't have an HR department, or perhaps they have started some sort of an HR department, but found themselves in a bit of perpluffle, or I would say a tangled ball of yarn.

[00:02:07] Help them untangle that ball of yarn and build some really strong foundation so they can either make their first hire, or I sit down for them fractionally. And I just love to help build. Love it. Fellow builder here as well. And my passion for building came from attending events like this. So are you like a diehard conference person? Like how many conferences do you go to a year? This is the only one I go to. Okay. And how many times have you been here? This is my third one. I went to Denver last year, Austin the year before.

[00:02:37] Coincidentally, I was living in both of those cities when they happened. In Austin, we were preparing to move to Denver as a leap of faith. And when they announced that it was in Denver, I said, I'm in. Thank you, universe. Yes. For pointing me and continuing to point me in the right direction, not for making the right move. Can I tell you, I have been thanking the universe a ton the past week because of the serendipitous, like aligned way that I got here.

[00:03:01] But what made you choose this conference and to make it the one and only annual space that you come to learn and build community and prioritize your own professional development? This conference feels like I'm not being sold anything. Anything. And the last two years, I've actually gone alone. How is that for all the attendees out there that are scared to go to a conference by themselves? It's kind of delightful. I love having some time to myself.

[00:03:30] So this is fun to just be able to go and slide into a space. Yeah. Like nobody knows me. There's zero expectations on me. And like sleep in a hotel without a partner or dogs or child. Yeah. I'm all about that. This is the first year I've attended with like a group. Like we're all solo, but we've met up as a group. Every night there's spent dinners and hangouts. And what a vibe and what a fun time. I love it. I love it. So conferences set the stage. They get us the content. And then there's this just expansion of fringe events.

[00:04:00] So you just mentioned dinners. What do you think the hack is around fringe events as an attendee? And what are some of the important aspects to raise your hand and be like, hey, what are y'all doing for dinner? Who's hosting an integration or experience? And how do I get an invite? I think you just say yes to the opportunities. Okay. Also trust your gut. If you feel weird about it, just say no or say yes. And then just don't show up.

[00:04:26] And also have a backup plan or a way that you can exit. Yes. I call it the, for me, it's the midnight ninja where people are like, where's Anna? And she's like, try it. I wish you bye. Exactly. What else? I also think I try to search out ahead of time if I know people who are going to be there. Plan, strategize, is key. Didn't do the first year. And then the second year I met Sam Eaton from our Rational People People group. Love her.

[00:04:55] And that has just exploded this conference. Awesome. With all of the events. And she's such a good organizer of people. And I think as in doing HR and like I'm meeting all of the things and doing the things and helping my clients make really big decisions. I don't want to make a decision about where to eat or where to be. So someone else would say, hey, let's go have margaritas. As I said, absolutely. Just give me the address or the map of how to get there and we'll be good to go.

[00:05:20] So Sam and I co-hosted a dinner last night and I've been so lucky to be in her orbit. Yeah. And we have so many of the same passions around and skills. Like we're just good at like recruiting or gathering great people. And we have a passion for just elevating the world of work and especially supporting women, which is in theory simple but an execution complex. Right? Correct. So what made the dinner last night particularly special for you? Oh my gosh.

[00:05:49] We're from all over the place. There was 20 plus people at dinner last night. The conversation flowed. There was a woman there who was like, I think I might want to go out on my own. I'm still in the purple world, but I'm not sure. And like by the end of it, we had her convinced that she was on the right path and she had the right support around her. We had her business plan down. We had a launch plan. Just we're all good humans. Yes. And like being able to connect with humans in other universe. There were men there. So it wasn't just female. Yeah.

[00:06:19] But to just be able to connect with good humans at a time when the world feels like it's just on fire and there's like a lot of hopelessness. Such a delight. 100%. And I just love that it's an extension of the conversations that happen. On the expo floor or in the sessions. And when we build those containers, I just feel like they are trust accelerators. Not only for community building, but for our HR and talent tech vendors.

[00:06:46] One of the greatest ways to accelerate trust to get to that tipping point of new business is being curious of others. Yeah. And when you're curious of others and you ask smart questions, you're getting market research. Right? Like even just with us entrepreneurs or employees sharing around the table, hearing the problems that you've encountered or the projects that you're excited about or being able to be a

[00:07:15] career BFF, as I say, or a mentor to those like you had just mentioned. And that's like, oh, should I do it? Am I ready? And we just all rallied around her, which was so fun. And it was just great to talk about why people were here, what they were looking to accomplish, what their strategy is as well. Like if you're coming to events and your company is up to date enough that they are prioritizing

[00:07:39] these types of events, you want to take the time to be in the app, making connections, you know, trying to share on LinkedIn. So you get that additional visibility. So any other special takeaways from last night outside of it just being an awesome buy? I would say I've been in a career in HR for well over 20 years and for the most part have been a team of one or a very small team. And this is the largest like community I have found myself in.

[00:08:10] What a delight to be in a community of solo, largely female entrepreneurs. And I met a woman yesterday who I told her, my friends keep telling me I'm building my empire. And she said, or you're building your queendom. And I said, oh, yes, ma'am. Absolutely. Yes, you are. I love that. It's also just mindset and really taking the time to be intentional, right? Where intentional from strategy, intentional to honoring your schedule or your boundary

[00:08:39] and what you say yes to, and then prioritizing your well-being and your safety and all of those things. I think this conference in particular is like very intentional because there's not a large exo hall. There aren't people here trying to sell you things. It's not. This is a very, very. I think the kinds of people who are at this particular conference are very intentional in their time that they're spending here. I feel kind of embarrassed to say this, but how long have they been hosting the conference? I have no idea. Okay.

[00:09:07] We need to find that out because I am, again, so humbled and thrilled to be here. And as I've been walking around and like processing this whole experience, I'm like, this is what I dream of evolved being someday. And how do I create the same kind of psychological safety and cool vibe with awesome humans? So, you know, they can go back and execute the projects that they're working on.

[00:09:34] So you've got community, you've got connections and content. What are you excited to take back from WorkHumanLive in your business that could support any special projects or initiatives that you're launching right now? So I have quite a few clients. I've got about eight clients right now. Congrats. How long have you been out on your own? Fully on my own for a year. Nice. A round of applause for that. It sounds wild, but I keep telling my husband every time I land a new client, I said,

[00:10:03] he's doing the thing. I would say from this, I have one of my clients that is building an HRAS payroll and benefits platform that's really like AI founded, meant for tiny teams. So there's a lot of conversation about AI and how will it replace humans and how will this all, there's a lot of this chatter. I think so much AI. There's a lot of it and a lot of the sessions here. But every time I talk to people about this particular client and this particular platform

[00:10:31] they're building, Winslow, just in case you're- Hey, Winslow. Will be launching soon. Congrats. Yeah. It truly is. They're building a platform that you can, a tiny team, run your payroll, run your benefits. And then if you want a vibe code, like a cool org chart that has dotted lines to this person, that person, and you can layer on top of Winslow, do it. Nice. So all of these- Is it industry agnostics? Truck drivers to salespeople to retail folks could potentially use?

[00:10:57] And so right now it's going to be really only like for full-time employees, but it's going to grow, right? So it's starting off really small, but it can go for any industry and anybody who wants to just be able to like, you want to build something. I think you get into like these bigger HRIS systems and they're built for these large companies and even the large companies want to be able to like, I want it to do this thing or I want this particular thing. You can't do it.

[00:11:22] With Winslow, it's intentionally being built so that you can build your HRIS system the way, exactly the way that you want it. And you can do your benefits and your payroll all within. And then all your other things, your performance management. It's so exciting. And then to come to this conference and let's continue talking about that, there's still humans behind it. You're also doing even market research and talking to people and getting their feedback and learning what they hate about their ATM. And people can tell you all the things they hate.

[00:11:52] Oh, yeah. A list of payroll grievances that I wish it would flag when certain things hit. And I'm sure everybody out there who works within an HRIS or ATS has a list of grievances. I think I finally healed from my trauma workday for many, many years. And I remember being like, how come I cannot see the history on the candidate or if that candidate is working with my partner recruiter? Now you're just asking too much. I know. I'm asking way too much. I can see which positions they applied to.

[00:12:22] And that was about it. So I'd like, you know, shout over the cube, you know, like, hey, what's the status with, you know, destiny or whatever. Stuff like that drove me crazy. But having technology for wide range of industries, as well as really focusing on the small size or what did you say? Tiny teams. Tiny teams. So important because so many people start businesses and I've had these humble lessons like, I'm not an accountant. I'm not a tech person. And so looking at those things is so important.

[00:12:51] Going back to starting your business, if there was a reset button or a do over, is there anything that you would do differently to set yourself up for success? Oh my gosh. No, actually. I think, well, probably because you had Sam's guidance. I was just going to say, I think because I had Sam as my business coach. Okay. And I think because I had been toiling about doing this for so long and I was sort of like baby bird pushed out of the nest. Wanted to, but I didn't want to.

[00:13:18] And so I think that, you know, my anxiety let me dwell on it for long enough that by the time I went out, I wish I had believed in myself more. Yes. The way that like. Other people believe in you. My friends say that all the time. You would believe in yourself the way we believe in you. And I'm just like. I have to share a song with you. There's a woman that I met through a mastermind. Her name is Rachel Druckenmiller. And she is a public speaker for HR events. But she has this company called Unmuted.

[00:13:47] And part of her story and the song is Believe in You. And the premise is borrow the belief that others have in you. Oh my gosh. That you can execute starting your own business. And that song was like my go-to mantra as I was building my first conference. Because there were so many moments where, you know, I just wanted to drop in the middle of the earth. And I just, I'm like, I can't do this. Right. And really embodying that principle was the tipping point.

[00:14:16] Getting me to that pushing. Yeah. It's incredibly scary. But it's so worth it. It's so satisfying. I love it. And I mean, the one thing I'm hearing is if you are going out on your own. Look for a mentor or a coach like Sam to help you set up your systems and all of those things. If I had to answer that question, I think I would say I would get some help sooner than later. Yeah. I'm just a take messy action kind of gal. Right. You know, which is great.

[00:14:45] Action creates clarity. Yes. But I had way too many humble lessons where I'm like, those of you that are considering this journey, do you remember the stats of how many people were going to be fractional going into 27? It's a ton. And it's like over 35 percent or something. It's all industries, right? Yeah. You're talking about people. And it's like people who are building a portfolio career, which I've struggled with for a long time. Like, ethically, am I doing the right thing? Well, describe a portfolio career.

[00:15:13] You know, I think the best way to describe it is spent a while in the animation industry. The way I finally kind of got over my ethical dilemma was thinking through like how the voice actors that we hired for shows, right? They're contracted to maybe do a movie, a commercial, do us an animated series, contract to do all these things. That's their portfolio. And so when I am working with various clients, I'm building my portfolio. I have law firm clients. I have an in-tech client.

[00:15:41] So I have a portfolio of clients that I'm working with that I'm having to stretch and learn. Yeah. And it's incredible. I think building a portfolio career is the best move I've ever made. And I feel like we get to that point where it doesn't feel like work because you're pushing new edges. You're ignited by your vision and the prospect of what's possible. Yeah. And then controlling your own destiny.

[00:16:05] So, well, I was going to say, well, I'm excited to see you on the conference circuit, but I think I'm going to have to wait till next year. We'll see where Work Human Live is next year. Yes, yes. We're also taking backs as to where we think we'll be next year. And what kind of hairstyles will we have then? Who knows? I'll probably still be rocking the Blunt Bob. Yeah. I did the Blab for a long, long time. I love it. But then went short in 2011 and can't stop, won't stop.

[00:16:31] For people that have fallen in love with you from this conversation and want to hire you to help their tiny teams, where do you want them to find you? You can find me on my website. It's GatherGroove.com. Or you can find me on LinkedIn, Sarah McConnell. And I'm not as always as active on LinkedIn as I'd like to be. But let's go. Let's go. We got to get it done. Find a strategy that's sustainable for you.

[00:16:57] So thank you for having the conversation and can't wait to continue supporting you and watching you build and celebrating what's in the future. Yeah, thank you so much. You're welcome. Day two of Work Human Life. I had an amazing dinner last night after the conference with my conference BFF, Sam Eaton.

[00:17:17] And the conversations, the laughter, the connection, the next steps for the amazing humans that were there just brings me so much joy. So if you're heading to a conference and you want to gather some great humans to continue the conversations from the conference, Evolve by Career BFF has got you.

[00:17:40] So book a call and we can talk about your conference plans and how we can curate those intimate conversations that help you gather market research and build community and accelerate trust with your ideal buyer. And everyone makes money. Thank you for joining me today on the Evolved Talent in HR show. I'm Anna Morgan, always your career BFF.

[00:18:07] And my intention here is simple to create brave, fun and high trust spaces for people first leaders so that they can connect, learn and also remember that they are not alone in this work. So if today's episode gave you a moment of relief, made you laugh or gave you that spark to just keep going, then we are doing our job.

[00:18:31] Until next time, please keep showing up boldly, keep caring about humans and always keep evolving. Bye.