Juliet Taylor is chief executive of Starfish Search, an executive search firm in the UK.
Can you tell us a little about your background and your company?
I worked in different environments – for a university, a charity and for Government – before moving into executive search by chance. I knew I wanted to work with leaders, and one day I saw an unbranded advert that started with the line “if you want to work with CEOs, boards and government ministers then we could be for you”. I rang the number at the bottom and the rest is history.
What inspired you to start your business?
Knowing that the working culture I am part of, and that I’m able to influence around me, is probably the single most important thing to me at work. And I was lucky to have a backer who believed in me, so I had an opportunity to go for it.
How did you create awareness for your brand?
We built communities of supporters and held events with them; through those events our guests took the brand out into the market for us. We also created awareness by having a voice and an opinion on the issues that matter to the leaders we wanted to work with. That’s really important. If you want to make your mark on the world then your business can offer a great way to do that. We launched with a website which has changed multiple times since start-up and as the business has grown up.
What strategies helped you secure funding and scale your business?
Everyone will say it, but it’s true: relationships. I have always said to the team, forget sales; if you focus on great relationships and on building genuine trust then people will want to buy from you. So I hire great people who care about what they do and are good at it. Hire sincere people who want to work hard and you can’t go wrong, however much you want to grow or diversify your enterprise.
What have been your biggest successes so far?
In the first three months we pitched for a big contract, which we had a tiny chance of winning. Our strategy was to go and be ourselves, to talk about what the new business was all about and just to have a great conversation. We won it. There are always successes when, as a new company, you beat the odds; you hire fabulous people and sometimes you just walk down the street on a sunny day and think “wow, have we really come that far?”
What challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
Lots and all kinds – it’s a learning experience. Overcome them by working with great people, trusting your instincts and remembering that, this time next year, you probably won’t even recall this challenge. The most important thing is taking the learning with you and remembering that there isn’t a single leader in the world who doesn’t have bad days, but there are a lot of people who wished they had been a leader and who didn’t have the courage. You’ll never have that regret.
What are your plans for the future?
Keep doing what I love for as long as I’m able to do it.
What advice would you give to aspiring female entrepreneurs?
Do it now. If I hadn’t had someone say “now” to me, I would probably still be thinking “maybe one day…”.
What are your top three tips for entrepreneurial success?
Be yourself.
Trust your instincts.
Hire fabulous people.
Who are five people who inspire you the most, and why?
My Directors and my Chair of course! That’s five. But also Professor Dame Carol Black. She is a client and she is also an icon in terms of what it means to be fiercely successful.
What are your favourite inspirational or motivational quotes?
My mum used to say to me “don’t take it personally, you never know what’s going on in other people’s lives” and now I say that to my team all the time.
Where can our readers connect with you?
