In this episode, Jon Bartos and Rebecca Thornton talk about the grit necessary to start a business from scratch – and the joy of getting to choose your pain points along the journey. From the thrill of betting on yourself to the freedom of working from anywhere – even international family trips – the level of choice in entrepreneurship changes everything.

Stop taking a commission check. Start signing the paychecks.

Memorable Quotes:

“I was at a crossroads… do I continue to work for somebody else and really grind it out for them to do really well or do I go out and do this on my own? I’ve built up a set of skills over the years, through start ups and through my experiences that I felt like I could bet on myself. And so that’s what I did.” – Rebecca Thornton

About

Rebecca Thornton is the founder of Expanded Talent Solutions, a boutique recruiting firm specializing in the medical device industry with a focus on vascular, cardiovascular, and interventional roles. Before launching her own business, Rebecca spent years in the field herself as a medical device rep, which gave her a firsthand understanding of what it actually takes to succeed in this space.

A little over two years ago, she made the leap to build something of her own, bootstrapping Expanded Talent from the ground up with no outside funding and no safety net. What started as a one-woman operation has grown into a respected boutique firm placing clinical specialists, territory managers, and executive-level talent at some of the most innovative companies in medical device.

Rebecca is passionate about the idea that a niche done well beats broad every time, and that deep relationships and genuine industry knowledge will always outperform volume-based recruiting. She is also a wife and mom who will tell you that leaving the corporate grind was one of the best decisions she ever made for her family. Building something of her own has come with its challenges, but it has also given her a presence and flexibility that a traditional career never could.

Visit the Expanded Talent Solutions website

Connect with Becca on LinkedIn

About Jon Bartos

"Starting my own search firm in 1999 was both the most challenging and rewarding decision of my career. It gave me the freedom to build a business on my own terms, while still being present for my family, a balance that changed my life.

Today, as CEO of Dimensional Search, I’m proud to lead a platform that empowers entrepreneurs to experience that same freedom and success. With global resources, proven systems, and a network of like-minded owners, we provide the support you need to build, grow, and scale a thriving search firm."

— Jon Bartos, Chief Executive Officer, Dimensional Search
Chief Investment Officer, Starfish Partners
Senior Partner, Sanford Rose Associates
Senior Partner, Next Level Exchange

Connect with Jon on LinkedIn

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In this episode, Jon Bartos and Dave Rieth talk about the journey from starting an executive search side hustle while working at an extremely demanding sales position to creating a legacy of success in not one, but two thriving family businesses.

Stop taking a commission check. Start signing the paychecks.

Mentioned in this episode:

To listen to Chris Rosenthal’s episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589438/episodes/18554972

To learn more about The Entrepreneur’s Source: https://entrepreneurssource.com/

Memorable Quotes:

“You kind of find a balance of either feeling really good about what you’re doing or making a lot of money and this was an industry [executive search] where I don’t have to pick one. They just both keep going up.” – Dave Rieth

"In this business, there are ways to slot in different personalities into your business as an entrepreneur and you don’t want carbon copies of the same person over and over in your organization – you want that variety. Your responsibility is to identify how do you set them up to succeed based on what you’ve learned from their personality and their skills.” – Dave Rieth

About

Dave Rieth is the President of Supply Career, a Cleveland, Ohio-based recruiting firm specializing in connecting talent within the home-services and industrial sectors, as well as Blue Recruit, which specializes in talent for aviation, aerospace and defense. With a background rooted in business development, team development and workforce growth, Dave has built his career around helping companies solve one of their toughest challenges, finding and keeping exceptional people.

Visit the Supply Career website
Visit Blue Recruit

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rieth/

About Jon Bartos

"Starting my own search firm in 1999 was both the most challenging and rewarding decision of my career. It gave me the freedom to build a business on my own terms, while still being present for my family, a balance that changed my life.

Today, as CEO of Dimensional Search, I’m proud to lead a platform that empowers entrepreneurs to experience that same freedom and success. With global resources, proven systems, and a network of like-minded owners, we provide the support you need to build, grow, and scale a thriving search firm."

— Jon Bartos, Chief Executive Officer, Dimensional Search
Chief Investment Officer, Starfish Partners
Senior Partner, Sanford Rose Associates
Senior Partner, Next Level Exchange

Connect with Jon on LinkedIn

Follow $ales to CEO on LinkedIn

In this episode, Jon interviews Chris Rosenthal, President of Square Set Metals Recruiting, LLC, on the transition from a career in financial sales to owning an executive search business.

According to Chris, "Nothing is better than being your own boss, working your butt off, and reaping the benefits as a result."

Quotable moments:

“A lot of the sales skills that I learned in my sales career, I could easily translate into owning, starting and successfully building my own company. That’s what Sales to CEO is all about and I’m excited to be on this journey with you.” – Jon Bartos

“You never feel that you’re fully compensated for what you’re worth until you have your own business.” – Chris Rosenthal

“Recruit in something that you love, not in something that you know.” – Chris Rosenthal

“You can eat the lemons or you can make lemonade…you can always find a reason why not to succeed… there’s no reason you can’t succeed in this country with what’s afforded us.”

“Sales professionals have unique traits, skill sets, and experiences that help them be successful in running their own business.” – Jon Bartos

About

About Chris Rosenthal and Square Set Metals Recruiting, LLC:

Chris had a long history of incredible success in selling to the Financial Services industry where he was at the top of his game. He then used those incredible selling skills to transfer to starting his own business – Square Set Metals.

Visit the Square Set Metals Recruiting, LLC website

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

About Jon Bartos

"Starting my own search firm in 1999 was both the most challenging and rewarding decision of my career. It gave me the freedom to build a business on my own terms, while still being present for my family, a balance that changed my life.

Today, as CEO of Dimensional Search, I’m proud to lead a platform that empowers entrepreneurs to experience that same freedom and success. With global resources, proven systems, and a network of like-minded owners, we provide the support you need to build, grow, and scale a thriving search firm."

— Jon Bartos, Chief Executive Officer, Dimensional Search
Chief Investment Officer, Starfish Partners
Senior Partner, Sanford Rose Associates
Senior Partner, Next Level Exchange

Connect with Jon on LinkedIn

Follow $ales to CEO on LinkedIn