Meghan Grove

Honestly, it's just being open-minded to learning, and always wanting to learn. That is just how I believe you become successful - the more I learn, the more I experience. The more questions I ask, the more I ask for help, the more I put myself out there, any way I can to learn new skills, that's just what has led me to grow, and to receive the rewards and to have the great position that I do have now.

The best career advice I've ever received is simply put, just get started. I ended up in this industry and in this position by just putting myself out there and asking to put my foot in the door. And then once I got into the door, I just really worked hard and tried to learn everything I can. But it all started with just get started, put yourself out there, and don't be afraid to take that first step, even if it's not in the place, position, or area you think it will be. Everything will work out, and everything will come to you, as long as you just put yourself out there and get going.

For women entering my industry, simply just be yourself, be your authentic, true self. I came into this industry not knowing anything about it, and in my head, I kind of had these ideas of how I should be, how I should act, what I should do, and very quickly, I learned that none of that mattered. As long as I was just being my true, authentic self and putting my best values forward as a woman and as a strong woman, I was able to pave my way and work my way through any situation.

Within my industry, in the staffing industry, it is just a difficult workforce right now. I think kind of worldwide, it's difficult to find strong candidates, and it's hard for people to find jobs in general. So that's definitely one of the biggest challenges I face - trying to help every single person find the perfect job for them, which of course comes with so many challenges, and it's really hard to do for every person. But I'm just happy I work with a lot of different people, and I've networked a ton, so if something doesn't work out for my site or what I'm doing, I do my best to try to help other people and send them forward to whoever I know. That's one of the little ways I've been able to kind of work through the difficulties of my industry - just working with people I know and just trying to help whoever needs help finding a job.

My values in my work and personal life are actually the same, and they do go just hand in hand. The first one's empathy. That's how I like to manage, that's how I like to lead, is by always trying to understand the person, the situation, all aspects of it, truly. And that just allows me to really get to know and build rapport with everyone that I'm interacting with. Another value is respect. I know it seems pretty simple, but in a high-stress environment, that can be easy to forget. So it's something I always try to do, no matter if it's someone I do work closely with or not, or I'm just passing by on my client site. I always try to treat everyone with the most respect, because I know that they'll do the same in return.