Tasha Egan

I think that I'm my biggest critic, and I can't fail. That's kind of been my driving force - I push myself because I'm gonna be the person in my life that will be the meanest to myself, which is unfortunate, but that's what drives me. I also want to make sure that I'm showing, especially my daughter, that she can do anything she puts her mind to. Being my biggest critic, but then also being a role model for my kids and showing them that both parents are contributing just as much as the other - I think that's what has driven my success.

The best career advice I've received is don't let your career overtake what's outside. You can be replaced in an instant in your job, but you can't be replaced as a mom, as a parent. I think where I'm at now in my life, it's different than what I might have said a few years ago, but I've really taken that to heart in the last few years. With my daughter, I was very big on climbing the corporate ladder and hitting all the milestones and making as much money as possible. Now, I've made all the money, and it's great, but I really want to be able to be there for my kids, and I want them to remember mom was available and mom didn't check out.

Be yourself, because the relationships that you build and the clients and candidates that you have the most success with are the ones that feel like you're an actual person and that you're treating them like a person and not just a number. That carries through - after years and years, I still have people who I worked with 7, 8 years ago that'll reach out to me if they have a need, because I didn't treat them like a number or like a dollar sign. I treated them like an actual person.

I think it would be educating clients. What I see a lot is, I recruit day in and day out. This is what I do. I talk to people in different positions all the time, and I know what the market looks like. Then you work with a hiring manager who isn't hiring this position day in and day out. So being able to communicate what the market looks like in a way that they can understand and educate them if they're trying to find something that's not out there - knowing the market and being able to communicate that and educate them, whether it's their comp is too low, their expectations are too high, here's where we need to shift, this is what I'm seeing, and just being confident in knowing that you are the expert.

Flexibility is most important to me right now. I'm lucky enough to work from home, and the owner of my company has 7 kids himself, my boss has 3 kids, so they really allow us to have the flexibility to work our desk the way that we see fit. Because of that, I'm able to go to the field trips, I'm able to be at the class parties, I'm able to pick my daughter up every day at 3 p.m. and then come home and still work. Where I'm at in my life right now is being able to be flexible and be a mom. I have a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, and it's been very different having my son, because I knew he was my last kid. With my daughter, I was very big on climbing the corporate ladder, but now I really want to be able to be there for my kids and I want them to remember mom was available and mom didn't check out. The excitement my daughter gets knowing that it's her mom that's the chaperone - that's what matters to me.